Wednesday, 19 November 2025

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:06): I rise to update the house on the 2025 Victorian Early Years Awards. Now in their 20th year, the awards recognise innovation and excellence across the early years sector. With nine open categories, the awards showcase the extraordinary work taking place in kindergartens and early childhood settings in every part of our state while also recognising the professionals who are at the heart of that work. These are kindergarten teachers, early childhood educators, maternal and child health nurses, playgroup facilitators and others who play an important role walking alongside families through all stages and experiences of their journey. Their dedication to supporting the learning, development and wellbeing of children in Victoria is remarkable, and it is only right that we acknowledge it.

I want to particularly congratulate Sandra Houlahan of Shine Bright’s kindergarten in Elmore and Megan Hancock of Southern Rise Children’s Centre in Wodonga, who were the recipients of Educator of the Year and Early Childhood Teacher of the Year respectively. Both Sandra and Megan demonstrated a strong commitment to creating culturally rich, responsive environments for children and a readiness to build genuine partnerships with families and the broader community, recognising that it takes a village to raise a child. This year’s awards also celebrated Josette Nunn of Yarram Early Learning Centre, who was the recipient of the early childhood teacher award in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that year’s ceremony was held virtually, so it was wonderful to have Josette’s achievements recognised formally as part of this year’s awards.

As Minister for Children, I did have the arduous task of selecting a recipient for the Minister’s Award, and this was far from an easy decision given the exceptional standard of the 26 finalists. However, I will commend the Brave Foundation, who were the recipient of the award for their Supporting Expecting and Parenting Teens program, a trauma-informed initiative that matches an expecting or young parent with a mentor for 12 months, helping them to build confidence and skills as they navigate their parenting journey.

Congratulations to all finalists and winners of the 2025 Victorian Early Years Awards, and thank you to our early childhood professionals for the work that they do day in, day out, to support children in Victoria to learn, grow and thrive.