Thursday, 4 June 2026

 Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:46): Project Rise is a project conducted by the Dawoodi Bohra community in my electorate in Ringwood. We are very proud of them and the work they do, in particular through the Project Rise concept, which is a global philanthropic initiative that particularly focuses on holistic wellbeing through the values of social inclusion, compassion and resilience. They are very proudly partnering with the Mental Health Foundation Australia and have for a long time done this. Their partnership has ensured that they have had uninterrupted operation of 35 mental health support groups. These support groups are absolutely fundamental in our community and important – we all know this – but these groups particularly focus on national reach. The program has supported more than 33,800 attendees across Australia, not just in my own local municipality and local electorate. They also focus on consistent engagement, with a 50 per cent return attendance. I suggest for any program that is an amazing achievement. They also have digital access, which in this age of course is critical, reaching some 59,000 website visits as recorded individuals seek information, registration and access to information online. They also of course focus, as the name would imply and as the program illustrates, on both inclusion and diversity and attracting people from all backgrounds and critically, obviously, filling those gaps, including treating symptoms and mental health disorders or fitness requirements like trauma, PTSD, coercive control and hearing voices. We thank them for their work.