Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very happy to speak about Wongan Community Care, which I had the pleasure of recently visiting. Wongan Community Care is a volunteer driven, not-for-profit organisation that provides education for children with disabilities and special needs who live in the Wheatbelt. Two local mothers—Susie Maguire, who has a son with Down syndrome and a background in education, and Heydi de Waal, who has a son with high-functioning autism and a background in psychology—combined their experience and started the group in 2012, following a lack of local education for special needs students in the town and surrounding areas.

The group holds two classes a week, a therapy fun session and a one-on-one program for a total of two hours, catering for a total of 28 students. The group is run by the executive committee, led by chairperson Sue Middleton and coordinator Lorraine Lobo. This group aims to provide children with special needs with local access to specialist therapy resources, tools and equipment. This fabulous group allows regional families with primary school students with special needs to have an education in their local region rather than having to relocate to the city.

It was a real honour to be invited to see this group in action. I was very pleased to be with the Commonwealth Bank, who were donating some community grant money so the group could buy their own equipment. I was very pleased that I was also made very welcome. I thank them very much for the opportunity to attend.

See this speech in context