Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I speak today about the great work being done by the Redcliffe Area Youth Service in the electorate of Petrie. The Redcliffe Area Youth Service is situated on the Redcliffe Peninsula and provides many services to the local youth and young adults in the community. These services include outdoor activities and projects that provide support to many people and especially our youth in the community. These projects, including the Community Jobs Plan, the Get Set for Work program, the Re-Engage project, which is a parents and carers program, and CHECKPOINT, the Peninsula School’s flexible learning program, are just some of the projects they deliver.

The Redcliffe Area Youth Service has now expanded its service to the broader community by successfully receiving funding through the federal government’s Healthy Active Australia Community and Schools Grants Program. This program is part of the government’s preventative health measures to reduce future health risks and chronic disease. Healthy eating and an active lifestyle are crucial to avoiding and overcoming obesity, an issue which is taken seriously by this government and the whole community.

On Sunday of last week, I spoke at the official launch of HEAL, the Healthy Eating Active Lifestyle project. The youth service was successful in receiving $109,621.03 from the Australian federal government. This funding is being used over a 16-month period to deliver a health and lifestyle expo, fitness equipment training for local teachers, and health lifestyle programs targeting population groups such as our youth, young parents and Indigenous and older Australians. The funding also provides for the installation of outdoor fitness equipment. This equipment is placed in a public area, accessible to the whole community. This means that people throughout the community can access free advice on healthy eating and physical activity through workshops throughout the year and can engage in physical exercise to improve their health and fitness at no cost to themselves.

The new fitness equipment was handed over to the Moreton Bay Regional Council by me on behalf of the Redcliffe Area Youth Service on Sunday, and the council will maintain the equipment into the future for the benefit of the whole community. I congratulate Jarryd Williams, the manager for the Redcliffe Area Youth Service and his team and the Moreton Bay Regional Council for their continuing work to deliver important services to the people of Redcliffe. Of course, this is just one of many efforts from the local area to support our local community and especially our youth, and I congratulate all of those people who have been involved in this initiative.