Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that the early years are some of the most important in a child's life, in terms of their cognitive and social development;

(2) notes that a child's health outcomes can be heavily influenced from the period of preconception, and the lives and lifestyles of both biological parents;

(3) commends the work of Australian medical professionals who champion the First 1000 Days framework, a model that is aimed at improving the physical and mental health of parents from pre-pregnancy and up until a child reaches two years of age; and

(4) implores the Government to adopt a national approach to the First 1000 Days initiative, to improve health outcomes in our future generations.

To paraphrase the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australia's children are generally doing well; most are safe and healthy; however, we could do better. The early years are a period of vulnerability, in which a child's 'outcomes'—their word—can vary depending on where they live and their family's circumstances, both social and economic.

I'm a paediatrician—I'm not a career politician—and my colleagues in this chamber would be well versed in the myriad of issues affecting our collective public health, particularly during the pandemic. I often rise, however, and speak about the social determinants of health and about how they affect the child in particular. When we consider a child's health outcomes, it's critical that we consider not only their experiences and environment in their early years but also the antenatal period from preconception onwards.

When she was Secretary of State in America, Hillary Clinton introduced the 'first 1,000 days' initiative as a way of trying to ensure that the health of American children was as good as it possibly could be, because it was increasingly becoming recognised that investment in health in those early times, from preconception to the second birthday, could have a huge influence on health outcomes throughout life—and, increasingly, that's what we're finding. That's why it's crucial that we consider the entire period from preconception to conception, the antenatal period and birth through to the second birthday, as the best time to invest in a child's life.

The men of Australia have a strong role to play in this as well. A great deal of the rhetoric around the First 1,000 Days initiative focuses on maternal health, but men should not get off scot-free. Evidence suggests that paternal obesity and paternal health can have strong outcomes on a child's initial health and long-term health.

As the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare stated in their study on Australian children, most of our kids and grandchildren are doing okay today, but that does not mean we should be complacent nor that we can't do better. On census night 2016, almost 20,000 children under the age of 14 were homeless. One in four children aged under five were obese or overweight, and 96 per cent of children in the five- to 14-year-old cohort do not eat enough healthy food. These are the changes we can make early on in children's lives that will change their health trajectory throughout their lives. We still have neonatal deaths, unfortunately—3.3 per 1,000 births. This could be halved if we invested more in early child health.

We experience shortages in intervention services such as hearing assessments, vision assessments and developmental assessments. In my own electorate of Macarthur, the waiting time in the public health system for developmental assessments is now measured in years, not months. The Shepherd Centre, who provide world's-best-practice assessment of hearing in childhood, are a world-leading institute that offers supports to children. They feel that only about two-thirds of the children who they should be seeing for assessment under two years of age are being seen. There are over 400 children in South Western Sydney with hearing loss as their primary disability who are struggling to get local support services.

I had to fight tooth and nail to get any form of government to support critical services in my rapidly growing community for simple things like breastfeeding support or growth and development assessments of children under age two. The state health minister in New South Wales, Brad Hazzard, understood my request for greater supports for early childhood development and child health, and he acted. We're finally getting our long-awaited Shepherd Centre in the Macarthur electorate to support children with hearing loss.

There are so many ways we can support a child's development and their health in that early time. Yet our rates of breastfeeding in early childhood are very, very poor in South Western Sydney; children are not getting the development assessments that they should be; and vision assessments are poor. Recently, I was contacted by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists to say that children were presenting very late with strabismus, or squint—too late for them to develop proper binocular vision—because of a lack of vision assessments.

We must do better. It's about improving our children's health by working through families to support them and making sure children are getting the right assessments. The First 1,000 Days is certainly the policy that governments should be introducing across Australia. We should have a national newborn screening program that's uniform across all states. We must do better.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to thank the member for Macarthur for moving this motion and providing me with this opportunity to speak on this very important issue. A child's health and cognitive and social development begins at preconception, with the help of parents during pregnancy, which affects the health of the baby at birth, through their early years and well into their adulthood. That's a known fact. The Morrison government recognises this in the National Action Plan for the Health of Children and Young People 2020-2030. This plan aims to ensure that Australian children and young people from all backgrounds and all walks of life have the same opportunities to fulfil their health potential and are healthy, safe and thriving. The road map will guide collaborative approaches to improving health outcomes for all children and young people, particularly those at greatest risk of poor health. This includes programs to empower parents and caregivers to maximise healthy development, from mental health to addressing chronic conditions and particularly preventive health, which is a particular passion of mine. I'm like the member for Macarthur—as paediatricians, we have prevention in our DNA.

We know that there are many factors that need to be considered for a comprehensive, effective system of care for children. The consultation draft of Australia's Primary Health Care 10 Year Plan 2022-2032 highlights the importance of reform through primary care to support pregnant women and young families to improve health in the first 2,000 days of life. I welcome the implementation of the former COAG Health Council's 2019 Woman-centred care: strategic directions for Australian maternity services. From this comes targeted programs and initiatives that provide access to information, guidance and support for women, partners and their families—as well as for healthcare professionals providing care to pregnant women—through providing evidence based and education initiatives.

Importantly, I'm proud the government is also investing in the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families through activities that seek to improve health outcomes during pregnancy and the early years. The programs focus on mothers, babies and children of greatest need in rural, remote and very remote communities around Australia. These are difficult issues, however, and, having worked up there 30 years ago, I know that it's very difficult to make strides to close the gap for the health of our Indigenous friends.

Building on this strategic approach, it's very important particularly to look at children's mental health and wellbeing, and I'm very proud that the government has launched the National Children's Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. This is recognised as a world first, as this is the first time a national government has developed a strategy that considers mental health and wellbeing outcomes for children from birth to 12 years of age as well as their families and the communities who nurture them. The co-chairs of the strategy, Professor Frank Oberklaid AM and Professor Christel Middeldorp, in the foreword to the report Thenational children's mental health and wellbeing strategy, say:

We were interested in looking broadly at the system as a whole, from parent mental health literacy and reducing stigma through to the management of complex problems in expert settings and everything in between. Given the complexity of the current system, we did not want to simply argue for new services to be added. Rather, we aimed to develop a roadmap to effectively restructure and improve what was already in place and to support the many thousands of committed professionals working in this area.

It's about getting people to work better together, not in silos. They continue:

We are aware that a major restructure is more difficult than adding new services, but are convinced that this is the best way forward.

As a former paediatrician and colleague of Professor Frank Oberklaid, one of the co-chairs, I'm proud this government has a commitment to funding the strategy. The $317 million in funding includes $54 million to work in partnership with states and territories to create a network of Head to Health Kids mental health centres, to be based on the headspace mental health service, which is highly effective and has been rolled out for young adults. These Head to Health Kids mental health and wellbeing hubs are specifically for children aged zero to 12 years, as we recognise the increased anxiety, depression, ADHD and other mental health issues in that age group.

There is $42 million to support access to parenting education and support and $47 million for perinatal mental health initiatives to support the mental health and wellbeing of new and expectant parents, including funding for the Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia group, PANDA,which is a very important group that supports mums and dads in those very difficult and anxiety-provoking early weeks, days and months. The Morrison government understands that the future success of our country depends on the next generation.

Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion moved by the member for Macarthur and acknowledge his strong interest in and advocacy for the 'first 1,000 days' framework. This framework aims to improve the physical and mental health of Australian children as well as the health and wellbeing of their parents. Children under the age of two are some of the most vulnerable in our community. The first few years of a child's life are critical to their development and wellbeing. As the member for Macarthur has said, most Australian children are safe and healthy but unfortunately this is not every child's experience, depending on where they live and their family's circumstances.

As a pharmacist of 20 years who worked in mental health, I know how important a child's wellbeing and mental health are. I also know how important it is to support the mental health and wellbeing of new parents. When we consider a child's health, we must consider where they were born, where they live and where they are growing up, and we must consider the health of their parents, including their mental health and wellbeing. According to the Productivity Commission's 2020 report into mental health, the mental health of parents has a strong influence on the wellbeing of infants and young children, including their emotional, social, physical and cognitive development. The report found there is a strong need to support parents during major life transitions such as the perinatal period. Sadly, in Australia today one in five new mums experiences perinatal depression or anxiety, and one in 10 new dads will also be affected.

On Friday I spoke to a friend of mine who shared her own experience of mental ill health during pregnancy, which had led to a long hospitalisation when she was six months into her pregnancy. She told me that when she was discharged she was very grateful to be linked in with a perinatal mental health team, who checked in on her every week. She had planned a natural birth but was induced and then required an emergency caesarean. She told me that because of medicines, hormonal changes and disrupted sleep she required two months of follow-up care at two different facilities, including a stay at St John of God Burwood Hospital, which she tells me is one of the only inpatient perinatal mental health units in New South Wales. Fortunately, she had private health insurance to cover her care, and her son is two and is now thriving. But there aren't enough dedicated perinatal mental health beds in the public system to care for pregnant women and new mums. This is why early intervention is key for new parents, children and their families. While I welcome the government's recent strategy for young people's mental health and wellbeing, what we need to see is some urgency and a proper implementation plan, because we know from organisations like the Black Dog Institute that half of all lifetime mental health disorders emerge by the age of 14. We also know that the rates of psychological distress in young people jumped from one in five in 2012 to over a quarter in 2020.

According to the Productivity Commission's report, some children face a much higher risk of mental ill health from a very young age. This includes children who are exposed to trauma, children affected by entrenched disadvantage and children in the out-of-home care system. Given the large jump in the number of young people experiencing mental ill health, this is urgent. The government's announcement of a new national mental health and wellbeing strategy for children under the age of 14, which I mentioned earlier, was only recently announced. While this policy is welcome, it is overdue, it doesn't go far enough and it lacks urgency in implementation. There is an urgent need to have more support measures in place now, not just for young children but also for new and expecting parents.

There are so many ways in which we can support a child's mental health and wellbeing and their social, cognitive and emotional development. That's why I support the motion moved by the member for Macarthur and his strong advocacy, as its champion, of the First 1,000 Days framework. When I first met the now member for Macarthur—as he said, he's not a career politician, he's a career paediatrician; he's a father and a grandfather—this is what he told me: 'I don't want to end my medical career the way it started, without Medicare.' That is what the member for Macarthur said to me. It is why he is here and why he is moving motions like this in this chamber.

We need to have the best supports in place to look after the wellbeing of all children, wherever they are born, wherever they grow up, wherever they live and whatever their parents earn. It is especially important to those children and young people who grow up outside of big cities. We know the further you live outside of a big city the shorter your life will be and the worse your quality of life will be. This is true. In a wealthy country like Australia this should not happen.

We also need to help reduce the stigma around perinatal mental health and other mental health care and to offer early intervention services for new mums and dads. This will give every Australian child the best start in life.

Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macarthur for raising this important motion. The health and wellbeing of children is a very important issue to me and to other members of the LNP team and the Morrison government. We are committed to continuously improving standards for Australian families. Rightly, the member for Macarthur's motion speaks about the first 1000 days and the absolutely pivotal influence they play on our children, from preconception right through early childhood.

It matters what we as adults do, even before we might be thinking about being parents. As is the case for many MPs, I know that for me the big driver in entering this place was my own family: my wife, Maddie, my four-year-old son, Theo, and my one-year-old daughter, Izzie. They're the most important part of my life, and what I strife for, as do all parents, is the betterment of the future of my children. Above all, we want them healthy and safe, and that's what we devote a lot of our work in this place to. Any parent will tell you just how amazing it is to watch your kids grow up and learn, but just how quickly it goes and how quickly they pick up new skills. Even the difference in their development from the time I leave for a sitting fortnight to the time I return amazes me.

The health of our children starts even before birth, with preconception and during pregnancy. This is a time that can be incredibly stressful and uneasy for many couples as they navigate it. I'm proud to be part of a government that continues to invest more in support services for pregnant women and their partners and families, and for those who are trying to conceive. Trying to conceive isn't easy for every couple. It doesn't just happen. My wife and I know this firsthand, and we've spoken about this. Often this journey can be a tough one for couples, and many experience early pregnancy loss, which is why we have been working with the Pink Elephants Support Network to get two days of paid leave into law for those who experience early pregnancy loss. That has now occurred, and that's an achievement that this parliament can be proud of. It builds on many important initiatives, including the YourIVFSuccess website, the development of pregnancy care guidelines and national help lines, videos and website services for women through pregnancy to birth and baby.

We believe it is critically important to support pregnant women and their partners to improve health in that first 1,000 days. We know that raising happy, healthy children means fewer chronic conditions later on in life. Conditions like obesity, heart disease, diabetes and mental health conditions that develop in adulthood can be linked back to experience in early childhood. We want to empower parents to maximise healthy development and to make the best choices for their own family that allow them to do that. We want to tackle mental health and identify risky behaviours as soon as possible so that we can assist parents to address this for themselves so that they can in turn help with the development of their kids. Our National Children's Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy is prevention focused. It promotes wellbeing of all children, from birth, and enables access to early intervention. We're making it easier for more children and families to get help when they need it most, particularly in this early period.

We believe it takes a village to raise a child, so we're also aware of the importance of school and early learning settings and how we can better use these environments to support our kids as a community, together. There are many stakeholders in a kid's life—their parents, their family, their friends, their teachers, their doctors and their peers—and we all have a responsibility to our Aussie kids to ensure their development in the first 1,000 days is as positive as possible.

Also important to me is the safety of our kids and Australian families. We need to do everything we possibly can to keep our kids safe, and that includes being safe online and safe navigating the world of technology. Even in that first 1,000 days, it is not unusual for a child to be introduced to technology in one way, shape or form, and the education around safe use of technology starts in those early days and is important as children go through, particularly up to the age of 12. The Morrison government recognises the dangerous impacts on mental health that can come online and the need to make sure that our kids have the opportunity to protect themselves and that parents have the opportunity to protect their kids from sinister online intentions. The threat is a very real one. That's why we commissioned the eSafety Commissioner, and she provides a vast array of resources that parents can access to help ensure that their kids and their family are safe online.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The first 1,000 days from conception to a child's second birthday offer a unique window of opportunity—of tremendous potential but enormous vulnerability—to build a healthier and more prosperous future. My interest in this area comes not just from being the father of two young children, one almost one year old, but from having worked in this policy area with the WA state government nearly two decades ago as well as seeing the need and programs in my own community.

Broadly, Australia's children are doing well, and most are safe and healthy. However, the first 1,000 days are critical. In fact, before that a future parent's health, prior to conception, is also very important. That 1,000 days is when a child's brain begins to grow and develop and when the foundations for their lifelong health are built. There is a great deal of research in this space ultimately making similar findings. Countries that fail to invest in the wellbeing of women and children in the first 1,000 days lose billions of dollars to lower economic productivity and higher health costs. Leading economists across the globe are calling for greater investment in nutrition and wellbeing of mothers, babies and toddlers as a way to create brighter and more prosperous futures for us all.

In 2020 UNICEF ranked Australia 32nd out of 41 nations for child wellbeing, noting that we are 'falling short in delivering consistently good health, education and social outcomes for children'. For a rich, privileged country like ours, that is completely unacceptable. Across the country, 41 per cent of Australia's most disadvantaged zero- to five-year-olds live in the top 20 per cent of the most disadvantaged suburbs. Children from socially and economically disadvantaged areas typically have poorer physical health, have less access to learning materials and are less likely to access materials they need.

It's communities like mine that need extra intervention. In the electorate of Burt, which I represent, the Challis Community Primary School integrated early childhood and family support service and parenting centre aims to prevent early disadvantage from becoming an ongoing drag on a child's chances of success in life as well as those of their family. The catchment area for the Challis community school has a SEIFA rating of 965.9, which is well below the 1,000 score average—indeed, materially below.

The origins of the parenting centre at Challis are quite interesting. The school was looking to improve the outcomes for its students graduating year 7, and then year 6, and found that its student cohort entering school were entering at a lower level of capability than the average cohort across Perth and across Western Australia. When looking at what they could do to affect this for the better, they decided to work with local health services and develop parenting training services to work with child health nurses and integrate directly with new parents exiting hospital to create that connection with the school.

It is indeed troubling to find there is a need to teach parents that feeding very young children on the bread from a hamburger is a terrible idea, due to the sugar content of that food. But it's important that we don't blame the parents because there are many intergenerational problems that have arisen over time. Indeed, most of our learning about parenting comes from that which we saw our own parents do. And if you have not been fortunate enough to grow up with parents who have known how to provide correct nutrition and developmental support for children, or you were removed from your parents at an early age, as many of the parents of students in my community were, we lose these benefits of passed down knowledge and information. The parenting centre at Challis, and programs like it, seek to intervene to make sure we don't have this as an ongoing problem.

Changes such as making sure we have continuity of midwifery care would also help a great deal in improving outcomes for children by improving their lives in those first 1,000 days. More child health nurses, and ensuring they are available and able to meet frequently with new mothers, are also very important. Unfortunately, many child health nurse services have been negatively affected by COVID. Family centres around Western Australia that used to provide such capacity-building facilities, as Challis does now, need additional funding to continue to do that great work. And, of course, providing better access to child care is a core part of the policy platform that Labor takes forward to the next election. Ensuring that more families have access to child care that is affordable and available to them is so very important for ensuring the future of our children in our communities.

It's in the best interest of our communities that we have these services available to support all families. It takes a village to raise a family, but if you don't have a village available to you then you need these supports. We need to support these families and our communities to get the best outcomes.

Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With the nationwide vaccine rollout ensuring a safe return of children to child care and school, kids in my electorate of Chisholm, from Box Hill to Glen Waverley, are now back where they should be, and that is in the classroom preparing for the challenges of tomorrow. The flurry of activity that always accompanies the end of the school year serves as a reminder, if ever we needed one, of the need to secure the future of our younger generations. This means ensuring that the economy is robust and primed for growth, which, as sensible economic managers, a Liberal government will always be best placed to do. It means putting together, as I know the Minister for Education and Youth is doing, a national curriculum that prepares our kids for working life and instils pride in our nation while continuing to promote a balanced and realistic view of our history. It also means constantly working to improve the health outcomes of Australian children. In that sense, I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment of the member for Macarthur's motion.

As a mother of two children, I'm proud that the Morrison government has always been committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our kids and recognises the critical importance of doing so in not just the first 1,000 days, but the first 2,000 days of life. We know that many chronic health problems in adulthood, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and mental health issues begin in early childhood. We also know that the health of a child starts even before birth, with the health of parents pre conception and during pregnancy affecting the health of the baby at birth, and through their early years.

Support for parents and children in the early years is recognised in all four pillars of the government's Long Term National Health Plan. In particular, just last month we launched the National Children's Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Recognised as a world first, the strategy considers mental health and wellbeing outcomes for children from birth to 12 years of age. Additionally, the consultation draft of Australia's Primary Health Care 10 Year Plan 2022-2032 highlights the importance of reform through primary care to support pregnant women and young families to improve health in the first 2,000 days. Furthermore, the government is developing the National Preventive Health Strategy, which outlines the overarching long-term approach to prevention in Australia over the next 10 years. The strategy recognises the value of health and wellbeing at all stages of life and emphasises the significance of prevention from the preconception period through to the early years of life. It includes an overarching aim that focuses on providing children with the best start in life.

In my electorate of Chisholm we have young people from all backgrounds, and that's why I have a particular interest in another of our government's key initiatives, the 2020-2030 National Action Plan for the Health of Children and Young People. The action plan aims to ensure that Australian children and young people from all walks of life have the same opportunities to fulfil their potential and the same chance of achieving a healthy life. The health of children and young people in Australia is of fundamental importance to all Australians, and this government is committed to ensuring that all our young people have a safe, certain and healthy future.

Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like my colleagues who have spoken before me, I want to thank the member for Macarthur for moving this important motion. Anyone who has met or spent any time with the member for Macarthur knows of his genuine, deep commitment to all things health and, in particular, to this First 1,000 Days initiative. It's a privilege to be in the Labor caucus with him.

It's incredibly disturbing to know that more than 1.2 million Australian children live in poverty, that, on census night in 2016, almost 20,000 children aged nought to 14 were homeless and that almost 22 per cent of Australian children enter primary school developmentally delayed. We are a rich and prosperous country, as contributors before me in this debate have said, and most children in Australia do very well. But there are far too many who don't, and there are far too many children from lower socio-economic communities who are condemned to intergenerational poverty that research suggests starts before birth. That's why the First 1,000 Days initiative is so important.

In my state of Victoria, at the Royal Children's Hospital, the Strong Foundations: Getting it Right in the First 1000 Days partnership put out the research paper in 2019 which was a collaboration between the Centre for Community Child Health at Murdoch Children's Research Institute, the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, BUPA Australia, the BUPA Health Foundation and PwC Australia. You can find that report on the Royal Children's Hospital website.

The objectives of Strong Foundations were to raise awareness among government, policymakers and the public about the importance of the first 1,000 days, because, as that report found in 2019, 'New knowledge that has been unveiled has served to increase experts' views of the significance of the first thousand days, and of the urgent need to reform our policies, practices and systems in response to the evidence'; to ensure decisions that affect children and families are based on the best available evidence; and to ensure that all steps that can be taken to improve early life for Australian children are identified and implemented as soon as possible. As I stand here in November 2021, one has to question whether those objectives have been answered.

The report synthesised current Australian and international evidence as of 2019 on the biological, social, global and environmental influences on development. The report showcased the economic benefits to society of investing in the first 1,000 days. I have to say I think that the moral and ethical arguments for doing so should be enough to convince anyone, but, for those who need further convincing, the economic arguments are also strong. The modelling showed significant potential benefits to society of improving outcomes for children for the first thousand days. Looking at the impacts of antenatal care and homeownership on that period, using smoking during pregnancy and housing stability as measures, the report revealed that, if every child in Australia grew up in a stable housing situation, the potential annual benefit to Australia would be an estimated $3 billion.

The key findings included that the age, health and wellbeing of both mother and father prior to the child's conception affect the integrity of the embryo from the very beginning. The fetus uses cues provided by their mother's physical and mental states to 'predict' the kind of world they will be born into, and adapt accordingly. So what happens in the first thousand days affects the whole body, with potentially profound consequences in the course of life. The report found that disadvantage can be passed down through generations at a cellular level. These changes can be passed on to children from their parents and grandparents. Our biology changes in response to stress, poverty and other prolonged adverse experiences, and these changes can be passed on to children from their parents and grandparents.

In addition to loving caregivers, children need safe communities, secure housing, access to green parklands, environments free of toxins and access to affordable nutritional foods—exactly what a good federal government would be focusing on. I'm proud of Labor's policies on child care and on supporting Medicare and our detailed policy about a housing future fund. If we don't invest in our communities, and in our children for the first 1,000 days, we are condemning too many people to the cycle of intergenerational poverty and disadvantage, and we can't do that.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A child's early years are foundational to cognitive, physical and social development. It is well known that the first thousand days are critical to physical growth and development, cognitive capacity and emotional development. In fact, the Australian government is committed to improving health outcomes for children in the first 2,000 days of life. The government recognises that many chronic health problems in adulthood, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and mental health issues, begin in early childhood. This motion highlights the preconception period, which is critically important in shaping our children's future. I commend the member for Macarthur for his initiative to have this important period in a child's life recognised by the House.

This is an issue that I've been passionate about for a long time and invested in extensively prior to being elected. It is imperative that little ones and young parents are supported to reach their potential. Zoe Support is a not-for-profit that I founded in 2012 for young mums, to support them to re-engage in education as they raise their children. Zoe Support continues to thrive, and has a big heart to see these little ones thrive from prebirth through the first years of life. Zoe Support continues its work in Mildura, targeting issues of social isolation, poverty, ill health, destitution and distress for expecting young mums. Zoe Support knows that connection and community are fundamental foundations for the health and wellbeing of young families. The adage 'it takes a village to raise a child' is certainly upheld for young families in Mildura through the work of Zoe Support and other organisations. Our children deserve the best support and care, and this requires a holistic approach.

Last month the government launched the National Children's Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, recognised as a world first. This is the first time a national government has developed a strategy that considers mental health and wellbeing outcomes for children from birth to 12 years of age, as well as their families and the communities that nurture them. The government is developing the National Preventive Health Strategy outlining the overarching long-term approach to prevention in Australia over the next 10 years. The strategy recognises the value of health and wellbeing at all stages of life and emphasises the significance of prevention from the preconception period through to the early years of life. It includes an overarching aim that focuses on providing children with the best start to life.

The Morrison and Joyce government has been working for families with young children to provide critical supports that seek to address the wellbeing of young children both now and into the future. Through the Liberal-Nationals Community Child Care Fund 14 childcare centres in my electorate of Mallee have received funding to deliver critical services to families. This helps boost workforce participation as well and reduces barriers to service provision. In regional and rural towns like Rupanyup, Dimboola and Warracknabeal workforce participation is a common struggle due to a lack of child care. The CCCF helps early learning centres who are experiencing viability issues to continue opening their doors and providing places for children across the region. Earlier this year I had the privilege of opening Wycheproof's first early learning centre, which was partly funded under this government's Drought Communities Program. This was a fantastic outcome for the community, providing an educational hub which is on site at the Wycheproof P-12 College. Wycheproof's young families are now benefitting from this centre, which also delivers maternal and child health programs. For some new parents the opening of Wycheproof Early Learning Centre means the ability to return to work as well.

The draft of Australia's primary healthcare 10-year plan 2022 to 2032 highlights the importance of reform to support pregnant women and young families to improve health in the first 2,000 days. This government is also investing in the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families through activities that seek to improve health outcomes during pregnancy and the early years, focusing on mothers, babies and children of greatest need in rural, remote and very remote communities in Australia.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.