Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

West Welcome Wagon helps refugees and asylum seekers rebuild their lives by providing everything needed to create a home, including beds, cots and mattresses, white goods, pots and pans, kitchen utensils and food parcels, clothing, children's books and toys, and much more. It all started out as a Facebook post 10 years ago, calling out for donated goods to furnish a single home for a single refugee family living in Yarraville. The charity now has two very substantial warehouses, two delivery vans, four staff and a band of dedicated volunteers. It covers a swathe of Melbourne's west, from Broadmeadows to Werribee to Melton.

West Welcome Wagon helps refugees and asylum seekers rebuild their lives by providing everything needed to create a home, including beds, cots and mattresses, white goods, pots and pans, kitchen utensils and food parcels, clothing, children's books and toys, and much more. It all started out as a Facebook post 10 years ago calling out for donated goods to furnish a single home for a single refugee family living in Yarraville. The charity now has two very substantial warehouses, two delivery vans, four staff and a band of dedicated volunteers. It covers a swathe of Melbourne's west, from Broadmeadows to Werribee to Melton. West Welcome Wagon has 700 families on its books and provides each family support for a two-year period. Since 2013 the charity has supported 2,100 families.

Thanks to a volunteer grant from the Albanese government, the charity will now be able to pay for test-and-tag qualifications so that volunteers can check the donated electrical goods to ensure that they are safe. These qualifications are invaluable. Items such as toasters, kettles and microwaves will be given new life, which also ensures that they don't end up in landfill. West Welcome Wagon has already delivered 30 cots this year, while last year it delivered 360 mattresses.

West Welcome Wagon has come a long way. Congratulations to all the staff and volunteers who have been on that wonderful journey.