Judith Adams (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I would like to speak about a program called A Smart Start. The reason I am doing this is that I am currently a member of the Senate Community Affairs References Committee, which is looking at petrol sniffing, and one of our terms of reference is to look at things that work. I believe that this program, which is actually run in the Great Southern area of Western Australia, where I come from, has a lot of merit. Unfortunately its funding is about to cease. So I think it is important tonight that I tell you about this program and we will see what we can do to continue its work.

A Smart Start is an exciting early childhood initiative that is designed to make a difference for children aged nought to four years. A Smart Start is a series of strategies that are implemented across seven shires and 10 communities in the central Great Southern area of WA. These shires include Broomehill; Gnowangerup, including Borden and Ongerup; Katanning; Kent, including Nyabing and Pingrup; Kojonup, which is my own home town; Tambellup; and Woodanilling. A Smart Start has two primary areas of focus: the home environment of nought- to four-year-old children and the community environment that these young children grow up in.

A Smart Start is community owned and driven. It is cross-sectorial and creates networks and links at all levels. It involves parents, caregivers, local shires, schools, libraries, service clubs, community agencies and businesses and government organisations all working together to give our children the best start in life. Its goals include establishing personal links with all families of nought- to four-year-old children within the central Great Southern area. It aims to empower parents with skills and knowledge in recognition that they play a key role in providing their children with an optimal learning environment. It aims to develop links between agencies and organisations within and across communities, to increase the accessibility of all families of nought- to four-year-old children to community based networks and local support groups and to facilitate relationships between families of nought- to four-year-old children and local schools and professional support services. It promotes research based practices that accelerate learning within the home environment and it provides an ongoing accessible resource for all families of young children in the central Great Southern region.

Its strategies include personal contact made by the child health nurse with each family at the time of the child’s birth and further contact at regular intervals during the child’s first four years of life, using community volunteers. Age-appropriate books are given to the child at birth and subsequently at each birthday up to and including their fourth birthday. Information that includes developmental milestones, activities to promote the child’s development, the immunisation schedule and support services available is given to families in the form of a resource manual that is updated at regular intervals: birth, six months, 12 months, 18 months, two years, three years and four years.

Local volunteers in each community have taken responsibility for delivering updates and birth books to families. Informal information mornings are held in each community, where relevant topic based talks are organised and parents can learn and talk together and meet health professionals, teachers and other agency personnel. Free creche facilities are provided to all parents who attend the information morning. Local libraries, in conjunction with the state library, have increased their stocks of books and resources for families with young children and are currently supporting the process of establishing A Smart Start-Better Beginnings partnership in all shires in the central Great Southern area.

Programs that assist parents to further develop their parenting skills and understand their child’s development are promoted, such as the Positive Parenting Program, Power Play and WILSTAAR. Culturally appropriate activities are run on a regular basis for the Malay and Nyoongah communities. For example, there is regular story reading in Malay homes and there is the Nyoongah Picnic in the Park.

The coordination of A Smart Start is at a central level. It is coordinated from a central base in Katanning. At present there is a full-time coordinator, Jan Batchelor, who has been with the program since its inception. There is a project officer, administration support, a Malay and a Nyoongah project officer and a bookkeeper. Those positions are responsible to the A Smart Start Central Great Southern Advisory Committee, which is an incorporated body and is the planning and decision-making body for the region. This committee has community representation from all seven shires, together with representation from government organisations.

At a local level each community has their own local working party, which has parent and community representation, together with representation from local service providers, such as librarians, local school principals or teachers, child health nurses and other providers in the area. Each local working party is supported by the A Smart Start coordination team. The level of support provided to local working parties varies, depending on their level of independence. Members of the local working party are responsible for coordinating their strategies locally and in their communities.

I think the partnerships are quite incredible. A report in 2005 provided the following data. The number of government partners—for example, local, state or other Commonwealth agencies—was 67. The number of business partners—all types of businesses, large or small—was 11. The number of non-government partners—for example, community groups and non-government service providers—was 57. The total number of partnerships was 135. For such a small area and with the number of towns in it, I think that is absolutely incredible. There is no reason why this could not be duplicated in other areas of our state or throughout Australia. New partnerships are being formed and remodelled constantly. Therefore, the data is only an estimate.

In 2001 the state Department of Health gave $10,000 in New Vision funding to employ a project officer to develop the concept and to apply for federal funding. In 2002 the education department provided a $10,000 donation for the general development of A Smart Start. In 2002-03 the Central Great Southern Health Service, now part of the Great Southern Health Service, allocated funding for 0.5 of an FTE to coordinate A Smart Start while grant applications were still pending. In 2003 the Department of Family and Community Services Stronger Families and Communities Strategy grant application was successful. A Smart Start in the central Great Southern region was allocated $300,000 to be spent over a three-year period. This money has funded the coordinator’s position, the lease of a car and administration costs. Unfortunately, this funding will finish in September 2006. Where the program will go from there we do not know.

At the local level the resource manuals and books are funded fully by local government in five of the seven shires and are co-funded by local government and local service clubs in the Katanning shire and local government and the Gnowangerup Family Support Association in Gnowangerup. Local service clubs, local businesses and family and children’s services have provided donations and funds to cover the creche costs. Early Years Activities grants have been used to assist with running information mornings and A Smart Start activities. This has provided funds for food, Christmas gifts, materials and costs incurred in organising guest speakers from out of the region.

In kind support has come from the Department of Health, with office space, computers, telephones, stationery and administrative support, and health professionals are always available to speak at A Smart Start information mornings. The Department of Education and Training supply venues, photocopying and tea and coffee urns. Principals and teachers take part in information mornings when required and actively participate in local working parties. Local government has venues for information mornings and administration assistance with photocopying. The Tambellup Shire act as the incorporated body that entered into a long-form funding agreement with the Department of Family and Community Services on behalf of A Smart Start, and they also lease the car on behalf of the A Smart Start program. The libraries are venues for meetings, and librarians actively participate in local working parties.

As for the number of children currently involved, there are 578, with 10 towns involved. There are 36 Malay children in Katanning and we have 52 Nyoongah children and six Maori children throughout the district. Parents are very much involved with this and, as I see it, this program can be incorporated anywhere in Australia. I really do think that it is one that could be picked up as far as Aboriginal communities go. (Time expired)