Roundabout CEO Hannah Andrevski (centre) said the charity was excited to partner with the government for this project. She’s pictured with ministers Michael Pettersson and Rachel Stephen-Smith (right). Photos: Nicholas Ward.
The ACT’s Baby Bundle initiative will start being rolled out from next year but the number of families who can access it will be reduced.
Before last year’s election, the government committed to give bundles to all new parents in the Territory. Now it has tightened the criteria to vulnerable families only as it tries to reduce its budget deficit.
“With the budget constraints, we haven’t gone to the full baby bundle package availability for all first-time parents,” Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.
“But we thought it was really important to be able to provide that support to our more vulnerable families.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said investments such as the Baby Bundle, which include sleep equipment, first aid kits and other essential resources, were about letting new families know Canberra was a community that would support them.
“When a family first welcomes a new baby, particularly if it’s their first baby, sometimes they’re really struggling with getting all the right stuff together, particularly for vulnerable families,” she said.
The initiative will be delivered in partnership with local charity Roundabout through a $1 million funding commitment over four years.
CEO and founder Hannah Andrevski said this was an opportunity for the organisation to do more for the community.
“We’ve always valued the partnership that we have with the ACT Government and for us, this just gives us that ability to keep meeting the growing need that we’re continuing to see in the community,” she said.
Ms Andrevski shows the ministers through the centre’s warehouse.
The charity has at times struggled to meet the growing demand for its service as the cost of living continues to impact families.
But Ms Andrevski said it had been able to count on the continued support of locals.
“We’ve got support from the Canberra community who help us both with items and as well as in our space as volunteers. We’ve got a beautiful community of volunteers that make this place a really special place to be and to visit, and we’re really fortunate in that sense,” she said.
Children, Youth and Families Minister Michael Pettersson praised Roundabout Canberra’s dedicated staff and said Canberra was a city where people looked out for one another.
“We wouldn’t be able to provide the level of support and service that we do to the many vulnerable families in Canberra that need help without Roundabout,” he said.
“So I’m very grateful for our continued partnership.”
