Dear Readers,

Loneliness is rapidly becoming a serious problem right around the world. For many years we have been hearing about the loneliness that many people feel. This podcast features Assoc. Professor Michelle Lim, who chairs the Ending Loneliness Together project funded by the Australian Government.

We urge you to listen to this podcast and decide on a couple of actions you might take to help reduce the levels of loneliness many people in Australia are suffering.

Cheers,
Anne McLeish, OAM
Director

Dear Readers,

Yesterday in Cranbourne at a luncheon for kinship carers, we launched our newest resource booklet. This one lists a series of programs funded by the Victorian Government which carers are able to access.

It was pleasing that some carers at the lunch reported they had already accessed a couple of the programs. Other carers flipped through the booklet, noting their lack of knowledge about the programs on offer.

We commend this resource to you and urge you to take up the support on offer.

Cheers,
Anne McLeish, OAM
Director

Applications are now open to apply for the Victorian Get Active Kids vouchers program ( 3 March 2026 – 2 April 2026)

Dear Kinship Carers,

This Victorian Government Program is recommended to you.

Cheers,
Anne McLeish, OAM
Director

Carers can now travel for free every weekend on public transport anywhere in Victoria

Dear Carers,

This is a new program of support for cares in Victoria. We hope you take full advantage of this.

Cheers,
Anne McLeish, OAM
Director

Dear Readers,

Late last year a number of GPV/KCV Board members attended the national Ending Loneliness Together conference in Melbourne. As a result, the Board decided to highlight the problem and the need for each one of us take some action to address this world-wide issue.

This paper is food for thought and ends with some helpful tip sheets drawn from the Ending Loneliness Together website.

I recommend it to you all.

Cheers,
Anne McLeish, OAM
Director

Dear Reader,

The debate about the adverse effects of social media on children and young people has been raging for some time now. The adverse effects are now well documented and talked about across our networks.

The end point of the debate is that the Australian Government has passed laws restricting access to social media based on age. The implementation of these restrictions is one more strategy designed to protect our children and young people from physical and/or emotional harm.

There will, no doubt, be some teething problems. However, the onus is on the media companies to do the right thing by our children and young people and implement the laws.

This statement issued by the Australian Government will assist you to understand the detail.

Cheers,
Anne McLeish
Director