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The decision to close Parentline is wrong

GPV/KCV joins with other critics condemning the closure of the parentline service after 25 years of service to Victorian parents and carers.

With a relatively small annual budget of $1.3 million dollars, the confidential counselling phone line support service has supported up to 18,000 families a year.
KCV has referred many kinship carers to the service over the years and knows that it will be missed by them.

“At a time when we can find plenty of money for sporting facilities, we cannot find a meagre amount of money to sustain a ‘tried and true’ service for the most vulnerable families in Victoria.“

Anne McLeish, OAM
Director

A new video from GPV/KCV on positive discipline

GPV/KCV is pleased to launch its video on positive discipline.

It is a feature in the GPV/KCV campaign to ensure that physical punishment of children is made illegal across Australia.

The video is a reminder that positive discipline can work and should be viewed in conjunction with reading written materials on positive discipline.

Non-physical types of discipline for children and young people (booklet)
Reasons not to hit children (article)
Physical punishment in Australia (video)

GPV/KCV commends signing the petition to have physical punishment made illegal across Australia.

https://www.change.org/p/end-physical-punishment-of-children-protect-australian-children

GPV supports the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign

Grandmothers and grandmothers in Canada, Australia, the UK and US have rallied in response to the crisis faced by grandmothers in Africa as they struggle to raise millions of children orphaned by AIDS. Local groups are raising funds in their communities to support the life-enhancing programs run by grandmothers in Africa and the community-led organisations who support them.
GPV is pleased to support this movement, which aims to amplify the voices and expertise of grandmothers, showing the world that leadership by older women is critical in reclaiming hope and rebuilding resilience across communities.
The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign seeks for all grandmothers:
• Access to equitable and free health care
• Protection against discrimination and violence
• Protection and enforcement of land rights
• Improved quality of life and standard of living
• Quality education for our grandchildren
• Inclusion in decision-making bodies and policy discussions as representatives of older persons, women, people living with HIV, and caregivers.
The campaign was launched in 2006 as an initiative of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and has raised more than $40 million in support of it.
There are three local Grandmothers to Grandmothers groups in Australia. They are based in:
• Emerald, Victoria
• Barrington, NSW
• Mt Claremont in WA

https://grandmotherscampaign.org/

campaign@stephenlewisfoundation.org

GPV/KCV says The Victorian Government backflip on youth justice is shameful!

Courtesy of Mark Knight, Herald Sun

Like many other organisations, GPV/KCV has in the past urged the Victorian Government to raise they age of criminal responsibility to 14 years of age. In doing so we are mindful of the reasons why it is inappropriate to assume that the child brain is responsible in the same way as an adult brain. We have never argued that children who commit crimes should not face consequences. Rather, we argue that the consequences need to be appropriate to their young age and designed to divert them away from future offending. Further, we are embarrassed by the fact that we now lag way behind so many other countries in the world who have lifted the age of criminal responsibility.

The Victorian Government has asked us to carry a heavy burden of collective shame and embarrassment on this matter.

GPV/KCV Meets with Minister Blandthorn

On 17 July 24 the Board of GPV/KCV met with Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn and Minister for Transport Infrastructure Danny Pearson.

The discussion covered a broad range of topics related to the joys and pressures of raising children up until age 11. This age range fits with the Minister’s priority to do as much as she can towards early years support for families. Specific issues discussed included: respite for kinship carers, inclusion of grandparents as support to parents to prevent children being removed, an increased subsidy to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for children on a health care card (this is a federal issue which he Minister has raised at a national level), and access to early childhood kindergarten.

Board members thanked the Ministers for the generous amount of time they spent talking through some very critical issues.

Loneliness Awareness Week Australia 5-11 August 2024

GPV commends the white paper Ending Loneliness Together in Australia

The paper, released November 2020, is the first white paper to highlight the growing problem of loneliness in Australia and is well worth reading.

The paper lists recommendations to drive a national approach to end loneliness, and describes the latest research and data on the prevalence of loneliness. It identifies communities that are especially vulnerable to loneliness, and outlines the policy, practice and process pathways that can be modified and adapted to combat loneliness effectively.

Dr Michelle Lim, Australia’s leading scientific expert on loneliness, says:
“The impact of loneliness in Australia is broad and deep; it cuts across all sectors of our society.”

DOWNLOAD WHITE PAPER
KCV PODCAST COMBATTING LONELINESS
GPV/KCV acknowledges the people of the Kulin Nation, the traditional custodians of these lands and pays respect to their Elders, both past and present, and to the deep knowledge of the land that is embedded within the Indigenous communities.
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