Greater support to help Indigenous Australians in Mareeba to be school ready

Joint Mediea Release

The Hon Alan Tudge MP

Minister for Education and Youth

The Hon Ken Wyatt MP

Minister for Indigenous Australians

Senator Susan McDonald

Federal Senator for Queensland

Funding has been extended for a Mareeba-based program helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to get the best possible start in life and to be ready to start school.

The Morrison Government will provide more than $1.4 million for the recently established Connected Beginnings project in Mareeba, supporting the delivery of coordinated local family information, advice and care through to June 2024.

The funding will help about 270 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged five and under, and their families, in Mareeba and the surrounding region.

Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said Connected Beginnings was an important part of the Government’s Closing the Gap initiatives.

“We need to make sure that families access the local health and early childhood education support that children need to help them get ready to learn and to start school,” Minister Tudge said.

“Only about one in three Indigenous children start school ready to learn. Supporting families in Mareeba who need extra assistance will help their children to get the best possible start in life and make the most of those early school years.”

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said the Connected Beginnings program has demonstrated success at lifting participation in early childhood education and care and assisted in improving school readiness outcomes for Indigenous children.

“Connected Beginnings connects children and families to essential health and education services. It ensures children are engaging with child care, preschool, playgroups and have regular developmental health checks,” Minister Wyatt said.

“The program works in partnership with the local community to increase confidence and safety for children and for families less inclined to engage with services, and it also encourages the community to take an active role in preparing its children for school.”

North Queensland-based Senator and Special Envoy for Northern Australia, Susan McDonald, said the Connected Beginnings project was coordinated locally by Mulungu Aboriginal Corporation Primary Health Care Service and had created jobs in Mareeba.

“Mulungu Aboriginal Corporation will work to establish a hub within Mareeba’s Indigenous community to engage with and support local children. It will also increase the proportion of services delivered within the program by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations,” Senator McDonald said.

“Education is the key to success in so many aspects of life, and this will have a positive impact on Indigenous children and families in the community for generations.”

The Morrison Government earlier this year committed an additional $82 million under the Closing the Gap implementation plan to expand up the Connected Beginnings program to a further 27 sites, to a total of 50 sites by 2024-25, and helping up to about 18,900 children nationally to be healthy and ready to thrive at school by age five.