New parents in rural and regional NSW will have access to increased specialised support thanks to $12.2 million in funding to enable Tresillian and Gidget Foundation Australia to collaborate and expand their services.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the support package was included in the NSW 2021-22 Budget in recognition of the challenges that can arise during the early years.
“We all know babies are a blessing, but their arrival can also be a challenging time for some parents, dealing with issues such as post-natal depression or struggles when feeding or settling doesn’t quite go to plan,” Mr Perrottet said.
“We want parents to feel supported to give them and their child the best start in life.”
Minister for Mental Health Bronnie Taylor said the funding will go towards six new Regional Family Care Centres (FCC), five Tresillian mobile vans and continued funding for staff at the Macksville Residential Unit.
“We know that up to 50 per cent of mums whose babies have sleeping or feeding issues, suffer from post-natal anxiety and depression. These centres have Tresillian nurses and a Gidget Foundation mental health clinician working together to help the baby and parents,” Mrs Taylor said.
“I know how difficult it can be adjusting to life with a newborn and having services like this close to home really will be life changing for regional families.”
Tresillian is the largest early parenting service in Australia, providing advice, support and evidence-based programs to families in the early years as well as leadership and support for other agencies and organisations. Gidget Foundation Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that helps new and expectant parents to receive specialist care through a range of programs, including face-to-face and telehealth psychological counselling by experienced perinatal clinicians.
The NSW Government funded five FCCs in the 2018-19 Budget. In the past two years these Regional FCC’s have provided more than 14,000 services to families.