The Andrews Labor Government’s record boost for Victoria’s neighbourhood houses means even more opportunities for Victorians to foster local connections in their community, learn new skills and boost their health and wellbeing.
Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos visited the Glen Eira Adult Learning Centre in Ormond today to announce it was one of 27 additional neighbourhood houses that will be funded through the Neighbourhood Houses Coordination Program.
It includes 16 brand new houses and 11 existing houses – including Glen Eira – that will receive Neighbourhood House Coordination Program funding for the first time, meaning they will be able to provide even more services and support to the local community.
Each of these neighbourhood houses will receive funding for up to 25 coordination hours per week, which is estimated to deliver up to 50 hours of activities and programs per week for their local community.
Twelve of the 27 houses are in regional Victoria, including Bendigo, Ballarat, Sale, Nagambie, Charlton and Warrnambool. A total of 10 projects will be in growth areas, such as Melton, Casey, Whittlesea and Wyndham.
Neighbourhood houses provide their communities with a place to come together and access vital employment, training and volunteering opportunities.
This includes things like language classes, computer tutoring, health and wellbeing activities, life skills lessons, self-help groups and occasional childcare.
The Labor Government announced a record $21.8 million over four years to boost its Neighbourhood House Coordination Program in the Victorian Budget 2018/19, which has led to an increase in coordination hours for 162 houses – the biggest ever boost of its kind.
This investment has also delivered an extra 4,800 funded hours of support and advice so individual houses can learn how best to run their services.
In total, the Labor Government funds more than 400 neighbourhood houses across the state, supporting almost 200,000 Victorians each week who visit a house or use their services.
