Mundipharma is pleased to partner with leading child protection charity Barnardos Australia, funding a pilot program to help disadvantaged Aboriginal families with young children.

Mundipharma has become the primary supporter of a new and exciting project that Barnardos will be piloting with the founding Director of the Children and Families Research Centre at Macquarie University, Professor Jennifer Bowes. This pilot initiative will involve developing parenting resources to help young Aboriginal families with children aged 0-3 years.  It will be piloted in the small town of Nyngan, Western NSW and will initially support 20 children and their parents. These families have little support at present and have undergone immense trauma that spans generations, caught in a cycle of poor parenting and disadvantage. The “Parents as Teachers” initiative will be an intensive family support program using culturally appropriate resources. Professor Jennifer Bowes is, for the first time, specifically developing new collateral to support Aboriginal families. If the pilot in Nyngan is successful, the program will be rolled out Australia wide.

The early years of a child’s life are precious and lay the foundations for their development which is why early intervention is so important. Unfortunately, too many young mums have never been shown how to care for their children, and this program will support them to ensure their children get the best start in life. Barnardos’ experienced staff will be leading special group sessions with families 3 times a week for 4 hours at a time to teach the young mums basic parenting skills so they can better care for their children. How to talk and interact with your baby, how to play with them, how to recognise the different sounds they make, developmental milestones to look out for, when to be worried, how to stimulate and develop their educational needs so they don’t start behind at school and more will be covered.