GRIEVANCE DEBATE
Ms KARA COOK (Bonner) (13:25): Good governments remove barriers, create opportunity and give Australians the confidence to look to the future. That is exactly what the Albanese Labor government is delivering. For parents of young children, returning to study, training or work is not always easy or as simple as just updating a resume or applying for a job.
That is why the Albanese Labor government created Parent Pathways, Australia's first voluntary pre-employment service for parents and carers of young children. Recognising that every family's circumstances are different, participants are matched with a qualified mentor who helps them identify their goals and build a pathway towards them. Support can include career guidance; help accessing child care, connecting with education and training or improving language and literacy skills; or assistance with practical things like work clothing, computers or getting a drivers licence.
Importantly, Parent Pathways is entirely voluntary. Choosing not to participate does not affect any component of income support. I recently had the opportunity to visit ETC, one of the organisations delivering Parent Pathways, in Upper Mount Gravatt in my electorate of Bonner.
Meeting with the mentors and hearing about their work was genuinely inspiring. The mentors absolutely love their jobs. Their role isn't simply helping people to find employment; it's about building confidence, listening without judgement and helping parents believe in themselves again.
The parents that I met during the visit were glowing about their mentors, and one of the participants even started crying as she recalled to me the feeling of her mentor guiding her and coaching her through that process, restoring her confidence in herself, which then gave her the confidence to apply for roles and interview in a way that ended with her being successful for multiple opportunities.
With a young family, it was the first job that she had had in years, and that relationship with her mentor shone through. Another story that stayed with me was of someone by the name of David who was experiencing homelessness and living in a park with his five children. Through Parent Pathways, he received support to obtain his drivers licence and began flexible work that allowed him to support his family while continuing with his caring responsibilities.
Today he's working, he's able to provide for his children and he's planning to establish a community organisation to help others who have experienced hardship. That is what this opportunity looks like. As I said, it's not simply about finding a job but restoring dignity and giving people the opportunity to provide that support to their young families.
More than 30,000 parents across Australia have now participated in Parent Pathways, including more than 6,800 in Queensland. In Bonner alone, over 200 parents have participated and are connected currently through the two sites in our electorate, in Mount Gravatt and Wynnum. Behind every one of those numbers is a family able to move forward with their lives with respect and dignity.
Supporting Australian families also means helping parents to navigate a rapidly changing digital world. Every parent knows that raising children today is different from even five or 10 years ago. Smartphones, social media feeds and online platforms are available around the clock, and technology has created extraordinary opportunities for young people but it's also created unprecedented risks.
That is why we are trying to protect children from things like cyberbullying, harmful content, online exploitation and algorithms that are designed to keep them scrolling. The Albanese Labor government's world-leading social media legislation was introduced because Australian families deserve to know that children's safety comes before the profits of multinational technology companies.
More than five million under-16s' accounts have already been removed, deactivated or restricted, but some platforms are not doing enough. That's why the Albanese Labor government is strengthening the powers of the eSafety Commissioner and doubling the maximum penalty for companies that fail to comply from $49.5 million to $99 million. The commissioner will have stronger powers to require social media companies to provide evidence of what they are doing to keep under-16s off their platforms, because accountability only works when regulators have the tools they need to enforce the law.
If companies want to operate in Australia, they must comply with the Australian law. The Albanese Labor government is also improving transparency for telecommunications consumers. From today, new industry standards require telecommunications providers to publish clearer, more consistent mobile coverage maps, making it easier for Australians to compare providers and understand the level of service they can expect.
Providers will also be required to publish standardised information about network outages, giving Australians greater visibility when services are disrupted. These practical reforms put Australians first by ensuring consumers have the information and protections they deserve. Over the past few weeks, I've also had the opportunity to spend time with some wonderful schools, businesses, volunteer organisations and community organisations right across my electorate of Bonner, and I want to take a moment to share some of those stories with the chamber.
It was a pleasure to attend—and it's the first time I've had the opportunity to do this—the inaugural Brisbane to Bundaberg Offshore Yacht Race. As someone who grew up sailing, it was a real honour to be there for that first inaugural race as the fleet departed from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, just off the coast of Manly in my electorate. I know the dedication, teamwork and lifelong friendships that are built through the sport of sailing.
The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron is a wonderful jewel in the crown of my local Bonner community, and it was great to see that spirit alive and well on the day. Events like this support our local businesses, attract visitors to the area and strengthen relationships between both the city and regional communities, like Bundaberg. Congratulations to everyone who was involved in that inaugural race.
I hope to see it continue for many years to come. A healthy democracy depends on young Australians understanding how it works and knowing that their voices matter. That is why opportunities to engage with students in our roles as parliamentarians is so important.
In the last couple of weeks I visited some local schools, Belmont State School and Holland Park State High School, to speak with students about civics, democracy and the role of a federal politician. The questions that the students asked were incredibly thoughtful—some quite challenging—but also insightful about what's on young people's minds. I love being able to get out and about in the community, talking not just with the students but also with the teachers and principals who are all growing and developing the minds of our young people in Bonner.
Finally, I also want to talk about some of our dedicated local volunteers. In Bonner, we have around 20,000 people who volunteer each and every year right across the electorate. Since 1942, the Wynnum Manly Red Cross has supported people through disasters, emergencies and some of life's most difficult moments.
Their trauma teddy program provides comfort to more than 1,400 people every year. The trauma teddies are a real team effort. Some of the volunteers I've met with are forming the bodies, and some of them do the little faces on the teddies.
They're providing them to local police stations, local hospitals and charities to give people in those moments, particularly children, comfort during times of great distress. Thank you to all of our volunteers at the Wynnum Manly Red Cross. It's a real privilege to be involved with your organisation, and I absolutely love visiting you every couple of months to see the great work that you are doing.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Payne ): There being no further grievances, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Sitting suspended from 13 : 35 to 16 : 00