STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator ANANDA-RAJAH (Victoria) (13:35): Flexible, tailored, voluntary support—that is the Albanese Labor government's Parent Pathways program, which, to date, has provided support for nearly 40,000 eligible parents and carers around Australia. I the privilege of meeting one centre in Cheltenham in the electorate of Goldstein recently, and I heard firsthand how Parent Pathways is changing lives.

It's helping parents with young kids fulfil their aspirations, whether that be getting a job or starting a course, starting a small business, maybe getting a loan, maybe getting their driver's licence or, indeed, buying a car, and it is working. I heard about one mother who had finished her degree, but, like so many young mums, her career had stalled. She was unsure how to proceed.

With the help of Parent Pathways, she drew up a business plan, she set up an online website, she approached local councils, and she's now running art workshops. In other words, she has started her own business, living the dream. Sometimes people don't need the deep end of the employment service system.

They have the skills and they have the smarts. It's the small things that stop them. It might be how to get a driver's licence because maybe they don't have the confidence; how to get a car loan application; how to fit TAFE and study around a 3-year-old child, a busy toddler; how to find mental health support; or how to self-advocate when your own voice is muted because you lack the confidence.

Parent Pathways is designed to help parents of young children find their voice and map out those steps so that they can fulfil their aspirations and their own personal and professional goals. If you are a parent of a young child and you are on some type of carer payment, then Parent Pathways is for you. Go and check it out.

I pay tribute to the team at Cheltenham Parent Pathways. I thank them profoundly for what they do for our local community.