We have launched a new initiative in Sunbury which aims to improve the support for families who are at risk of engaging with the child protection system.

Funded by the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Sunbury Village offers families a stronger, more cohesive network of support services and the opportunity to engage with services earlier before challenges within the family unit become unmanageable.

The project has been in development for over a year with the work being guided by a group of local community members who have a lived experience of the child protection system in collaboration with over 70 professionals from 35 agencies providing services to families and children in Sunbury.

“The plan is to make things easier for families to navigate the services that are available to them,” says Jess Stehn, Sunbury Village’s Lived Experience Lead.  “The aim is to give people the tools to support themselves to improve their own life circumstances.  It’s really exciting that we are at the stage where the projects we have been planning, are coming to life and the work is about to begin.”

Leading the project we have partnered with Hume City Council, Victoria Police, The Orange Door, local schools, and support services working with families in Sunbury.

Hume Mayor Jarrod Bell explained that the project brings services, families and the community together.  “Sunbury Village will create that scaffolding around our families and children so that they have everything they need to thrive independent of services.”

Member for Sunbury, Josh Bull congratulated the team behind Sunbury Village and expressed his hope that the framework can be replicated elsewhere.

“This model of Sunbury Village may not just be a model that works here in Sunbury for local families but for communities right across Hume and beyond.”

The next steps will be to establish the Sunbury Family Leadership Group made up of local families who can share their experience engaging with services to help improve the outcomes for other families. The group will meet every two months.