08-05-2025
Maryborough's The Nest parental program to close as Go Goldfields funding dries up
A successful program helping new parents in one of Victoria's most disadvantaged communities has closed due to a lack of funding.
Maryborough, a town of about 8,000 people two hours north-west of Melbourne, has long struggled with socio-economic challenges.
Downturns in manufacturing, rail and farming have seen the town consistently fall on hard times.
Go Goldfields, a partnership featuring community, council and government leaders, has been working to break the cycle of disadvantage for children and families in the region since 2010.
Its premier program was a drop-in space for new parents called The Nest, which offered support and provided referrals to relevant health services and parenting programs.
It was deemed an immediate success in the community and was granted two early years awards by the Victorian government last year.
However last month, it was forced to close after Go Goldfields exhausted the $1.225 million in Victorian government funding it had received since 2021.
The funding was not renewed.
The closure has left local parents devastated, including Kallie Swann.
Ms Swann became a first-time mum in 2023, giving birth to her son Greyson.
She said it was "terrifying" to think of The Nest not being there.
Ms Swann had moved to Maryborough two years earlier and was yet to find her social network.
Through The Nest she joined a local playgroup, received breastfeeding and mental health support, and learned about the services available to her son, such as free dental at the local hospital.
By the time The Nest closed, the facilitators felt like friends.
Ms Swann said she was worried about what would happen to other new parents.
More than 2,200 families have dropped into The Nest since July 2022, resulting in 1,300 referrals to health and family support services.
Go Goldfields narrowed its focus to early childhood in 2020, including offering parenting programs and collaborating with kindergartens and schools to help children transition into education.
It has seen a drastic rise in participation in 15 hours of kindergarten from 33 per cent in 2019 to 85 per cent in 2024.
Central Goldfields Shire Council interim chief executive, Sally Jones, said funding originally came from Regional Development Victoria, but she had been told it was no longer available.
Ms Jones said approaches to the state and federal governments had so far been unsuccessful.
She said the holistic program crossed multiple government portfolios and she believed that had worked against it.
"We're not here to find a comfortable portfolio for a program that works," she said.
"We are trying to get ministers to support this regardless and to look at what this has been achieving in a very small, disadvantaged area.
A Victorian government spokesperson said it funded a "wide range of services in Central Goldfields Shire" but did not explain why Go Goldfields had missed out.
"We will continue to work with Central Goldfields Shire Council to explore sustainable funding for future programs," the spokesperson said.
Jesuit Social Services has been researching locational disadvantage for 25 years.
It has consistently ranked Maryborough among the most disadvantaged communities in Victoria, in its 2007, 2015 and 2021 Dropping Off The Edge reports.
The 2007 report was the trigger for the establishment of the Go Goldfields program in 2010.
Jesuit Social Services chief executive Julie Edwards said the long-term nature of the research had shown how hard it could be to shift entrenched disadvantage.
She described a "web" people got caught in, requiring solutions with 20 to 30-year horizons.
Speaking generally, Ms Edwards said having physical places such as neighbourhood houses or community hubs was vital.
"Otherwise, we're hollowing out community and making it a series of services that often aren't coordinated," she said.
"We've got an epidemic of loneliness and isolation so these places of belonging and respect are really important."
Ms Jones said it was not too late to continue the work of Go Goldfields.
"The space is there. If the funding advocacy was successful we would absolutely open it as a drop-in because that is what makes it work," she said.
