Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mia Ristovska is a third-year Bachelor of Social Work student, and she is currently on placement in my office. The words that I will read now have been written by her. She has been a fine student and we have enjoyed having her in the office. In her last placement she visited a number of caravan parks and has reported to me that to look at the parks was displeasing. The vans are dilapidated and the few amenities available are odious. Yet when talking to the residents themselves she found their outlook to be positive, despite the various adversities thrown at them. The children thrive socially and emotionally. She found that the community spirit evident in the parks was the result of collaboration between the residents and the Caravan Park project.

The Caravan Park project is a support service for caravan parks and manufactured home residences in the Hunter Valley and Lake Macquarie regions. As well as providing onsite support for park residents, the caravan project aims to facilitate resident empowerment through asset based community development, or ABCD, by increasing community leadership and by encouraging community strength.

The caravan project aims to build the esteem and comradeship of residents, which in turn will increase children’s resilience. It is this very resilience that keeps the children in the parks happy and healthy. Research suggests that resilience will give children the capacity as adults to lead satisfying and rewarding lives. Talking to the residents of the parks, Mia found it common to hear statements like: ‘The people here are like a big, happy family. The children love it and it is like a little community.’ The positive responses are testament to the work of the Caravan Park project, and their early intervention services should continue to be supported.

Despite the extraordinary efforts of the residents and the caravan project, some adversity remains. Most families on the park are there as a last resort, due to either homelessness or rental backlists or as an escape from domestic violence. After reaching the park, residents are further disempowered by having limitations placed on them by the park, such as private space or a ban on visitors. Their physical environment is haphazard and geographically they are often isolated. Both of these factors contribute to the high rate of ill health, school truancy and unemployment of park residents. The essential resources are simply not there to connect them. It is only through this Caravan Park project that these people are being connected to the mainstream community. It is an excellent project. I have had dealings with it over a long period of time. I congratulate Mia on the fine speech she wrote for me.

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