Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I speak in praise of Life Education Australia and, of course, Healthy Harold. I think most members would be familiar with Healthy Harold, and we grown-ups seem to like him as much as the kids do. I know that I am not averse to a cuddle from Healthy Harold. I can see the member for Hume nodding in agreement.

Jon Sullivan (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He’s had a cuddle from Harold too, has he?

Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think we have all had cuddles from Healthy Harold. My most recent was earlier this year at Lismore Heights Public School, where I met with Healthy Harold and the team, including Life Education Australia CEO Jay Bacik, to celebrate 30 years of Life Education Australia. Jay and his team do a tremendous job outreaching to all schools across Australia, including the 96 schools we have in my seat of Page. Two weekends ago I saw Healthy Harold in Grafton. He was riding in the Jacaranda Festival float. He gets around. He is everywhere.

Also present at Lismore Heights Public School was John Crowther, former mayor and councillor, aviation buff and member of the local support group back in 1979—I think it was 1979—when Reverend Ted Noffs founded it. What a good man the Reverend Ted Noffs was. Ted believed that each child was unique. He wanted them protected from drugs, including alcohol, and wanted to build a better world for the world’s children. That is one thing I like about Life Education Australia—it does not differentiate between illegal and legal toxic substances, and of course this includes alcohol, which is legal but toxic and deadly. It costs our nation dearly in health, family disruption, accidents and workplace impacts.

The plan of Life Education Australia is to reach a million children annually by 2012. They have approximately 100 mobile learning centres and countless volunteers all over the country, including in my local community, and they say that they are on track. They do of course need money and support. They get some privately from the corporate sector as well as from local communities and state and federal governments. They say that the total cost of developing and delivering programs to each child is about $14 per child, which requires an annual budget beyond $10 million. In 2006 a review of Life Education Australia was commissioned by the Department of Health and Ageing and conducted by Erebus International. I would like to put a couple of the review’s findings on the record. It said:

At grassroots level, it is both well-known and well respected for the contribution it has made towards encouraging young people to lead healthy lives.

…       …            …

Over 91% of teachers sought to ensure that the Life Education visit to the school was repeated for their students.

The review noted a couple of significant achievements, saying:

• Life Education’s materials and resources are based on sound theory and current research. The overall efficacy of the materials is also being enhanced through the drive towards seeking national consistency.

And they found some challenges for the organisation as well:

• As an organization that is external to education systems, Life Education can only operate as an “agent of influence”. It is, however, now well placed to play a strong leadership role, given its national structure and depth of human resources resident in the team of Educators in employs. Leadership in this sense should be viewed in the broadest sense of that word, not as a top-down approach, but as working through partnerships and strategic alliances to achieve the common goals of all concerned.

One of Life Education Australia’s strengths is that it outreaches to all children. It provides education around healthy eating and healthy habits, particularly with regard to drugs and alcohol. It is important that it does that, but equally important is that we as adults, as parents, as community leaders provide that leadership too. It is not just about law enforcement or about policing, it is about how we act because children copy us. We are the role models and we have to take that seriously.

Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hear, hear!

Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hume for his affirmation. Thank you.