Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last month I had the privilege of visiting Ngala, which is a great not-for-profit in my electorate. They provide support for families and parents to become the best versions of themselves. Ngala delivers a number of services including a parenting hotline from 8 am to 8 pm to help parents talk about issues that they're facing.

As a mum, I know that parenting is a tough job. In some ways, it's much tougher than the work we do in this place. Children, particularly newborns, are demanding at all hours of the day. It's not a nine-to-five job. There's little training, and often you can be running on little to no sleep. So Ngala also has a residential service program which gives support to parents in a nurturing environment through either a day stay or a stay of a few days. This can make a transformational difference to both the confidence of parents and the wellbeing of these children and babies.

Interestingly, the name 'Ngala' was chosen from the Noongar language of WA and refers to the symbiosis between parents and children and the duality of the way that they survive together. The thing that's also interesting about Ngala is that, for my first child, I had the opportunity to have my mothers group in their premises in Kensington. They also have childcare services, and they continue to do wonderful work not only in the communities of Swan but also across all of Western Australia.