Submission 56 — Extended Families Australia — Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative

25/9/25

Our Details

Julia Klieber Extended Families Australia
redacted

Submission: on behalf of the organisation. Public.

Background

Extended Families Australia is a not-for-profit disability provider that has been supporting children and young people (aged 0–40) with disabilities and their families across Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula for over 45 years. Their purpose is to foster friendship, inclusion, and community connection through a range of flexible support services.

I am a Development Manager with Extended Families Australia with over 15 years of experience in the Disability Sector.

Over the last 4.5 years I have overseen the implementation of community inclusion programs for Vietnamese families who have children with disabilities, many with Autism and developmental delays. I have seen firsthand how supported community inclusion opportunities can help shape a child’s learning and longer-term wellbeing.

Recommendations Summary

Funding should support regular community inclusion events for CALD families with bilingual disability support to reduce isolation and build life skills. Events should be held at least during school holidays in partnership with local organisations, offering ongoing opportunities. Disability providers should collaborate with grassroots CALD organisations and receive funding to promote events, assess support needs, and equip activity providers to include participants effectively.

Responding to the Terms of Reference

From 2019 to 2024 Extended Families ran a suite of innovative bilingual community inclusion programs (examples Tham Gia, Ket Noi) for Victoria’s western metropolitan Vietnamese community living with disability with funding from a variety of government sources. These funding sources included Information Linkages and Capacity Building, Support for Carers and local government grants.

Children and their parents were supported by bilingual community inclusion staff to undertake mainstream and specialised activities available in their local communities. Many of the children had Autism and Developmental Delays.

Regular event days in school holidays were organised where children were supported by Extended Families staff and their parents to engage with each other, try new activities and develop new skills and confidence. Activity providers were guided in how to include children with disabilities into the activity they provided.

These programs (which were free, or which attracted only a nominal donation from attendees) acted like a virtual bridge over which isolated children and families could travel, connect and grow within their communities. They were highly successful and popular as evidenced in feedback and attendance numbers.

From our practice experience, the Vietnamese disability community tends to enjoy exploring new activities and community events in a group setting rather than on their own. Children therefore have more opportunity to experience community activities in a family context and families enjoy attending events along with groups of other families.

Language barriers can present as a difficulty for many families in attending mainstream community events and the provision of bilingual support was a key element in the success of the Extended Families programs.

Further elements of success lay in the tailored disability assistance that was provided at each event ensuring families felt understood, correctly supported and welcomed; and the dedicated assistance given to community activity providers in helping them understand how to include children with disabilities into their activities was important.

Over time, children who regularly attended our programs grew in confidence and developed stronger social skills. Their families became more connected, increasingly viewing the programs as a partnership rather than simply a service.

With the conclusion of our funding, a significant gap has emerged in the service system for Vietnamese families in Melbourne’s west and we suspect also for other CALD communities elsewhere.

We urge the government to support programs like those that were offered by Extended Families, which help children from CALD communities with Autism and Developmental Delays break down isolation barriers. These programs provide vital opportunities for children to build confidence, develop essential life skills, and become more active members of their local communities.

Evidence

Please refer to Appendix One below.

Recommendations

• Funding is set aside for CALD community inclusion events programs where families are given bilingual disability support to overcome isolation barriers to be involved in community activities enabling them to practice and extend key life skills, build confidence and strengthen community connections.

• Event programs should be offered regularly—at minimum during school holidays and ideally more frequently—in partnership with Neighbourhood Houses, local community clubs, and activity providers. This will help ensure children and families are given opportunity to practice life skills and are connected to ongoing opportunities they may choose to continue accessing beyond the inclusion events.

• Disability Providers of Events Programs should work in partnership with grass roots organisations who are connected to CALD communities living with disability.

• Funding should be allocated to enable Disability Providers to promote and organise events, assess and respond to participants’ support needs, and collaborate with community activity providers to ensure they have the knowledge and resources to effectively include and support participants

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute. I hope the inquiry leads to real improvements that allow all children to reach their full potential.

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Julia Klieber

Appendix One

Please see overleaf

Appendix 1 Extended Families Australia THAM GIA SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM
In December 2023 all 105 families enrolled in Extended Families’ Tham Gia were sent a Program Feedback & Capacity Survey in Vietnamese and English via JotForm. Participants were surveyed about their experience of participating in the program, as well as the impact of their involvement on their capacity to become more involved in their communities generally. 37 (35%) of participating families responded.
Between January-December 2024 Tham Gia provided 14 separate events to participants in its Primary, Secondary, Explorer and Family groups.

Average Attendance	41 participants (average across all groups primary, secondary, explorer and family)
Average Participant Session Feedback Score (out of 10)	9.6/10 = 96%

The survey results are as follows:

1. My family has been made to feel welcome when we have attended Tham Gia and we have enjoyed participating in the program	2. My family has felt safe and supported when participating in Tham Gia events.	3. The program facilitators have helped my child/ren to engage in and learn from the activities provided.	4. By taking part in Tham Gia events my family has had more opportunities to connect with and develop friendships with others living with disability.	5. By taking part in Tham Gia our family feels more connected to the community.	6. By taking part in Tham Gia my family’s overall interest in participating in general community events and activities has grown.
33 - Strongly Agree 3 - Agree 1 - No Response 89% Strongly Agree 8% Agree 3% No Response 0% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree	33 - Strongly Agree 3 - Agree 1 - No Response 89% Strongly Agree 8% Agree 3% No Response 0% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree	33 - Strongly Agree 4 – Agree 89% Strongly Agree 11% Agree 0% No Response 0% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree	33 - Strongly Agree 4 – Agree 89% Strongly Agree 11% Agree 0% No Response 0% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree	31 - Strongly Agree 6 – Agree 84% Strongly Agree 16% Agree 0% No Response 0% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree	28 - Strongly Agree 9 – Agree 76% Strongly Agree 24% Agree 0% No Response 0% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree
7. By taking part in Tham Gia, our family is more aware of local community activities, clubs, and groups that we can get involved in.	8. Tham Gia has given our family the opportunity to try out and experience a variety of local activities that are available in the community.	9. In general our family has become more actively involved in local community activities and events because of our participation in the Tham Gia program.	10. Through our participation in Tham Gia, our family feels more confident to engage with community groups, clubs and events that interest us.	11. One or more members of my family have started participating in a community activity group or has attended a community event because they were motivated to do so by their participation in Tham Gia.	12. Programs like Tham Gia are important in building up my family’s skills and confidence in taking part in community activities and in overcoming the isolation felt due to disability concerns.
28 - Strongly Agree 9 – Agree	30 - Strongly Agree 7 – Agree	27 - Strongly Agree 10 – Agree	25 - Strongly Agree 12 – Agree	21 - Strongly Agree 16 – Agree	29 - Strongly Agree 8 – Agree