Advancing Country Towns - addressing disadvantage

The four-year $9.4 million Advancing Country Towns (ACT) program is supporting nine regional and rural communities experiencing the challenges of rapid change and complex disadvantage.

Over June and July 2012, local projects have started launching initiatives that have been approved by their local steering groups.

Benalla ACT

• Fair Start will pilot the internationally-successful Parents Early Education Partnership program
• Super Services will bring together important local family and community services so that families have better access and do not miss out on the services that will help them improve their quality of life.  
  

Alexandra ACT

• Early Years initiative aims to retain and attract young families to settle in the area by improving family services, including child care, enabling more parents to participate in the local workforce.
  

Robinvale ACT

• Fair Start has leveraged support from the Australian Government and the local business, community and philanthropic sectors, to conduct a range of integrated early years programs. This initiative will work with parents and vulnerable families to prepare local children for the start of school, making sure that they get the best start in life.
• The Mentoring program will kick off with 20 mentors from local business and industry mentoring up to 50 young people to address local skills gaps.

ACT works with communities to identify local needs and come up with local solutions. ACT initiatives now under way have been selected to give young people the best possible start in life, improve education and employment opportunities, and improve local service efficiencies.

Nine communities have been funded under ACT. The four townships of Benalla, Colac, Lakes Entrance and Robinvale have received $810,000 each. The five groups of towns receiving $890,000 each are:

• Alexandra/Eildon/Thornton
• Clunes/Creswick/Talbot
• Heywood/Condah/Myamyn/Miltown/Drumborg/ Heathmere
• Mallee Track/Ouyen/Walpeup/Underbool/Cowangie/Murrayville
• Lower Tarwin/Middle Tarwin/Tarwin/Meeniyan/Koonwarra/Buffalo/Dumbalk/Venus Bay and Fish Creek