Frank McGuire, Broadmeadows MP
A world-first opportunity to improve the lives of women is being established in Broadmeadows.
This strategy combines a network of support for the security of families with internationally proven innovation to help unemployed women start their own businesses and create jobs.
The microfinance program that won Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Peace Prize will be established for the first time in Australia, starting in Broadmeadows.
The plan is to expand nationwide, creating 6000 jobs for women in the next two years.
For decades I have pursued ways to address the compounding complexity of place-based disadvantage and met the Nobel laureate in Melbourne in 2018 to pursue this initiative.
The new program will combine small loans, peer support and mentoring to help women establish their own businesses. Focus is on older women, those with disabilities and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
The ‘Broadmeadows Comeback strategy’ links this internationally successful microfinance initiative the Australian Government is backing to the Victorian Government’s $448 million response to the first Royal Commission into Family Violence, the Orange Door network.
This Australian-first initiative is fundamental for better opportunities in life for adults, children and young people experiencing or using family violence, and families in need of extra support for the wellbeing and development of their children.
The Victorian Government is ensuring families can access coordinated services for free.
The Orange Door network is scheduled to begin operating in Broadmeadows within months, with the state-wide rollout completed next year.
In Parliament, I thanked the Victorian Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Gabrielle Williams, for delivering the Orange Door Network, fundamental for change, and the Australian Government’s Minister for Women’s Economic Security, Jane Hume, for backing the microfinancing program with a $3.5 million investment.
Combining such ground breaking initiatives will maximise opportunities for women where they are needed most.
