Broadmeadows public housing estate Banksia Gardens to get $90,000 funding for community programs

A host of community programs aimed at encouraging participation for tenants at a Broadmeadows public housing estate have been given a cash boost to the tune of almost $100,000. Here’s where the cash will go.

Banksia Gardens Community Services chief executive Gina Dougall has welcomed cash to fund its community programs. Picture: Mark Wilson

Public housing tenants at a Broadmeadows estate are set to benefit from almost $100,000 in government funding aimed at improving safety and increasing community participation.

Victorian Housing Minister Richard Wynne announced the $90,000 package for the Community Connections project on Thursday, which supports tenants of the Banksia Gardens public housing estate.

Speaking at Banksia Gardens Community Services’ 40th anniversary celebrations, Mr Wynne said the project aimed to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour at the estate and improve health and wellbeing by providing education, employment, recreation and social opportunities.

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“The Community Connections project will help transform lives with great opportunities that improve the health and wellbeing of tenants and help them engage with the wider community,” he said.

Over the past 40 years more than 80,000 people living at the estate and in the wider community have benefited from the programs at Banksia Gardens.

The programs have included a youth study group, school holiday activities, VCAL classes, accredited vocational training in children’s studies, computer classes for older residents, multicultural playgroups, employment programs and a violence against women prevention program.

Two new community development workers have also been recruited to support the delivery of the project.

Calwell federal Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou said Banksia Gardens supported the community in the most basic of human pursuits.

“Working to empower people, and to tackle the root causes of disadvantage and injustice is very much a legacy of this organisation’s origins,” she said.

Ms Vamvakinou said the organisation was now a driving force for social change, research-based action and innovation in Broadmeadows and across the region.

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