Program partners
Gidget Foundation Australia would like to thank these like-minded organisations that kindly support our programs.
Get in touch to find out about partnership opportunities: contact@gidgetfoundation.org.au
Testimonials
Stockland Shellharbour
"I have worked with Gidget Foundation Australia for over 5 years during my time at Stockland. Over this time, we have launched several Gidget House facilities within our Retail Town Centres, with more to follow.
The Gidget Foundation is an incredibly professional organisation doing wonderful work to make meaningful change to communities across Australia by making pre and post-natal care more readily accessible to countless families. Our partnership has meant that our own local communities have access to these vital services, which in turn has created value for Stockland and our partners by enhancing the wellbeing in the communities in which we operate.
The drive and determination of the Gidget Team has led to the rapid and continuing expansion of these services, and we are proud to be a partner in this. This focus is complimented by a professional, always cheerful, and delightful working culture which makes every interaction a pleasure.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of working with the Gidget Foundation is the sense of fulfilment that it brings to our own team. By working on this partnership, they feel like they are contributing to such an important and worthy partnership that improves life for so many people they know – their families, friends, and neighbours."
Daniel Buchanan
Stockland Shellharbour
Tresillian
"Over the past 5 years Gidget Foundation Australia (GFA) and Tresillian have collaborated to establish and deliver specialist perinatal mental health support for parents living in rural and regional areas. The two organisations had identified shared vision and values, both being committed to improving access to specialist services and support for families in the critical early years of their child’s life.
During this period, GFA services have been established through co-location in Tresillian Regional Family Care Centres in ten locations across the length and breadth of rural and regional NSW. These include services delivered to families living in the following towns and surrounding communities: Dubbo, Coffs Harbour, Taree, Wagga Wagga, Queanbeyan, Lismore, Cowra, Moruya, Muswellbrook and Armidale. The organisations continue to work together to establish more services with plans in place to recruit to services in areas such as Grafton, Goulburn and Griffith.
The co-location model provides a family friendly, stigma-free environment for parents requiring specialist perinatal mental health care and support. The Family Care Centres aim to provide a ‘non- clinical’, inviting environment. GFA is provided with a consultation room which is furnished as per GFA’s requirements for a calm and comfortable space in which counselling can take place.
The two organisations have met regularly to review and consider strategies to continually improve access to and the experience of parents seeking perinatal mental health counselling support in these areas. A tangible example of one such improvement has been the development of a secondary referral portal to enable Tresillian clinicians to share the outcomes of the comprehensive psychosocial assessment undertaken during level 2 child and family health consultations.
With the parent’s permission, this information is shared with GFA Triage and the GFA practitioner who will provide consultations for the parent/s. This has proven to be an incredibly valuable initiative, noting that while a Mental Health Plan (MHP) continues to be required by GFA from the parent’s GP, there are times when the MHP does not provide the detail of psychosocial history impacting on perinatal mental health that is available following a Tresillian Level 2 CFH consultation. The sharing of this information can now inform the triage decision-making process regarding clinical prioritisation and enhances the experience of the parent in not having to re-tell their story repeatedly.
Other initiatives include discussions regarding how to overcome workforce and recruitment challenges, with GFA subsequently establishing a Workforce Development Training Program with supervision provided to practitioners new to the delivery of perinatal mental health care. This strategy has had a significant impact, enabling not only the recruitment of mental health practitioners to the GFA services co-located in Tresillian Regional Family Care Centres, but importantly capacity building in allied health professionals in rural and regional areas.
It has been a privilege to be a part of the GFA-Tresillian collaboration, to watch this grow and observe the impact in increasing access to specialist care and support for families, and the availability of referral pathways for other health professionals in rural and regional NSW."
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Deborah Stockton
Director Service Integration and Evaluation, Tresillian