ParentsNext – assisting parents to plan and prepare for work
Since migrating to Australia from India six years ago, Anitha had been primarily focussed on raising her two children. Ready to get back into the workforce, she found herself feeling disheartened that she couldn’t find work in Australia despite her nine years of Accounting experience in India. Wanting to explore her opportunities to get back into work, Anitha made contact with ParentsNext.
ParentsNext is a free Australian Government program that provides specialised support and assistance to help parents with children under the age of six to plan and prepare for future employment.
To help Anitha gain local work experience and increase her confidence, her local ParentsNext provider, Belinda, assisted her to update her résumé and to find a paid traineeship in an Accounting firm. She also helped Anitha obtain a driver’s license so she could get herself to and from her traineeship.
“I went to ParentsNext and met Belinda. She helped me to write my résumé. This was helpful for me to find my accounting job,” said Anitha.
Anitha is now completing her traineeship and feels ParentsNext is providing her with the additional support she needs.
“Once I entered into ParentsNext, I felt very positive. Because I come from overseas our family is not here so it’s good there are some people to look after us,” said Anitha.
Watch Anitha share her ParentsNext story
Learn more about ParentsNext at the Australian Government Department of Employment.
ParentsNext – supporting parents
With the help of ParentsNext, mother of three Amy, gained the confidence she needed to go back to school.
ParentsNext is a free Australian Government program that provides specialised support and assistance to help parents with children under the age of six to plan and prepare for future education or employment.
Being out of the workforce for a number of years while she raised her children, Amy was motivated to get some qualifications but was not sure how to go about it. Connecting with her local ParentsNext provider, Ben changed this.
“I was really eager and excited to see what they were going to be able to offer me and to see if they were going to be able to help me find what I really did want to do,” said Amy.
Ben helped Amy to organise her thoughts, identify her interests and set up a plan to achieve her goals. She enrolled in Women’s Studies at TAFE with the intention to complete the Certificate II, III, and IV before transitioning to university.
“This wave of emotion just took over me and I’m like, I’m going to university. That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” said Amy.
ParentsNext providers can also help parents to prepare for work by helping them write or update their résumé, practice for their next interview and assist them to access childcare.
Watch Amy’s story in full
Learn more about ParentsNext at the Australian Government Department of Employment.