Celebrating Continued Funding for Tasmania’s Young Parents

In a win for young Tasmanian families, Brave Foundation has secured continued funding for its flagship Supporting Expecting and Parenting Teens (SEPT) program, guaranteeing vital support beyond June 2025.

The renewed funding – $1.8million over four years under the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy – will allow Brave to continue delivering its mentoring and support services to young parents, helping them build strong, resilient families and brighter futures.

Brave CEO Jill Roche welcomed the announcement, saying the program directly supported 162 young parents in 2024 alone.

“The SEPT program provides critical assistance to young parents and has demonstrably improved the lives of young Tasmanian parents, supporting their engagement in education and employment, and strengthening parenting skills,” Ms Roche said.

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff MP said the SEPT program was a beneficial and evidence-based program supporting young parents.

“I look forward to hearing about the ongoing positive wellbeing outcomes your program will provide to young parents in Tasmania,” he said.

Founded in Tasmania in 2009, Brave has a proud history of walking alongside young parents across the state, helping them unlock their boundless potential.

Brave’s focus on building the strengths and capability of young parents in the SEPT program, including wellbeing, parenting, and education and employment goals, is essential for ensuring that every young parent and their child can thrive and belong.

Chanell, a past participant who is currently involved in Brave’s lived experience advisory group said “I think it (Brave’s program) is pretty important, especially because there’s not much around for young parents. Like everything is mostly based around the children, whereas Brave is mostly for the parents and there’s not many things like that.”

While the SEPT program is parent-focused, it is designed with the wellbeing of the entire family in mind. It draws on evidence around the first 2000 days of a child’s life, emphasising the critical role of parents in laying the foundation for their children’s lifelong health, safety, and success. This approach is closely aligned with the Tasmanian Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy, supporting the health, wellbeing, and parenting skills of young parents to create safer, more stable family environments.

“Brave’s history and deep partnerships in Tasmania reflect our commitment to the communities in which we work. It’s important to acknowledge our colleagues in the broader community services sector who are also making significant contributions to the lives of young Tasmanians,” Ms Roche said.

“We are grateful to the Tasmanian Government for their recognition that young parents are capable parents, and that with the right support, they can build strong, thriving and happy families.”

30 May 2025

Background

Brave Foundation was incorporated as a not-for-profit and launched in Hobart in 2009. Its first office opened in Kingston in 2014 and shortly after it expanded nationally. Through generous funding from the Department of Communities Tasmania in 2022, Tasmania became the first state where Brave rolled out its flagship SEPT program at scale.

The SEPT program is an innovative mentoring program and Pathway Plan framework, co-designed with young parents. The personalised program matches an expecting or parenting young person with a SEPT Mentor working virtually, from local hub sites, community organisations or via outreach. Mentors work together with the expecting or parenting young person on what is important to them including (but not limited to) education and workforce participation; goalsetting; career path guidance; health and wellbeing; navigating financial and housing assistance; and parenting skills.