Staff profile - The Parenting Place

Within just six months of moving to provide services online, The Parenting Place saw a tenfold increase in session attendance, compared to 2019.

The Parenting Place is delivered by the Child and Family Counselling Team at Caringbah Community Health Centre, part of South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) and offers a range of group and individual programs to parents seeking information and skills.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the service quickly adapted and began to provide online parenting groups to families, with an aim to increase access to quality interactive resources during the isolation period.

Manager Counselling, Violence Prevention and Response, Child, Youth and Family, Katrina Hurley, said the service changes included developing online booking systems, reformatting content for virtual mediums and troubleshooting technological limitations.

'The consumer feedback to The Parenting Place's virtual service has been overwhelmingly positive, with 95 per cent of participants reporting the sessions were useful or very useful,' Ms Hurley said.

'In addition, 100 per cent of parents surveyed indicated they would prefer to attend online groups rather than face-to-face sessions after the pandemic has passed – with more than half of those respondents nominating the lack of childcare as the reason.

'We still have a lot to learn about why the online groups are so popular, but it appears the online platform offers parents a practical solution to work and childcare limitations, as well as a certain level of privacy and safety for people.

'We are particularly encouraged to see we are reaching a more varied demographic of the local community, with a significantly higher proportion of culturally and linguistically diverse families, fathers and younger parents attending.

'It is exciting that the COVID-19 pandemic has created some new opportunities for our service, and engagement with a broader section of the community than ever before.'