Parliament House Giving Tree – supporting First Nations’ communities

Pictured here is CEO, Steph Harvey, with the Hon Senator Sue Lines and children from the Capital Hill Early Childhood Centre. The children made their own wrapping paper and sold it to raise money for Community First Development.

We’re so excited to be one of two charities to be selected as part of the Parliament Giving Tree Program this year!

This involved being invited to 'turn on the lights' at the Giving Tree celebrations at Parliament House on Ngunnawal Ngambri Country (Canberra).

We shared about our First Nations' community partnerships across Australia. We also highlighted and celebrated our community success stories.

A big thanks for having us, Parliament House, Milton Dick MP and Senator Sue Lines!

Being a part of the Parliament House Giving Tree means that we’re able to continue supporting First Nations’ communities across Australia. The way we support is connecting them with skilled volunteers who can assist with creating and building on programs and services. This results in more employment opportunities, stronger health and education, safer communities, and much more!

Self-determination is always at the forefront of everything we do.

Communities reach out to us because our way of working is unique and respectful. We know that to create a positive impact in communities, First Nations’ people have to be the ones to lead the way. Because they know their community best. They’ve experienced their local issues and they know what solutions are needed. They’ve also experienced the best things in their communities and know how to build on it, to create stronger futures for their next generations.

Our role is to provide support whether that’s through connecting them with a skilled volunteer or sharing our own expertise and knowledge with them.

We’re proud to say that we’ve played a small part in many community success stories and we’re thankful for all the support we receive, big or small. Every gift helps.

We were also lucky enough to greet some of the Senators and building occupants as they arrived at work, including Senator Jacqui Lambie, Senator Pat Dodson, and Senator Lydia Thorpe.

The President of the Senate, the Hon Sen Sue Lines, also came along to help us raise awareness and support. She is pictured below with our Board Director, Dr Anne Martin.