ParentsNext

ParentsNext

ParentsNext is an Australian Government initiative to help parents prepare for employment by the time their youngest child reaches school age. Becoming a parent often means more time is spent in caring for children and less time in the paid workforce. ParentsNext staff work with parents to identify goals and develop skills as part of a Participation Plan so they can enter the workforce.

 

Our experienced workers will meet with you and help you to:

• identify your education, training and employment goals
• choose activities to help you reach those goals
• identify barriers that prevent you from achieving your goals
• form a Participation Plan that sets out your goals and activities
• meet any participation requirements

Depending on your needs, we can also:

• connect you with education, training and employment services
• provide training to boost your job readiness, for example, how and where to look for jobs, developing interview skills, how to dress and present during interviews
• in some cases, we will help pay for small expenses to enable you to complete activities
• invite you to talks by employers about jobs in the local area
• link you with local services to address any personal, parenting, child care or family needs
• organise groups where you can meet other parents taking part in ParentsNext
• assess your job readiness using tools such as Work Star and the Job Seeker Classification Instrument

Who can receive assistance from ParentsNext

Our ParentsNext service works with two groups of parents - those who are referred to us by the Department of Human Services as a ‘compulsory participant’, and those who are ‘voluntary participants’. All participants must live in the Bankstown local government area.

Compulsory participants are referred by the Department of Human Services to participate will be required to participate in regular compulsory activities received Parenting Payment (partnered or single) for at least six months continuously youngest child is aged between six months and under six years have not received the Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) in the previous three months have no reported earnings from employment in the previous six months. Compulsory participants must also meet at least one of the following criteria: early school leaver, or youngest child is aged five years, or eligible for ParentsNext based on a job seeker assessment by the Commonwealth Government

Voluntary participants volunteer to receive assistance do not have compulsory activities either on income support or not on income support have had no paid employment in the past six months have a child aged five years or under

Regular contact with ParentsNext workers

Our workers will keep in regular contact to see how you are going with your Participation Plan activities, update your goals or select new activities, and to find out if you need any further support. Contact can be in person or by phone every 3-6 months depending on how much support you need.

If you are a ‘compulsory’ participant, we may contact you more often to ensure you are meeting any compulsory activities. Compulsory participants need to be aware that if you do not meet compulsory activity requirements, we will be required to notify the Department of Human Services.

 

Accessibility of our services

We provide services for all members of the community. We are experienced in supporting people with disabilities and have links to disability services. Our organisations are experienced in providing services to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. We provide information in different languages and use bilingual workers and interpreters who speak many languages. We have links with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services and organisations.

 

Where we are located

Metro Assist operates six sites.

Full Time Sites

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm

Metro Assist Head Office

2/59-63 Evaline St, Campsie, NSW 2194

Metro Assist - Bankstown Office

62 Meredith St, Bankstown, NSW 2200

Metro Assist - Condell Park Office

43 Simmat Avenue, Condell Park NSW 2200

Outreach Sites

Homebush Community Hub (Tuesday 9am - 5pm)

Community Centre
1B Bates Street, Homebush, NSW 2140

 

Getting your views

It is important for you to have a say about the support that we provide to you.  From time to time our workers will ask you about what you think of the services that we are providing to you. We also have two parent representatives who will regularly meet with us to provide ideas on how we can improve our services to parents.

 

How to find out more about our services

If you would like to know more about ParentsNext or how you can get assistance, contact us. 

Our workers will meet regularly with community groups, employment, local education and training services, local support services, and employers to let them know about ParentsNext.