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The Albanese Labor Government is supporting communities across Australia to be strong and resilient.

Assistant Minister for Social Security, Ageing and Women, Kate Thwaites, and Member for Parramatta, Dr Andrew Charlton, today met with Story Factory to learn about their Western Sydney Empowering Young People Project.

Story Factory – based in Parramatta – which received $366,336 through the Strong and Resilient Communities (SARC) grant program, is supporting young people aged 12-18 to increase their social connection with peers, helping them to build educational skills through workshops and writing activities.

Assistant Minister Thwaites said: “the Albanese Labor Government is proudly supporting this community led project in the heart of Parramatta”.

“Story Factory does wonderful work, in particular supporting young people across Sydney to get more involved in their community and build their skills through local workshops and writing activities,” Assistant Minister Thwaites said.

Dr Andrew Charlton MP said: “stories can change lives, and Story Factory is helping Parramatta’s young people write brighter futures. This program builds creativity, confidence, and connection where it’s needed most”.

“It’s inspiring to see this investment making such a meaningful impact right here in Parramatta,” Dr Charlton said.

Dr Catherine Keenan AM, Executive Director and Co-founder of Story Factory said: “supporting young people from under-resourced communities to write equips them with a vital way of building connection and a sense of agency, while also improving the literacy skills that will support them to engage more deeply with their education. We are very grateful for this visionary support.”

Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said organisations funded under the SARC grant program deliver targeted services to help build capacity at a local level.

“Our Government is committed to building strong and resilient communities, and to helping Australians who need extra support,” Minister Rishworth said.

“To do this, we need to invest into the communities that need it most and with the organisations that can make the biggest difference to the future of community members.

“We know that the successful organisations are well placed to help some of our most vulnerable, including young people, people with disability, unemployed people, First Nations Australians and women.”

The funding builds on the Labor Government’s record to help Australians with cost of living relief, including:

• providing every Australian taxpayer a tax cut
• increasing Commonwealth Rent Assistance for nearly one million households
• boosting funding for emergency and food relief services, along with financial counselling
• extending the freeze on deeming rates for 876,000 income support recipients.