Parenting Support: what’s available to you

Parenting can be challenging at times and, as they say, it takes a village to raise a child. As we have seen changes to our current community situation, having access to parenting support is more important than ever.

Whether you live in the Perth metropolitan area or regional Western Australia, there are a number of services offering parenting support at no cost to you, many of which have recently changed the way their services are offered to reflect current health guidelines, such as social distancing.

Here is a list of larger organisations offering parent support and information. Please note that local community centres and Local Governments are also offering a range of supports to individual communities, so we encourage you to check out their websites and social media sites.

Ngala Parenting Line (for families with children 0-18 years)

If you have any parenting concerns or questions, you can call the Ngala Parenting Line on (08) 9368 9368 (Perth and mobile callers) or 1800 111 546 (regional landline callers). You can also complete their online form and they will call you back to have a chat and offer some helpful advice. Available 8am-8pm, 7 days a week.

Child Health Services

Most of you will be familiar with the five child health Purple Book appointments to check your child’s health and development, available at 0-14 days, 8 weeks, 4 months, 12 months and 2 years of age. These are still being offered although in some cases will be over the phone or by video call. At the moment, the Health Department asks that only one adult attend the appointment and, where possible, bring only the child who the appointment is for.

To book, if you live in Perth metro area: call 1300 749 869 or register online; or if you live in regional WA, visit the WA Country Health website and click on your region next to the map to find contact details for your area.

There are a range of Child Health services currently being offered virtually by Ngala, including the Early Parenting Groups (for parents with newborns to 3 months), which previously met at local Child Health Centres. Ngala is also offering A Solid Start (for parents with babies 4-6 months) and Let’s Sleep (for parents with babies 6-12 months).

To find out more or to book online click here and select your area, or for those living in country WA you can click through here.

Parenting Information Websites

A couple of great websites providing parenting and child development information are:

Parenting Service Providers

Most parenting service providers have moved to online delivery methods at this time. The links to the websites and contact details are listed for each area in Perth. For parenting services in regional areas we recommend you contact the Ngala Parenting Line so they can direct you to local service providers (see contact details above).

Child Safety

The Australian Government has provided this update on child safety considerations and the COVID-19 situation, from the National Office of Child Safety. It includes links to useful information and support services.

Other Support Services

  • Australian Breastfeeding Association offers breastfeeding support. You can call their free National Breastfeeding Helpline on 1800 686 268, available 24 hours day/night, 7 days per week. They also offer a Live Chat service online.