Driving local, lasting change for children and families

BSL delivers over 60 services and programs across Greater Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and Shepparton. We also work with partners nationwide to facilitate program delivery and development.

Our approach to community programs and services means each initiative can be made unique to the local community’s needs. Working alongside those experiencing poverty and exclusion means we can amplify local knowledge to strengthen localised solutions that also inform and drive systems change.

Our Home Interactive Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY), mentors parents of four and five-year-olds to be their children’s first educator, engaging families in developing literacy and numeracy skills. The program is one way our community approach is so effective at driving local, lasting change. Since its introduction in 1998, BSL has led the Australian HIPPY network and delivers the HIPPY program in four Melbourne communities.

Embedded in communities, each HIPPY program is staffed by a qualified Coordinator and a team of Tutors. Tutors are usually parents or carers participating in the program who live in the community. Tutors are paid employees and receive training and support from the Coordinator. Becoming a Tutor can offer a parent a pathway to training and employment and fosters community leadership.

Sherrie’s HIPPY story

Having kids changed Sherrie’s life. As an Aboriginal woman, her connection to her land and water, and being able to share that with them, meant a lot.

When Sherrie’s children were still little, Sherrie found out about the HIPPY program through a friend. As a child Sherrie had struggled with literacy and schooling, because of hearing impairment, and she wanted the experience of learning to be different for her children.

HIPPY offered both an opportunity for her family, and the chance for meaningful employment. “I found out that when you’re a parent of HIPPY, you can actually apply for HIPPY,” she says. Sherri applied for the job of a peer tutor in the program. A month after she applied, she got the job. “I was over the moon,” says Sherrie.

As a tutor, Sherrie wants other families to share her positive experience of the program. “I say to my families: You do matter. You can do this. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. You could be me one day.”

Working as a HIPPY tutor has meant Sherrie can use the support of her Coordinator to create further opportunities. She is studying towards a Bachelor in Community and Social Development at university and a Certificate in Community Service at TAFE. Sherrie says she’d love to work as a coordinator one day. “Education is so important – for my kids to see that we don’t stop learning.”

“I can see my daughter and son going far in life because I can give them something I’ve learnt. That’s because of HIPPY."