Our History
It all began in the 70s. Fashion was loud: bellbottom pants, platform shoes. Protests were louder. While men were burning draft cards in opposition to the Vietnam War, women were burning bras and finding their voices . . . and a group of grandparents overcame barriers to start visiting children with disabilities living in institutions.
In 1975 Margaret McGregor, who was then the Director of the Southern Family Life Service Association, went on a study tour of volunteer programs in America. She was impressed by a program that matched mature-aged volunteers with children with disabilities who, for a variety of reasons, did not have a constant special person in their lives.
Three years later, after overcoming several hurdles and disappointments—and thanks to funding from the Sidney Myer Charitable Trust, the Myer Foundation and Yooralla— Margaret McGregor launched the pilot program of The Foster Grandparents Scheme in Melbourne under the auspices of the Victorian Council Of The Aged (VCOTA). Twenty-two volunteers were selected from 59 applicants to be the first Foster Grandparents in Australia and visited children at St. Nicholas’ Hospital and Yooralla.
Towards the end of the 1980s, as community philosophy and government policy began to shift away from institutional care and focus on care in the community, the Foster Grandparents Scheme moved to supporting children living at home with their families or carers.
In 2003, the organisation was renamed Extended Families Australia to reflect the changing nature of the service and the needs of the families. Mature aged volunteers still provided valuable support as ‘Foster Grandparents’ but there was also a growing need for foster aunties, uncles, brothers and sisters. Today Extended Families welcomes volunteers of all ages.
Presently, Extended Families supports more than 90 volunteers to visit more than 100 children across five regions in and around Melbourne, Victoria.
