FEDERAL Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce said Gunawirra Limited will receive $275,000 to deliver an early intervention program with between 40 and 100 per cent Indigenous enrolment that will improve outcomes for First Australians including Armidale.

Mr Joyce said the grant is under the Australian Government’s Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) grant round and will be shared between Armidale, West Kempsey and the Sydney suburb of Rozelle.

He said the program would run over three years with funding of $110,000 for this financial year, $110,000 for the 2016-17 financial year and $55,000 for the 2017 to 2018 financial year.

Mr Joyce said the project to be delivered by Gunawirra Limited would provide demonstrable benefits for local First Australians.

“The project will build the capacity of Indigenous children who have suffered trauma and are identified as such by their teachers, parents or carers,” Mr Joyce said.

“Children’s capacity will be built through individual psychotherapy and groups of not more than four children.”

The Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Nigel Scullion, said the Government’s investment through the IAS grant round had increased from $860 million to $1 billion, with 996 organisations to receive funding for over 1,350 projects throughout Australia.

“The increased investment through the grant round is the result of the Government honouring its commitment to provide longer funding agreements for important frontline services and ensure that any gaps that emerged as part of the round were filled as quickly as possible,” Mister Scullion said.

“This increased investment will help deliver on the Government’s key priorities of getting children to school and adults to work and making communities safer,” he said.