Sadly, 1 in 20 children/young people in Victoria, before the age of 18, experience the death of a parent/carer. That's more than one child in every classroom. You may know someone who has been through this incredibly hard experience, or you may have yourself.

Currently, Wombat's Wish is the only specialist service that offers support to these children throughout Victoria. This is an extremely difficult time for them and their family, and  can potentially result in long-term emotional health problems.

Wombat's Wish was founded in 2005 by a local psychologist and Mum with young children, who themselves experienced the grief of losing a husband and father.

Since then, Wombat's Wish has extended our outreach across the state, providing important therapeutic support to kids and young people during their bereavement, making sure that they don't go through this experience alone. Through our services, grieving children can access a team of dedicated volunteers and workers including psychologists, social and youth workers, and mental health supports. They can make friends with other children who know exactly what they're going through. And they can learn to find a way through their grief.

The service is a therapeutic one, free of charge to families, provided by a team of professional facilitators in conjunction with trained volunteers. We provide weekend grief camps, 1:1 counselling, group counselling, family days and support to other services providing grief services to children.

At Wombat's Wish, we believe all bereaved children, young people and their parents/carers have the right to information, guidance and support to enable them to manage the impact of death on their lives.

We are a grassroots local charity. All donations go towards Wombat's Wish programs that help parentally bereaved children across Victoria, when they need it most.