Yes! But only if you ​​🗳️for Team Hakim!

When I say that I want Melbourne to be a city that welcomes and works for everyone, I truly mean it.

I want Melbourne to be the best place in the world to raise a family, no matter the shape or size of that family. That's why I’m running for Lord Mayor with a transformative plan for families: Team Hakim’s Family City Policy.

This policy is so well planned that it even received a public endorsement from Dr Alka Kothari, a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist and expert in family wellbeing.

Developed in consultation with Australia’s leading voice in gender equity, family advocate and author, Michael Ray, the Family City Policy recognises the broad spectrum of modern family structures, including:

• Grandparents
• Same-sex couples
• Single parents
• Parents and children with disabilities
• Young and migrant families
• Men as fathers.

The policy introduces a series of costed, actionable commitments designed to reduce the cost of living, strengthen community ties, and improve family well-being across the city.

• Family-friendly and inclusive public spaces: Team Hakim will review accessibility in public spaces to ensure all families, including those with prams and disabilities, can enjoy the city. As a start, we’ll install a new lift at Flinders Street Station, providing direct access to the North Bank of the Yarra River and riverboat pier.
  
  
• Regular public toilet accessibility reviews and upgrades: Team Hakim will ensure that public toilet facilities undergo regular reviews to improve family accessibility, making this a permanent part of council facility management. 
  
  
• Parental and child health centres: Team Hakim will rebrand existing maternal and child health centres to parental and child health centres, as a part of our commitment to providing support for all caregivers.
  
  
• A Ratepayer Family Card: Team Hakim will introduce a card so families receive discounts at council-run leisure facilities, helping ease financial pressures.
  
  
• Ongoing advocacy for education access: Team Hakim will push for a high school and expanded primary school to serve the growing family population in Docklands and surrounding areas.
  
  
• Family-friendly workplace grants: Team Hakim will introduce a new grant program to support businesses in developing on-site childcare and flexible work environments, ensuring parents can balance work and family responsibilities.
  
  
• Strengthening the Toy Library program: Team Hakim will invest more in this service, ensuring more families have access to a wide variety of toys that foster childhood development and encourage play, reducing the need to constantly buy new toys.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and Melbourne will be that village. Our Family City Policy will provide the social, economic, and cultural support families need to thrive, no matter the form. I am excited about the potential of this policy for the City of Melbourne.