BERNADETTE BLACK

TEEN PARENT SUPPORT When Bernadette Black fell pregnant at age 16, the course of her life changed. She has now built a career around helping other parenting teens, supporting them in reaching their potential.

Bernadette Black comes across as a strong, confident woman – and for very good reason. She runs a national foundation, and her inspiring work with teenage mums led to her being named the 2009 Barnardos Australian Mother of the Year, as well as the 2019 Tasmanian Australian of the Year.

But things haven’t always been rosy for the unassuming 42 year old, who lives in Hobart with her family.

At just 16, she fell pregnant after her first sexual encounter. “I felt like I’d been hit by a truck,” states Black. “I wanted yesterday back. This thing that had happened to me was way too big.” She dreaded telling her devout Catholic family.

Her father knew something was wrong as they sat in her bedroom. “He had this green-grey complexion,” Black says. After breaking the news, “we heard the bedroom door slam, the front door slam, and this almighty scream in the middle of our Melbourne street: ‘My 16-year-old daughter’s had sex and now she’s pregnant!’”

While her family supported her, it was advice from a teacher that changed everything. “He sat me down, took my

“These women have high hopes … but often they can’t reach them as they haven’t had a pathway.”

hand, and told me, ‘Bernadette, the journey might be different now, but the destination can stay the same’. Without those words, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today,” she says.

Afterwards, Black promised herself three things: that she would be a good mother, she would finish her education, and she’d write a book to help others facing similar situations.

She kept her promises, going on to qualify as a registered nurse while raising her son. And in 2006, she wrote Brave Little Bear, a story detailing her journey and offering encouragement for people experiencing unexpected pregnancy and parenthood. She never dreamed that her book – which started out as a Vegemite-stained manuscript covered in scribble and shopping lists – would become the catalyst for what is now a national not-for-profit that has supported thousands of young people, their families, and the professionals working with them.

After the book was published, Black was inundated with requests from expecting and parenting teens looking for local support. As a result, in 2009 she founded Brave Foundation, which helps expecting and parenting teens by connecting them with more than 500 national charities that exist to support them. “We build a village of acceptance around them, and help them have the same outcomes that any other young person in Australia would have,” Black explains.

She describes Brave Foundation as “the 12-year overnight success”, because she lobbied the Australian federal government for 12 years for funding. The breakthrough came in 2018, when Brave Foundation was awarded a $4.4 million grant to run a national trial programme. Dubbed SEPT (Supporting Expecting and Parenting Teens), the programme will connect 375 teens with support services, mentoring, educational and employment opportunities in their local communities over two years.

“To see this happen in my lifetime is nothing short of miraculous,” Black says. “These young women have high hopes for their dreams, aspirations and careers, but often they can’t reach them as they haven’t had a pathway.”

Black says the teens’ stories are her inspiration. Recently, she heard about a girl who had been expelled from school and told she’d never be good enough. With encouragement from her mentor, she established goals, went back to school, and got her first-ever A grade. “When I heard that story I cried,” Black says. “How amazing is someone meeting their potential! Not only is that woman’s life changed, but so is her child’s and possibly every generation after that. That’s a very cool thing.”

But stories like these came dangerously close to not happening. In 2017, Bernie sat with her chairman looking through their profit and loss statement, discussing how they would wind up the foundation. The next day, she received the call inviting them to apply for the $4.4 million grant.

Last year, Black won a grant from Anglican Deaconess Ministries – which will fund her attendance at the ‘Women and Power’ programme at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is a course for women aiming for top-level leadership in public policy.

She hopes to develop skills to share what she has learned through Brave Foundation in “a powerful and influential way, to help other groups facing disadvantage in Australia.”

She adds, “Creating opportunities for people that experience heightened vulnerability – both in Australia and internationally – is something that I’m really passionate about.”

Black also acknowledges the vital role mentors have played in her life. “I encourage any woman that wants to make a change for her country or internationally to have four or five mentors, because they each will have a different perspective,” she says.

Good friends are another lifeline. “There are many problems solved over cups of tea,” she says. “We cannot do this life without genuine friends.”