The Member for Monaro John Barilaro today announced $35,000 for the Ricky Stuart Foundation to undertake a feasibility study to build a specialised accommodation facility in Queanbeyan.

The Ricky Stuart Foundation was borne from Ricky’s experience when his daughter Emma was diagnosed with autism at age 11.

NSW Government to support the Ricky Stuart Foundation

The Foundation was created to raise autism awareness and provide support to families and individuals living with autism and other disabilities within ACT and surrounding region. The Foundation is looking to expand their support, by establishing specialised accommodation located in Queanbeyan thanks to funding from the NSW Government.

“Ricky is a Queanbeyan boy like me and is passionate about seeing the community thrive; his strong family values are the driving force behind this initiative,” Mr Barilaro said.

“The Ricky Stuart Foundation performs great work in providing support for families within the ACT and this grant will help them expand and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and their families in Queanbeyan and the southern region.”

The Ricky Stuart Foundation has successfully delivered two respite centres in Canberra over the past eight years.

“We are very excited to have the support of the NSW Government, through John Barilaro, for us to be now able to fund a feasibility study into a better practice model of housing for people with autism and other disabilities,” said Ricky Stuart Foundation chairman, Mr Ricky Stuart.

“With this wonderful assistance, our Foundation will be much better placed to move forward with our third state-of-the-art facility recognising that specialised housing is an imperative requirement in the disability sector.”