About the Project
About Little Tasmanian
In recent years, Tasmania has been Australia’s best-performing economy. People from across the country and around the world are visiting the state, for its natural beauty, the cleanest air in the world, and its artistic and artisanal pleasures.
Yet there is something holding Tasmania back, and its consequences go deeper than GDP statistics. The state has the lowest literacy levels in the country. Almost half of Tasmanians struggle to read and write.
In our interviews with Tasmanians, they were unanimous about this number one anxiety. Specifically, early childhood literacy. It's a problem here that so many smart, passionate people have tried to address... the consequences are economic, social, and cultural.
The dominant theme of the positive stories was about people overcoming great odds, in an isolated and often misunderstood place, to do extraordinary things. At Brand Tasmania we thought: let's bring that story, those stories, into the homes of new parents. We wanted to be sure every Tasmanian understands the “you can do it too” aspect of this place and its culture. We wanted to start early.
The result is Little Tasmanian: a program that aims to bring the Tasmanian story into the lives of Tasmanians in their early weeks.
At their first appointment with the Child Health and Parenting Service (CHaPS), every Tasmanian baby receives a Tasmanian library bag containing items that highlight the importance of the first 1,000 days – of growing up Tasmanian.
The message is simple: someone just like you did it, and you can do it too.
About the illustrator
Shiloh Longbottom is a Tasmanian illustrator and designer. She works using Procreate, design software created by a clever team of Hobart-based people.
When Shiloh began working on Little Tasmanian, it was just a children’s book. She has since created a whole world around it.
It Takes a Tasmanian Village: Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy
Little Tasmanian is a key component of the Tasmanian Government’s Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy, It Takes a Tasmanian Village, which has a key focus on the first 1,000 days. Wellbeing is crucial for a young person, and it takes a whole community to build the six domains of child and youth wellbeing: being loved and safe, being healthy, participating, having material basics, learning, and having a positive sense of culture and identity.
It Takes a Tasmanian Village: Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy.
Key ingredients of wellbeing
Being loved, safe and valued
Things I need
Being healthy
Learning
Participating
Culture and Identity
Child Health and Parenting Service
The Child Health and Parenting Service (CHaPS) provides free child health and development assessments for all children aged 0-5 years. CHaPS is a service unique to Tasmania, providing personalised support and connection with health and wellbeing services from the very beginning.
Assessments are recommended every two weeks from 2 week to 8 week, and then again at 6 months, 12 months, 2 years and 4 years.
Child health nurses can provide advice, support, and referrals on a range of important topics, such as breast feeding and nutrition, sleep and settling, play and safety, oral health, parent wellbeing, and immunisation.
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Am I eligible to receive a bag?
The Little Tasmanian library bag is provided to parents and carers of new babies born in Tasmania from 1 January 2023. The bag is given to families at their first visit with a Child and Family Health Nurse, through the Child Health and Parenting Service (CHaPS), or the Aboriginal Health Service. The bag is typically the 2-week development check and often a home visit.
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What Little Tasmanian items will I receive?
Babies born between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2024 received the first iteration of Little Tasmanian: a library bag containing the first Little Tasmanian board book, a Tasmanian onesie, a library card voucher, and a magnet sheet containing information about the first 1,000 days of life.
Babies born from 1 July 2024 receive the second iteration of Little Tasmanian: a library bag containing the second Little Tasmanian board book, Katy's Garden, a Little Tasmanian playmat, a library card voucher, and a magnet sheet containing information about the first 1,000 days of life.
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Are the Little Tasmanian items available anywhere else?
The Little Tasmanian onesie, the library bag, and the board books are available for purchase in the Tasmanian store. The board books are also available to borrow from Libraries Tasmania, and at booksellers and retailers across Tasmania.
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Where are the Little Tasmanian items produced?
When sourcing and producing Little Tasmanian merchandise, we did our best to balance several important criteria, including quality, durability, cost, environmental impact, supply chain ethics, and production location. All items are sourced through a Tasmanian-owned business and illustrated by Shiloh Longbottom, a Tasmanian illustrator using Tasmanian software Procreate. The magnet, voucher, and onesie are all printed in Tasmania. The playmat is hand-sewn by Tasmanian manufacturers Island Seamstress.
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I am eligible, but I haven't received a bag.
If your baby was born in Tasmania from 1 January 2023 and you see a CHaPS nurse, but have not received a Little Tasmanian bag, please reach out to us at welcome@brandtasmania.com.au with your name, baby's name, and suburb.
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I have feedback / suggestions
Suggestions, feedback, and ideas are welcome! Please send them to welcome@brandtasmania.com.au.