Assistance Dogs Australia (ADA), Media Release, 29 October 2025
This year, for the first time, Assistance Dogs Australia (ADA) pups will be featuring in the Grafton Jacaranda Festival Parade on Saturday 1 November, resplendent in purple crowns and accompanied by the ADA team, their community carers and Serco staff.
Assistance Dogs Australia, in partnership with the Serco operated Clarence Correctional Centre near Grafton, run a program where assistance dog puppies are matched with specially selected inmates to become their trainers and carers.
The pups rotate every three weeks from the correctional centre into the homes of community volunteers, where they experience everyday life like family routines, trips to the shops, local parks, and all the real-world situations they’ll face as working assistance dogs. These home stays are essential for building the puppies’ confidence and adaptability.
You can meet these wonderful pups at the Jacaranda Festival. Come down and visit the ADA market stall, chat to the team and the community carers about the journey these pups take to becoming life-changing Assistance Dogs for someone with disability.
And if you are interested in volunteering as a community carer, you can find out all about it too.
Stephanie Purnell from Assistance Dogs Australia speaks with Fiona Fox from ARR.News:
Photos: Assistance Dogs Australia (ADA)
