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AAP
AAP
Politics
Dominic Giannini

Funding boost for foetal alcohol supports

An extra $37 million will go towards awareness campaigns and support for foetal alcohol syndrome. (AAP)

More than $37 million has been put aside for better services to support and diagnose foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Babies exposed to alcohol in the womb have an increased risk of permanent brain and organ damage, as well as premature births.

The government will also start a new awareness campaign to help inform women, particularly in regional and rural areas, about the risks of drinking while pregnant and breastfeeding.

More than $27 million will go towards the campaign, to be run by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education from the end of November.

Diagnostic services at the Sydney Children's Hospital network, including sites in regional communities across NSW, and within the Newcastle youth justice system will receive almost $7 million.

A further $2.8 million will go towards the expansion of a Queensland neurodevelopment clinic to cut the three-year wait time, and the expansion of support services in regional Victorian communities.

The disorder affects around two per cent of Australian babies.

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