It’s Time, It’s Overdue and It Can Be Fixed ...100,000 people, 36,000 aged 12 to 24 years, 22,000 of those are teenagers, an additional 10,000 children homeless on any night. This is the speech given by Narelle Clay, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Youth and Family Services at the National Homelessness Conference in May 2008. The Conference was attended by 1,200 people.

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‘Neighbourhood Centres and Results Accountability – a conversation with Mark Friedman. This publication from the Local Community Services Association LCSA explores how this model of Results Based Accountability (RBA) maybe used effectively by small community organisations.

You can download the report at LCSA

www.lcsa.org.au LOCAL Newsletter Autumn 2008

 

Child and Family Development for Mainstream and Vulnerable Communities. This report was produced by the Illawarra Child and Family Community Development Project. The partners in the Project were: Albion Park Neighbourhood Association, Barnados Australia and Shellharbour City Council. The goal of the project was to develop models of practice for child and family community development with communities that we would call “mainstream” as well as vulnerable or disadvantaged communities.

You can download the report at Community Builders NSW

www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/builder/what/fam_dev.html

 

The number of people with mental health issues has increased, with more than 3 million Australians affected in any one year and an estimated annual cost of around 20 billion. Now is a critical moment for mental health in Australia. Despite many inquiries and reports into the mental health system, it seems that the system has consistently failed to meet the needs of both those with a mental health illness and their carers. ‘Our Mental Health Care System’ is a discussion paper prepared for the Social Policy Conference - Steering Our Future - in November 2006.

Download this discussion paper

 

The ‘Our Voices Our Communities’ (OVOC) action research project investigates the contribution small, local community groups make to the health and well being of the Illawarra community. It also considers the impact of current social policy on the community services sector, particularly the impact on small grass roots community organisations, and the people living in culturally diverse, Indigenous, marginalised or disadvantaged communities. The research project is a collaborative initiative between Shellharbour TAFE, Illawarra Forum, Voice for SONG, and Illawarra Multicultural Services. It developed out of a broader three year research project called ‘Valuing Local NGO Knowledge in Planning Community Services Research Project’ funded by the Australian Research Council.

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SONG Issues Paper: Small community-based, human service, nongovernment,not-for-profit sector organisations. This issues paper aims to develop a shared vision and an action plan for the sustainability and recognition of small human service community organisations. Small community organisations are seen as key to healthy local communities, social justice, building of social capital, cooperation between different communities and sectors, democracy and to the promotion of values related to not-for-profit activities. Their ongoing survival and vibrancy is paramount to the general health of communities and democratic processes.

Download the paper at the NCOSS Council of Social Services NSW website

http://www.ncoss.org.au/projects/msu/downloads/updates/Song_issuespaperMSU.pdf

 

 

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