This page was last updated 16 March 2010.
Web hosting services sponsored by Flexihostings.net.au
What's happening
Estates in the balance: best practice in redevelopment and regeneration of public housing estates’. A Shelter NSW conference Thursday 17 June 2010 9.00 am to 4.00 pm Auditorium, NSW Teachers Federation conference centre, 37 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills, Sydney This conference will focus on best practice in redevelopment and regeneration, before, during and after redevelopment and regeneration of public housing estates. It will cover the resettlement and rehousing of current tenants, community engagement, social mix and tenure mix, poverty and social exclusion, and design and density. Registrations are open until Friday 11 June. An 'early bird' rate applies to registrations received before Friday 28 May: www.shelternsw.org.au/docs/fly10conference-rego.html. For more information, telephone (02) 9267 5733 ext.13, email admin@shelternsw.org.au
Clubs NSW CDSE funding (Community Development Support Expenditure)
Applications for CDSE Category 1 funds for specific community welfare and social services, community development, community health services and employment assistance activities are now open. Find the guidelines and application form at www.clubsnsw.com.au
Shellharbour 2009-10 Category 1 application. Funding Round opens on 15 March 2010 and closes 16 April 2010.
Shoalhaven 2009-10 Category 1 application deadline: 28 May 2010
Wollongong 2009-10 CDSE Category 1 Application Deadline: Friday 23rd April 2010 at 5pm
Bold Ideas, Better Lives Funding Applications are now open for the Bold Ideas, Better Lives Challenge (The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI). So if you've got a big idea we're offering up to $1 million and capacity building partnerships to turn your idea into reality. We’re committed to supporting up to 10 projects that show the best and brightest ideas in social innovation across Australia. Your idea could deal with anything from healthcare to climate change, unemployment to the internet as long as it addresses a social need faced by communities in Australia. First stage applications (online) close on Friday April 23rd. For more information www.tacsi.org.au/bold-ideas-better-lives-applications-open/
National Standard Chart of Accounts (SCoA)
ACOSS has prepared a document which gives an Introduction to the national standard chart of accounts and the ACOSS analysis and implications for social and community services. This document is intended as a resource both for the consultation process and for the sector more generally to understand the SCoA and its implementation. The document provides basic information about the SCoA’s contents and purposes; its implementation; and invites input into the consultation through a set of questions about the design, implementation and usefulness of the SCoA. The deadline for comments was 5 March, however ACOSS will continue to welcome feedback and engage with government on the SCoA beyond this timeframe. You can find the document at http://acoss.org.au/images/uploads/Analysis_of_Standard_Chart_of_Accounts.pdf NCOSS has also been talking to the Department of Premier and Cabinet about this issue, see more information at www.ncoss.org.au/content/view/2980/100/
National Compact
A group of Third Sector leaders will be asked to co-sign a special canvas to symbolise the National Compact agreement between the Not for Profit sector and the Federal Government at the official March 17th event in Canberra. Organisers say from the government side, the canvas will be signed by the Minister for Families, Housing and Community Services, Jenny Macklin, and Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, Senator Ursula Stephens. However it's believed the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd might also be available for the signing. Some 300 hundred representatives of the Australian Not for Profit sector have been invited to the March 17th signing event. The draft Compact was developed through consultations and was refined at a joint meeting of the National Compact Expert Panel and Joint Taskforce in October 2009. The National Compact agrees that Australian Government and the Third Sector will work together to improve social, cultural, civic, economic and environmental outcomes, building on the strengths of individuals and communities. The collaboration will contribute to improved community wellbeing and a more inclusive Australian society with better quality of life for all. The Compact be viewed at www.facsia.gov.au
NSW Government Cuts Red Tape For NGOS Media Release
The Hon. Linda Burney MP Minister for the State Plan Minister for Community Services Monday, 8 March 2010 “We are confident that the strategies contained in this report will make it easier for NGOs to focus on their core business – delivering services to people in need in the community.” Approximately 90 percent of the NSW Government’s funding to NGOs is administered by the Ageing, Disability and Home Care and Community Services divisions of the Department of Human Services NSW. “About $1.5 billion was provided to more than 2,600 NGOs in 2007/08 by government agencies including Health, Community Services and Ageing, Disability and Home Care …We’ve listened to the NGOs, who told us how the time and resources they spend on preparing funding submissions impacts on their core business of providing a valuable service to the community… And we understand the disproportionate impact of Government red tape on smaller NGOs.” The Government will move immediately to implement the following initiatives by mid-year: the introduction of e-tendering and word limits; standardising insurance requirements; the development and application of standard questions across agencies for tenders on issues such as management and financial viability; the reduction of information required from NGOs in the tendering process where information has already been collected by agencies. Other reforms to follow include: standardising and simplifying contracts; establishing more pre-registration panels with automatic eligibility for providers with a consistent record of performance and reliability, and; establishing a risk framework for NGO funding that would relate tendering and EOI processes to risk.
Australian Regional Women Leaders Convention 2010
We are pleased to invite you, your friends and colleagues to celebrate regional leadership with like-minded women from all over Australia on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th April 2010 in Melbourne. This bi-annual Convention represents an unrivalled opportunity to discuss important regional and rural issues, and network with business and community leaders from across the country. Community Access Subsidies are available to women working in various industries and have been designed to reduce the cost of attendance. For more information 1300 138 037 or http://www.wla.com.au/
Regional Homelessness Action Plans
As part of the implementation of the NSW Homelessness Action Plan, Housing NSW and other NSW government agencies with responsibility for homelessness are currently developing Regional Homelessness Action Plans (RHAPs) for each of the nine NSW Regional Coordination Program regions. http://www.ncoss.org.au/content/view/2924/111 2009 NSW and ACT
Emergency Relief Directory.
This Directory is a list of Services funded under the Emergency Relief Program of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services & Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) as at 17 December 2009. Access the directory at http://www.ncoss.org.au/mail/100113-NSW.ACT-Emergency-Relief-Directory-Dec-2009.PDF