NEWS

20 Additional Financial Resilience Workers for Queensland

The Queensland Government has announced a $4million program over 2 years to deliver an additional 20 financial resilience workers through Neighbourhood Centres, local community organisations and Good Money stores in 20+ government-identified locations around Queensland.

Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (Good Shepherd) will work with sector partners, including Neighbourhood Centres Queensland and our members, to deliver this financial resilience project. 

Read more here.

NEWS

Provide feedback on the Draft National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032

The Australian Government is developing the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 to replace the existing National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022 when it ends in mid-2022.

The ten-year National Plan will be underpinned by five-year action plans, including dedicated five-year Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plans. The Action Plans will detail the priority focus areas for implementation and will focus efforts and government investment in those focus areas.

The Department of Social Services is seeking your feedback and input on the draft.

The consultation period began on January 14, and closes February 25, 2022.
You can read the draft plan here and respond to the survey here.

NEWS

Repair Cafe at Encircle Redcliffe Neighbourhood Centre

You may have noticed Repair Cafe Redcliffe Peninsula featured in the news recently, in an article by ABC Radio Brisbane, or on ABC News. But did you know the cafe is hosted by Redcliffe Neighbourhood Centre, Encircle? 

For those unfamiliar with Repair Cafes, they're a community movement which helps locals fix broken items rather than disposing of them into landfill. They bring people together, support a circular economy model, and provide an opportunity for skill development.

There are over ten Repair Cafes in South East Queensland, and many more across Queensland. Many are connected with Neighbourhood and Community Centres.

NCQ is currently bringing together stories and resources on Repair Cafes in centres across Queensland. If you host a Repair Cafe, we'd love to hear from you: melaniemaher@ncq.org.au.

NEWS

Report Tabled: Parliamentary Inquiry into Loneliness and Social Isolation

The Community Support and Services Committee have released their report on the Parliamentary Inquiry into Loneliness and Social Isolation. The Neighbourhood Centre sector’s effort in making submissions and speaking at the Inquiry is reflected throughout the report, which highlights the role of Neighbourhood and Community Centres and recommends the sector be adequately funded. Neighbourhood Centres Queensland will continue to work with our members and partners to advocate for greater resourcing at the next State budget.

Download the report here.

NEWS

New Building for Bowen Neighbourhood Centre

The Queensland Government is investing $5.6million to upgrade Bowen Neighbourhood Centre, with construction planned to begin this month. The existing centre has been working in the community for over 25 years.

Bowen Neighbourhood Centre chairperson Christine Coventry said, “To have a new purpose-built Neighbourhood Centre in Bowen is going to open up so many extra opportunities for our community....To have all the existing activities like Cooinda Family Centre, the Bowen OP shop, The Tuckerbox Food Bank, plus so much more, all on one site, will be such a benefit to the whole community.”

NEWS

New building for Wilsonton Heights Neighbourhood Centre in Toowoomba

Minister for Communities and Housing Leeanne Enoch opened a new Neighbourhood Centre in Wilsonton Heights, Toowoomba last month. The $2.8million centre has replaced the 3 bedroom house that was being used for the service.

NEWS

Gladstone Neighbourhood Centre opens in new community precinct

Gladstone Neighbourhood Centre has found a new home in the Phillip Street Communities and Family Precinct.

GRANTS

Queensland Community Foundation General Fund - Capacity Building

Closing: Friday, 25 February 2022

The Queensland Community Foundation General Fund grant round is NOW OPEN! Queensland charities can apply for up to $30,000 in funding for capacity building projects. They have up to 30x $30,000 grants to give away all over the state, across any cause area.

EVENT

Child Safe Organisations
Briefing for leaders, management and board members

For Queensland's children to be safe and well, all organisations need to embed child-safe organisational practice. Leaders play a critical role in developing and maintaining a culture that values children and young people and is committed to treating their needs and their safety as the top priority.

NAPCAN is now offering free Queensland workshops designed specifically to meet the needs of management and board members including: shorter format to fit into busy schedules (2 hours rather than the 4 hours of NAPCAN's standard Child Safe Organisations Workshops) essential information about legislation requirements, contractual obligations, and the 10 National Principles for Child Safe Organisations developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission practical steps you can take to support your staff to embed a child-safe culture in your organisation.
ONLINE Tuesday 25 January, 10am - 12pm Friday 28 January, 10am - 12pm Thursday 24 February, 10am - 12pm Monday 14 March, 10am - 12pm Monday 28 March, 10am - 12pm Note: These briefing sessions are limited to 3 people from any one organisation.

RESOURCES

Vaccine Mandates for the Community Services Sector: A Legal View

By QCOSS

RESOURCES

Living and Working with COVID-19

By CSIA

RESOURCES

Lessons to be learned in relation to the Australian bushfire season 2019-20

There are many lessons to be learned from the bushfires of 2019-2020, and this report makes a number of findings.
The most relevant information for Neighbourhood and Community Centres is on pages 30-46 of the report (starting on page 44 of the PDF). This covers covering community-led recovery, social wellbeing, mental health support and grant funding. Finding 4.22 reads:
"4.22 Increasingly, it is the expectation of communities that recovery from bushfires (and other natural disasters) should genuinely be community-led, and stakeholders have consistently provided evidence in this regard. It was stressed that for recovery to be truly community-led, the community needs to owns its own solutions. If agencies try to impose solutions on communities, and if the community doesn’t own them, the solutions simply will not work."

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Skilling Queenslanders for Work (SQW) on-site Supervisor at Belong, Acacia Ridge

Job posted on: 12 January 2022
Applications close: No deadline

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Skilling Queenslanders for Work (SQW) Senior Coordinator at Belong, Acacia Ridge

Job posted on: 12 January 2022
Applications close: 31 January 2022

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Service Co-ordinator - Mundubbera

Job posted on: 5 January 2022
Applications close: 21 January 2022