News & Resources

March 2023

In this newsletter, you’ll find News, Stories of Impact, Local Community Heroes, Research, Events and Career Opportunities from across Queensland.

Creating Connection: Neighbourhood and Community Centre's Celebrate Neighbour Day & Harmony Week.

Throughout last week, Harmony Week and Neighbour Day celebrations popped up at Neighbourhood and Community Centres all over Queensland. A huge array of free events were hosted by Centres, each designed to enhance foster a sense of belonging, learn about different cultures, build connection and reduce social isolation.

• The Community Place celebrated Harmony Week with a shared meal and cultural performances at the Clayfield Uniting Church and Community Garden.
• The Neighbourhood Hub in Mackay partnered with Chances Op Shop to cook and share nutritious meals among community members who are experiencing homelessness and food insecurity for Neighbour Day.
• To Celebrate Harmony Week, Community Plus+ Yeronga brought their community together to feast on a beautiful spread, based on their volunteer's favourite traditional cultural dishes.
• Encircle Redcliffe hosted an incredible Community Fun Day in the park in recognition of Harmony Week which brought their local community together to enjoy cultural food stalls, activities, jumping castles and games.
• Mount Gravatt Community Centre celebrated both occasions with a community meal and activities.
• Caloundra Community Centre held a family fun trivia and pizza night for their Neighbour Day celebration.
• Hambledon House was joined by Relationships Australia to bring their local community together for some great talks and to share useful tips about how to create belonging and grow inclusive communities.
• The team at Dimbulah Community Centre wore orange in honour of Harmony Week and its message that “everyone belongs”.

Both Harmony Week and Neighbour Day are centred around philosophies that are at the heart of Neighbourhood and Community Centre’s daily work. Neighbour Day is a celebration created by Relationships Australia, designed to help people increase belonging and foster connection between people their communities. Harmony Week was developed by the Australian Government to help us recognise, learn about, respect and celebrate diversity while bringing together people from a multitude of backgrounds.

The immense variety of creative and inclusive events highlights both the incredible diversity of Queensland community’s and the ability of Neighbourhood and Community Centres to bring their local people together.

NCQ Team Visits Donald Simpson Neighbourhood Centre

On March 14th the NCQ team were fortunate to visit the Donald Simpson Community Centre in Cleveland and meet Thomas Jithin (the Centre’s CEO) and Tony Christinson (the Centre’s Board Chairman) who gave the team a tour of the Centre.  
 
The Community Centre, which until 12 years ago was called an ‘Over 50’s Leisure Centre’ had an incredibly welcoming atmosphere. Our team was greeted with warm smiles and laughter could be heard throughout the building as the Centre’s many daily activities were taking place.  
 
The Centre lives up to its motto “enriching the lives of mature citizens through activity and friendship” by offering an extensive array of scheduled activities throughout the week. The programs were exceptionally diverse, ranging from creative classes like painting, pottery and woodworking; physical activities including table tennis and Qi Gong, through to pragmatic supports, services and information sessions about health, legal advice and local events. The Centre also offers 4-6 low-cost day trips every month, as part of their Out With a Difference (OWAD) initiative, which provides community members an opportunity to connect with one another while exploring Queensland. In addition, members can join a range of multi-day interstate and international group holidays. 

NCQ Team Visits Redland Community Centre

On Tuesday March 14, the NCQ team had the privilege of visiting the Redland Community Centre and meeting with Allison Wicks, the Centre’s CEO. Redland Community Centre is a place that “runs on kindness” and their committed team works tirelessly to support their most vulnerable and marginalised community members with inclusive programs, including those designed for people in crisis. 
 
The Centre offers a range of supports including emergency relief packages and supplies to people experiencing homelessness and those burdened by the rising cost-of-living crisis; NILS financial loans, domestic and family violence support, crisis and generalist counselling, financial counselling, wellbeing workshops and service navigation support. These diverse supports are crucial in a region where 47% of those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity have come from situations of domestic and family violence.  

 Allison Wicks highlighted the commitment of Redland Community Centre to continue to deliver their vital programs, particularly as funding was unexpectedly cut for two of their primary programs. Despite facing such a significant loss, the Centre still manages to continue running these vital programs with the support of the local community chipping in to keep the programs afloat. 

Redland Community Centre provides free school shoes to local children and workwear to adults.

Redland Community Centre is combatting cost of living pressures by ensuring their community is equipped with essential clothing and shoes to return to school and enter the workforce.

A few weeks ago, the Redland Community Centre was transformed into a miniature shoe store, with rows of brand new, free school shoes for local public-school children to try on and choose from. Families have expressed how great of an assistance this initiative has been, helping to reduce the financial burden of a new school year.

As the cost of living continues to impact families across Queensland, the price of school uniforms can cause additional financial strain on families. The cost of school uniforms has shown to reduce attendance and enrolment among pupils from lower income families. The Saturday School Shoe Shop was funded by the Redland City Council and provides a simple, creative and effective means of promoting equity in access to education.

Meet Tracey Dickinson, one of NCQ’s new Board Members and Coordinator of Atherton's Better Together Community Centre.

Tracey began her journey with NCQ back in 2006 as a volunteer for the CCFSNAQ (Community Centres and Family Support Network Association Queensland – NCQ’s original name) Conference in Cairns during her final social work placement. She described her experience volunteering as “feeling connected and valued whilst learning about community-based programmes”.   

Tracey’s passion and motivation is working alongside volunteers. She deeply values volunteering as a practice and the work of volunteers themselves. She describes volunteers “as the frontline workforce who are there to demonstrate that the community cares, [they provide] accountability to the community, particularly vulnerable and marginalised populations; [volunteers] address inherent paid work/client power dynamics; [they provide] community responses to community issues; [volunteering supports people to] upskill, build confidence, create social networks and employment pathways for people that experience structural barriers to employment and [they] raise community awareness of the complexity of social issues and the services available to the community.”  

New Research: Community Development in Crisis Work in Neighbourhood Centres

In 2022, NCQ formed a research partnership with Griffith University Master of Social Work student Katie Everingham to explore issues around conducting Community Development in the context of crisis responses in the sector .  The result is this comprehensive dissertation entitled “Community development in crisis work in neighbourhood centres”. 

The research uses design-based methods with a group of Neighbourhood Centre workers that highlight specific forms of crisis and service delivery responses, and barriers to using Community Development methods.  Recommendations include developing practice frameworks, learning circles, training and projects to support the work of centres.  Capturing successful CD activities and communicating the place-based community-led work of the sector is also highlighted.  

Nominations now open for the 2023 Not-For-Profit Leadership Awards

The Australian Scholarship Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Not-For-Profit Leadership Awards. The awards are for leaders of smaller not-for-profit organisations. 

Winner prizes

• All category winners will receive a complimentary place in an AGSM short course at UNSW Business School up to the value of $5,000.
• One winner will also receive a twelve-month NPA Holistic Leadership Hub Membership valued at $9,972, including monthly Leadership Hub; 1on1 Coaching quarterly; and Leadership Strengths Assessment. This prize is offered by our presenting partner, The NonProfit Alliance.
• One winner will also receive a package of support provided by Leadership Space valued at $5,000. The co-designed package will be shaped to accelerate either individual or team development, as agreed with the winner.

There 4 awards available for organisations with an annual revenue under $3 million including Outstanding Leader, Outstanding Emergent Leader, Outstanding Leadership in Talent Growth and Outstanding Leadership in Wellbeing Governance.

Winners of the Inaugural 2023 Not-For-Profit Leadership Awards will be announced on Thursday, 15 June 2023 at an event in Sydney.

Community Strengthening Evidence Review

The Centre for Social Impact at the University of NSW released the Community Strengthening Evidence Review which explores the question: What community engagement or community development theories, practices, and activities have been found to contribute to community wellbeing for vulnerable children, young people and families?

The review identifies 5 key elements that are common across their evidence:

• Inclusive and genuine co-design and partnership: Building authentic partnerships with community that work towards community ownership while also ensuring that the diverse voices of that community are represented.
   
• Leveraging strengths and building capacity: Initiatives that are both strengths-based and actively building community capacity.
   
• Creating safe and effective spaces: Spaces that are safe and accessible to everyone to allow for the effective engagement of diverse community members.
   
• Intersectional and safe approaches: Incorporating an understanding of how the different aspects of a person's identity (e.g. gender, ethnicity, disability) can expose them to overlapping and intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalisation to allow for the delivery of a more integrated, safe and holistic suite of services.
   
• A whole system approach: Interventions that are part of a whole system approach that inter-connects multiple community cohorts and agencies.

2023 State of the Sector Report

QCOSS recently released their 2022 State of the Sector Report. The report highlights emerging ideas, issues and challenges identified by the social service sector. In particular, the 2022 report explores the effects of the cost of living and housing crises as well as major flooding events and natural disasters that have impacted Queensland communities this past year. The report speaks to issues impacting both service users and those working in the community services sector and provides in depth case studies and stories from the sector.

Status of Women Report Card

The Australian Government has released the 2023 Status of Women Report Card. The Report Card highlights the challenges women and girls in Australia face through youth and young adulthood, in careers and working life, through parenthood and families, and in later life. It looks at education, economic outcomes, health, safety and wellbeing, housing and gender norms.

I've joined a committee or board - what do I need to know?

QCOSS is hosting a webinar focusing on what to expect when joining a community or board. Organisational governance is a valuable way to contribute to your community and joining a board or management committee of not-for-profit organisation is an exciting volunteer venture.

Governance groups can have great variation in the way they are structured, and the roles and responsibilities their members have. Gaining clarity in how you will work together as a group, and how you will contribute to governance as an individual, will have a lasting impact on the effectiveness you have in this important community role. 

This webinar will provide an overview of the role of the management committee or board, and some of the things you need to be aware of when stepping into the world of community sector governance.  We will cover:

•    governance structures
•    roles and responsibilities 
•    constitutions and services agreements 

Note: In acknowledgement of the particular challenges that rural, remote, and small organisations have, participants representing these organisations will be prioritised. Registration numbers are capped to ensure a conversational workshop can be hosted, and the workshop will not be recorded. 

Human Rights in Action: Accidental Advocates

QCOSS and the Queensland Human Rights Commission are hosting a free webinar to explore the ways non-legal advocates based in community organisations can use the Human Rights Act 2019 to advocate on behalf of their clients, or to help clients advocate on their own behalf.

The session will cover:

• what type of organisations have responsibilities under the Human Rights Act 2019;
• identifying when situations may limit a person’s human rights;
• assessing whether less restrictive measures are reasonably available to improve the circumstances of their clients
• planning for engaging with a public entity to advocate on behalf of clients;
• using the language of the Act to communicate with the public entity and advocate on behalf of clients.

Community Development Queensland Conference

Moreton Bay Regional Council alongside NCQ and Community Development Queensland is hosting the 2023 Queensland Community Development Conference.

​The state-wide conference is the main vehicle through which CD practitioners, Neighbourhood Centre workers and community members can come together for professional development, to share stories of best practice, and to support each other in their community development and positive change efforts.

This year the 3 day event will be hosted at the Sandstone Point Hotel in Moreton Bay and will include a range of workshops, speakers and opportunities networking with other people in the community services sector. The conference will feature an all-day gathering for Neighbourhood Centres on the 16th March.

Dates: 16 - 18 October 2023
Location: Sandstone Point Hotel, Moreton Bay

Career Opportunities

Community Connect Worker
Tara Neighbourhood Centre 

Job posted on: 17 March 2023
Applications close: 3 April 2023

Administration and Program Support Worker
Charleville Neighbourhood Centre 

Job posted on: 21 March 2023
Applications close: 10 April 2023

Community Connect Worker
Ravenshoe Community Centre Inc.

Job posted on: 15 March 2023
Applications close: ongoing

Intake and Response Officer - Community Engagement
Encircle Ltd.

Job posted on: 14 March 2023
Applications close: ongoing

Neighbourhood Community Worker
Multilink Community Services Inc.

Job posted on: 21 March 2023
Applications close: 31 March 2023

Upcoming dates of recognition or celebration

31 March International Day of Transgender Visibility
22 March - 20 April Ramadan
1 - 16 April School Holidays
2 April World Autism Awareness Day
5 - 13 April Passover
7 - 10 April Easter
7 April World Health Day
11 - 17 April Queensland Youth Week
15 April Anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 1991
16 April Orthodox Easter
21 - 22 April Eid-al-Fitr

NCQ acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the Country; we pay our respects to their Elders, ancestors, land and seas.

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