Strengthening Non-Government Organisations ... - Community Door

Message from the MinisterI am pleasedto have thisopportunity in thefirst issue of theStrengtheningNon-GovernmentOrganisationsnewsletter for 2007 to offer youmy very best wishes for the yearahead.Congratulations on the excellentwork you have done in your localcommunities during the pastyear and your efforts to provideQueenslanders with the bestpossible community and disabilityservices.The Queensland Government hasintroduced a number of initiativesthrough the StrengtheningNon-Government Organisationsstrategy to recognise and supportyour efforts and to ensure thelong-term sustainability ofcommunity and disability servicesin our state.Management support just a mouse click awayThe Community Door website went live last month,providing instant access to a wide-ranging collectionof business management resources for Queensland’scommunity and disability organisations.Members of the community and disability sectorshave welcomed the “one-stop shop” convenience thewebsite offers.Silky Oaks Children’s Haven Chief Executive OfficerWendy Williams who participated in the site’sdevelopment and user testing said its resources rangedacross many areas of an organisation’s operations.“Tools like Management Support Online provide practicalsupport for program managers, finance officers,operations managers and professional services staff,”Ms Williams said.“There is also a workforce planning tool to helporganisations assess and determine their staffing needs.“It’s great to have these resources all in the one placeand targeted at Queensland organisations.”Members of the community and disabilitysectors have welcomed the “one-stop shop”convenience the website offers.The website also includes an online forum offeringconvenient, new opportunities for networking andinformation sharing.This newsletter reports on severalof these initiatives and some of theways organisations are making themost of opportunities for innovationand capacity building.I encourage you to support eachother’s achievements in theseareas and to celebrate andshare successful strategies forstrengthening the services andoperations of your organisations.The value of this kind of sharingand celebration was highlightedfor me and many members of thecommunity and disability sectorslate last year when I presented theinaugural awards for Excellence inWorkforce Development.The positive response to the awardsprogram showed that organisationswelcomed the opportunities itoffered for showcasing best practiceand for members of the sectors toget together and gain inspirationfrom each other.We need to remember that taking“time out” to acknowledge and learnfrom each other’s achievements isessential for individual professionalgrowth and development,organisational health, and theoverall health of the community anddisability services sectors.I hope we can build on thesuccess of the awards programduring the coming years so that itgrows in strength and value andbecomes firmly established as ameans of sharing best practice,celebrating the development of yourorganisations and supporting yourwork in the community.I wish you all a productive andfulfilling year.The Honourable Warren Pitt MPMinister for Communities, DisabilityServices, Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Partnerships, Seniors and YouthThe Community Door is the redeveloped version of theQueensland Community Online Resources websitelaunched in 2005.The redevelopment of the site’s content, structureand presentation has been a major initiative of theStrengthening Non-Government Organisations strategyduring 2006. Further development will continue during2007–08, with input from sector representatives.To view and give feedback on theCommunity Door, visit www.qld.gov.au/ngoMore informationContact: Claire RowlandPhone: 1300 794 611A brand-new place where everyone has a spaceWith a little bit of vision and foresight,people in the central westernQueensland town of Longreachhave turned the threatened loss of acommunity facility into a project thatpromises gains for everyone.As Longreach Youth Club and SportsComplex Secretary Elizabeth Adamexplained, the project is all aboutcreating “a brand-new place whereeveryone has a space”.The planned “new place” isthe Central West Youth andCommunity Hub, a multipurposeservice and recreationcentre for Longreach and thesurrounding area.Ms Adam said community groupshad come up with the idea of acombined service and recreationhub when looking for ways to avoidclosing the town’s Youth Club andSports Complex.“The complex was becomingincreasingly expensive to maintain,and we knew we had to make it moresustainable,” she said.“We believed it was important foryoung people to have a recreationand activity centre, but we alsorealised there were other groups inthe town who had needs too.“We decided that the most long-termsustainable solution was to redevelopthe complex into a venue whereregional service providers couldco-locate with community groups.”Four additional project officers have been appointedto the Strengthening Indigenous Non-GovernmentOrganisations team to provide hands-on support tocommunity organisations managed by Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander peoples.Two of these officers are based in Brisbane, workingwith organisations in South-East Queensland and theWide Bay–Burnett area. The other two are assistingorganisations in the Rockhampton and Townsville areas.Additional officers will be appointed in Cairns and MountIsa early in 2007.Ms Adam said the Youth andCommunity Hub would cater forthe needs of groups with particularneeds, as well as the widercommunity.The Central West Youth andCommunity Hub — a facility wherepeople can work, learn and play“The focus will be on providingspecific services and activities forseniors, young people, Indigenouspeople and people with a disability,”she said, “but there will alsobe general facilities for trainingprograms, recreational activities andmeetings.”Hub Steering Committee ChairmanRon Beezley said the creation of thehub was a collaborative project thathad brought everyone in the localarea together.“We have completed communityconsultation and are well on the waytowards developing a business planfor the project.“People like the idea of havinga central place where there issomething for everyone.”Funding of $15 000 to develop thebusiness plan for the Central WestYouth and Community Hub wasprovided through Building Links, aStrengthening Non-GovernmentOrganisations grants programaimed at helping community anddisability organisations developand implement collaborativeprojects.Members of the hub consortiumhave applied for funding for the nextphase of the project through theRural Multi-Tenant Service Centresinitiative introduced as part of theQueensland Government’s Blueprintfor the Bush.Hands-on support for Indigenous organisationsActing Team Director Graham White said the role ofthese officers was to assist organisations with theirday-to-day operations.“They will liaise with regional staff to visit Indigenousorganisations who request assistance and then workindividually with management committees and staff toidentify the best ways of giving them practical support,”he said.More informationContact: Graham WhitePhone: 1300 794 611Participating organisationsOrganisations and groups involvedin establishing the Central WestYouth and Community Hubinclude the Longreach Youth ClubCommittee and Steering Committee;Longreach Youth Council; LearningNetwork Queensland; Job Futures,Longreach; and Central West andHighlands Community Developmentand Employment Project Ltd.Central West Queensland RemoteArea Planning and Development(RAPAD) is developing the businesscase for the hub.23