ccc agm report 2009-final.qxd

Transcription

Cabramatta Community Centre Annual Report 2009
Cabramatta Community Centre
30th Annual Report 2009
Contents
Page Number
29th Annual General Meeting Minutes
Members of the Management Committee 2008/2009
Cabramatta Community Centre Mission Statement, Vision & Goals
President’s Report
Executive Officer’s Report
2
5
6
7
9
Neighbourhood Centre
13
Cabramatta Occasional Child Care
Multicultural Outreach Service
Policy & Admin Project
Public Relations & Advocay
13
14
16
20
22
Cabramatta Youth Team
24
Youth Services Coordinator
Accommodation and Brokerage Youth Service (GITS Report)
Accommodation and Brokerage Youth Service (Youth Housing Support)
Accommodation and Brokerage Youth Service (SAAP Intake Worker)
AIDS Project
Fairfield Multicultural Youth Support Project - General
Fairfield Multicultural Youth Support Project - Survey Results
Parents Youth Drug & Alcohol Project - Youth Health
Parents Youth Drug & Alcohol Project - General Report
Young Women’s Project
25
27
29
31
35
37
40
43
46
48
Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre
51
FMRC Coordinator
African Project
Brighter Futures Family Support
Bonnyrigg Tenants Service
Complex Case Support
Domestic Violence Project
Humanitarian Entrants & Refugees Settlement Service (HERSS)
HUB Project
Integration Project
Iraqi Settlement Grants Project
Outreach Project - CSSS
Sudanese Settlement Project (ECWA)
Youth Settlement Worker
52
56
59
61
64
67
70
72
74
75
77
80
83
The Heights
86
List Of Achievements
Coordinator
The Heights at Canley Heights
Multicultural Seniors Group
Heights OOSH Services
Vietnamese Community Worker
Youth Outreach Project
87
89
93
96
97
99
100
Multicultural Aged & Disability Services (MA&DS)
Fairfield Area Home Modification & Maintenance Outreach Service (FAHMOS)
Multicultural Aged Resources Service (MARS)
Multicultural Community Care Services (MCCS)
Cover artwork by Jasper Somerville-Collie, Elemental Arts; Design & layout by Sue Linsen,
Can Do Management; Team cartoons by Steve Vaughn; Additional artwork by Mary Talato,
Barbara Pozzi, Phil Richards, Sue Basser, Minh Tran, David Burfoot and Nick Tantaro.
Page 1
102
103
106
109
Minutes of the 29th Annual General Meeting
Of Cabramatta Community Centre
31st October 2008
PRESENT:
See attached list
APOLOGIES:
Community Relations Commission, Bankstown Women's Health Centre, Bankstown
Community Services Cooperative, Chester Hill Neighbourhood Centre, Mr. N. Lalich Mayor
of Fairfield / Member for Cabramatta, Mr. A. Koshaba, Fairfield City Council, Sue Willis,
Graeme Ferry, Des Beazley.
1.
Welcome & Apologies
Ricci Bartels introduced Auntie Thelma to perform the Welcome To Country. Ricci thanked
Auntie Thelma very much and presented her with flowers and a small gift in appreciation.
The President of Cabramatta Community Centre, Mr. Julio Gruttulini, welcomed everyone
to the meeting and thanked them for attending. Julio then read the list of apologies for the
meeting.
2.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Julio tabled the Minutes of the 28th Annual General Meeting as contained in the CCC AGM
Report, and asked for a motion that the Minutes be accepted.
Moved: That the Minutes of the 28th AGM be accepted.
Moved:
Seconded:
Dorothy Cole;
Edna Peceros.
Carried
3.
Business Arising from the Previous Minutes
There was no business arising from the previous Minutes.
4.
Audit Report
Julio introduced Ricci Bartels (Finance Executive Officer) to present the Financial Reports.
Ricci introduced Yirgu Beyene (Treasurer) who spoke to the Audit Report for 2007/2008.
Ricci then presented the financial report and asked if there were any questions. As there
were no questions, Ricci asked for a motion to accept the financial report for 2008.
Moved: That the Audit Report for Cabramatta Community Centre for the 2007/2008
financial year is accepted.
Moved:
Seconded:
Dorothy Cole;
Dot Smith.
Carried
Ricci then requested a motion to re-appoint the Centre's external Auditor, Graham Funnell
for the 2008/2009 financial year.
Moved: That Graham Funnel is appointed as the Auditor for Cabramatta Community
Centre for the 2008/2009 financial year.
Page 2
Moved:
Seconded:
Edna Peceros
Dorothy Cole
Carried
Ricci then presented the Department of Fair Trading Form 12 to the meeting, and Julio
Gruttulini (President), and Edna Peceros (Vice-President), signed it in the presence of the
meeting.
Moved: That Form 12 be adopted by the meeting as a true and fair record of the
financial activities of Cabramatta Community Centre for 2007/2008 and be sent to the
Department of Fair Trading.
Moved:
Seconded:
Julio Gruttulini
Edna Peceros
Carried
1.
Other Reports
Julio Gruttulini, President of the Centre, then tabled the Cabramatta Community Centre
AGM Report, and asked for a motion that the Reports be accepted by the meeting.
Moved: That the Annual Reports for 2007/2008 are accepted by the meeting.
Moved:
Seconded:
Dot Smith
Dorothy Cole
Carried
Julio then introduced Cheyne Hillman who had prepared an overview of Cabramatta
Community Centre Services. Cheyne introduced the DVD of services of Cabramatta
Community Centre.
2.
Elections
Ricci Bartels then gave an overview of the election process used by Cabramatta
Community Centre, which is to elect all the members of the Sub-Committees, but not to
elect any Office Bearers, as these are elected by the Executive Representatives at their first
meeting for the year. Ricci then introduced Peter Hope from Fairfield City Council to be
Returning Officer for the meeting. All the existing members of the Committee then formally stood down.
Peter requested that only members of CCC vote in the elections and illustrate their membership by holding up a member card. Peter read out each group of nominations for the
Sub-Committees in turn and then asked for a motion that each group of nominations be
accepted.
i.
Mount Pritchard Cabramatta West Community Centre (The Heights)
Moved: That the nominations are accepted.
Moved:
Julio Gruttulini
Seconded:
Dorothy Cole
ii.
Carried
Multicultural Aged and Disability Services
Moved: That the nominations are accepted.
Moved:
Edna Peceros
Seconded:
Catherine Platts
Page 3
Carried
iii.
Moved: That the nominations are accepted:
Moved:
Dorothy Cole
Seconded:
Edna Peceros
iv.
Carried
Moved: That the nominations are accepted:
Moved:
Julio Gruttulini
Seconded:
Dot Smith
Carried
Peter then declared the elections completed and all Sub-Committees elected. Julio
Gruttulini re-took the Chair and presented Peter with a small gift in thanks for his work.
7.
Presentations
Ricci then presented small gifts to the Members of the Executive Committee. Julio Gruttulini
then presented flowers to all the Cabramatta Community Centre Coordinators in thanks for
all their work throughout the year. Julio then presented Ricci with a special framed photograph of her mother Ulla Bartels who founded Cabramatta Community Centre in 1978, as
well as a plaque commemorating her achievement. Julio then declared the formal proceedings of the meeting closed and invited everyone to remain for supper and entertainment.
MEETING CLOSED 4:30PM
Page 4
Members of the Management Committee of
Cabramatta Community Centre
2008/2009
CABRAMATTA YOUTH TEAM
FAIRFIELD MIGRANT RESOURCE CENTRE
Thomas Heard
April Hovey
Merry Sae-Lam
Solange Mapendo
Holly O'Donnell *
Moses Tavola
Bonny Weigong
Yirgu Beyene Chassa
Majed Saeed Al Haider
Najia Khalil
Freidoon Khavarpour
Chibalonza Malula
Hikmat Oodesh
Edna Peceros *
EQUATORIA COMMUNITY &
WELFARE ASSOCIATION (ECWA)
Faustino Aboka *
Patrick Dako
Michael Gelon Hiriwo
Martin Okot
Charles Wani
THE HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES
MULTICULTURAL AGED &
DISABILITY SERVICES (MA&DS)
Nika Brealey
Margo Connell
Santi Fernandez
Marilyn McMillan
Catherine Platts *
Dorothy Cole *
Larraine Eddy
Julio Gruttulini *
Francis McQuade
Edna Peceros
Norma Piaggio
Dot Smith
Page 5
The Staff Of Cabramatta Community Centre
Would Like To Take This Opportunity To Thank All
The Members Of Our Management Committee
And All Our Volunteers For Their Hours Of Work
And Support For The Services Of Cabramatta
Community Centre
Cabramatta Community Centre Mission Statement
“To ensure that disadvantaged local residents enjoy the life
opportunities experienced by other Australians.”
Cabramatta Community Centre Vision
“Cabramatta Community Centre strives to support a vibrant local community. One
which advocates for social justice, participation in decision-making,
celebration in diversity and non-discrimination in all levels of society”
Cabramatta Community Centre Organisational Goals
• To facilitate community involvement in the management, program
development and evaluation of the organisation
• To provide programs, services and activities in order to meet identified
community needs.
• To document and disseminate information on emerging community
needs to government and non-government organisations
• To facilitate the development of, and act as a mentor for services
which address emerging community needs.
• To advocate on behalf of individuals and groups, particularly those
which are socially marginalised.
• To provide leadership, support and advocacy on the interests of
communities within the region.
• To develop appropriate policies and procedures that enable the above
goals to be achieved.
Page 6
President's Report 2009
On this, the 30th Annual General Meeting of Cabramatta Community Centre, it is a great
honour to be President of Cabramatta Community Centre: an organisation which began as
a group of volunteers in 1978 and has grown to be such a large and diverse community
organisation today.
It would be impossible to thank individually all the staff, management committee members,
volunteers and funding body representatives who have contributed so much in the last 30
years to create and build this organisation, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank
them all for their energy and commitment. There are however, a few people I would like to
single out for special mention who have been pivotal in the development of Cabramatta
Community Centre.
First there was Ulla Bartels who founded the organisation in the late seventies and gave so
much of her time and energy to assist recently arrived refugees from Cambodia, Laos and
Vietnam. Her daughter Ricci, has been a management member and later a staff member
of the organisation since the beginning in 1978. Jan Collie and Barbara Hillman have
worked tirelessly on behalf of the Centre since 1985, Danh Dang has been accountant for
the Centre since 1987, Elly Kopytko was Coordinator of Cabramatta Occasional Child Care
from 1988 to 2008, Hung Nguyen has been a Vietnamese case worker for CCC since 1983
and Van Tran has been a Vietnamese case worker for CCC since 1987 and is retiring in
September this year.
Other people who have had a profound impact on the development of CCC include Peter
Rawlings and Alan Raisin who were CCC's DoCS CPOs for many years. Tragically, Alan
died of a brain tumour in 2008 otherwise I am certain he would have been at our 30th celebration. It is also important to acknowledge our external auditor Graham Funnell, who was
CCC's auditor from 1986 to 2008, and who died suddenly early this year.
There are some members of staff of Fairfield Council who should also receive special mention, especially Vlad Aleksandric, Barbara Gapps, Debbie Sandars and Sue Coleman who
have all provided unfailing support and advice to CCC staff and management over so many
years.
In terms of Executive Committee members I would like to give special praise to Robyn Vote,
Sue James, Liz Fulop, Shirley Barrett, Anna Wooden, Des Beazley, Dorothy Cole and Edna
Peceros who have all given unstinting time, energy and creativity to their governance role
over the last 30 years.
I would like to finish this report by quoting from the first President's Report which gives a
good indication of both the commitment of the management committees of CCC and also
just how far the organisation has come since 1979.
"What excitement we felt when we finally got some financial help through submissions we
had slaved over, never having done any before, and we finally moved from Ricci and Ulla's
house to an office in Cabramatta. We could actually afford a Coordinator! Don
Karannogoda was chosen as being eminently suitable for the role. So, Don and a core of
volunteers settled into the new premises and started work. We realised our energies could
Page 7
and should be spread over a wide area, and in mid-1980 it was voted that we think about
becoming a Migrant Neighbourhood Centre.
You see that in the space of less than two years, SEACA has evolved from English lessons,
through the Carramar Activity Group and SEACA, to the possibility of a Migrant
Neighbourhood Centre. What a metamorphosis!!! This could never have happened without the constant help, advice and seemingly never-ending energy of Vlad Aleksandric, who
on behalf of Fairfield City Council has given us so much of his time and support. Steve
Sykes has also been of incredible assistance to our project . . .Our thanks to (Fairfield
Neighbourhood Centre) and Steve, and lately Anne Falappi, who started by being a SEACA
volunteer, and ended up administrator of Fairfield Neighbourhood Centre. . .
I can't round off these thanks without thanking Ulla and Ricci, especially Ulla, for their unfailing - "slogging" is really the only word I can put here, work is not strong enough. I have
never before met two people who have fought so much for something they really have faith
in. Ulla has worked so hard and so long for SEACA to come to fruition that I am sure the
refugees of Carramar, and now the City of Fairfield, will never realise how much they owe
her." (Sue James - First President of SEACA).
It is with great pleasure that I welcome everyone to the 30th Annual General Meeting of
Cabramatta Community Centre, an organisation that now has a turnover of approximately
$6 million per year and a staff of over 140. How surprised and pleased Ulla would have
been!
Julio Gruttulini
President
Page 8
Executive Officer’s Report
Funded by the Department of Community Services (DoCS)
This is our 30th year of operations and so we felt it was important to produce only one
report to emphasise the fact that despite its size and diversity, Cabramatta Community
Centre is a single organisation with one set of philosophies and objectives.
The report is divided into sections for each division of the Centre. The Divisions are:
z
Cabramatta Neighbourhood Centre
z
z
z
The Heights Community Service
z
Multicultural Aged and Disability Services
The major issues for the Centre this year have revolved around increasing demands for
services, especially direct services, the impact of the global financial crisis and the increasing shortage of low-income housing in the area.
The accounts staff (along with all the other staff of CCC), were very distressed by the sudden death of Graham Funnell, who had been the external auditor for the Centre since 1987.
The early part of 2009 was spent in sadly recruiting a new firm of auditors for CCC.
The Occasional Child Care service has had a very busy year with increasing demands for
places for children under two years of age. This has impacted upon staffing ratios and
requirements, and currently there is a waiting list for these places.
The Multilingual Outreach Service has continued to provide casework, referral and information in a range of venues in Fairfield. The Centre was very sad to lose Hanan Khizmo (the
Arabic caseworker) who retired in 2008.
The Administration Manager, Clement Meru, has continued to solve all the day to day
administration and OH&S problems for the rest of the Centre (not to mention the Executive
Officer), and has also up-dated the CCC Website.
In May 2009, the Centre was very pleased to welcome Kerry Nettle to the position of Public
Relations and Advocacy Manager for CCC. Kerry's work is already having a major positive
impact upon the Centre as a whole.
The housing services have had a particularly difficult year. The number of homeless young
people seeking assistance has increased again in this financial year. In addition, the critical shortage of affordable housing has meant that the options for accommodating them are
extremely limited.
Cabramatta Community Centre was pleased to welcome Vicky Morgan to the position of
drug and alcohol project worker. Vicky has also seen an increase in the number of clients
Page 9
seeking drug and alcohol case work, information and referral. Steve Vaughan has once
again facilitated a range of prevention programs for young people including weight training,
wall-to-wall rugby teams, fitness programs and has also supported the "Outa Cabra" program with Mark Hankin of the GITS project.
Karen Hillman of the Young Women's Project has also had a busy year with increasing
numbers of young women being referred to the project for case management, as well as
providing regular court support for DV victims.
Finally, Flora Farjam and Matthew Russell of the Multicultural Youth Support project have
continued their sterling work with recently arrived refugee young people, young people with
disabilities and young people of CALD backgrounds. Flora's work with young people with
disabilities has recently been funded for ongoing group activities.
CCC is happy to welcome Vesna Stefanovic and Simon Sogora (late of the FMRC
Citizenship program), to the FMRC Hub project. FMRC staff have had a demanding year
because (among other things), the demands for emergency relief funds have increased
dramatically in the last twelve months.
Ricci Bartels (FMRC Coordinator) has spent a lot of her year preparing for the Poverty
Conference to be held in July 2009, and helping with the establishment of the Equatorial
Community Welfare Association (ECWA) Sudanese Settlement project in Blacktown as well
as everything else a manager of a large team has to do. Ricci was helped enormously in
these tasks by Rosemary Meale, who was recruited to the HERSS position in early 2009.
Abdul Hekmat of the FMRC Youth Project has continued his work of assisting recently
arrived refugee and humanitarian entrant young people with their settlement process. Abdul
has continued to provided homework assistance and information programs for these young
people in addition to running soccer tournaments to increase networks and friendships for
this target group.
Imme Nyangatom is currently on maternity leave and Rita Gangi is the locum worker in the
African Project. Rita has organised a huge range of information sessions and capacity
building workshops for the African community in addition to providing regular casework,
information and referral services.
Deena Khamas is also on maternity leave, and Maysoon Shammu is the locum worker in
the Iraqi position. Like Rita, Maysoon has had a frantic year of organising workshops for
her community as well as providing casework, information and referral services.
Sam You of the Domestic Violence project has continued to provide counselling and practical assistance to victims of domestic violence and their children in addition to establishing
support groups for DV victims, providing regular court support services and taking part in
forums and events to promote the service.
Samira Maalouf, late of the Brighter Futures project, has now been recruited to the
Outreach Project, which continues to provide emergency relief, casework, information and
referral for recently arrived refugees and humanitarian entrants in outlying areas of
Fairfield.
Page 10
At Bonnyrigg, Charles Ang has continued to provide casework and advocacy services for
tenants being re-housed under the Living Communities program. Charles has also facilitated tenancy workshops in a range of languages to assist tenants to understand the structure of the Newleaf organisation and learn more about his services.
In 2008, Tara Russell began working with recently arrived clients with complex needs as
part of the new Complex Case project. In 2009, Yamamah Agha, late of the Outreach project, was recruited as manager. The project works directly with recently arrived refugees
and humanitarian entrants who have critical problems in addition to their settlement issues.
The project uses a case management model of service to assist clients to resolve these
issues.
The Heights Community Services
If there was an award for "Neighbourhood Centre of the year", The Heights would definitely be a contender. The Heights team has continued to organise and run a huge range of
programs, activities, events and workshops for local residents as well as writing vast numbers of (mostly successful) submissions for funds to run them, network with other organisations and work with them to plan major events in the area and run ongoing services such
as OOSH and youth programs.
Please see the Heights report for details, because it would take too long to give even a brief
overview of all the work that has been achieved by Estela, Julie, Sandra, Stephanie, Nu,
Betty, Ruth and the OOSH staff.
Multicultural Aged & Disability Services (MADS)
The Multicultural Community Care Service (MCCS) has had a difficult year. In addition to
providing 133 Community Aged Care Packages, 30 EACH packages, in-home respite care
and social support, the service was informed in early May 2009 that the building the service occupied in Fisher Street Cabramatta was to be demolished to make way for a multistorey car park, and the premises had to be vacated by 1/7/09. May and June 2009 were
therefore spent scrambling to find accommodation, packing everything up and moving and
then reorganising the office infrastructure in the new premises. However, Juana and the
team managed all of it and continued to provide their regular services to clients throughout
the whole process. The MCCS team is now happily settled in Wetherill Park.
The Fairfield Area Home Modification and Maintenance team that comprises Sue, Joe,
Graeme and Judi, has continued to provide modifications and maintenance for frail aged
and younger people with disabilities and their carers in Fairfield LGA. The service has been
somewhat hampered this year by a number of vacancies in community OT positions. Sue
Willis, the service coordinator, was able to source some funds from the HMMS State
Council to enable her to broker private OT services to permit frail aged people (who might
otherwise have had to wait up to six months), to be assessed and have work completed at
their houses to permit them to continue living safely at home.
Evgueni Singatouline, the new project worker for the Multicultural Aged Resource Service
(MARS) has been run off his feet all year supporting a range of language specific seniors
groups, working with the District Senior's Network to plan events and capacity building
workshops, organising tours and outings and also running non-stop basic computer classPage 11
es in English, Vietnamese and Chinese. The results of all this work have been extremely
well-received and have had some very positive outcomes.
I would like to thank all the members of the Cabramatta Community Centre Management
Committee for their commitment, support, advice and endless hard work, especially the
members of the Executive Committee who not only govern the organisation but help us in
so many different ways.
To the staff, thank you all so much for your excellent work, your kind and generous dispositions, your commitment to the people of the area and your humour, all of which makes
working with you so satisfying and so much fun. I would particularly like to thank the divisional coordinators, the accounts staff and the administration and OH&S manager for their
enormously hard work and their personal support to me.
Finally, I would like to say thank you to the representatives of all our funding bodies who
give us so much support and guidance. You do a wonderful job and we appreciate you very
much! Really!
Jan Collie
Chief Executive Officer.
Page 12
Project
Executive Officer
Finance Manager
Accountant
Policy & Admin. Manager
Public Relations & Advocacy
Reception
CCC Occasional Child Care
Multilingual Outreach Project
Funding
Department of Community Services (DoCS)
Cabramatta Community Centre (CCC)
CCC
DoCS/ CCC
CCC
CCC
DoCS
DoCS
In 1979, the Neighbourhood Centre was Cabramatta Community Centre. Over the last 30
years, Cabramatta Community Centre as a whole has grown enormously both in size and
in diversity of projects. Today, the Neighbourhood Centre is one of the smallest Divisions of
CCC and has primarily an administrative, support and resource role with respect to the
other divisions.
Accounts Manager
Danh Dang, the Finance Manager, and Rana Sakr, the Accountant have managed the
Accounts section of Cabramatta Community Centre with enormous commitment and (luckily) accuracy. In the last twelve
months, the accounts staff have
refined many aspects of accounts
management at CCC and introduced
a number of strategies to increase
risk management. Reham Tamer
has returned from maternity leave
and has continued to assist the
accounts section with purchasing,
cheques and fleet management. The
staff and management of CCC would
like to take this opportunity to thank
Danh, Rana and Reham for all their
hard work on behalf of the Centre.
Reception
Jacqueline Astles and Helen Jedrzejewski have continued to manage reception with efficiency and excellent customer service skills. Valasi Sulusi, who had been CCC's receptionist for over 10 years, decided not to return from maternity leave but to devote herself to caring for her young family. The staff and management of CCC would like to thank Valasi for
all her years of service to CCC and offer her our best wishes for the future. The staff would
also like to thank Jacquie and Helen for all their help, patience and support to staff, clients
and management throughout the year.
Jan Collie
Executive Officer
Page 13
Cabramatta Occasional Child Care
Cabramatta Occasional Child Care is licensed, funded
and registered by DoCS. The Centre provides care for up
to twenty children aged from six weeks to school age at
any one time.
The Centre is staffed by experienced and qualified
educators and child care workers. We are also assisted
by some wonderful volunteers at various times of the
year.
Cabramatta Occasional Child Care endeavours to
provide a stimulating and educational environment where
families can leave their children while they attend
appointments, shop, study or work.
A developmentally appropriate program is
formulated each week based on the children’s
interests and investigations.
The program
includes a range of activities such as craft,
painting, dress ups, imaginative play, blocks,
puzzles and outdoor experiences.
At present the service has 65 children enrolled
on a regular basis, plus 15 children attending
on a casual basis. Over the past 12 months
125 children have attended the service.
The first half of 2009 has been very busy for the Centre as we have had an influx of
children aged less than 12 months. This means that a Diploma trained staff member has
to be in attendance at all times. It also means that extra staff are employed to ensure
that DoCS regulations are met.
Often Cabramatta Occasional Child Care is the first formal child care used by families,
so we try to create a warm and friendly environment for parents and their children. This
ensures that a child’s first experience in child care is a happy one.
Page 14
The staff have had an interesting year
working alongside a new Coordinator,
who has introduced some new policies
and practices. These policies and
practices ensure that Cabramatta
Occasional Child Care maintains the
high standards required by the DOCS
regulations. This year we would like to
welcome our new member of staff,
Hilda Guzman. Hilda was a student who
completed her Certificate 111 while
volunteering with us in 2008. Her love
of children and her wonderful work ethic
encouraged us to contact her when we
needed another staff member at the
centre.
Again, I would like to thank all the staff of Occasional Child Care for their hard work and
commitment to the service.
Debra Rose
Coordinator, Cabramatta Occasional Child Care
All the staff, children and families of Cabramatta Occasional Child Care would like to
wish Cabramatta Community Centre a wonderful 30th Birthday!
Page 15
Multilingual Outreach Service
As in previous years, BWS team members undertook case work in Cabramatta, The
Heights (Canley Heights and Mount Pritchard) and Wetherill Park, in the Assyrian, Chinese,
Vietnamese, Lao, Thai, Hmong and English languages. Team members addressed the individual needs of clients, mostly from non-English speaking backgrounds and also conducted outreach work at Bonnyrigg (Lao/Hmong), Mount Pritchard Cabramatta West
Community Centre (Vietnamese), Canley Heights Community Centre (Vietnamese) and the
Parks Community Network at Wetherill Park (Assyrian). This latter aspect of the project
involves project staff running group activities with clients in order to reach out to disadvantaged members of specific ethnic groups as well as joining in community development with
workers from other local organisations
Working Hours
Following the resignation of Hanan Khizmo, our Arabic worker, in February 2008, her hours
were added to those of Nu Tran, our Vietnamese worker at The Heights and Mary Giv
Mashi, our Assyrian worker at Wetherill Park, so that they could spend more time on case
work. It was decided not to recruit another Arabic speaking worker as Fairfield MRC now
has a number of staff who speak different forms of Arabic. Altogether, the BWS team of 6
members (one Assyrian, one Lao/Hmong, one Chinese and three Vietnamese) worked a
total of 53 hours a week part-time.
A. CASEWORK
For the financial year from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009, the BWS team members dealt with
a total of 1,474 clients with an average of 6 clients per working day. This annual total is 7
clients less than in 2008, but is still a major achievement, given that the team now has one
less worker (Arabic). Again, the three Vietnamese workers have the most clients with a
total of 1090, with 484 for the Chinese worker, and 175 for the Coordinator. The number of
Vietnamese clients has been further enhanced by the addition of our Vietnamese volunteer
worker Trung, who started on 21 April and is still with the team. Trung is completing his
Diploma in Welfare Studies at Sydney TAFE.
Client profiles
Gender: 964 (65.4%) of the 1474 clients were female, 484 (32.8%) male, and 19 (1.3%)
were listed as both male and female (couples).
Age groupings: only 14 (0.9%) of the clients were under the age of 25, 1186 (80.5%) in the
25-64 age group, and 239 (16.2%) over 64 - with 35 (2.4%) whose ages were not recorded.
Again, the small number of clients aged under 25 years was explained by the fact that
younger people have less need to seek assistance from migrant welfare services as they
mostly speak English and can access mainstream services.
Language background: the languages spoken at home by the 2009 clients show: 959
(65.1%) speak Vietnamese, 378 (25.6%) Chinese; 60 (4.1%) Lao, 21 Khmer (1.4%), 16
(1.1%) English, and 28 (1.9%) speaking other languages such as Assyrian and Spanish.
There were 12 clients (0.8%) without this factor assigned.
Page 16
Country of Origin: Vietnam is the country of origin for the majority of the clients (1090 or
73.9%), followed by China (203 or 13.8%), Laos (57 or 3.9%), Cambodia (40 or 2.7%),
Hong Kong (15 or 1%), East Timor (7 or 0.5%). The remainder (42 or 2.8%) came from
various other countries.
Issues presented by clients
Similar to previous years, many clients presented with more than one problem or issue with a
total of 1843 needs and issues recorded as follows: Centrelink (315 instances or 17%), housing (208 or 11.3%), health (182 or 9.8%), immigration (181 or 9.8%), utilities (88 or 4.8%),
insurance/car/home (87 or 4.7%), education (86 or 4.7%), legal (76 or 4.1%), employment
(67 or 3.6%), social/emotional needs (63 or 3.4%), taxation (49 or 2.6%), superannuation
(46 or 2.5%), family issues (38 or 2.1%), transport (33 or 1.8%), financial difficulties (29 or
1.6%), workers compensation (29 or 1.5%). Other issues totalled 266 or 14.4%.
Included in other issues are needs related to childcare (16), citizenship (13), material support (4), Medicare (17), transport (33), workers compensation (29) and miscellaneous others (196). It is of interest to note that due to the global financial crisis and the loss of
employment for many local residents, there has been an increase in the number of clients
withdrawing their superannuation, making inquiries about taxation claims, or seeking help
with employment.
Actions Taken
As with the problems presented by clients, the workers may take more than one action to
resolve the problem of each client. Altogether, 3107 actions were recorded, an 8%
decrease from 3375 for last year.
Again, the provision of verbal information topped the list (982 or 31.6%), followed by interpreting and translating of English-language documents or assistance over the telephone with
interpreting (777 or 25%), then form filling (694 or 22.3%), telephone calls to sort out a problem (294 or 9.5%), letter-writing (102 or 3.3%), referrals to other agencies (97 or 3.1%),
involving clients in group activities (73 or 2.3%), counselling (62 or 2%), the provision of written information (10 or 0.3%), advocacy (6 or 0.2%), and other actions (10 or 0.3%).
Compared to 2008, there was a reduction in the number of actions taken involving verbal
information (1085 last year), interpreting (845), telephone calls (306), outward referrals
(184), group activities (157) and counselling (106). On the other hand, there were more
requests for form filling, especially with Centrelink applications (613), letter writing (57) and
interpreting (306) - the latter more than doubled.
B. GROUP WORK AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
Nu Tran continued to help run activities for Vietnamese speaking clients at the Canley
Heights community centre through multicultural groups in folk art, cooking classes, basic
computer courses, English classes and positive thinking. Nu also organised home work
help for local Vietnamese children and "Fun for Mum" days. Attendance varied from 7 to
16 members.
Mary Giv Mashi also continued to run an Arabic and a Chaldean aged group at the Parks
Community Network, Wetherill Park. The groups meet every fortnight at the Fairfield
Page 17
Hospital Community Health Centre. They also go on excursions to places of interest. In
addition, Mary assists the Network's outreach worker with casework 3 hours a week.
Edith Moore, our Chinese worker, with a client.
Nu Tran, our Vietnamese worker at the Heights,
with her CDSE parenting group and Mr Viet Thang
Tran, psychologist from CCHC.
This year has been very busy for me with regard to participation in community projects. I
continued to attend the meetings of the Fairfield/Liverpool Aboriginal Access Group
(FLAAG), although not as often due to other commitments. I also initiated a parenting training group with the Hmong Australia Society, pending the outcome of a CDSE funding application with Fairfield City Council. I was asked by the Lao Community Advancement Cooperative to help coordinate the writing and publication of a booklet on different religious
groups within the Lao community in the Fairfield LGA. I wrote the chapter on Hmong religion, the acknowledgment and the introduction to the booklet. These and other contributions are being translated into Lao and, when completed, will go to the printer in September.
The project was funded by a cultural development grant from Fairfield City Council.
C. CDSE PROJECTS
I completed the final report on the 2007 CDSE grant of $4,320. The money was allocated
for outreach activities at the Mount Pritchard Cabramatta West Community Centre,
Woodville Community Services at Villawood, and the Parks Community Network, Wetherill
Park. I would like to thank these organisations for taking part in the project, and giving their
financial reports.
For the 2008 CDSE grant of $4,400 to run parenting classes, a mid-project report was submitted in March 2009. Nu Tran was assisted by Mr Viet Thang Tran, and Ms Tuyet Bach
Nguyen from Cabramatta Community Health Centre; and by Mr An Van Phan from
Burnside Uniting Church, Cabramatta. Nu completed her part of this parenting project in
November 2008. Mary organised her parenting classes for Assyrian parents in the Fairfield
area in partnership with the Assyrian Resource Centre. She also received help from Mr
Ashur Isaac, community youth worker. Her sessions were completed in May 2008. I started my portion of the project in April with the Hmong Australia Society (NSW) and completed it in July 2009. A final report is due in September 2009 to Fairfield City Council. The contributions of all concerned to the success of the project are greatly appreciated.
As the BWS team members are often occupied with other activities, it was decided not to
apply for another CDSE grant for 2009.
Page 18
D. TAX HELP
As in previous years, this program continues to run most successfully. In 2009, we had two
Tax Help volunteers: Mr Anh-Tu Hoang and Mr Veasna Lim. The program ran from July
to October 2008 and attracted a total of 244 clients. It has now become an entrenched
part of the Cabramatta Community Centre, and needed very little publicity. The volunteers
were always fully booked and could barely cope with the volume of demand. A similar Tax
Help program was conducted very successfully by Mr Vi Tran for Vietnamese clients at
Canley Heights. Again, CCC received another certificate of appreciation from the ATO.
Once more, I would like to offer my profound appreciation to Jan Collie, the CCC Executive
Officer, for her untiring support of the BWS team, Anh-Tu and Veasna (our harassed Tax
Help volunteers), and all the bilingual workers for their hard work: Edith, Nu, Hung, Van
and Mary. A most hearty "thank you" also goes to Jacquie and Helen, our stressed-out
receptionists, who helped with the bookings for the Tax Help program. Without their good
organisation and tactful dealings with so many clients, we would not have achieved the success we had. Van, having given 22 years of service to the project, has decided to retire on
30 September 2009. I am sure we will all join hands to wish him a most pleasant and
peaceful retirement.
Gary Lee
Coordinator, Multilingual Outreach Service
Page 19
Policy and Administration Project
The Policy and Administration position continued to facilitate the smooth running of the
organisation in a number of ways. It has been a huge learning curve marked with new challenges as well as a lot of success.
Occupational Health and Safety
Probably the most significant improvement in the CCC building in the last twelve months
was the installation of safety gates at the top of the main stairs which made the Centre safer
for clients with small children.
Quarterly inspections continued to be held in a timely manner and with some improvements, thus rendering the Centre a safer working environment. Many thanks go to the OHS
Action Group and Cabramatta Community Centre management for all their work.
Training was organised for Divisional Coordinators and team leaders: a total of thirteen
staff, including Divisional Coordinators and project workers attended training on 10/11/2008
covering OHS responsibilities. A training program for thirteen CCC Fire Wardens was held
on 24/02/2009.
I am glad to be involved in the Hepcellence project, an innovative capacity building initiative that was introduced by the Hepatitis C Council of NSW to increase general staff knowledge and awareness of Hepatitis C (HCV) as well as develop a means to maintain ongoing learning for CCC staff and the communities they serve.
Administration
Reham Tamer returned from Maternity Leave and resumed her role as an Administration
Assistant, supporting the Policy and Administration Manager position as well as accounts.
Reham has also been very efficient in liaising with NRMA in maintaining records of the CCC
fleet. This role has also been filled from time-to-time by Vesna Stefanovic whenever
required. This allowed the Policy and Administration Manager to focus on other areas of
work.
A human resources data base was developed and is functional, thanks to the IT Manager,
Nak Paou. In addition, CCC has continued to make improvements in managing its IT systems, this occurred despite the challenges of the spread of the organisation across a number of off-site offices as well as the wide range of needs of individual staff.
This position continued to supervise and oversee the work of the receptionists, Jacqueline
Astles and Helen Jedrzejewski. I would also like to extend my gratitude to other staff and
volunteers who, from time-to-time, undertook reception duties.
Website
The new CCC website is an exciting project that should give a new face to the organisation, incorporating both previous and new information. The site is expected to be officially
launched in November 2009.
Page 20
Policy
The position has been involved in developing the following policy documents: Sexual
Harassment, Working with Clients with Challenging Behaviours, Guidelines for Student
Placements and Volunteers, and Staff Disciplinary Procedures. The following policies were
updated: Volunteers and Students policy, CCC Child Protection Manual.
Other
Though no longer the convenor for the African Workers Network, I still continue to actively
participate in the network through the AWN Steering Committee. One of the greatest
achievements of the Network was to organise consultations in partnership with Auburn
Migrant Resource Centre (now Auburn Diversity Services Inc) targeting AWN members and
African community leaders in June 2009.The meetings were part of the Australian Human
Rights Commission's attempt to identify human rights and social inclusion issues affecting
African Australians.
The position has also undertaken additional responsibilities in supporting and supervising
other projects within CCC.
It has so far been a wonderful experience to meet and respond to some of the new challenges, both within and outside the organisation, including the personal hurdles of managing study, family life and work at the same time. It is with much appreciation that I thank Jan
in particular, accounts staff and Ricci for the support I have received so far in this stage of
the journey.
Clement Meru
Policy and Administration Manager
Neighbourhood Centre “Village People”
Page 21
Public Relations and Advocacy Manager
From the 2008 CCC Planning Day, the Advocacy and Policy Working Group developed and
recruited for the position of Public Relations and Advocacy Manager which I began in May
2009. Since then I have been exploring ways that I can help CCC staff with identifying possible funding sources, promoting CCC activities in the media and finding ways to advocate
for the people who visit the Centre. There was a lovely story in the Daily Telegraph about
a client of the Complex Case team who was reunited with her children. I am looking forward to CCC staff participating in advocacy training and working with me on advocacy campaigns.
There are two government proposals in the area of education that will have a significant
impact on the local community. One is the government's "Earn or Learn" initiative that
requires young people to complete year 12 or equivalent before they can access Youth
Allowance or their family can access Family Tax Benefit A. CCC is well placed to play a vital
role in monitoring how this proposal impacts on vulnerable young people who are already
struggling with homelessness, drug and alcohol and mental health issues.
Another government proposal that will impact on the local community is the plan to publish
information that enables schools to be ranked in a league table based on the academic performance of the students at each school. In 1997, the Daily Telegraph newspaper published
a photo of the Year 12 class of Mount Druitt High School on the front page with a headline
labelling them as failures. This had an enormous impact on the students, school, teachers,
parents and local community and it took a long time for the community to recover from this
demonising of the school in the media. It is crucial that the government does not make it
easier for the media to label students, schools and local communities as failures just
because academic results are not the major focus of their time at school. CCC staff have
contacted parliamentarians about both these issues.
These topics were among the issues discussed at the Poverty Conference that I assisted
the Migrant Resource Centre to organise in late July. There will be follow up advocacy work
from the conference around issues such as the need for more teachers of English as a
Second Language in local schools.
The government has indicated that its social inclusion agenda is about making sure that all
Australians have the opportunity to participate fully in the economic, social and civic life of
our country. But there is no indication that the government recognises the significant barriers that people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities face in fully participatPage 22
ing in Australian life. At the Poverty Conference, the Parliamentary Secretary for
Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services indicated that he shares this concern and that
the government was seeking to address this by requiring government departments to
assess the impact of their social inclusion programs on vulnerable migrants and refugees.
This will need to be continually monitored. Hopefully when the government announces a
multicultural policy (as they have indicated they will do in the near future) it will have an
impact on ensuring that multiculturalism has a more central place in the government's
agenda. This will also require constant monitoring and advocacy work.
I prepared a CCC submission to the National Consultation on Human Rights highlighting
the need for any Bill of Rights that Australia adopts to protect the rights of people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities and promote the benefits of multiculturalism.
I am also preparing a CCC submission to the government inquiry into the welfare of international students that has been the focus of much public debate recently. It is important that
international students have the opportunity to access quality education in Australia and are
not exploited in the work force. The government needs to make changes to ensure the
exploitation of international students does not occur as well as fund organisations to support international students.
Kerry Nettle
Public Relations and Advocacy Manager
Page 23
Page 24
This year instead of giving the usual overview of CYT services (which is always covered in
the staff reports anyway), I thought that I would give a brief report on the inherent risks
associated with the use of more and more electronic sound equipment by young people.
The use of iPods and MP3 players on a long-term basis by young people not only increase
the risk of hearing loss but are also implicated in a great many accidents.
Young people and iPod and MP3 Players
Walk down the street, drive past a school, wait in traffic or watch a
young person cycling: have you noticed the amount of young people
who are wired for sound? IPods, MP3 players and other devices with
ear plug attachments are being used more and more by young people
today. Young people do not seem to be aware of the dangers associated with having earphones inserted into their ears with the volume
turned up above safe limits.
Driving
Some younger drivers are risking serious accidents by listening to iPods or MP3 players
through their headphones while driving. NRMA Insurance states that its research shows
that one in five drivers under the age of 30 admit to wearing headphones while they are
driving.
The NSW head of police traffic command, Chief Superintendent John Hartley, said wearing
headphones while driving was "not illegal, but not advisable". "If you're deemed to be not
in proper control of your vehicle or not aware of your environment while you're driving, you
could be done for negligent driving if you cause an accident." (SMH newspaper 2008)
Young drivers should always be alert to what is happening around them and by using headphones the young driver is likely to be less aware of surrounding traffic conditions. "The
issue with headphones is that they can totally block out other sounds. You won't hear a
siren and you won't hear a horn and that can be dangerous.''
"IPods and MP3 players are different to simply listening to the radio or a CD in the car. With
a stereo you know where the controls are. If you've got an iPod in the centre console and
it slips off, the temptation is to go looking for it and it only takes a split second with your
eyes off the road for something to happen."
The question needs to be asked - do young people need to be educated about iPods and
MP3 players either when purchasing them, through media campaigns or whilst they are
learning to drive? How many young people have to be either added to the statistics for car
accidents or cause injury to other people as a result of using these devices, before the
Government and/or private organisations start to address this issue?
Page 25
Walking
Young people listening to music in public areas need to be more vigilant than usual, especially when crossing roads. Not only does the music tend to make them oblivious to other
noises, it can also compromise their alertness. On any day, particularly in the morning or
afternoon near any local high school, you can observe one in five young people connected
to an iPOD or MP3 player whilst crossing the road, or driveways. Many drivers have had
the experience of a young person who has those tell-tale white wires hanging from their
ears, not being aware that they are about to step out in front of a car or walking straight
across a driveway without hearing or seeing that a car is about to turn in. Is it up to the
individual to be aware of their surroundings and ensure that they are fully alert when crossing the road? Or do we need laws like the one proposed in New York to protect us from ourselves?
Loss of hearing
Although increasingly popular these days among young people, iPods and MP3 players
can cause irreversible damage to the ear. According to research, young people today are
likely to lose their hearing thirty years earlier than the previous generation, thanks in part to
the ubiquitous personal audio player.
Many young people are regularly using iPods and MP3 players for long periods and are
frighteningly unaware of the fact that loud noise can result in permanent hearing loss. Any
noise above 105 decibels can permanently damage hearing, but the maximum volume on
many MP3 players is 120 decibels - as loud as an ambulance siren.
Research done by the National Acoustic Laboratories, released by the Federal Government
in June 2009, has found up to a quarter of users of iPods and other portable music devices
will suffer hearing problems because they are listening to their players at "excessive and
damaging" levels. One quarter of young people were found to be listening daily at a volume that exceeded the safety level of construction sites, which is 85 decibels. Damage
caused by excessive iPod listening will not necessarily become apparent for several years
but by then it will be too late.
The Australian National Hearing Centre, the largest provider of hearing services in
Australia, provided more than 45,900 hearing services to people under the age of 21 last
year in relation to excess noise associated with the use of iPods and MP3 players (National
Hearing Centre).
General advice for young people using iPods and MP3 players is the 60-60 rule - don't listen at more than 60 per cent of the maximum volume and don't listen for more than 60 minutes at a time.
Barbara Hillman
Page 26
Getting It Together Scheme (GITS)
Youth Development Counsellor
Funded by SAAP
The project is funded by the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP)
administered by the Department of Community Services (DOCS).
The last 12 months has seen great demands on the project with record numbers of young
people accessing the brokerage service and other services provided by the project.
Please see the SAAP Intake Worker Report for statistics.
The GITS project has maintained its involvement in numerous projects and programs and
has provided support to a wide range of services and agencies as well as clients. It has
also continued to represent the Youth Team and Cabramatta Community Centre at
diverse meetings and forums. The project continues to promote the issues of homeless
youth and continues development and implementation of strategies aimed to address
this.
The project receives funding from the Alcohol and Other Drugs program funding through
the Drug Specialist Unit within DOCS. New service specifications have been agreed upon
for this broader project.
The project has had some considerable ups and downs in the last twelve months. The
bad news was the closure of the bedsit project due to continued vandalism and two fire
incidents. The Department of Housing has agreed to replace the properties with other
stock although the ongoing housing crisis has meant that precious little stock is available
at this point in time.
High points for the project include the Centre receiving an award of a Certificate of
Appreciation for the provision of the GITS project to young people in N.S.W. A true highlight of my time in the project is the amalgamation with the Housing Support Project to
become the Accommodation, Brokerage Youth Service (ABYS). The services provided
will not change substantially but the reporting requirements will be reduced.
A significant outcome for the 'Out of Cabra Project' (which is run in conjunction with the
Drug and Alcohol Youth Project), has seen some very positive changes occur in the lives
of the majority of participants including employment, return to education, re-uniting with
family and maintaining independent accommodation. My congratulations to all the participants of Out of Cabra.
Another feature for the 'Out Of Cabra Project' was the "Urban Dreaming" camp which
involved taking a group of local Indigenous young people to numerous Aboriginal communities and sacred sites throughout NSW. The camp was a great success with all participants reporting positive changes in their understanding of their culture and appreciation of the land.
Page 27
The following outlines the programs, outreach work and presentations provided by the
project in the last twelve months:
z
Cambodian Youth Group
z
TAFE YEP and ELP programs
z
Cabramatta High School - drug and alcohol presentations.
z
"Out Of Cabra Project"
z
Individual counselling for young people
z
Our House maintenance
z
Bonnyrigg Youth Drop-In
Meetings and Forums attended include;
z
SAAP interagency,
z
Bi-Annual GIT's Forum,
z
Homeless Working Party,
z
Working parties of C.C.C.
The project has worked in collaboration with;
z
Liverpool, Cabramatta and Green Valley Police
z
PCYC
z
Cabramatta Street Team
z
Department of Juvenile Justice
z
Woodville Community Services
z
Department of Probation and Parole
z
Local high schools
z
Other youth services.
I would like to thank all my colleagues in the Youth Team, particularly Nhung, Brusy and
Barbara for their ongoing support. I would also like to thank Tien Squires from DoCs for
all her patient support with the service specification negotiations and the amalgamation
of the SAAP projects.
Mark Hankin
GITS Project
ABYS
Page 28
ACCOMMODATION AND BROKERAGE YOUTH SERVICE (ABYS)
YOUTH HOUSING SUPPORT PROJECT
OUR HOUSE YOUTH ACCOMMODATION SERVICE
Funded by SAAP
The Housing Support Project funded by the Supported Accommodation Assistance
Program (SAAP), has successfully operated for the last 16 years. The major component of
this project is 'Our House Youth Accommodation Service', which is semi-supported medium to long term accommodation provided for young people aged 16 to 24 years. The other
component of this project is the brokerage service, which provides housing / accommodation options for homeless young people aged 12 to 24 years in Bankstown, Fairfield and
Liverpool LGAs.
As from 1 July 2009, this project has been amalgamated with the Getting It Together Scheme
(GITS). The new service is now called Accommodation Brokerage Youth Service (ABYS).
The staff member for the Housing Support Project returned to work in late November 2008
after 9 months maternity leave.
Our House Youth Accommodation Service
The service has mostly operated to full capacity with 6 young people accommodated in the
two houses. Currently there are 5 residents in the two houses. It has been a pleasure to
accommodate 3 Fijian Indian males, 1 English female and 1 German female in the properties. The service is in the process of being registered as community housing provider.
The residents were provided with opportunities to participate in living skills programs, house
meetings, case plans, educational and recreational activities throughout the year. An afterhours on-call service is available for all residents to be able to contact the worker for support, queries, repairs and maintenance of the properties.
The Office of Community Housing Call Centre has been very supportive with regard to
maintenance and repairs for the properties. A number of maintenance jobs have been completed for both properties during May and June 2009. In addition, the worker has requested further repairs and maintenance for the properties during the year. The service has
upgraded a number of household furniture / white goods items for both properties during
the year.
Brokerage Service
The brokerage service is a joint program with the GITS project. This service has successfully
assisted numerous homeless young people with housing / accommodation; advocacy, referrals and brokerage to ensure the young people successfully obtain and maintain stable
housing.
Based on the Smart Data Collection for 2008-2009, the service had contact with 105
accompanying children and 583 young people, (312 males and 271 females). This statistic
does not include phone contacts.
Page 29
The service also works very closely with local SAAP services to provide brokerage assistance for their residents.
Out of Cabra for Young Women
This is a joint program with the Young Women's Project. The main focus is to take at risk
young women out of Cabramatta to participate in varied activities both educational and
recreational, every three weeks. This program has created opportunities to discuss and follow up issues with young women both individually and as a whole group.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff, particularly Barbara Hillman, Mark
Hankin and Brusy Lay for their enormous support and assistance.
Nhung Vu
Youth Housing Support Worker
Page 30
Accommodation and Brokerage Youth Service
(ABYS) SAAP Intake Worker
The Cabramatta Youth Team SAAP project would like to thank our funding body SAAP
(Supported Accommodation Assistance Program administered by the Department. of
Community Services), for the resources that enable our service to assist young people
aged 14 to 25 years of age who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
The project aims to provide youth with transitional supported accommodation and other
necessary support services as part of case management. Support can include a range
of services such as:
- Bond Assistance
- Crisis Accommodation
- Rent/ Arrears
- Motel Accommodation
- Short term/ Medium term accommodation
The service enables young people to maintain their accommodation and housing
stability when they are in financial hardship. This year the project saw Our House and
the GITs project merge to become ABYS (Accommodation and Brokerage Youth
Service).
Throughout the last year, the project has seen a rise in the number of homeless or at
risk youth who accessed the service. Referrals were made to youth refuges or the
Youth Homeless Hotline due to the lack of accommodation or vacancies with other youth
accommodation services. Because of the high demand for accommodation, the project
also aims to prevent young people from falling behind on their rent, or offers assistance
with costs such as weekly shopping in order to prevent young people from being evicted.
The types of brokerage assistance that the project provides included;
Types of assistance provided;
-
Rent / Arrears
- Medication
Bond
- Clothes
Food
- Toiletries
White goods, linen, furniture, utensils etc.
- Utilities bills
- Travel costs/ fares
- Household items
Other duties of the project involve recording client details, uploading them to Smart Data
on a regular basis and sending them to the NDCA (National Data Collection Agency) on
a quarterly basis once they are finalised. Other data that is required from the project is
the Demand for Accommodation data which is updated on a daily basis when a client is
in need of accommodation assistance.
Other duties the project performs may include helping to move furniture, either for clients
who are moving from one location to another, or for clients who are in need of a fridge or
a washing machine. The project also assists some clients who are incarcerated and
don’t have anywhere to store their furniture or belongings.
The GITS project provides a brokerage scheme to a number of youth accommodation
services on a quarterly basis in the Fairfield, Liverpool and Bankstown LGAs. This
Page 31
brokerage allows these services to provide immediate assistance to clients to meet short
term needs such as travel costs or a pair of shoes. The project also takes referrals from
other services for clients that are in need of assistance. Once an appointment is made
the project identifies the client’s immediate needs and the types of services that are
required to assist with the client’s case plan.
The project also provides recreational activities for young people as an intervention to
curb drug taking behaviour. The types of recreational activities that the project
coordinates on a fortnightly basis are bowling, ice skating, laser skirmish, putt putt golf,
movies or fishing depending on what the young people prefer. The project aims to
encourage young people to participate in positive recreational activities and engages
them through on-going activities such as weekly fitness activities, monthly excursions
and camps. All these programs and activities provide alternatives to risk taking
behaviors and involvement in criminal activities. Through these recreational activities the
project has seen a great change in many participants. Five out of eight regular
participants who weren’t studying or working are now either studying again or doing a
traineeship course.
Below is a pie chart that summarises demographic information relating to clients who
were supported during the reporting period from 1/07/08 to 30/06/09 for both projects
(Housing Project - Nhung Vu and GITS Project - Mark Hankin.)
The graph represents a summary of the age group of clients in the period 01/07/08 –
30/06/09.
The largest group was those clients aged 20 to 24 years (52%) followed by those aged
18 to 19 years (23%) and those aged 15 to 17 years of age (15%).
Page 32
The graph below represents the diversity of cultural backgrounds of clients from 1/7/08
to 30/6/09. The majority of clients (66%) identified as Australian, although many of them
were born overseas in a non-English speaking country. The remaining 34% of clients
came from more than 35 different countries.
Clients Nationality
Figure 1 shows client LGA of residence in the period 1/7/08 to 30/6/09. It is noteworthy
that the largest group (35%) had no fixed address.
Figure 1
Figure 2 represents the gender of clients who accessed the service in the period 1/7/08
to 30/6/09. It indicates that males and females are of roughly equal numbers.
Page 33
Figure 2
Types of assistance provided in the period 01/07/08 – 30/06/09.
Food/shopping
15%
Furniture/whitegoods
Financial/material
10%
Electricity
Fares/transport
8%
Obtain/maintainshorttermaccom. 8%
Otherfinancial
6%
Rent/Bond
6%
Educational 4%
Clothing
4%
Obtain/maintainIndependentacc
4%
Medication
3%
Obtain/maintainMediumaccom.
1%
Brusy Lay
SAAP Intake Support Worker)
Page 34
11%
9%
AIDS Project
Funded by the Sydney South West Area Health Service
The AIDS Project provides an after-hours needle and syringe program which operates in
Cabramatta CBD every Saturday. The service works within a harm minimisation approach
and the main aim of the service is to provide clean injecting equipment, condoms, information on safe injecting practices, sexually transmitted infections and other associated risk
taking behaviours associated with drug use. The service also provides referral to other government and non government services and agencies. Another component of the service is
to provide members of the broader community with information in relation to their individual needs. This is achieved by using the NSW Health calendar to promote health information such as No Tobacco Day, Diabetes Awareness Week, Tuberculosis, Healthy Heart
Week, World AIDS day and STI awareness.
Over the last twelve months there have been some changes in the delivery of services as
the elderly FLYHT vehicle had to be replaced. This created some confusion for NSP clients
who only recognised the old colourful Winnebago and not the two new white vans parked
in the same location. There were also changes to operating times. In the past, the Bus
operated from 5pm to 10pm, but due to the low numbers of clients accessing the service
after 7pm, it was decided to commence the service earlier from 3pm to 8pm. To date there
has been an increase in the number of consumers accessing the service for both NSP and
non NSP contact.
The following breakdown indicates the number of consumers accessing the service, occasions of service and the combined number of needles and syringes distributed.
A comparison of last year's statistics shows that there has been a slight increase in the
number of women accessing the service from 10% in 2007/2008 to 19% in 2008/09.
However, the percentage of males accessing the service in this financial year is still very
high (81%).
Page 35
Compared to last year's figures there is still limited contact with those aged under 16 years
of age and a drop in the numbers of 16 to 19 year olds. There has been a slight increase
in the numbers of 20-24 year olds. Staff have reported that this group is often accompanying friends who are accessing NSP services and inform staff that although they are not
using, they still obtain other information from staff of the Bus. The largest group of clients
accessing the service is the 25 to 29 year old group with the majority being 25 years.
Again, this age group is accessing the service for safe sex information, information on
detoxification services or general information on safe injecting practices.
In the period July 2008 to September 2008, 51% of injecting equipment was given out. The
number of needles and syringes being distributed has now increased slightly probably due
to consumers becoming more aware of the different vehicles being used for the service.
Consumers also report that they dispose of used needles and syringes at other NSP outlets in Fairfield and Liverpool.
The data in the table above indicates the types of other services the Bus provides apart
from the NSP service. The largest area was educational resources provided to the broader community at 74%. Staff of the Bus provide verbal information to clients on a variety of
topics such as accommodation options, rehabilitation services, safe sex practices, vein
care, etc. Another aspect of the service is to provide referral services to other government
and non government organisations for consumers.
I would like to thank Carla, Nicole, Vicky, Karen and George for all their hard work in ensuring that the service is maintained in Cabramatta, and also my thanks to Fairfield Youth
Health Service Manager and staff for their support.
Barbara Hillman
Youth Services Manager
Page 36
Fairfield Multicultural Youth Support Project
Refugee, Indigenous, CALD and Disabilities Focus
Funded by Department of Community Services
Over the last twelve months the DoCS funded Multicultural Youth Support Project has
focussed on supporting young people aged 12 to 24 years of age in the Fairfield and
Liverpool LGAs who have a disability, are Aboriginal, are newly-arrived immigrants and
refugees, or are from culturally diverse backgrounds, through a variety of education, recreation and other support based services and activities. The project has been involved in coordinating as well as supporting a number of youth programs and projects, some of which
are ongoing from the previous year, and some of which are new to the project. The project
has developed some very beneficial links and partnerships in the past year, in addition to
those already developed. Below is a summary of the project's work over the past year.
Youth Drop-In Programs:
The Multicultural Youth Support Project assists with
the co-ordination of two youth drop-ins (co-run by
The Heights Community Services and Fairfield
Council). One is located in Smithfield and the other
at Bonnyrigg. At present, the drop-in centres are
both run quite differently with respect to the
resources and locations available. Smithfield dropin is currently run in a community hall (in a park) and averages approximately 12 young
people per week, whereas Bonnyrigg drop-in is run out of a purpose-built youth centre and
averages approximately 40 young people per week. At present, options are being explored
to provide semi-structured programs at the drop-in centres to provide more variety for the
young people attending.
Newly-arrived/Refugee Youth Support Program:
The Multicultural Youth Support Project has assisted with the co-ordination of a fortnightly Friday afternoon support program, which began as a
group for young newly-arrived males aged 12 to 24 years, to provide
them with general support and information regarding youth services,
health, driving and the law, as well as offering recreation activities. This
group averaged approximately 15 young males at each session. After
meeting with staff from Mission Australia's Newly Arrived Youth Support Service, it was
decided to develop the group further by incorporating a group of young newly-arrived
females, as they expressed an interest in receiving the same types of information.
More recently, it has been decided to initiate some basic swimming programs as the young
people have expressed a lot of interest in swimming related activities. This has been difficult to implement in the winter months, however this program will start in late spring. The
workers are also developing some arts-related programs that will be implemented in the
near future.
Page 37
Aboriginal/Indigenous Youth Programs:
In the past, the Multicultural Youth Support Project has been heavily involved in the support
and co-ordination of a Koori Kids Cultural Development Program, initiated by a local
Indigenous worker at Woodville Community Services. This program culminated in performances at many events in and around Sydney and the creation of a DVD. This group consisted of approximately 20 young people of Aboriginal descent who were interested in
learning more about their culture.
Recently, the program at Woodville ceased due to the completion of the funding program,
and a new Indigenous worker has been employed at Woodville Community Services.
Currently, the Multicultural Youth Support Project is investigating how best to work with the
new project which focuses primarily on children aged 5 to 12 years of age.
Young People with Disabilities:
This is one of the most challenging areas of work for the Multicultural Youth Support Project
because of the high level of support required by the participants.
The project is currently co-coordinating an arts-based program for young people with disabilities on a weekly basis for approximately 5-8 young people. The project intends to
develop this program further in the next twelve months.
School/TAFE Involvement:
The Multicultural Youth Support Project has maintained its
involvement with the local Intensive English Centres in Fairfield
and Cabramatta high schools. The project staff visit the IECs to
provide information, links to community programs and settlement
support to a range of young people of different ages and English
language proficiencies.
The Project is also involved in assisting the TAFE Youth Employment Preparation and
Youth Access and Participation programs which are courses for young people with low literacy and numeracy skills that assist them to gain access to employment and education
opportunities. The project takes part in the programs on a rostered basis each term and
provides information about the law and safe driving skills. The YEP program averages 6-7
young people, and the YAP program averages 15 young people per session.
School Holiday Programs:
The Multicultural Youth Support Project has maintained its involvement in providing recreational activities and excursions for different groups of young people during school holidays. Primarily, the activities are aimed at young people in high school who are in need of
safe and supervised activities to alleviate the boredom of holidays. Recently, the project
has begun providing activities for young people who are of high school age but are not
attending high school for a variety of reasons and are often socially isolated. Examples of
excursions undertaken during the year include bowling and laser skirmish at Villawood, the
IMAX Theatre at Darling Harbour, ice skating, Jamberoo and Scenic World at Katoomba.
Page 38
Each excursion averages approximately 6 to 12 young people depending on the form of
transport available for the excursion. The young people are always eager to come back for
more, and the usual questions are 'When's the next excursion?' or 'When can we come
back here?'- which is a positive affirmation of the program.
Recreation/Arts/Educational Events:
The Project has been involved in co-ordinating or supporting a number of different events
over the past year. These included:
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
Bring It On Youth Festival organised through the Fairfield Youth Workers Network
and Fairfield Council which several thousand young people and their families
attended.
Villawood NAIDOC Event in July organised by Woodville Community Services
which was attended by several hundred people who came to celebrate
Indigenous culture.
Refugee Week in Cabramatta.
A refugee soccer tournament held in June which was attended by approx 120
young people from diverse cultural backgrounds and emerging communities.
International Day of People with Disabilities, and 'Christmas In July' dance parties
for young people with disabilities.
The 'Bigg Rigg' event in Bonnyrigg which was attended by good numbers of
young people.
The Bonnyrigg Festival held at Bonnyrigg Public School.
An Information Session at Liverpool TAFE for Skilled Migrants, which was wellreceived.
The Project was also involved in partnering with the Fairfield Business Education
Partnership for two specific career-based information sessions over the last year. The highlight was the 'Apprenticeship Information Evening' held on 23rd June at Cabra-Vale Diggers
Club. Over 80 young people attended with their parents to gain information about apprenticeships or traineeships. A presentation was given with helpful tips on ways to find an
apprenticeship, current apprenticeships available, skill shortage areas and much more.
Employers and representatives from Group Training Companies attended to offer information to students and parents about apprenticeship opportunities. Some organisations in
attendance included Toyota Automotive Group
Training, Sydney Training & Employment, Integral
Energy and Sydney South West Area Health Service.
Those present were able to talk to representatives and
take away information to help them in their choice of
career path.
The Multicultural Youth Support Project would like to
thank the services that have worked with us over the
past year to make the abovementioned programs a
success.
Flora Farjam and Matthew Russell
Multicultural Youth Support Project
Page 39
“BRING IT ON 2009” YOUTH SURVEY
“Bring It On” started in 2001. It is a youth festival held in an open-air venue with music,
sports, arts, information stalls and other activities which attracts almost 10,000 people
annually. It is held at the end of National Youth Week in April.
Each year over 60 volunteers aged 12 to 24 years from Fairfield City and south west
Sydney are professionally trained to assist at the event. These young people make a
huge contribution and assist in making the event so successful. The young volunteers
also have the opportunity to learn a number of new skills just by being involved.
Government departments, Fairfield City Council, sponsors and community
organisations, (like CCC) that target youth are involved in the planning and
implementation of the festival. There is commitment and team work so that each
stakeholder plays a vital role in the delivery of services and activities on the day.
Cabramatta Youth Team has participated in this youth festival since it began. This year
the team was involved during the planning process as partners. CYT staff had an
information stall with guessing competitions. A large number of young people registered
and were enthusiastic about winning the competition and also obtaining information
about CYT services. CCC’s contribution to the activities included a henna artist tattooing
on the day in addition to the weight-lifting demonstration organised by the CYT Youth
Health Promotion worker. The team was also assisted by volunteers who distributed the
surveys.
As part of the Youth Team stall, it was decided to undertake a survey on the day to
identify the issues that young people were concerned about. Two hundred surveys were
completed by participants mainly from Fairfield with a few from Parramatta, Bankstown,
Liverpool, Blacktown, and Campbelltown.
The following are graphs of the data collated from the youth festival questionnaires:
Page 40
This graph shows the issues of concern according to young people who completed the
survey during the youth festival. The major issues identified were recreation
opportunities (15%), employment opportunities (13%), drug and alcohol (10%) and
bullying (11%). In the box listed as ‘other’, a number of participants mentioned that
there was no place in Fairfield CBD for young people to hang out.
The graph to the left shows that of the 200 survey participants
49% were male and 51% were female.
The local Government areas where the participants reside
were predominantly Fairfield followed by Liverpool,
Bankstown, Parramatta, Campbelltown, Blacktown and
Sydney.
Languages spoken at home as indicated on this graph were English (31%), Arabic
(20%), Chinese (11%), Vietnamese (14%), Spanish (10%), Sudanese (6%), Samoan
(3%), Serbian (2%), Croatian (1%) and Khmer (2%).
Page 41
The age group of the
participants was 12 to 15 years
31%, 16 to 18 years 39%, 19 to
25 yrs 22%, and 25 yrs and
over 8%.
This graph represents the activities that the participants are interested in. Homework
help was seen as the most important activity (23%), followed by employment pathways
(16%) camps and excursions (15%) and computer access and assistance (11%).
The participants that had knowledge of the youth drop-in services listed Bonnyrigg Youth
Centre, Brennan Park (Smithfield drop-in), The Parks, and PCYC at Cabramatta.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the volunteers who helped on the day and
the staff and management of CCC for their support throughout the year.
Flora Farjam
Youth Support Worker
Page 42
Parents Youth Drug and Alcohol
Youth Health Promotion Worker
Funded by Sydney South West Area Health Service
The Cabramatta Youth Team Drug and Alcohol project is funded by Sydney South West
Area Health Service (SSWAHS). The work this year has been similar to previous years
with the focus being on early intervention and prevention programs promoting healthy living, active culture and encouraging participation in positive recreational activities by engaging young people in on-going activities such as weekly fitness classes, monthly excursions,
rugby, camping, nutrition and AOD seminars. All these programs and activities provide
alternatives to risk taking behaviours and involvement in criminal activities.
BODIFY Project
This program is open to all young people aged 12 to 24 years of age residing or studying
in the Fairfield or Liverpool LGAs. This year the project facilitated four fitness activities held
in various locations throughout the two allocated LGAs.
1.
Cardiovascular and weight training sessions were held every Monday and Tuesday
at Cabramatta PCYC. The gym program has once again been very successful with 55
young people registering and participating in this activity from January to July 2009. 20%
of the participants were referrals from Case Conferencing and the Department of Juvenile
Justice (DJJ). The worker also assists the program as the strength trainer and advisor during the weekly sessions and provides information on alcohol and other drugs during the
program seminars and sessions.
Page 43
2.
Bring It On Activity. This project, in partnership with Powerlifting Australia, was again
asked to provide an activity for the 'Bring it On' youth festival on April 5th 2009. The BODIFY steering committee decided to provide a strength exhibition with an open challenge to
all those accessing the festival, rather than a full Powerlifting Competition which was exclusive to power-lifters last year. The strength exhibition activity involved myself and other
lifters demonstrating the sport of Powerlifting which is similar to Olympic weightlifting with
the difference being that the weight is not lifted above the head.
We also ran fun fitness activities such as the chin-up and push-up challenge as well as the
bench-press challenge with every participant receiving a prize for giving it a 'go'. In all, 46
young people participated in the activity with some amazing feats of strength and stamina
shown by the young people as well some adults and children tempted to participate by the
physical challenge and prizes.
3.
Rugby Union Project. This project in collaboration with Parramatta Rugby Union
Club continued last year's project with the Drug and Alcohol youth worker providing more
of a support role this year rather than the 'hands-on' approach which saw him become
youth support/coach/bus driver last year.
This year out of 40 players, 15 young males were supported who regularly access CYT programs due to their low or no-income situation. These particular young men have all given
it their best effort in the Under 20 competition in the state with 5 wins from 18 games. One
particular player who is very familiar with our service did extremely well this year with only
himself from the entire club (as well as being one of only 5 boys selected from the South
West area), representing the NSW Combined High School Rugby Team. The project
worked on this activity on a fortnightly basis on Thursdays and Saturdays.
4.
Girls on the 'Move' (GOT'M). Consultations with young females in the BODIFY program, identified that girls would like to have their own fitness program separate from the
boys due to privacy issues and so that they could have ownership of their own program.
They also wanted a small group with a maximum of 8 participants to permit one-to-one
training rather than just another fitness program.
The GOT'M group ran for 8 weeks in Term 2. As the beginning of a new term draws near
we will again be consulting with the girls to get more ideas and feedback on what they
would like to happen with this project.
'Out of Cabra'
This project aimed to provide free excursions and information sessions for young people
experiencing AOD issues. The project gives them an opportunity to have fun, educational
activities and a 'high' whilst not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Some of the activities included trips to Bents Basin, bowling, picnic and movies, laser skirmish, mini-golf,
iceskating and the Royal Easter Show.
Outback Camp, Broken Hill
The project, in partnership with Mark Hankin from the GITS project, took a group of 6 young
men aged 16 to 24 years of age, on a one week 'Out of Cabra' Outback Camp to Broken
Hill NSW in December 2008.
Page 44
The aim was to take a group of city kids of Indigenous and other backgrounds to the
Australian outback to experience and better understand Indigenous culture. According to
the participants the experiences gained will be with them forever and they hope to visit
these places again one day.
Thankakalia Youth Services at Broken Hill were our gracious and very hospitable hosts and
a friendship and connection has definitely been formed between this youth service and
CYT. Hopefully, future projects and an ongoing partnership will continue this relationship.
General Duties
The project also worked directly with 20 young people to assist them with finding educational training and employment, writing resumes, supervision of Conferencing for young
offender clients, court support, informal counselling, home visits and referral to other appropriate service providers.
The project assisted the CYT youth development counsellor with presentations on AOD
issues to local high school staff, students and parents. The Project also assisted other CYT
staff with holiday activities:
z
z
z
z
z
Easter Show
Jamberoo
Picnic and movies
Manly Aquarium
Bowling and laser skirmish
Many thanks to all the CYT superheroes: 'Dr' Morgan, Muscles Russell, Bam-Bam Farjam,
Karma-Kaz, Brusy Almighty, Nhung 'de ja' Vu and Mark 'Set… GO!" Hankin. Also a big
'shout-out' to the Boss for all the support on and off the "field", and for putting up with our
team of 'all-sorts!' Also a massive thank you to SSWAHS for obvious reasons (no SSWAHS
no project!) and to our lovely sub-committee and Jan for making our activities possible. And
last but not least, one love to all CCC, PEACE!!
'lil' Steve Vaughan
D&A Youth Health Worker
Page 45
Parents, Youth Drug and Alcohol Project
Funded by Sydney South West Area Health Service
My position at the Cabramatta Community Centre is an alcohol and other drugs counsellor
/ educator and I have been working at CCC for approximately 7 months.
My current client load is 18 clients - 15 female and 3 male. My main referral sources are
Probation and Parole, Department of Juvenile Justice, Forum Sentencing and Home
Detention and the Department of Community Services. Other referrals have been received
from Anglicare and Burnside as well as self referrals. I provide direct services three days a
week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays by appointment, unless a crisis situation
presents itself.
I have also been involved in a number of different projects in addition to providing drug and
alcohol support directly to clients.
The South West Alcohol and Drug Evenings or SWADE
This group has had a name change, due to this position undertaking support of the group.
The members of the group no longer meet in the evenings but on Fridays from 12:00 to
2:00 pm. The group's name is now the South West Alcohol and Drug Education group.
Average client attendance rate on a weekly basis is 6 or 7; and four clients have graduated from the course this year.
SWADE is a group for people in early recovery from drug and/or alcohol dependence and
to graduate from SWADE a person must attend for 18 weeks and complete 16 different
units concerning their previous addiction or addictions.
Topics include:
z
anger management,
z
cravings,
z
drugs, pregnancy and parenting
z
self confidence and esteem
z
learning to respect yourself
z
evaluating thoughts and belief systems
z
dependency and living without drugs or alcohol.
During the eighteen weeks participants in the program have the opportunity to hear a variety of guest speakers. The program also includes two relevant excursions for clients. The
main referrals for this program come from Liverpool and Fairfield Probation and Parole, correction centres and word of mouth.
Page 46
Domestic Violence Court Support and Advocacy
My role also includes supporting clients who suffer domestic violence and occasionally
attending court with them. As a result, I was asked to take part in the Women's Domestic
Violence Court Support and Advocacy scheme and I completed training in June 2009. This
work entails attending Liverpool or Fairfield local court once or twice a month, to provide
support to domestic violence victims and ensure that they know and understand legal language, court procedures, their rights and everything they need to know about Apprehended
Violence Orders, etc.
Drug Education Sessions
Another aspect of this position is to provide information sessions on AOD issues to a range
of TAFEs, local high schools, Probation and Parole clients, etc. Some examples include:
z
Northern Beaches TAFE, for students in the Drug and Alcohol course.
z
The Traffic Offenders Program
z
Anger Management for students at Liverpool TAFE.
z
Case Conferencing', now known as 'Forum Sentencing.
For personal reasons, I have only been able to attend 3 C-DAT meetings since my employment commenced, but I would like to continue to attend Fairfield C-DAT on a regular basis
in the next twelve months.
Since the commencement of my employment with the Cabramatta Youth Team, I have
noticed and admired their professionalism and their ability to work as a team. I also credit
this 'automatic' and effective teamwork to our manager, Barbara Hillman, as I continuously
see her play a 'hands on' role, not only as a manager and problem solver for her staff but
also for our clients. I have learnt a great deal from Barbara and the team and will no doubt
continue to do so!
Vicki Morgan
Parents Youth Drug and Alcohol Project
Page 47
Young Women’s Project
Funded by the Department of Community Services
The Young Women's Project (YWP) is funded by the Department Of Community Services
to provide low-cost social, educational and recreational activities for young women aged
12-25 years in the Fairfield and Liverpool LGAs. The project has a large case management
component due to increasing demands from young women with complex needs who are
referred to the project. The Young Women's Project also provides information, advocacy,
referral services, casework assistance and activities for young women as well as court support. Consultations are also held with young women to identify issues, programs or services to meet their needs.
The Young Women's Project has been running very successfully as indicated by the high
numbers of participants in this project. The YWP works in conjunction with other youth team
projects and other local youth services in Fairfield and Liverpool LGAs.
Case Management
This is ongoing throughout the year. In the last 12 months YWP has received referrals from
Cabramatta Community Centre projects, other local services, the Department of
Community Services, police, Centrelink, local schools, TAFE colleges and self-referrals,
which has taken up about 80% of the worker's time, as there has been an increase in the
number of young women in the area presenting with a need for intensive case management. The need for home visits, court support on various issues, teenage pregnancies,
issues with DOCs, issues surrounding child rearing by young single mothers, accommodation needs and the lack of affordable housing, mental health and self-harming issues and
sexual health have all been common issues affecting young women in the Fairfield /
Liverpool LGAs.
Page 48
Women's Domestic Violence Court Support Scheme
Domestic violence issues are one of the major factors affecting women and children. The
worker participates in the DV court support scheme at Liverpool and Fairfield Local Courts
on a rostered basis. The worker also attends Domestic Violence conferences and any relevant training in order to be updated with all aspects of the court support scheme. This
scheme is a vital service for the Fairfield and Liverpool communities and is an ongoing part
of this project.
Outa Cabra
This has been a partnership with Nhung Vu (Housing Support Worker CYT) and the Young
Women's Project. This Project gives young women who are at risk an opportunity to participate in activities which give them social support as well as information regarding services
and life skills development whilst gaining self esteem and confidence among their peers.
This activity is a half day event and runs approximately every three weeks with an average
of 8 to 12 young women attending. The young women make the decisions about what activities they would like to do and provide staff with endless ideas.
Young Parents
This is a partnership with Fairfield Youth Health Service and the Young Women's Project. It
is held at Fairfield Hospital fortnightly on Fridays from 1.00 to 3.00 pm. The aim of the program is to educate young parents on nutrition, parenting skills and other health and educational issues associated with being a young parent. Guest speakers from the hospital and
early childhood education programs provide information to the participants. The average
attendance is 7 to 14 young parents per week.
Art Therapy
This group is for young women who are at risk. Art Therapy is used to encourage young
women to communicate and express themselves, reduce stress and increase self-awareness in a creative way. This group runs on Wednesdays from 10.00 am to 12.30 pm.
Fitness Group
The aim of the fitness group for young women is to combine information on health and fitness with an exercise and walking program. This group runs on Tuesday and Thursday
afternoons from 4.00 to 5.00 pm. The average attendance is 6 to 9 young women per session.
Liverpool TAFE
The Cabramatta Youth Team has been working with Liverpool TAFE to run workshops for
12 to 15 young people who are attending a Youth Employment Preparation course. As part
of this course, the Young Women's Project ran several workshops throughout the year on
parenting and budgeting using the Pregnancy Belly and the Virtual Babies as resources.
The workshops also included information on healthy relationships, safe sex and contraception. All the workshops were very successful, and the YWP has been asked to run future
workshops throughout the coming year.
Page 49
Other Activities
The worker took part in holiday programs and excursions to various venues such as
movies, bowling, Laser Skirmish, International Women's Day, World AIDS Day, Drug Action
Week, SWADE Group Drugs and Pregnancy and the Needle and Syringe Program (as part
of the AIDS Project).
The worker also provided airbrush tattooing (with assistance from young volunteers from
the YW project) at services in Liverpool, Poverty Week at Warwick Farm, etc.
The worker attended relevant meetings, staff training and the OH&S Action Group meetings of CCC. The worker wrote submissions and reports relevant to the Young Women's
Project and undertook the day to day administration of the project.
Thank you
There are always a great many people to thank and sometimes those who are mistakenly
forgotten. On behalf of the Young Women's Project, I would like to thank the Department of
Community Services for funding the project, Cabramatta Community Centre and all local
youth services who have worked with this project, as well as all those who made the various programs and events possible for young women in the area. To all the young women
who took part in the project - THANK YOU
Karen Ashmore
Young Women's Project Coordinator
Page 50
Working for a stronger community
www.fmrc.net
Page 51
FMRC Coordinator
Funded by Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)
FMRC Services Summary 2008/09
z
Direct Services - 18664 occasions of service were provided including
emergency relief, Bonnyrigg tenancy support, domestic violence support
Legal Aid, Citizenship Pilot CSGP, post-IHSS and other SGP services,
information and referrals to immigration advice, housing, employment, health
services, English language programs (AMEP and community based),
training, recognition of overseas qualifications, translations and JP services.
z
Material Aid - $ 264,784 was provided through food cards, vouchers and
cheques which totalled 5306 items / occasions of service to 1782 clients
experiencing extreme financial hardship. The aid was provided through vouchers
for electricity and gas (EAPA $70,500); telephone (Telstra $5,755); water (Sydney
Water $2,695) domestic violence brokerage (DoCS $15,344), and the Emergency
Relief Program (FAHCSIA/FMRC $170,490) provided assistance with food,
medical costs, funeral expenses, essential grey and white goods, utility bills,
rental arrears and rental bonds where clients were homeless and not eligible
through the Department of Housing Rent Start.
z
Facilities - 9,700 people of NESB used the meeting rooms and, computer room.
z
Classes - 4,625 students participated in citizenship training, English classes,
homework assistance and TAFE Outreach courses.
z
Settlement Information, Planning and Consultations - The FMRC staff
conducted 569 sessions to 13,404 participants. (Source: OSCAR Data)
z
Public Computer Access - 1,680 clients used the three public access
computers for citizenship test training (FMRC CD), RTA driver's licence training,
CV preparation, homework assignments and immigration information.
z
Immigration Forms - 1,864 forms were disseminated to 864 clients.
z
Equipment - 154 occasions of community groups accessing equipment and
other resources from FMRC.
Page 52
Client Demographics
z
Clients assisted were from 71 countries and spoke 51 languages.
z
Clients provided with services reside in 25 of Fairfield LGAs 27 suburbs.
z
Over 90% of clients arrived in Australia under the Humanitarian and Family
Migration Streams.
z
66% of the FMRC client base arrived in the last five years and of these, 77%
arrived in the last 3 years.
z
83% had low incomes including Centrelink payments, two-year wait or underemployment.
z
67% required language assistance mostly provided through FMRC staff and
volunteers, followed by TIS and relatives or friends of the client.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees visits Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre
Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees paid a visit to Fairfield Migrant
Resource Centre to meet refugees settled in the area. He was accompanied by Mr Peter
Hughes, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
Several refugees addressed the
meeting and spoke about the warm
welcome they had received in
Australia and the high regard they
have for this country. They also
spoke of their anxiety and deep concern for family members suffering in
refugee camps overseas. They
stressed the need for UNHCR to
improve registration processes in
refugee camps and their urgent
need to be reunited with their relatives in Australia.
Mr Guterres said that during his four day visit to Australia, he had met Australian government and NSW and Victorian government representatives, service providers and non-government organisations, the Australian Red Cross, schools and members of the public. He
has been amazed at how competent, well prepared and committed all these sectors of
Australian society are to helping refugees.
United Nations Convention for Refugees - Geneva
The coordinator of FMRC was a member of the Australian delegation representing the
Settlement Council of Australia. Some of the important global refugee issues addressed
during the convention were:
z
Integration potential of refugees - a number of countries select refugees overtly
for their perceived ability to integrate into the host society. The convention
and the UNHCR High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres spoke strongly against
countries using "integration potential" as a selection criteria.
z
Protracted Refugees Situations (PRS) - there are currently six million people
living in thirty countries in either urban environments or camp situations. The
convention was concerned that through a lack of international attention towards
Page 53
z
their cases they are becoming or have become the "forgotten refugees". Host
countries were encouraged to set a quota from its total refugee intake, or expand
intake numbers and select refugees from protracted situations.
Family Reunion was seen as an essential if not most important component of
resettlement. The UNHCR does not support blanket DNA testing, not least
because it is quite expensive.
Settlement Council of Australia (SCoA)
SCoA previously known as the National Council of Migrant Resource and Service Agencies
(NCMRSA) is chaired by the FMRC coordinator, and received funding from DIAC to develop this organisation as a national peak alongside FECCA and the Refugee Council of
Australia. The Executive Officer, Andrew Cummings, has been appointed for 3 days a week
and the national office has been established in Surry Hills. A website www.scoa.org.au was
launched at the first national settlement conference "Building a Future for Social Inclusion"
held in May 2009. The conference report, quarterly newsletters and resources are available
on the website, so please visit.
Social Policy Input / Conference Papers
The FMRC had input through networks, reference groups, consultations, submissions and
conference papers on the following issues:
z
Federal Compact with not for profit sector - position paper.
z
Social Inclusion addressing the issue of lack of CALD communities and refugees
as a distinct entity for the Social Inclusion Agenda.
z
Housing paper - " Between a Brick and Hard Place"
z
Response to the AMEP Discussion Paper - FECAP/FMI
z
Poverty Whose Responsibility - "The Low Income Experience" .
z
Citizenship Review Roundtable Discussion
z
SCoA National Settlement Conference paper.
z
Federal Multicultural Policy Survey- SCoA
z
Reduction of ethnic specific services within the SGP - DIAC
z
Inadequacy of five year settlement period.
z
DIAC Settlement Needs Planning.
New Look Website
Discussion and conference papers will be available on the FMRC website which will have
a new look and format. The website will stream the Health and Tenancy Check DVDS
which means these can be viewed in their entirety on the website.
New Settlement Services
The FMRC established and implemented three new services.
z
z
Citizenship Support Pilot which was very successful but unfortunately will not
continue due to changes and recommendations stemming from the Citizenship
Review conducted by DIAC.
ECWA - The Sudanese settlement service is established and is operating from
Page 54
z
Blacktown LGA.
Complex Case Services to assist refugees with multiple and complex settlement
needs.
DIAC Settlement Grants Program
FMRC was successful in retaining the Settlement Hub (core FMRC) funding for the next
three years to 2012.
Newly funded SGP projects include:
1. A community development and advocacy position to co-ordinate community
development and integrated service planning for newly arrived migrants and
humanitarian entrants in Fairfield. This project is funded until 2012.
2. A 12 month part-time grant has been awarded to access and facilitate services
to eligible entrants to address accommodation issues in Fairfield. This position
will primarily work with the Fairfield Housing Task Force established last year and
advocate for a tenancy, housing and advice service for Fairfield.
Plans for 2009/10
FMRC will:
z
Hold the Poverty Conference "Poverty Whose Responsibility?" in July 2009.
z
Apply for four SGP projects in September 2009 to continue the Sudanese
Settlement (ECWA), the Iraqi Settlement and Refugee Youth Projects. The fourth
application will focus either on refuge women or settlement support for African
men.
z
Establish, consolidate and promote new projects funded through the Department
of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) specifically the Community Co-ordination
and Integration project and the Housing Access project.
z
Develop, produce and launch a DVD on Racism.
As is evident from this report the FMRC has had a very busy, challenging and rewarding
year. This is only possible through the efforts of the FMRC "dream team" who continue to
impressively showcase their skills and talents and achieve phenomenal service outcomes.
Fairfield continues to be a special place for service collaboration, with effective and active
networks working together to address issues faced by our client groups. The FMRC staff
would like to enthusiastically extend our thanks and appreciation to all the government and
non-government agencies that have worked with and supported the FMRC on various joint
projects, networks and partnerships.
Ricci Bartels
FMRC Co-ordinator.
Page 55
African Project
Introduction
The African project is designed to identify and address settlement issues encountered by
newly arrived refugee and humanitarian entrants from Africa who reside in Fairfield and
Liverpool LGAs. During 2008 to 2009, the project provided information, referral and community capacity building services to the target group with the aim of increasing their capacity to access and benefit from government programs, understand Australian systems and
develop self-reliance.
Provision of Direct Services
One of the core duties of the project is to provide casework services to the client group. The
project focuses on short-term casework, however due to an increase in the number of complex cases, the project has utilised a case management model for a number of clients. The
project receives high numbers of client referrals from organisations such as NAYSS, NESH,
Centrelink, Department of Housing, police, community housing, etc.
SETTLEMENT ISSUES
Housing and Accommodation:
With the national housing crisis escalating, many low income families and single people
suffer extreme housing stress. The drastic increases in rent have meant that these clients
are unable to afford the private rental market. Their only option is public or community housing, and although the worker assists clients to apply, waiting periods are very long. The project has encountered a number of clients who are at severe risk of homelessness.
Another housing issue is the lack of properties for large families. Most Australian houses
are not designed for families with up to 10 children. Consequently, large families are forced
to rent two houses or apartments to accommodate everyone. Single people encounter
obstacles in obtaining affordable one bedroom units and are often forced to share with
friends. However this situation often causes conflict.
Due to their lack of English language proficiency or stereotyping from real estate agents,
most clients experience obstacles and discrimination when applying for housing in the private rental market. Those who manage to obtain rental housing are often offered very old
accommodation which is located a long way away from all amenities such as transport,
shops, etc.
Many clients presented with issues relating to tenancy. Some individuals report that landlords or real estate agents are reluctant to carry out necessary repairs unless they are contacted by community organisations such as Fairfield MRC. Most individuals, especially
those that have come from refugee camps or from rural areas, are not aware of their rights
and responsibilities as tenants and are vulnerable to exploitation by real estate agents or
landlords.
Page 56
Immigration
Most cases were related to refugee applications. Though recently arrived, most humanitarian entrants wish to propose relatives and friends they left behind in Africa. Most clients
were separated from their relatives and friends by war, and reunion is a necessary adjunct
for settlement in the new country.
Immigration advice continues to be a priority for newly arrived refugees and humanitarian
entrants from Africa. Clients are referred to the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre or
Legal Aid. The FMRC continues to provide immigration forms, the most commonly sought
are application for Humanitarian Visa (842) and Proposer forms (681) which were provided
mostly to Sudanese and Burundian humanitarian entrants.
Utility Services
Sales people from mobile phone services and competing energy providers approached a
number of clients asking them to sign contracts without understanding the terms of agreement. On most occasions, clients were not provided with interpreters. The worker assisted
clients to contact the companies concerned and cancel the contracts. The worker also
advised clients never to sign documents without understanding the contents and emphasized the importance of requesting interpreters.
Employment
Clients continuously contacted the worker
requesting volunteer work (to gain local experience) or paid work positions. The high unemployment and under employment rate among members of the African community results from poor
English language skills, lack of local experience
and job-seeking skills, lack of recognition of overseas skills and qualifications and alleged racial
prejudice and discrimination among some
employers. There have been complaints by
many clients that Job Network providers do not
assisting them to enhance their skills and gain job
opportunities. Some clients were referred to
NOOSOR.
Childcare
Newly arrived families from Africa often have an average of 3 children under school age.
Parents are unable to participate in activities or get involved in education and training initiatives due to a lack of childcare places for children under two years of age. Affordability is
also an issue for families with large numbers of small children.
Document Help
The literacy level among African communities, particularly humanitarian entrants, is very
low. Clients consistently contacted the worker requiring assistance with filling in forms or
Page 57
understanding letters. The FMRC developed a strategy of referring clients back to the
agency that issued the document and emphasizing the importance of using interpreters.
Interpreters
Central African communities are among the most recently arrived groups in Sydney and
they have considerable settlement difficulties. However, the worker has encountered difficulties in obtaining help for clients who only speak Kirundi, Lingala or Kinyarwanda due to
limited interpreters.
Local GPs seem to be reluctant to use the Doctors Priority Line. Instead, clients are asked
to bring their friends to interpret. This not only breaches confidentiality, but the friends usually only speak basic English and do not understand medical terminology. Real estate
agents are also reluctant to use interpreters which results in members of the African community signing leases or receiving letters from agencies without understanding the contents.
Community Development
The worker organised activities to promote group self-reliance through information sessions, support groups and workshops. The activities were provided in partnership with other
community organisations and government departments such as Department of Housing,
Centrelink, Anglicare, etc. In the last twelve months the worker organised workshops on
parenting, domestic violence, family planning, migration agents and immigration law,
employment and training and schooling in Australia.
Vote of thanks
I would like to extend my gratitude to my Co-ordinator Ricci Bartels for her support, understanding and encouragement, Maria Hatzistergos, Grant Manager DIAC, for her assistance
and acknowledgment of my work, Clement Meru, former Co-ordinator for Humanitarian
Entrants and Refugees Settlement Services for his invaluable support, Rita Gangi who will
replace me when on maternity leave, the FMRC team and all the staff of CCC.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to Karen Robinson and all the staff of Department
of Housing Fairfield Office, Mission Australia (NAYSS), DoCs, NSW Family Relationship
Centre and Catholic Care for support and facilitation of settlement services to clients.
Imme Nyangatom and Rita Gangi
African Settlement Worker 2009
Page 58
Brighter Futures Family Support Program
Funded by Department of Community Services (DoCS)
The Family Support program was funded by the Department of Family and Community
Services (DoCS) through The Benevolent Society (TBS) in partnership with the Fairfield
Migrant Resource Centre.
The program was an early intervention program for CALD families with children from 0 to 8
years of age living in Fairfield LGA.
Families referred to Brighter Futures presented with complex and multiple issues such as
mental health, children with behavioural issues, intellectual disability, and parents with drug,
alcohol or gambling addictions. The families were also clients referred to DoCS through
their "Risk of Harm" reporting system but were not classified as child protection cases or
were assessed as being just below the high risk category when intervention is required.
Families were provided with intensive case management that could be undertaken for up
to 2 years. Brokerage and free childcare were provided throughout the duration of the service to support early intervention and to improve the children's lives.
Children were placed in childcare run by Fairfield City Council and an early childhood specialist from council's early support team was provided to help the children in their transition
to school and to identify any behavioural or health issues. Such issues had sometimes
gone unnoticed by the parents or by other service providers because of lack of knowledge
or lack of proper assessment due to lengthy waiting periods for public health assessments
for children.
Brokerage was provided to help the families with issues such as counselling, finance,
speech therapy, occupational therapy, and children's private health services.
Documentation of the program included surveys, case plans, needs assessment and child
development assessment charts which were similar to those used by the Department of
Family and Community Services.
The families were offered free parenting programs. FMRC ran
two of these for families from Arabic, Swahili and Kirundi backgrounds using interpreters when needed. FMRC also provided
childcare for the parenting groups.
The parenting program was called TIPS, which is a program that
was researched in Australia and New Zealand and covers issues
related to both parents and children. Each session was divided in
two parts. The first hour focused on parenting information. During
the second hour there was a "family fun" session which consisted
of showing parents how to do things with their children such as
art, crafts and story reading.
Page 59
The topics delivered were:
"Feelings" - to help parents acknowledge their feelings and those of their children.
"Let's work together"- a module with tips on how to develop children's cooperation.
"Instead of Hitting what can I do" - this focussed on discipline without damaging children. A
high number of CALD communities use physical punishment as discipline. In this module
there was an explanation of child protection issues as well as exploring other discipline
models.
"Dealing with Tantrums" - this module identified why tantrums happen, how
to avoid them and how to cope with them.
"Responsible children" - this unit explored developing responsibility in children by giving them choices and sharing family responsibilities.
"Keeping children honest" - this module was about understanding honesty
and ways of encouraging children to be honest.
"How to make children feel good about themselves" - this module explored how to help
build children's self esteem and enhance their self-image. Parents were encouraged to help
children who have been suffering stress and trauma to feel good about themselves through
acknowledging their effort and their positive behaviours.
"Good labels, bad labels" - this helped parents to recognise how labels can affect and
determine children's behaviour.
The work that was done and the services that were provided by the Family Support
Program met the TBS partnership agreement.
Since the project concluded the worker has moved to the FMRC Outreach project which is
most enjoyable and challenging.
Samira Maalouf
Family Support Program
Page 60
Bonnyrigg Independent Tenants Advocacy
Service (BITAS)
Funded by Newleaf
BITAS serves public housing tenants who reside on the Bonnyrigg Estate, and are to be
re-housed under the Bonnyrigg Living Communities Project. BITAS assists and
advocates on behalf of tenants in the Bonnyrigg area, by informing them about their
rights and responsibilities as tenants, and by providing support to help tenants resolve
problems. Over the last year, BITAS added 60 new cases to its service, resolved 66
cases through negotiations with Newleaf Communities and is currently working on 8
cases.
There have been a total of 562 client contacts in the past year (606.5 hrs of client
contact). BITAS has also delivered 12 monthly reports and 4 workshops, attended 10
Community Reference Group (CRG) meetings, as well as 6 bi-monthly meetings with
Newleaf Communities’ Housing Management Team.
No. of Client Contacts/Hours
Total of Client Contacts
Total of Client Contact Hours
562
606.5
No. Of Cases 2008/2009
25
20
15
NewCases
CurrentCases
10
ResolvedCases
5
0
1stQtr
2ndQtr
3rdQtr
4thQtr
HoursofLanguageSupport
67
77
9
10
Spanish
Lao
Arabic
Khmer
Vietnamese
BITAS continues to assist CALD (culturally
and linguistically diverse) tenants by
offering language support services in
various community languages, as well as
offering tenants the Telephone Interpreting
Service (TIS). There were a total of 491
hours of language support services used
by BITAS to assist CALD tenants during
this 12 month period.
328
Page 61
While the time taken to resolve cases has steadily decreased, the most problematic
issue confronting tenants has remained that of repairs and maintenance. This strongly
suggests that all stakeholders must work harder, and must work together, to improve the
process of solving issues and educating and empowering tenants.
Cases Resolved
Rent
Water
Rehousing
Transfer applications
Home Inspections
Repairs and Maintenance
Rubbish
Neighbourhood Disputes
Lawn Mowing / Tree Lopping
OHS
Other
6
6
1
17
2
25
3
2
2
1
1
BITAS’ strong but independent partnership with Newleaf Communities has benefited
tenants through the development and delivery of the Tenants’ Rights and
Responsibilities workshops. Tenants were able to attend workshops delivered in
community languages (Khmer, Lao, Spanish and Vietnamese), which led to a greater
understanding of their rights and responsibilities, as well as gaining an overview of
Newleaf Communities. BITAS designed and facilitated the workshops and an average
of 10 participants attended each workshop, as well as representatives of St George
Community Housing. Feedback from the workshops was extremely positive. The
workshops also provided opportunities to meet tenants that have not used BITAS’
services before.
Two major issues and concerns that were highlighted in these workshops were the
difficulty in:
1. distinguishing the different service providers within Newleaf Communities and
understanding the services they provide; and,
2. understanding the procedures required by Newleaf Communities.
Tenants that attended the workshops also showed concern over the water usage charge
and how this was calculated. In the next few months, BITAS will work closely with St
George Community Housing to deliver information sessions on major topics of concern
brought forward by tenants, especially the water usage charge.
The exposure of BITAS through tenant advocacy and involvement in Newleaf
Communities’ workshops and events meant that tenants gained a greater awareness of
BITAS and its services. BITAS has been involved in 45 of Newleaf Communities’
workshops and events in the past year.
BITAS values the comments made by tenants as well as other service providers as a
means of monitoring the quality of services. During the last 12 months BITAS received
13 compliments and 1 complaint, with 1 suggestion of site improvement to improve
Page 62
privacy. BITAS has now rearranged the office space so that tenants feel more
comfortable when they disclose their housing concerns.
The economic downturn has produced additional challenges for tenants, such as
reduced funding to community housing organisations who also service tenant needs.
Although the Australian and NSW Governments have made a commitment to deliver
851 new social housing dwellings across NSW by July 2010, the dwindling labour
market (which shed 21,000 jobs in June), has also limited tenants’ ability to pay rent
increases. Another issue is the extraordinary increase in housing providers’ operational
costs, and particularly utility costs. This may have contributed to the long-standing
problem of deferred maintenance.
According to figures from Australian Property Monitors, asking rents have still risen 7.1
per cent over the year to June, even though a fall in interest rates to 40-year lows has
made buying a house or unit much more affordable. However, other indicators point to a
looming housing shortage. Approvals for new apartments and townhouses in NSW fell to
a 26-year low in May, and vacancy rates hit a 12-month low of 1 per cent. According to
the president of the Real Estate Institute of NSW Steven Martin, the first-time home
buyer grants and record low interest rates have not boosted rental vacancies.
These mixed messages on NSW’s rental market have added further confusion and
frustration to the many problems that face tenants today.
Charles Ang
BITAS Coordinator.
Page 63
Funded by Department of Immigration and Citizenship DIAC
In 2008, Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre was selected to be part of an eight member
panel in NSW delivering specialised intensive interventions to refugee clients with
complex needs. The new program, “complex case support” was rolled out in October
2008. The program delivers short-term, specialised and intensive case management for
refugee and asylum seeker families that have exceptional and multiple needs. The
program also has flexibility in providing for clients that have been excluded from other
services because of their visa category.
Tara and Yamamah manage FMRC’s program for this group of vulnerable clients from
already marginalised communities. Fairfield provides a unique context for this work
through its “wealth” of services and communities that have had their own experiences of
war, trauma and settlement, and its simultaneous material “poverty”. Individuals and
families in the program have usually experienced traumatic events after arriving in
Australia in addition to their pre-arrival experiences. In a short period, Tara and
Yamamah have heard stories to keep the most experienced settlement worker awake at
night, faced bureaucratic hurdles to make them give up on it all, and met families and
workers to restore their hope. Yamamah and Tara delivered a presentation on the
program to the inaugural Settlement Council of Australia (SCoA) conference in
Canberra.
The first few months of the year were spent establishing the shape of the program and
protocols for working under the new model of service delivery. The program now has a
steady client load and employs two permanent staff and four casuals providing
multilingual casework services. After rigorous negotiation of criteria and service
provision, clients are provided with holistic assistance, including home visits that assist
clients to overcome access barriers and address crises and ongoing issues. Plans are
designed to be short (usually 3-6 months) and address the issues that have bought a
client to crisis, and take them to a level of settlement where they can be helped by
ordinary SGP casework.
In the first six months of the program, DIAC
received more than 200 referrals, and
accepted 160 for intervention. Around 70% of
our referrals were accepted just over 60%
were referred back to us for service. The
country of birth of clients reflects the
countries of birth of refugee arrivals over the
past five years. It also reflects some
universal impacts of refugee experiences,
despite a perception that people from some
backgrounds “settle easier”.
Page 64
Reasons for referral
Most CCS clients have
multiple issues but it is
often one situation that is
impacting upon every facet
of a family’s life. The
housing crisis is impacting
heavily upon this client
group too. In Fairfield,
refugees have over time
been attracted to the area
because of the high level of
cultural
and
linguistic
diversity and the ethno
specific services available.
However this factor has
also allowed an already tight housing market to reach crisis point. The current rental
vacancy rate hovers somewhere between 0.7 and 1%, while rental prices are steadily
increasing. This issue affects some communities more than others. The shortage of
housing for large families is well documented. Some clients who have lived in camps or
in unstable situations for a long time need support to maintain their tenancies. Some real
estate agents need support to overcome their own prejudices about refugees as tenants.
Underlying issues: Family re-unification
Refugees being resettled in
Fairfield are coming from
regions of the world where
conflict is ongoing. Additionally,
many have left behind family
members in unsafe camp
situations or other insecure
circumstances. Anxiety about
family members limits the
capacity of new arrivals to
settle, and process their own
trauma. FMRC consultations
held in mid-November 2008 in
partnership with the Refugee
Council of Australia (RCOA)
revealed this to be the number
one cause of anxiety and barrier to successful settlement amongst Refugee and Special
Humanitarian Program (SHP) Entrants.1 The processing of family reunion of split
families must be fast tracked, and issues of corruption in camps addressed as a matter
of priority.
1
This was reflected on a national scale in RCOA’s Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program: Community views on current
challenges and future directions January 2009 report. See http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/docs/resources/submissions/200910_intakesub.pdf
Page 65
One example of Case Management Success
[The name of the individual and places (countries) described in this case study have been
changed to protect the privacy of the client.]
Ahmed first came to Fairfield MRC in late 2008 and he was homeless. He had fled Afghanistan in
2002. He first travelled to Australia on a boat that was intercepted and turned back to Indonesia.
Ahmed was injured and left permanently disabled. Between 2003 and 2007, he was in Indonesia. In
2007, he was granted an offshore temporary humanitarian visa and came to Australia. He then heard
that his sister and nephew had been recently killed in a bombing. His mother was badly injured, and
had sought medical treatment in Pakistan. When he came to us he was attempting to send money
home to pay his mother’s medical bills.
During this time, Ahmed had become depressed and wasn’t sleeping. He hadn’t been able to resolve
his visa status, and so was only receiving Family Tax Benefit. He also didn’t have access to Medicare.
He had been referred to many different services but the chaotic nature of his situation meant that he
was only following up ones that offered the possibility of raising funds for his mother.
After his full situation became more fully known to his SGP caseworker, she made a referral to
complex case support. Working with Ahmed was a challenge. His physical disability affected his
mobility. However, he was also affected by the ongoing chaos in his life. Ahmed has now received
permanent residency and is living in affordable shared accommodation with friends that support him.
He has received assistance from services to improve his mobility and he is receiving Disability Support
Pension and looking for work. He has been assisted in finding safer ways to send money home, as well
as manage his own budget. He is attending counselling, and also reports that he feels “lighter” and is
sleeping better now that he has his permanent visa.
No service however, is funded to address the underlying cause of his initial financial situation – his
mother’s health.
Tara Russell/ Yamamah Agha
Page 66
The Domestic Violence Project is funded by the Department of Community Services and
was established in 1995. The project provides support and assistance to CALD victims
of domestic violence and their children through the provision of culturally sensitive crisis
counselling (using TIS) and practical assistance such as emergency accommodation.
Services provided to clients include counselling, accommodation, court support (AVO),
immigration, health, budgeting, education, letters of support, food vouchers, spouse visa
fee, medical expenses, removalist fees, bond and rent advances, material assistance,
utility payments, follow up and referrals.
The project also provides services to mainstream victims of domestic and family
violence.
Direct Services
In the last financial year, the service assisted 385 clients including clients from Fairfield
court and those receiving follow up. Most clients were aged between 18 and 45 years of
age, and many had accompanying children. There were also several clients aged 46 to
94. 1593 occasions of service were provided, around 87% of which were face-to-face
and approximately 13% over the phone.
Clients were from diverse backgrounds as follows:
Vietnam (105), Cambodia (90), Australia (42), Iraq (26), China (18), Lebanon (14), Chile
(8), Fiji (7), Thailand (7), Macedonia (7), Philippine (5), Pakistan (4), New Zealand (4),
Somalia (4), Burma (4), Iran (2), Sudan(2), Uruguay (2), Croatia (2), Russia (2), Burundi
(2), Nigeria (2), Turk (2), Samoa (2), Maltese (2), Serbia (1), India (1), Brazil (1), Spain
(1), Indonesia (1), Malaysia (1), Assyrian (1), Ethiopia (1), Argentina (1), Italy (1), Bolivia
(1), Spanish (1), Indonesia (1), Ecuador (1), Sierra Leonie (1), Malaya (1), Lao (1), Egypt
(1), Bulgaria (1), Nicaragua (1).
Page 67
For this financial year clients and their children were assisted with the following
brokerage:
food vouchers $6150, removalist fees $2973, white goods $2350,
accommodation and meals $1240, electricity bills $728.43, phone bills $364.18, bond
and rent advances $200, rent arrears $200, medical expenses $751.40, child
counselling sessions $325, books and furniture for children $62.
Children
307 children under 18 years of age were assisted in this financial year. Children are
also victims of domestic violence who often witness more than they are able to
comprehend. Domestic violence has a tremendous affect on children who may suffer
emotional neglect because their parents are so stressed and engrossed in their own
turmoil and struggle for survival. Children are often forced to change school and home
several times as their mothers flee violence from one place to another seeking safe,
stable and affordable housing.
Most of the support, assistance and referrals provided to parents also meets the needs
of their children, for instance white goods and food vouchers. However, some children
with special needs were referred to child psychologists for behaviour problems, grief
counselling and speech therapy. Teenagers with behaviour problems were referred to
Cabramatta Youth Team or Mission Australia. Information on child care assistance from
Centrelink was also provided to clients so that younger children could be placed at a
child care centre.
Due to the child protection legislation, it is mandatory to notify DoCS whenever clients
decide to reconcile with their partners or the child is at risk of harm.
Project Achievements:
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Strong networks with relevant service providers were maintained in order to work
effectively and to advocate for clients.
Information sessions on DV awareness were provided for Fairfield and
Cabramatta ACL students of diverse backgrounds, service providers, Fairfield,
Cabramatta, Wetherill Park and Liverpool police and different women’s groups
(African, Chinese, Khmer, Serbian and Vietnamese).
Pamphlets and handouts on DV issues and a contact list of relevant services
were distributed to teachers, workers, students, clients and service providers.
A partnership with the Vietnamese Women’s Association organised an ongoing
Vietnamese DV victims’ support group once a month to raise awareness of DV
issues and its effects on children as well as sharing experiences and learning
new skills.
A partnership with the Khmer Community and Fairfield Community Health
established and ongoing Khmer DV Women’s Support Group and regular basic
computer skills classes.
A partnership with the Chinese Migrant Welfare Association, Cabramatta Police
ECLO, and Australian and Chinese Descendents Mutual Association established
an ongoing Chinese Women’s Support Group bimonthly.
A partnership with the FMRC Iraqi Outreach Project established an ongoing Iraqi
women’s group once a month to gain more information of the services available
for them and learn new skills.
Page 68
x
x
x
x
x
A partnership with Woodville Community and other agencies organised Family
Harmony Event.
A partnership with police and other agencies organised the DV Community
Awareness Event.
The DV project participated in a forum regarding the National Plan to Reduce
Violence Against Women and Children.
The DV project participated in an information session regarding Domestic and
Family Violence and Immigration Law organised by the DV Network.
The DV project participated in Reclaim the Night at Bankstown and Parramatta.
Future Directions
Community education is seen as crucial for early intervention and prevention of
domestic violence.
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
The project will continue to work in partnership with different communities to run
DV women’s support groups.
The project will continue to participate in DV awareness activities.
The project will continue to work in conjunction with diverse communities to
organise discussions, workshops and forums for community and religious leaders
to raise their awareness of DV issues and how to deal with them sensitively.
The project will continue to organise talks by psychologists regarding positive
parenting for children witnessing and experiencing domestic violence and the
effects of DV on children.
The project will continue to work in conjunction with other services to organise a
multicultural play group for children who have experienced domestic violence.
The project will assist child victims of DV financially with speech therapy and
counselling.
The project will continue to work cooperatively with other services to organise
information forums on DV issues for workers and clients of diverse backgrounds.
Sam You
Page 69
Humanitarian Entrants & Refugee
Settlement Services
Funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)
The HERSS Coordinator supported the FMRC Coordinator by overseeing the work of
the Settlement Grants Program funded workers, supervising TAFE students, providing
support to other FMRC staff and convening regular staff meetings.
Fairfield Emerging Communities Action Partnership (FECAP)
The HERSS Coordinator convened the FECAP network in partnership with Fairfield City
Council as well as its working party on the Refugee and Migrant Employment Pathways
Expo.
The Expo was held at Cabravale Leisure Centre on
21 May 2009 and was a huge success, with around
850 clients in attendance. There were groups from a
great diversity of backgrounds in keeping with the
local population. Participants came from over twenty
different cultural backgrounds. Local students
attended from Fairfield High School and Cabramatta
High School along with students from ACL, TAFE and
UWS. Centrelink provided interpreters for the day for
the main languages.
Fairfield MRC staff provided additional language
support and worked with staff and volunteers from the
Assyrian Australian Association and CatholicCare to
set up the stalls at the venue. Stalls were held by
FMRC, Fairfield City Council, ACL, MTC Training
Solutions, CSA Training Services, Max Employment,
TAFE, UWS, Australian Business Apprenticeships,
J2S Training Group, Sydney Community College
(Refugee mentor program), Mission Australia
(NAYSS), the Australian Training Company, the
Australian Institute of Financial Services, AUSNAC
Apprenticeship Centre, STARTTS and Jobquest.
CatholicCare also participated by running popular
seminars on résumé writing. UWS, TAFE and
Australian Business Apprenticeships also held well
attended seminars. ACL students talked about their
learning experiences and former TAFE students
spoke of their pathways to employment.
A random sample of clients was surveyed. The vast
majority had arrived in the last year. Most were in
their late teens and had not worked in Australia. A
small number were over fifty years of age. Around
Page 70
half had completed some training or had qualifications and more than half had difficulty
using English. The vast majority did not know how or where to look for jobs and
therefore found the Expo very informative. Feedback was very positive with 30.5 per
cent of those surveyed indicating the Expo had been ‘excellent’ and another 61% rating
it as ‘good’.
Equatoria Community Welfare Association – Sudanese Settlement Project
HERSS attended five ECWA meetings, took minutes and offered support in the form of
advice regarding increasing the client base of ECWA, the organisation of the office
launch, office resources and flyer printing and distribution. The official launch of ECWA
by the Hon. Laurie Ferguson, Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and
Settlement Services was held on 11 June 2009. Around 60 people attended.
Establishment of Australian Burundian Community Organisation
HERSS worked in partnership with STARTTS and Anglicare to assist the Burundian
community to establish its own organisation. On 29 March 2009, the Burundian group
adopted their constitution that had been the focus of eight meetings over the previous
six months. A men’s sub-committee, women’s sub-committee and youth sub-committee
were established. The Constitution was registered with the Department of Fair Trading
on 1 April 2009 and the management committee was elected at the first meeting on 23
April 2009.
HERSS in partnership with STARTTS, Anglicare and the Australian Burundian
Community Organisation (ABCO) was successful in obtaining some CDSE funding to
build the capacity of ABCO through the employment of a part time worker to develop
and run programs and group activities.
Refugee Week Legal Aid Day
A Legal Aid information session was held on 16 June 2009 during Refugee Week at
Cabravale Senior Citizens Hall (next to FMRC). Around 70 people attended. Flyers
were translated by FMRC bilingual staff and students and distributed in Arabic, English,
Khmer, Kirundi, Swahili and Vietnamese. Legal Aid provided interpreters in these
languages and Lao. FMRC staff provided language assistance in Dari and Arabic.
Topics included paying your mortgage, employment law, Centrelink payments, debt,
bills and contracts and renting. Legal Aid Multilingual DVDs were available in Arabic,
Dari/Farsi, Pushto, Dinka, Juba Arabic, Swahili, Somali, Tigrinya and Amharic. The
Office of Fair Trading attended and distributed translated information. A financial
counsellor attended from Money Care. One-on-one legal advice sessions followed the
presentations.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to both Clement Meru, who began the year in
this position and Stephanie Adam who took over from Clement as HERSS Coordinator
in around October 2009. Both of them worked tirelessly to support refugee communities.
Stephanie left the position in mid May 2009 and we wish her all the best in the future.
Rosemary Meale
Humanitarian Entrant and Refugee Settlement Services Coordinator
Page 71
FMRC HUB Project
Funded by the Department Of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)
Introduction
The HUB project is funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and is
designed to provide direct services, community development and integrated service
planning and development for family and humanitarian migrants in Fairfield LGA.
SGP Promotion
Extensive promotional activities were undertaken to advertise SGP services at various
venues to raise awareness of the services available at FMRC thus increasing the
general SGP services intake. On-site visits were arranged for Community First Step
English language students, Granville, Ultimo and Nirimba TAFE students and Canberra
Girls high school. SGP services were also promoted during participation at the
Department of Fair Trading Community Expo in November 2008. An Open day was
organised in conjunction with all CCC staff in February 2009, in order to increase
service awareness within the community.
Orientation services
In partnership with relevant service providers, a series of information sessions on
linguistically and culturally sensitive topics were organised for refugees and
humanitarian entrants. Topics covered included legal information for the Burundian
community in October 2008 and financial management and budgeting information to
assist families with their financial management needs. In September 2008, an
extraordinary information session was organised for Canberra Girls high school. Among
the important issues presented was ‘living in Australia as a Muslim’ as well as other
issues facing newly arrived communities. Such discussions were an attempt to
incorporate our services in matters of social inclusion.
Training
Hub project workers attended various training sessions in order to increase professional
development. Training was organised in partnership with DIAC and topics included:
x Professionalism in the settlement sector
x Managing the SGP
x Responding to people with mental health
x Settlement support in a complex and changing situation
Clients’ issues and casework
Clients’ issues and casework have been an important part of the implementation of this
project, using emergency relief funding. Client issues included financial hardship,
employment and housing issues which impact heavily upon recently arrived refugees
and migrants.
Page 72
Client demands for direct support services continued to increase with more complex
cases and issues being identified, and more referrals to other relevant service providers
being undertaken. Issues related to family, health, children and youth as well as
gambling and alcohol addiction which are major contributors to family financial crises.
Having family members overseas often results in the diversion of some of the limited
financial resources available to recently arrived refugees and immigrants.
The graph below indicates the number of clients served or referred to other settlement
services during the year 2008 to 2009.
Community development
A series of community consultations were conducted to identify needs and plan for
realistic and achievable programs. In the past twelve months the HUB project has
supported and resourced the activities of the Pakistani Women's Group and organised
English language classes in partnership with TAFE. The feedback on this program has
been very positive and supports the need for the continuation of similar classes in the
future. The impact of these groups is important to many clients struggling to overcome
isolation
Future directions
The HUB settlement project will continue to tailor information sessions to meet clients’
needs in the pressing issues of financial management and budgeting, housing and
tenancy, employment, law and legal issues, as well as running the community
development activities including language skills classes, leadership, volunteering, first
aid and other relevant short courses for emerging communities and women's groups.
We will continue to promote FMRC services as well as directing clients to mainstream
services and developing the self-reliance of individuals and communities for successful
settlement and effective participation in the Australian community.
Vesna Stefanovic and Simon Sogora
FMRC Hub Project
Page 73
Integration Project
Parenting workshops
In consultation with other SGP Workers, the Integration Project (IP) worker organised a one
day 1-2-3 Magic Parenting Program practitioner training course on 16 February 2009.
Eighteen community workers were trained to help parents manage difficult behaviour in
children aged 2 to 12. The Integration project worker also oversaw an eight week parenting program which was run for ten migrants and refugees of African and Iraqi backgrounds,
once a week in February and March 2009.
Financial management workshops
A Budgeting Workshop for 16 members of the Burundian community was organised by the
IP worker in conjunction with the African and Generalist SGP workers and conducted on 16
April 2009. Multilingual workers were utilised for this session.
Organisation of a conference on poverty, integration and social inclusion in Fairfield
The conference was scheduled initially for June 2009 but was postponed until July 2009
because the FMRC Co-ordinator was invited to Geneva for the UNHCR pre-ex Com NGO
Conference in June. The Conference program was organised and speakers were arranged
including the Hon. Laurie Ferguson (Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and
Settlement Services), Carmel Guerra (Centre for Multicultural Youth), Associate Professor
Jock Collins, Maree O'Halloran (Welfare Rights Centre), and Maria Dimopoulos (diversity
consultant).
Production of an anti-racism DVD
An anti-racism DVD is being developed. Ideas were canvassed at the first two meetings of
the steering committee for the production of this DVD which were held in March and May
2009. A draft script has been developed by Barry Gamba, who has been engaged to produce the DVD.
The anti-racism DVD will be a resource to promote discussion and critical inquiry into contemporary experiences of racism, especially as it impacts on CALD communities in western Sydney. The overall project objective will be to build on the successful model of the
'Tenancy Check' and 'Health Check' DVDs produced by FMRC (in partnership with other
agencies), as dramatised information resources for small and emerging African communities in NSW. In particular, the new DVD will employ the storytelling techniques successfully employed in these earlier projects to communicate issues. Dramatic scripts will be developed and filmed to tell stories of experiences of racism.
I joined Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre as the Integration Project Officer on 27 January
2009 and left the position to take up the role of Humanitarian Entrant and Refugee
Settlement Services Coordinator on 11 May 2009. I continued to work on the Poverty
Conference in my new position with Ricci, FMRC Co-ordinator and Kerry Nettle, Public
Relations and Advocacy Manager at Cabramatta Community Centre.
Rosemary Meale
Integration Project Worker
Page 74
Iraqi SGP Project
Deena Khamas, the Iraqi Project worker is currently on maternity leave taking care of her
healthy and beautiful baby girl. Maysoon Shammu is the locum worker and she continues
to provide the same services with the same dedication and effort as Deena.
CASE WORK
The Iraqi settlement project is funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to
provide settlement services for newly arrived Iraqi migrants, refugees and humanitarian
entrants in the Fairfield LGA. The Iraqi Settlement Project offers information, referral, case
work services and community information sessions on housing, employment, education,
Centrelink, immigration and other settlement needs such as legal issues, parenting, health,
recognition of overseas qualifications, domestic violence, mental health, etc.
The Iraqi Project provides services to the whole Iraqi community with an emphasis upon
the Chaldean and Mandaean communities. The service operates Monday to Thursday from
the Cabramatta Community Centre and every Friday from the Fairfield Baby Health Centre
in Fairfield.
The outreach services have enabled the target group to gain better access to services and
referrals in the Fairfield LGA through case work, referrals, community projects and advocacy.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Community building
The Iraqi project organised swimming lessons for the Mandeaen women's group in partnership with the HERSS project at the FMRC through a grant provided by the Mercy
Foundation. The swimming program had the aim of helping Mandeaen women learn basic
swimming skills so that they could then take an advanced course enabling them to be
nationally accredited as swimming instructors. In this way the women will be able to
become part of Austswims Multicultural program. This course also aims to facilitate capacity building as the group is learning to network, organise and communicate in order to
empower themselves with skills and knowledge to enter the workforce.
Feedback received from a member of the group was that "swimming made lots of stress go
away" following her traumatic experiences in Iraq. Others stated that they want "to be professional swimming instructors" and others were happy that they know "now what to do in
emergency" since they live in Australia "which is surrounded by water". "It's the best sports
and a good way to stay fit and in shape". This course is still running for the Mandeaen
women's group at the Whitlam Leisure Centre in Liverpool.
Information sessions
The Iraqi Project conducted various information sessions in partnership with other projects
of the FMRC such as the Outreach project. Sessions included tenancy advice and advocacy services, legal protection for tenants, tenant's rights and responsibilities, rental bond etc.
Page 75
An information session/consultation was delivered in Assyrian in partnership with the
HERSS project on services provided by the FMRC that covered the issues facing the
Assyrians as a community in Fairfield and Liverpool areas. The session resulted in identifying concerns with mainstream service delivery such as the Department of Housing and
Centrelink, the Department of Health, as well as real estate agents.
A health information session was conducted in partnership with NSW Refugee Health
Service targeting seniors from the Chaldean community on how to access currently available health services for refugees.
An information session was delivered with Anglicare about family harmony and conflict resolution. These sessions enabled the target group to learn more about counselling services
provided in Fairfield LGA.
An information session was conducted on drug and alcohol with the Ted Noffs Foundation
and a series of information sessions took place over a period of 6 weeks which were conducted by Fairfield Multicultural Health on health and nutrition. In addition a number of information sessions were conducted in partnership with the FMRC Domestic Violence project.
In partnership with Immigrant Women's Health Service 6 weekly sessions were provided to
the target group on women's physical health and well being, and a series of workshops
were run on financial management on an individual basis, as well as an information session in partnership with the Hub worker on better budgeting and how to save money in an
effective way.
The Iraqi project worker continued to conduct a series of community consultations in order
to identify ongoing and new settlement needs of the community and to develop realistic and
achievable plans to address the needs that were identified. This was an important factor in
program development and planning as well as a tool to produce effective and accurate
needs analysis data for the Iraqi community.
Maysoon Shammu
Iraqi SGP Worker
Page 76
SGP Outreach Project
Funded by the Department Of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)
The Outreach project is funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to
provide settlement services for newly arrived migrants, refugees and humanitarian
entrants in the outlying areas of Fairfield. The FMRC is pleased to report that DIAC has
refunded the project for another three years under the Settlement Grants Program
(SGP). This makes the project the FMRC’s longest-running project.
Direct Services/Case Work Issues
This year the Outreach project provided over 1500 direct casework services to clients
from different countries and backgrounds including Burma, Burundi, Bosnia, Cambodia,
China, Congo, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Pacific Island countries,
Palestine, Philippines, Serbia, Somalia, South America, Sudan. Syria, Timor, Turkey and
Vietnam,
One of the project’s most popular components is the outreach service delivered at
Fairfield Early Childhood Centre at 21 to 23 Barbara Street, Fairfield on Fridays from
9am to 5pm.
Accommodation and tenancy issues continue to be the most pressing settlement and
access issues for refugee and other communities. The number of clients receiving
eviction letters or being evicted and becoming homeless, increased dramatically
because of the current economic situation. Clients are unable to maintain their tenancy
because of rent increases which causes them to fall in rental arrears. Securing
affordable accommodation causes clients a lot of stress, affecting the process of their
settlement and creating dependency on charity organisations for income support. The
current housing situation prevents clients from accessing their rights because they are
too frightened to complain about any tenancy issues and real estate agents or landlords
refuse to do repairs. Most of the time, clients are reluctant to complain as they are
frightened of getting evicted and then being unable to find alternate and affordable
accommodation.
Health issues, including high rates of cancer in Iraqi communities, were also major
contributors to family crisis, financial hardship and interrupted settlement. On many
occasions clients present in financial crisis because of medical expenses not covered by
Medicare. In other cases, clients’ health had deteriorated because they refused to
continue any type of treatments which required payments.
Community Development And Capacity Building
Services were also provided to over 2000 individuals through group work and
community development activities.
The Outreach project also provided organisational support, logistics, promotion and
other assistance to community events including the Fairfield Emerging Community
Action Partnership (FECAP) employment expo. and the Fairfield Immigrant and Refugee
Women’s Network (FIRWN) Refugee Week events.
Page 77
The project continues to address isolation and aims to improve access and equity and
build capacity amongst refugee women through group work. The project supported an
Iraqi Muslim Women's Group in partnership with Al Zahra Muslim Women's
Association which meets every Monday from 10am to 12pm at the Family Relationship
Centre in Fairfield. Al Zahra unfortunately lost their funding but the Outreach project will
continue to support this group’s activities and seek funding for this isolated client group.
New Initiatives
An informal consultation with the Burmese community took place at Canley Vale
Monastery during a religious celebration attended by 100 people. Community members
identified interpreting services, legal issues and Migration Advice as unmet needs for
their community. Others expressed a concern that communities are not accessing
settlement services for settlement advice, and instead are relying on community leaders
who do not necessarily have comprehensive information.
An initial consultation meeting with Iraqi Muslim men was held in Fairfield. Men
attending the session discussed the need for different activities for their community.
They expressed concern about the experience of young Muslim men in local schools.
The Outreach worker was encouraged by the participants’ enthusiasm and willingness
to form a group to meet regularly to address the issues they identified. This will be
pursued in the coming year.
The Outreach project also facilitated a Grief and Loss program in partnership with
Anglicare; a parenting program for mothers to recognise and deal with
intergenerational conflict in partnership with Brighter Futures; financial management
sessions; and a Tenancy Rights and Responsibilities workshop for Iraqi
communities.
Educational classes
In partnership with Wetherill Park TAFE, three
computer courses, a sewing class and two floristry
courses were organised during the year to develop
women’s skills. An average of 14 participants
attended each course.
Of the participants at the computer classes, 60%
went on to more advanced computer courses at
TAFE.
Some of the participants of the floristry courses
have already found work in floristry. Most excitingly, one of the students has established
her own floristry shop and is employing some of the other students from the class.
Others are planning to open home-businesses.
Left: One of the floristry class student’s home business.
Page 78
“A brave leap forward in Iraqi Theatre”
With the support of the Outreach Project members of the “Ur
Association” collaborated to produce “The Robe” a new 75
minute play derived from eastern history. The play was written
through workshops and consultation between the players from
different Iraqi backgrounds. The play was performed to a
packed house at Fairfield School of Arts in late May, and
repeated at Parramatta Riverside Theatre in early June.
Community issues explored in the play and in the play-writing
process include intra and inter-community conflict, racism and
mental health. The group has been able to introduce Iraqi
folklore to the community and generate income to become self-sustaining. The
performances were covered in the Arabic-language press, and described in one report
as “a brave leap forward in Iraqi theatre for Australians from Iraqi backgrounds”.
Future planning
In the next three years, the project will focus on
- training volunteers to participate in the community and find work;
- a program of skills development for identified community leaders from emerging
communities to support them in the development of community infrastructure; and,
- sporting activities for young Muslim refugee women in Fairfield LGA.
I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to FMRC staff for their support,
Wetherill Park TAFE for their support and cooperation and all other individuals who
contributed to the project's success. Yamamah Agha who worked in the Outreach project
for 5 years resigned to take up the Complex Case Support Manager’s position and
Samira Maalouf is now managing the Outreach project.
Yamamah Agha / Samira Maalouf
Outreach Project
Page 79
ECWA Sudanese Settlement Project
Funded by the Department of Immigration & Citizenship (DIAC)
Equat o r iaCommun ity Wel f ar eAs s ociat iono f NSWI n c. Auspiced byFairfieldMigrantResourceCentreandCCC.ProudlyfundedbyDIAC
The ECWA Sudanese Settlement Project supports the delivery of information, referral
and casework services to newly arrived Sudanese migrants of Western Sydney through
the operation of the Sudanese Settlement Service in Blacktown. The Service is the first
example of settlement services provision by an organisation of a specific Sudanese
ethnicity established to target Sudanese migrants as a whole. The Service identifies
and addresses issues and service gaps encountered by Sudanese migrants and
refugees and supports and encourages the Sudanese community access to mainstream
services. The ECWA Sudanese Settlement Project also plays an important role in
building the capacity of Sudanese community organisations through the support of
consultations, networking and professional advice.
Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre resources the ECWA Project as the auspice of the
Project, through the provision of oversight and guidance to the ECWA Management
Committee supervising committee and provides additional information and support to the
service as required.
Capacity Building
A worker of Sudanese background was recruited and was initially located within FMRC
for purposes of training and orientation. The worker’s language background allows
services to be offered in Classical Arabic, Juba Arabic, Dinka, Luo (Jur) and English.
Premises for the Sudanese Settlement Service office were procured near the Blacktown
Page 80
CBD and close to public transport, services being delivered from 5 January 2009. A
brochure promoting the service was distributed through the African Workers Network,
the NSW Refugee Coalition, Mount Druitt Ethnic Communities Agency, the Sudanese
Workers Network and ECWA’s existing network.
Networks
The Service is regularly represented at the Blacktown Emerging Communities Action
Partnership (BECAP), the New South Wales Legal Assistance Forum (NLAF) and the
Sudanese Workers Network. Links to other networks have been made through
participation in training and consultations.
Consultation
The Service has consulted its client-base by means of a survey and provides Sudanese
input to government consultations. The service developed and delivered a presentation
to a government service forum on Sudanese cultural values at a `Sudanese Cultural
Awareness’ forum attended by representatives of STARTTS, NLAF, NSW Attorney
Generals Department, Blacktown Police and community organisations.
Work with other emerging community groups
The Sudanese Settlement Service has assisted a Luo community group to make
successful funding applications to Parramatta and Holroyd Councils for heritage and
cultural performances to take place in 2009. The service also provided advice to that
community on the establishment and management of an incorporated organisation,
contributing to the creation of the Luo Community Association of Australia. The Service
facilitates meetings of sporting and cultural activities groups and has assisted in the
preparation of grant applications for these bodies.
Service Delivery
Direct client services are provided from 9.30am to 4.30pm Mondays, Tuesdays and
Thursdays. From the commencement of service in January to the end of August a total
of 70 people had sought assistance from the service. Of these, 46 have been managed
as part of the caseload of the service worker, with the remaining 24 being telephone
inquiries or other forms of brief service contact. There has been a gradual increase in
the numbers approaching the Service throughout the year. The increase in clients was
encouraged by the formal launching of the Sudanese Settlement Service on 11 June.
The predominant initial concerns of clients of the service have been access to public
housing, immigration issues (particularly family reunion), and the need to gain skills to
pass the Citizenship test. Clients’ language issues, computer skills and broader
educational needs have been identified as important barriers to their participation.
English language classes will be delivered at the premises with the assistance of a
retired teacher working as a volunteer. Many clients have been referred to the
Blacktown Community Aid Office for assistance with bills and other financial matters.
Links to generalist services are promoted through materials distributed at the Service.
Page 81
A model in development
The ECWA Project is unique in aiming to encourage a community-based organisation of
an emerging community, in this case ECWA, to take the lead role in the development
and day to day management of a settlement service for a migrant community
distinguished by high and complex needs. The Project therefore has both capacity
building and direct service provision components. As a new model of service centred on
the emerging capacity of a migrant and refugee community, the Project also has a third
`research and development’ function. Despite the overlapping complexities of the
project components and the intensity of issues facing the population it targets, the
outcomes of the Project to date are showing effective outcomes on all fronts.
The Equatorial Welfare Community
Association Advisory Committee in one of
its monthly meetings held in the
Sudanese Settlement Service premises
in Blacktown: Photo supplied by
Sudanese Settlement Services.
Ooling Kang
Sudanese Settlement Worker
Page 82
Youth Settlement Worker
Funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)
The Youth Settlement project provides settlement services for newly arrived migrant,
refugee and humanitarian entrant youth and families in Fairfield LGA. Abdul Hekmat
started as the Youth Settlement Worker in August 2008, replacing Deena Khamas who
did some excellent work on the project. Having a refugee background myself, I share
some of the settlement challenges faced by newly arrived young refugees. Below are
some of the highlights of the work done in the past year.
Recreational and Sport Activity
The project has organized a series of recreational activities for refugee young people.
Sport is a good settlement tool to assist young people to settle successfully in Australia.
The ‘CALD CUP’ was organized on 1st of November 2008 in partnership with Fairfield
Police, the Assyrian Resource Centre and the Serbian community. Six teams
participated in the tournament. The program was designed to foster good relationships
and links between police and both established and emerging communities. The program
also aimed to address some crime issues that had surfaced in Fairfield LGA and
increase the participation of young people of refugee and migrant backgrounds in
sporting activities. The tournament attracted more than 200 people and the game was
held in a friendly environment where all the participants took part and made new
contacts. The winning team was provided with trophies. The team that defeated the
police team felt empowered, energized and gained confidence. Another soccer
competition - the Fairfield Sport Tournament, which was held on Saturday 27th of June
2009 at Endeavour Sport Reserve was also a great success. Over 120 players
participated in the game.
These soccer tournaments were held because many young people had expressed a
strong interest in being involved in some physical activities. The project worker in
partnership with other community organisations is in the process of holding a regular
sport game for young people of refugee and migrant backgrounds. The project worker
has also recently secured $12,000 funding under the CDSE program managed by
Fairfield City Council to provide regular soccer games for boys and volleyball for girls in
partnership with other service providers. These will start in November 2009.
Left: Fairfield High School students participated in the soccer tournament 2008
Right: Players in action in the 2009 soccer tournament
Page 83
Information Sessions Refugee Week
The youth project at FMRC celebrated Refugee Week with a legal forum that was held in
conjunction with Legal Aid. The theme for this year was ‘freedom from fear’ and FMRC
re-named it ‘freedom from financial stress’ and organised a forum to give legal advice on
issues that impact upon many refugee communities, specially in a time of financial crisis.
Approximately 70 people attended the forum and the information was delivered in seven
different languages by professional interpreters. Lawyers from Legal Aid presented
information on topics such as mortgages, employment, rental market and Centrelink. At
the end of the forum, people registered for free legal advice.
Refugee and Migrant Employment Expo
The youth project worker also facilitated a Refugee and Employment Expo held on 20th
May 2009. Over 800 people attended the Expo to get information about training
opportunities offered in Fairfield LGA. The youth project worker talked with many
students and provided them with necessary information about where to get the best
advice and information about training and study.
Fairfield High School students attended Employment Expo in 2009
Community development
The Youth Project worked with the Congolese Community of Australia (an emerging
community only established this year). The Congolese Community of Australia
celebrated their Independence Day by holding a soccer tournament. About 150 people
attended and participated in the soccer tournament. The Youth Project will continue to
work closely with this emerging community.
Refugee Youth Initiative
The youth project has also been working with the Centrelink place-based initiative to
assist refugee young people in Fairfield LGA to achieve settlement outcomes. The
project has also been part of the Action Research Group (ARG) in which different
service providers and stakeholders regularly meet to review the pilot program and make
suggestions for improvement. Recently, this initiative has received interest and inquiries
from different government departments. Through this program, the Youth Settlement
Worker has been doing intensive casework with young clients to overcome settlement
challenges and problems.
Page 84
Casework
Casework is an important part of the project and the worker has assisted a number of
refugees and migrants with their individual needs and made referrals to other
organisations. Many young people have complex problems and needs. The project has
assisted young people to find accommodation, get financial assistance and find
appropriate services for their physical and mental health needs. One of the success
stories of casework was a young woman from Iraq who came to Australia one and a half
years ago. She was assisted in finding a work placement for childcare to complete her
course at TAFE. She said that ‘being involved with the youth project helped me to build
my confidence and self-esteem. Before I was very shy and couldn’t present myself. Now
I am more confident and my ideas grown. I have more confidence to help my family and
my community.’
Homework Support Centre
The project has maintained the study support centre that targets newly arrived high
school and IEC students living in Fairfield LGA. Four hour sessions are held weekly
during school terms to assist the young people with exam preparation, assessment and
assignment completion, study skills, research skills and numeracy and literacy. There
are currently 45 students who have registered and on average 15 students attend on a
regular basis. Currently there is a maths tutor that attends regularly as well as the
project worker who also assists in the tutoring. The homework support centre will be
expanded in the next twelve months.
Abdul Hekmat
Youth Settlement SGP Worker
Page 85
Page 86
The Heights Community Services
List of Achievements
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
The Mount Pritchard Cabramatta West Community Centre (MPCWCC) began to
operate officially on a part time basis in 1991, offering services which included
casework, information and referral, a multicultural playgroup, vacation care and
English classes.
In 1993 the Centre was funded by the Western Sydney Area Assistance Scheme
for a full-time Coordinator to assist development in the "corridor" area of Fairfield.
Johnn Fonseca was re-employed in this new position.
In 1993/94 MPCWCC received federal government funding to establish an all
year round Out of School Hours child care service and trialled a disabilities
integration vacation care program. The formation of Amistad Latina, a Spanishspeaking group also took place in 1993 and is still currently operating.
In 1997, Western Sydney Area Assistance Scheme funded the "Reaching the
Heights" project, for a community worker for the areas of Canley Heights, Fairfield
West and Smithfield. Estela Torredimare was employed in this position in late
1997.
After a year of operation, the Reaching the Heights project had established a
variety of activities and services including information and referral, a playgroup,
youth programs and seniors groups. The Canley Heights Centre held an open
day on 1st July 1999, which was attended by approximately 150 people.
MPCWCC attracted funds to employ a youth outreach worker. Christian San Juan
was employed. The worker established the Smithfield Youth drop-in service and
did great work in the anti-drug vacation care program.
In 2000 Mt Pritchard started the Foodshare program, a self-help program in which
participants received a "value for money" box of food in return for two hours of
voluntary work per month.
In 2003 the Canley Heights Centre finally managed to negotiate all the obstacles
involved in building on Council land, and opened a new demountable building at
Canley Heights to provide much needed meeting and group space for residents
The Canley Heights Centre commenced weekly Vietnamese bilingual services
and activities including craft and arts projects and case work provided by the CCC
Multilingual Outreach Project.
In 2002 Mt Pritchard Centre established a small computer training room.
In 2003 Mt Pritchard Centre launched the exciting new No Interest Loans Scheme
jointly with The Parks Community Network.
In 2003, DoCS funding under the Families First Program was received to conduct
a vacation activities program for Koori children aged 11-14yrs.
In 2003, in partnership with Cabramatta Youth Team, the production of the "50's
Show" was staged at the Riverside Theatre Parramatta and the Uruguyan Club
with an estimated audience of 900.
In 2004 MPCWCC received over $59,000 from CDSE and LCSA for six different
programs and projects. A mobile computer project was funded to provide 12 lap
top computers to offer computer classes and facilities in outlying areas of
Fairfield.
In 2004 the MPCWCC project broke new ground in the provision of services for
carers and consumers with mental health issues, providing training, support
groups and coping strategies.
Page 87
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
In 2004 Mount Pritchard youth drop-in began operating twice a week due to
demand from local young people. A series of DJ and Hip Hop workshops were
held as well as a four day camp for young males.
In 2005 the MPCWCC OOSH Service passed the quality assurance accreditation
process with high quality standards.
In 2006 the OOSH service was funded through the Australian Sport Commission,
Active After School Communities to run sport and fitness sessions.
In 2006 MPCWCC attracted over $35,000 in funds through CDSE, LCSA, Carers
NSW and Fairfield City Council.
In 2006 MPCWCC auspiced bulk-billed counselling services by a trained
psychologist.
In 2007 MPCWCC received over $83,000 to provide services, employ new staff
and purchase resources to run a variety of programs and activities.
In 2008 MPCWCC changed its name to The Heights Community Service to reflect
current and projected development of the Division.
In 2008 The Heights received an unprecedented amount of $120,000 funding
from CDSE which enabled the service to employ project workers, purchase
resources and run a variety of projects.
Page 88
The Heights Community Service
"Connecting Communities"
The Heights Community Service is a division of Cabramatta Community Centre (CCC) and
is funded to provide services for residents living in the middle distance areas of Fairfield
which comprise Mount Pritchard, Cabramatta West, Canley Heights, Fairfield West and
Smithfield.
It is one year since the service's name was changed to reflect more accurately the areas in
which the service works, the wide range of activities provided and future directions.
While The Heights has grown and evolved over the years, and will continue to do so in
response to community needs, its commitment to community development, advocacy and
social justice has remained. Over the last few years, The Heights' range of activities and
programs has diversified and the number of people accessing services has increased to
over 500 people per week.
Thanks to a very successful year with funding obtained from the Community Development
Support Expenditure (CDSE), The Heights has expanded its services by employing a team
of part-time community workers to provide a range of services and language specific programs that include a multicultural seniors worker, a Vietnamese community development
worker, an Arabic seniors capacity building worker and a youth worker.
The Heights Community Service's commitment to the needs of the community is the driving force for continual review and development of the Centre's programs and activities. In
particular The Heights wishes to further develop its capacity to engage in advocacy projects and increase its links with other community organisations in the area to broaden the
range of programs offered and deepen connections to the community. Further development
of partnerships with other stakeholders would enhance the possibilities of running programs. This is important as one of the ongoing issues faced by The Heights is lack of meeting space. This has limited possibilities for expansion and reaching the community with new
projects and programs.
During 2008-09 The Heights Community Services received funding from:
Department of Community Services
Family Assistance Office
Fairfield City Council
Woolworths
Carers NSW
Local Community Service Association
Australian Sport Commission
Cabramatta Bowling Club CDSE
St. Johns Park Bowling Club CDSE
Mounties CDSE
Core funding
Before, After & Vacation Care
Nutrition/ Cooking Classes/Recipe book
Senior's Stories
Computer Classes
OOSH & Youth Vacation Care Activities
Fruity Friday
Carer's Week Event
Life Experience Counts
Active After School Activities
Better Health Better Life
Homework Help and School Project Assist
Vietnamese Comm. Dev. Support Worker
Page 89
Cabramatta Rugby League Club CDSE
Canley Heights RSL CDSE
Mounties CDSE
Cabra-Vale Club CDSE
St. Johns Park Bowling Club CDSE
Cabramatta Bowling Club CDSE
Mounties CDSE
WSAAS
Logging On: Computer Project
Stepping Stones to Smart Living
Capacity Building- Arabic Seniors Worker
Multicultural Seniors Group Worker
Carers Capacity Building Camp
Building Healthier Children
Youth Activities Worker
Community Photocopiers Project
The Heights received $240,569.90 in funding to provide services, employ new staff, purchase resources and run a variety of programs and activities. These funds enabled the provision of services that promoted social interaction and encouraged participation in educational courses as well as developing social capital.
New Fundraising Group
The Heights fundraising group was formed late last year as a result of close and positive
relationships built up over the years with group leaders and the local community. It started
with a huge community and staff effort in October 2008, when an open day and garage sale
event was held. The day attracted over 200 people and $1,984.45 was fundraised. A series
of raffles, guessing competitions and donations has continued to contribute to the extraordinary total of over $5,000 raised. I would like to thank all the members of the Fundraising
Committee, in particular Margo O'Connell and Stella Suarez for constantly exploring new
and creative ways of fundraising for The Heights.
The Heights at Mount Pritchard
The Heights at Mount Pritchard, encouraged by the support of residents, local agencies
and Fairfield City Council, has continue to provide services that meet identified community needs and is constantly examining ways of enhancing and improving services. Through
the development of targeted programs and community development initiatives, The Heights
provides an integrated response to families, individuals and community groups in the area.
The Centre continued to increase the number of activities delivered during 2008/09 averaging 20 to 22 different activities or classes every term.
Activities and Programs
Healthy Cooking Classes
Carers Revitalizing Days
Sewing Classes
Tai Chi
Slimmer's Club
Computer Classes
Seniors Capacity Building
Shopping trips
Spanish Seniors Camp
Free Counselling Services
Stepping Stones to Smart Living
English Classes
Better Health Better Life
Carers Camps
Computer Classes in Spanish Language
Flower Arrangement Courses
Computer and Internet Access
Vietnamese Ballroom Dancing
Page 90
Ongoing Groups
Slimmers Club
Vietnamese Community Support Group
Arabic Seniors Group
Los Amigos Spanish Seniors Group
Over 50's Group
Amistad Latina Spanish Seniors Group
Multicultural Seniors Group
Spanish Mental Health Carers Support Group
Multicultural Mental Health Carers Support Group
Community Events
Seniors Concert
Health Expos
Seniors Week Celebration
The Heights Open Day
The Heights at Canley Heights, under the skilled coordination of Julie Watton, has continued to grow and provide innovative activities and programs in response to the needs of
local residents. Among these activities are the popular social outings and theatre groups
which have provided hundreds of residents with transport and cheap opportunities to visit
places of interest and enjoy national and international shows. These projects addressed
seniors community priority needs including social support, social inclusion and the integration of multicultural seniors into mainstream community activities. For detailed information
please see The Heights at Canley Heights community worker report.
The Heights - Youth Activities Project
Once again this project went through several staff changes. Sandra Ferrer left the Youth
Activities worker position in January 2009. After securing another year of funding through
CDSE, Stephanie Barakat was employed in this position in February 2009. The project's
workers have worked tirelessly to address the challenging issues confronted by local young
people. They have worked closely with local school counsellors and other youth workers to
provide a safe environment where young people can develop new friendships and be part
of social activities and skills programs. The dedication and enthusiasm of the youth workers during the last year has significantly increased the number of young people attending
the drop ins and other youth activities. I would like to thank our partners Cabramatta Youth
Team and FCC Family and Youth Officer for their ongoing support and commitment to this
project. For comprehensive information please read the Youth Worker report.
The Heights - Vietnamese Worker Project
This project has been running for the last two years after receiving a second year of funding through the CDSE scheme. Nu Tran was re-employed in the position that continues to
service the Vietnamese-speaking community of the middle distance suburbs of Fairfield.
The project has successfully run a variety of activities, conducted a range of information
sessions and has maintained a high number of participants. The service operates from
Mount Pritchard and Canley Heights Centres for a total of 10 hours per week. For more
details please see the Vietnamese Worker Report.
The Heights- Arabic Seniors Worker- Capacity Building
This newly funded CDSE project had a rocky start when the appointed worker resigned
after only two months. Faten Awad has recently being employed in the position and has
Page 91
continued with the challenging task of forming a new Arabic-speaking seniors group. Lack
of direct transport across the different suburbs of Fairfield has been identified as the major
issue hindering seniors' participation. The worker is considering providing a pickup service
from Cabramatta Railway Station to facilitate attendance. Currently, the group meets every
week with an attendance of eight people. A variety of information sessions on health, housing and Centrelink payments have been run in the last few months.
The Heights - Multicultural Seniors Worker
This position, originally funded as a pilot project through a partnership with Fairfield City
Council's Ageing and Disability Officer, received twelve months funding through CDSE in
2008. Betty Eden was appointed in this position early in 2009. Local seniors now benefit
from an open group that organizes activities, programs, information sessions and outings
on a weekly basis at Mount Pritchard and Canley Heights Centres. The worker has also
organised a very popular series of group outings and excursions to various places of interest. For more information, please see the Multicultural Seniors worker report.
The Heights - Out of School Hours Service (OOSH) and Vacation Care
The service is provided from Mount Pritchard Public School with a pick-up service provided for children from Harrington Street, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Mount Pritchard East
schools. This has been another busy year for Ruth Woreta the OOSH coordinator, Elena
Massina, OOSH assistant coordinator and the team of childcare workers whose commitment to delivering an outstanding quality service resulted in the number of children attending the service remaining at a reasonably high rate throughout this unstable financial time.
For more details please see the OOSH Coordinators report.
All of the projects that make up The Heights Community Service made important and significant advances in the last twelve months demonstrated by their continuing success and
growth. I would like to congratulate all the staff of The Heights Community Services for their
achievements this year. The high standard achieved by the different projects wouldn't be
possible without dedicated, innovative and determined staff. I would like to commend them
for their efforts and commitment. I also welcome Faten Awad, Arabic worker and Stephanie
Barakat youth worker, to our team and wish them success in their new roles. Last but not
least, I would like to acknowledge Sandra Ferrer, our administration officer for her dedication in supporting the financial and administrative needs of the service and the growing
team of community workers.
Our service has been skilfully supported by a team of volunteers, teachers and facilitators.
Their contribution has been pivotal in the delivery of services. My appreciation goes to Betty
Eden, Rosemary Jackson, Evelyn Gorgee, Bill Hardman, Frank Hales, Tri Pham, Lee
Tremain, Stella and Guadalupe Suarez, who have all enabled the development and maintenance of such a large variety of activities and groups. I would like to extend my gratitude
to Jan Collie CCC Executive Officer for her support and assistance and The Heights
Community Services Subcommittee for their guidance and support during this year.
Estela Torredimare
The Heights Manager
Page 92
The Heights Community Services at Canley Heights, a project of The Heights Community
Service, was established in 1998 and is funded by the Department of Community Services.
The project provides a range of groups, activities and services for residents living in Canley
Heights, Fairfield West and Smithfield. The aim of the service is to provide a welcoming,
accessible and supportive environment for local people to enable them to participate in their
community: an average of 200 local residents access the Centre on a weekly basis.
Information, Referral, Casework and Bilingual Service
The Heights at Canley Heights provides local residents and groups with information, support, referral and casework face to face and by phone in both English and Vietnamese. The
bilingual service is provided by Cabramatta Community Centre's Multilingual Outreach
service and CDSE funding from Mounties Club in 2007 and 2008 which has enabled the
Centre to provide a growing Vietnamese-speaking community with much needed services.
One of the service's aims is to promote client interaction with workers, volunteers and community members in an effort to reduce social isolation. It also aims to empower residents
to participate in centre-based and local community activities and pursue further studies and
/ or employment. The number of residents accessing this service continues to rise.
Community Development
The main focus of this position is community development, empowering residents to participate in a range of activities that contribute to the strengthening of community infrastructure.
The project endeavours to engage local residents in community activities, decision-making
and community planning to reduce social isolation, build relationships and social capital.
Funding
The service places a high priority on sourcing alternative funding. The Heights Community
Development Worker and Manager submitted eleven CDSE applications in March 2009,
along with various other submissions including a WSAAS application for photocopiers;
Telstra Seniors for Computers; NIB foundation for Lifestyle Activities and LCSA for Life
Experience Counts.
Networks
FIRWN: The Heights Community Service workers are active members of Fairfield
Immigrant and Refugee Women's Network and attend monthly meetings as members of the
planning, promotion and working parties to organize events and workshops for International
Women's Day and Refugee Week Celebrations.
Healthy Lifestyle Network: The service is part of the Healthy Lifestyle Network which provides activities for seniors across Fairfield LGA. In 2008, the HLN hosted a series of health
expos in Spanish, English, Arabic and Vietnamese which attracted approximately 300 local
residents. The service is currently conducting gentle exercise classes. We thank Canley
Heights RSL for allowing us the use of their auditorium for this activity.
Page 93
Partnerships
The Heights Community Service continues to develop and sustain partnerships to build
community capacity and deliver better services. Partnerships for 2008/2009 included
Wetherill Park TAFE Outreach, Macarthur Community College, Wesley United
Employment, Fairfield City Council Aged & Disability officer, Fairfield City Council Smithfield
Library, Australian Tax Office and Fairfield City Council Supported Playgroup Service.
Workshops
The Heights Community Service in partnership with Fairfield City Council's Waste
Education Officers conducted two workshops: the Natural Cleaning Products workshop
attracted approximately 15 local residents and the Eco Energy workshop attracted approximately 20 local residents. Two vegetarian cooking workshops were conducted by Eve
Adam, a qualified naturopath.
Group Outings
Social isolation, access and transport continue to be issues that have a major impact upon
residents of the middle distance suburbs of Fairfield. The demand for group outings continued to rise with over 350 local residents participating in these activities over the last twelve
months.
I would like to thank Nazio Fillipi from Australian Bus and Coach Services for providing such
affordable and exceptional services for our local residents.
Aug. 08
Sep. 08
Dec. 08
Feb. 09
Mar. 09
May 09
-
46
99
50
40
50
70
residents
residents
residents
residents
residents
residents
attended the theatre to see Phantom of the Opera
visited Canberra for the Floriade Festival (photo below)
visited Bundeena
attended the theatre to see Buddy Holly
visited Hunter Valley Gardens
attended the theatre to see Guys and Dolls
Page 94
Group Work
The Heights Community Service currently supports and resources a number of community
groups. The aim of these groups is to reduce isolation through recreational, social and educational activities. New and established activities in 2008-2009 included gentle exercise
classes, origami flower making, TAFE Outreach computer classes, knitting group, parent
support group, folkart, card making, cooking classes, English classes, movie and morning
tea group, fun for mums group, fun for seniors, computer and Internet access, Canley
Heights community group, Smithfield library bookclub and fruit and vegetable carving.
CDSE funded projects included homework help and Better Health Better Life. Life
Experience Counts was funded by LCSA.
Photos:
Left - Jelly cake making
Right - homework help
Below - Computer class
Future Directions
Plans for the future include continuing to
support existing groups, strengthening
and establishing new partnerships to
develop new services and activities and
ongoing needs consultation with the local
community. The Heights Community
Service under the auspice of CCC will
continue to source and submit for funding
to increase services and activities for the
middle distance suburbs of Fairfield.
Word of Thanks
I would like to thank all our volunteers and class facilitators for their time, dedication and
commitment in 2008/2009. Thanks also to the Heights Community Service management
committee, Jan Collie, CCC Executive Officer and Estela Torredimare, The Heights
Community Service Manager, not to mention The Heights team: Sandra Ferrer, Ruth
Woreta, Nu Tran and Betty Eden.
Julie Watton
Reaching the Heights Community Worker
Page 95
The Heights Multicultural Seniors Group
Funded by CDSE
The group commenced in August 2008, aiming to bring seniors from different multicultural
backgrounds together in a social environment that would help to reduce social isolation and
promote their integration into other community activities. Group members are encouraged
to attend other activities within the Centre such as tai chi and computer classes.
The project has successfully established a seniors group which enjoys social events such
as bus trips, picnics and BBQs. Another popular activity was the Italian cooking classes
which had a good weekly attendance and everybody enjoyed sampling the food they
learned to cook. All participants are invited to share their recipes and to demonstrate the
secrets of traditional cooking.
The worker also ran regular information sessions such as Heart Health delivered by The
Heart Foundation and Seniors Winter Fire Safety, run by The NSW Fire Brigade. Our next
information session will be on Wills, Power of Attorney and Enduring Guardianship, a subject of interest to seniors from any background.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Fairfield City Council, CDSE and Mounties for
without their generosity this project would not be possible. I have immensely enjoyed working in this project, I have met many wonderful people and had experiences that I would not
have had otherwise. Many thanks to all those who have given me help, guidance and support since the inception of this project.
Elizabeth Eden
Multicultural Seniors Worker
Page 96
The Heights At Mt. Pritchard OOSH
Before, After & Vacation Care
Mount Pritchard Out of School Hours (OOSH) care offers before, after and vacation care
for children aged five to twelve years. The service operates out of Mount Pritchard
Public School. Our OOSH bus collects and transports the children from Our Lady of
Mount Carmel, Harrington Street and Mount Pritchard East schools.
Before and after school care is active for 41 weeks
annually and vacation care is available for 9 weeks
that encompass the school holidays. The Heights is a
community-based, non-profit organisation and our
main objective is to provide high quality care in a safe,
supportive and inclusive environment.
Our service continues to be provided with funding from KU Sydney South West Inclusion
Support Agency (ISA). The ISA is an initiative of the Inclusion and Professional Support
Program, funded by the Australian Government and managed in Sydney south west by
KU Children’s Services. This program supports our staff to be able to include children
with additional needs in our service.
In addition, our service has sustained its funding from the Australian Sports Commission
for the “Active After School Communities” program (AASC). The AASC was designed to
engage traditionally inactive children in structured physical activities and build links with
community-based organizations and sports clubs to create pathways for the children to
have ongoing participation.
The program provides increased opportunities
for children to be physically active, improve
their motor skill development and participate in
quality, safe and supervised activities after
school hours. This year the children have been
involved in dancing, Hip Hop, Oz-tag, volley
ball, T-Ball and multi-sports.
Our children have also eagerly embraced our
nutrition program “Fruity Fridays” where they
make their own fruit smoothie every Friday.
This encouragement for children to develop
healthier eating habits has been made possible
by Woolworth’s donation of $2000.
On the 16th February this year our centre went through a major change with the
introduction of the national “Childcare Management System” (CCMS) that brings all
childcare centres online. Our centre now uses CCMS registered software to record child
enrolment and attendance information. Our service reports this data to the Department
of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) via the internet to allow
calculation and payment of Childcare Benefit (CCB) fee reductions on behalf of children
Page 97
in our centre. This new system will enable the government to better track supply and
usage of childcare places. Parents / carers of children in childcare are able to access an
online statement via the Centrelink website. This statement includes details of CCB
payments and absences.
Congratulations to our workers Elena and Emily who gained their Certificate 111 in
Children’s Services and to Eliance who received her Bachelor in Teaching and gained
permanent employment at Merrylands Public School. However, Eliance still chooses to
work with us in Vacation Care.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the hardworking and committed team of workers at
OOSH. We could not continue to provide good quality care without these dedicated
people. The continual support we receive from parents who donate many resources
(and chocolates!) is very much appreciated and I would like to say a special thank you to
Catherine who gives her valuable time to sit on our sub-committee and the CCC
Executive committee. As a final point many thanks to Sandra for her dedication and to
Estela for her continual guidance in all areas of our OOSH centre.
Ruth Woreta
OOSH Coordinator
Page 98
The Heights Vietnamese Community Development
Support Worker
Funded byCDSE
The Vietnamese Community Development Support Worker is funded through the CDSE
scheme by Mountie's Club for 10 hours per week to provide services for the Vietnamese
speaking communities of Canley Heights and Mount Pritchard. The worker provides direct
services including case work, information and referral both face to face and over the phone.
The service has experienced a noticeable increase in the number of clients requesting individual assistance.
The project has provided a variety of information sessions for the local Vietnamese community including employment information for new migrants, Tax Bonus and Education Tax
Refund, the rights of women at work, fire safety, Heart Health awareness and positive thinking workshops. During the year the worker has organised a range of group activities such
as information sessions, recreational classes and outings. The aim of the project is also to
encourage the Vietnamese speaking community to participate in the many activities The
Heights offers to the broad community.
This project continued to resource and support the Vietnamese Community group at Mount
Pritchard. Throughout the year participants have enjoyed a variety of group activities including ballroom dancing and cooking classes. The group has also participated in local outings
aimed at reducing social isolation by providing a safe and relaxed environment where seniors can make new friends. The worker also helped to establish the Homework and School
project for Vietnamese speaking primary school students as well as providing general support to other activities and services of The Heights.
I would like to thank The Heights team for their support, particularly Estela Torredimare,
Julie Watton, the volunteers and the Sub-Committee members for their guidance throughout the year.
Nu Tran
Vietnamese Community Development Support Worker
Page 99
The Heights Youth Outreach Activity Worker
Funded By CDSE
Over the last twelve months, staff in the position of Youth Outreach Activity Worker have
changed a number of times – however this has not in any way affected the high level of
service provision provided to the local young people that access our services. The
project works directly with young people aged 12 to 24 that reside in, or attend school in
the Fairfield LGA, offering educational and recreational programs, school holiday
outings, referral and support as well as weekly drop-in services at Bonnyrigg and
Smithfield.
The project has continued to work in partnership with the Cabramatta Youth Team and
Fairfield City Council’s Community Project Officer Youth and Family. Our team has been
extremely successful in providing an ever-growing youth drop-in service on Mondays
and Wednesdays, which now has a record breaking 50+ young people accessing the
service on a weekly basis. We intend to maintain this level of service by constantly
looking for new ways to engage our local young people in being active in their local
community and taking part in community projects. We also continued to work closely
with local organisations as a means to reach out to local young people and sustain the
quality of our services by broadening the areas in which we work. The support we
receive from these services is invaluable and has allowed us to expand our services and
provide bigger and better recreational programs and activities for our local young
people.
Drop-in Services at Smithfield and Bonnyrigg Youth Centre
These drop-ins provide:
x information, support and referrals
x recreational sport such as pool, basketball, soccer and cricket matches.
x movie nights
x board games such as Pictionary, Monopoly, Clue-do and UNO.
x jewellery making
x cultural celebrations such as Easter egg hunts and Christmas parties.
x internet access
x Nintendo, Wii and Xbox
Free Holiday Activities provided included:
x
x
Youth camp at the Crosslands Youth and Convention Centre
Excursions to a range of venues such as the Royal Easter Show, Luna Park,
Scenic World, Blue Mountains, Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, Liverpool
Catholic Club, Jamberoo and the beach.
Activities & Projects run during the year included:
Fitness & self-defence classes
This project was funded by the Ross Divett Foundation and supported by Fairfield City
Council. The classes provided young people with the opportunity to ‘have fun, get fit and
feel good’, as well as educating them about different ways in which they can stay safe.
The program ran on Mondays and Wednesdays for six weeks during which time a
Page 100
qualified personal trainer and self-defence instructor were employed to teach young
people the basics of fitness training using a range of equipment and a combination of
mental and physical self-defence techniques.
Young People in Harmony Project
This project was funded by a
Community Cultural Development
Grant and supported by Fairfield City
Council. Five artists from different
cultural backgrounds were selected to
facilitate ten art workshops with ten
young people to portray identified
cultures. These workshops aimed to
promote
cultural
diversity
and
strengthen cultural heritage among the
local young people, whilst also
teaching them different art techniques.
Future Activities
Some of the things that young people
have expressed an interest in are
sports programs, more social outings
during term time, R’nB and graffiti
workshops.
The
project
will
continuously strive to improve the
quality of our services and tailor programs to meet the ever-changing needs of our local
young people.
I would like to use this
opportunity to give my
thanks to everyone that has
been involved in this
project. A huge thank you to
Estela Torredimare, Sandra
Ferrer, Jan Collie, Julie
Watton and The Heights
Community Service team
for their on-going support. It
has been a fantastic
learning experience. I would
also like to extend my
gratitude to Cabramatta
Youth Team, Nika Brealey
and Debbie Cameron from
Fairfield City Council for
their commitment to our
service. It has been a pleasure working with you all.
Stephanie Barakat
The Heights Youth Activities Project
Page 101
MADS
Multicultural Aged & Disability Services
Page 102
FAHMOS
Funded by the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care
Fairfield Home Modification and Maintenance service, (known as FAHMOS), is funded
by the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care, under the Home and
Community Care Program.
FAHMOS provides affordable home modifications,
maintenance, information and advice to frail aged, younger people with disabilities and
their carers to assist them to remain independent and safe in their own homes.
Referrals are received from occupational therapists based at local hospitals, health
services and community service providers. Clients are also able to ring the service
directly for minor maintenance, or to request an occupational therapists’ assessment for
modifications.
Minor modifications include handrails to internal and external steps, hand held
showers, grabrails to the shower and beside the toilet, removal of shower screens and
installation of shower rods and curtains, installation of wedge ramps to small lips and
steps, platforms to raise the height of chairs and beds, and any other modification
recommended by an Occupational Therapist to ensure a client’s safety.
External Handrail with Midrail
Bi-lateral Rails to External Steps
Wedge Ramp to Front Access
Diagonal Grabrail Beside Toilet
Page 103
Left: "L" Shaped Grabrail
Above Bath
Right:
Handrails
Internal Stairs
to
Major modifications include building ramps to
replace steps, widening doorways to provide
wheelchair access, removal of baths or shower
hobs resulting in a full bathroom modification.
Top right: External Access Ramp
Bottom right:
Ramp with
Access Steps
and Gate
Left:
Modified
Bathroom
Minor maintenance undertaken includes re-hanging doors, nailing floorboards, repairs
to windows, gates and fencing, replacement of tap washers and installation of quarter
turn lever taps, installation of security doors and lock boxes, replacement of fly screens,
changing light globes, repairs to cupboards etc.
Major maintenance includes the replacement of a hot water service, concreting of
pathways, roofing and structural repairs.
For electrical services (power points and lighting), plumbing (sewer chokes and rebuilds), and roofing licenced tradesmen are sub-contracted as required.
Page 104
FAHMOS continued to install smoke detectors free of charge to HACC eligible clients in
the Fairfield LGA, with batteries replaced and detectors checked annually. To date this
service has installed 520 smoke detectors.
FAHMOS also offered information and advice to clients regarding modifications,
maintenance, other services available, and assisted clients in accessing other HACC
services as required.
There have been no changes in staff over the last year with Builder Graeme Ferry and
Works Supervisor Joe Bujnowicz working together to provide a comprehensive range of
modifications and maintenance to our clients.
Sue Willis continues to represent the South West Sydney Region on the NSW HMM
State Council and is a Member of the Level 2 Home Modification Panel.
Service Statistics
FAHMOS continued to consistently work with minimal or no waiting times for
modifications and maintenance. Referrals increased in complexity with many clients
being referred for a combination of modification and maintenance work.
During the past year FAHMOS received 924 referrals and completed a total of 899 jobs.
Sixty three percent of these referrals were from clients born outside Australia with sixty
five percent of clients being female.
Modifications were subsidised by $227,300 to a total of 412 clients, with the service
completing 319 minor modifications, 37 major modifications, 45 Joint visits with
occupational therapists and assessment and advice to a further 41 clients. Maintenance
was subsidised by $62,933 to a total of 341 clients with the service completing 418
minor maintenance jobs and 9 major maintenance works.
Eight referrals were assessed as beyond the financial limits of the project (i.e. work
costing more than $7,500) and were referred on to the Level 2 HMM Scheme
FAHMOS was successful in applying for occupational therapy brokerage funds from the
NSW HMM State Council which has assisted in reducing the waiting list for assessment
by the Fairfield Community Occupational Therapist (currently at over 18 months).
Twenty six clients have been assessed using these funds.
All clients are sent a survey on completion of modifications or maintenance by staff and
sub-contractors, and I am proud to report the service has received 100% positive
feedback on work completed during the past twelve months. Lawn mowing continues to
be the major unmet need within the LGA, but unfortunately FAHMOS is not funded to
provide this service.
FAHMOS staff would like to thank the members of the MADS sub-committee for their
commitment and support of the service, and Jan Collie for her continued guidance and
support.
Sue Willis
Coordinator
Page 105
Multicultural Aged Resource Service
The Multicultural Aged Resource Service (MARS) is a community development project that
aims to resource active elderly people of non-English speaking backgrounds and assess
the needs of frail aged people in the community. The Department of Community Services
funds the project.
COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING
Continuing on from the success of the training held in late 2008 and early 2009, the MARS
project, in conjunction with the Fairfield Seniors Network, will hold another capacity building day in August 2009. This training will focus on team building activities called "What Do
I Appreciate about You?" as well as on capacity building, integrity, ethics and financial
issues. Leaders of existing seniors groups will continue to participate in a series of capacity building workshops organised in partnership with FSN and the Healthy Lifestyle
Network. The project always focuses on developing leadership skills, conflict resolution and
organising group activities and events. Most importantly, the project works with different
groups and group leaders on their understanding of living together and multiculturalism.
GROUP WORK
In the last twelve months the MARS project has supported and resourced the activities of the following groups.
z The Celeste Seniors Group
z The South West Sydney Chinese
Group.
z The Spanish-Speaking Men's Group
z The Macedonian Elderly Group
z The Spanish Men's Group
Speakers from organisations such as Health Promotion Service for Older People,
Multicultural Problem Gambling Service, SWS Chinese Community and Health Workers
Network and Harbin-China Historical Society were invited to the groups to give presentations on topics related to the elderly. A mobile van from BreastScreen NSW and Australian
Hearing are scheduled for the following August and September to visit the groups.
EDUCATION PROGRAMS/HEALTHY LIFESTYLE ACTIVITIES
Computer classes
As part of capacity building and networking between groups, the MARS project has classes that promote and encourage life-long education and enhance social connectivity.
Currently the project is running computer classes for beginners. One is conducted in
English and two others focus on those who speak Chinese and Vietnamese.
These computer classes run for periods longer than other standard classes in recognition
of the learning capacity of the 55+ age group who require repetition over a longer period of
Page 106
time to consolidate new knowledge and skills. The benefits of these classes are greater
than initially anticipated. Confidence and self worth is increased as participants acquire new
skills. Class members are taught not only general navigation of the Internet but also that of
key websites such as Centrelink, Department of Housing and others, empowering them as
they have increased access to service information. All participants are taught how to set up
and use email, further widening their social networks and modes of communication. Many
who participate in these sessions have family members overseas; this has a flow-on effect
of lowering phone bills and increasing contact between family members.
English Classes
With the dedicated commitment of a senior volunteer, the MARS project has held English
classes for seniors. The program has been running successfully for a long time and will
continue. Many of the students of the English classes are active members of the groups
supported by the MARS project.
Free Dancing Classes for Seniors
The Dancing classes which are funded by the MARS project have been running for a month
on a weekly basis and on average there are about 20 participants. The aim of these classes is to promote physical and emotional well being of local aged people. Elderly people are
keen to take up lessons because social dancing leads to a continued engagement with life.
It contributes to the longevity of the participants of the classes, giving them something to
enjoy and focus upon. It alleviates social isolation and helps take away the aches and pains
associated with older age.
Seniors Week 2009
This year the Fairfield Seniors Network (FSN) worked in partnership to organise the
senior's week event titled 'Dance for Health to a Multicultural Tune'. The event was held at
Edessa Hall in Greenfield Park and was a success with approximately 550 tickets sold.
The event was jointly supported by the MARS project, the Heights and Fairfield City
Council. Stalls were set up from various organisations such as Vital Call, the Northcott
Society, Word of Mouth, Fairfield City Council and the NSW Spanish and Latin American
Association (SLASA). Those in attendance described the senior's week event as the 'best
one ever'.
The Discover Your Community Tours
The MARS project has organised a number of
excursions. The aim of these tours was to
provide the elderly with an opportunity to
learn more about their local communities' life,
the government system in NSW etc. Three
inter group tours were organised with about
35 to 40 people attending each activity.
Participants overall found the events highly
informative and good in general because
many of them do not have frequent chances
to go out by themselves.
Page 107
Seniors Today:
This newsletter is produced by the MARS project three times a year and it has its own keen
group of readers. Some of the highlights of the newsletter include a review of the FMRC
programs, information from government institutions, with details for the public and service
providers on how they may obtain a copy of the resource. A regular 'What's on?' section
details local groups and activities relevant to the target group. There is also information on
Housing NSW Call Care, Vital call and local emergency telephone numbers.
Future Directions
Fairfield's population is ageing; Fairfield City Council
recently developed a strategy to cope with the issue of
ageing. This is important because Fairfield's population is very multicultural. Some thought and consideration needs to go into creating services for people who
have English as a second language. A great deal of
consideration also needs to be given to the new third
age group that are retiring and are faced with a considerable amount of time to do nothing in. Thought
needs to be given so that this group of people does
not face early deterioration of their health because
they are inactive, isolated and depressed. The MARS
project aims to work with different government and
community organisations on the strategies they implement, to try and improve service provision for the
aged.
Evgueni Singatouline
Multicultural Aged Resource Worker
Page 108
Funded by the Department of Health and Ageing and the
Department of Ageing Disability and Home Care
On CCC’s 30th Anniversary we can look back and celebrate this organisation’s great
achievements in the last three decades. From its inception CCC has endeavoured to
meet the communities’ needs, through innovative programs, leadership and community
driven services. Hence it has grown from a group of volunteers to the organisation of
today providing services to the whole community.
In 1996 the Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre was funded for 20 Ethnic Community Aged
Care Packages (CACP). The service targeted Indo-Chinese and Spanish frail aged
people in the Fairfield LGA. Over the next few years the service grew and currently it
provides 133 packages to CALD clients covering three local government areas in south
west Sydney.
In 2005 the Centre was funded for 20 Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) Packages.
These also target CALD communities in south west Sydney. Later on MCCS/CCC was
funded for an extra 10 packages and today the service has 30 packages. In 2006 CCC
received funding to run a respite service for CALD carers. These three programs were
then placed under the Multicultural Community Care Service in 2006. In late 2007 CCC
received funding to provide a social support program for CALD communities.
These four programs together provide services to over 200 clients from CALD
communities in south west Sydney, assisting them with activities of daily living to prevent
early entry into institutional care and providing them with a choice to stay living in the
community. This choice is especially significant for ethnic communities who are not
familiar with the concept of institutional care, and have language barriers when entering
these institutions.
Through the provision of care we are made aware of the many issues facing the elderly
today. Health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and
stroke are prevalent among clients. Cognitive impairment due to diseases such as
dementia are also prevalent among CALD communities and a lot of work still remains to
be done in working with families and in community education.
Through the consultations organised throughout the year it is evident that there are many
unmet needs in the community. One such need was identified at this year’s CCC
planning day. Currently, the elderly in our community must visit several agencies to
gather information about aged care services and support. There are many places that
hold different types of information, ranging from neighbourhood centres that organise
support groups, social groups and information sessions, to service providers who can
each provide services but do not necessarily carry information about other services. The
idea of housing several services that provide a range of support to the elderly has been
discussed previously, but it was identified as a need that CCC could address in this
planning cycle. We believe it’s a challenge worth pursuing especially if we are able to
Page 109
establish a Multipurpose Aged Resource Centre that can bring together a range of
services targeting the aged.
This year we also had to relocate to new premises, as we were notified in April by
Fairfield City Council that the service needed to vacate the Fisher Street premises by the
end of June 2009 as council will be building a multi-storey car park on the site. This
meant finding a suitable site in a very short period of time. The service now occupies a
building in Wetherill Park that is very spacious, has several training rooms that can
accommodate groups, and also gives us enough space for further expansion.
As always I would like to thank all staff for their support and dedication, I would like to
make a special mention of Lin and Nhu for their support throughout the year, and Jan
Collie for her patience and guidance that ensures MCCS has positive outcomes in
delivering services.
Juana Reinoso
MCCS Manager
Photo: MCCS Staff
Page 110
Community Aged Care Packages
Community Aged Care Packages (CACP) are funded by Department of Health and
Ageing to provide hostel level care for frail aged people from CALD communities to
enable them to remain living independently at home. MCCS was first established in 1996
and currently has 133 packages for Bankstown, Fairfield and Liverpool LGAs. In the last
twelve months all the packages were fully utilized with a waiting list for some common
language groups such as Arabic, Assyrian, former Yugoslavian communities and
Spanish.
Client demographics:
60
50
40
30
Male
Female
20
10
0
BankstownLGA
FairfieldLGA
LiverpoolLGA
Below is the distribution of packages for ethnic community groups according to the
departmental targets.
Multicultural,
Arabic,7
8
Assyrian,8
Vietnamese,
39
Chinese,15
Fmr
Yugoslavia,25
Spanish,27
Page 111
Hindi,4
Khmer,1
Clients can be assisted with a package of multiple services such as personal care,
grooming, light house work, transport to doctor's appointments and shopping, assistance
with paying bills, banking and social support.
Services commence with approximately 4 hours of care per week, usually between
Monday and Friday. In some circumstances services can be provided on weekends and
public holidays.
Some of the highlights of the service…
Client statistics:
Age group
>100
Number
of 1
clients
90-100
6
80-90
66
70-80
54
65-70
8
One client has been with MCCS for 12 years and our oldest client turned 110 this year.
Numerous client outings are organised throughout the year to celebrate special events at
various venues such as yum cha restaurants, Mounties Club, and picnics at parks.
Clients enjoy getting together to share their memories, and support each other.
Continuing to advocate for clients in facing day to day issues such as appropriate
housing, Centrelink benefits, accessing allied health services, accessing the public
guardian, home modifications and public health services.
Some of the challenges…
High pressure on Community Aged Care Packages as there are not enough resources
available for high care clients as well as limited CALD Extended Aged Care Packages in
the area.
It has been very challenging to recruit and keep bilingual staff throughout the year. These
casual positions do not provide stable hours for workers and therefore it is difficult to
attract experienced staff and keep them in the service.
Bilingual Support Workers:
As the service increases in size, more bilingual staff have been employed to work across
the four programs CACP, EACH, respite service and social support. As there is a high
turnover of casual staff, several new bilingual support workers were recruited this year.
All new workers undertake induction training before commencing service to clients.
Practical one-to-one training for new workers in the client’s home is also provided to
ensure a consistency of services and client satisfaction. Practical training includes hoist
transferring, sponge bathing, tube feeding, using a pelican belt and working with
challenging behaviours etc. New support workers are delegated to a case manager to
provide ongoing supervision and support throughout their employment.
Page 112
Below is a table that indicates languages spoken by workers:
Training:
Ongoing training for support workers is the key to a successful program. Throughout the
year, numerous compulsory training programs were organized for support workers to
enhance their skills and knowledge. Training topics included:
x Manual Handling
x Infection Control
x First Aid Certificate
x Understanding Boundaries
x Documentation
The Department of Health Ageing has
allocated some funds to Cabramatta
Community
Centre
to
provide
Certificate III in Home and Community
Care and Certificate IV in Service
Coordination (Ageing and Disability) for
our staff members. There are 12 staff
members studying Certificate III HACC
and 12 staff members studying
Certificate IV in service Coordination.
Photo: Support Workers Cert III
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the MCCS staff, support workers and case
managers for all your valued support, commitment and hard work throughout the year.
Special thanks to Juana and Lin for ideas, guidance and support.
Nhu Tran
CACP Coordinator
Page 113
Extended Aged Care at Home
The Extended Aged Care at Home service is funded by the Department of Health and
Ageing. This service was established in 2005, when it received an allocation of 20
packages. In the 2006 ACAR the service received a further allocation of 10 packages.
These 30 packages provide assistance to frail elderly people across three LGAs:
Bankstown, Fairfield and Liverpool. The program enables our clients to remain living at
home rather than move into a nursing home. Packages are flexible and coordinated to
suit the individual’s particular needs, and may include services such as personal care,
nursing care, domestic assistance, in-home respite, transport and social support. To
access an EACH package, an older person must be assessed and approved as eligible
for high level residential care by an Aged Care Assessment Team.
Clients receive an average of 16 hours of service a week. The services are provided by
bilingual aged care support workers who speak the client’s language and are case
managed by a bilingual case manager and a coordinator. A brokered nursing service is
used by the service to assist with specific clinical care as well as monitoring the health of
all clients. The medical assessment conducted with EACH clients is very comprehensive,
and takes into account not only their physical condition but also their cognitive, social and
emotional well being. The program also works closely with carers ensuring a partnership
between the service and the family.
To ensure the service is provided in a safe manner to both clients and support workers,
MCCS has purchased hospital beds, lifters, commode shower chairs, wheelchairs,
portable ramps and different walking aids, to assist workers in the provision of care. This
has also built up our equipment pool quite significantly.
The language background of our clients is:
Page 114
Case Management
The management system has four parts: the first is the EACH management structure. It
takes a holistic approach to incorporate clients’ individual needs in the case management
plan, ensuring that care needs are always identified and ensuring that the care plan is
tailored to meet individual specific circumstances. The second part is the care service
management structure. This gives a clear structure on how to provide effective care
services to the EACH client. The care service includes supporting client’s activities of
daily living, overseeing client’s nutrition and hydration, skin integrity, continence care,
behaviour management, and dexterity enhancement. The third part of the structure
includes the specialised clinical care system. The fourth part of the structure includes
support services such as equipment, therapy services and on-call services.
Case Managers are trained in this management structure and they participate in reviews
and updates of the system to improve service delivery. The manager works closely with
the case managers to oversee the clinical care, continence care and the administration of
equipment.
Clinical Care
Clinical nursing care oversees clients’ health and wellbeing in a holistic manner. A
registered nurse has been brokered to undertake clinical assessments of each client’s
health condition on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. The nurse also visits clients as the
need arises and keeps records of their blood pressure, nutrition, blood sugar level, skin
integrity and general physical health. This enables the service to pick up changes in
client's health early on, and avoid conditions advancing to a stage where more intensive
treatment will be necessary.
Most of the families have responded well to the nursing service, especially those clients
who are not able to visit a GP. They feel reassured that their health is being monitored by
a health professional.
Issues Faced by the Service
The long waiting list is still an issue for the EACH service which continues to receive
numerous referrals. The service has only been able to take in 5 new clients this year, and
those still on the waiting list may be there for 9 to 12 months. Unfortunately, most of the
clients on the waiting list are either in a nursing home or have passed away by the time
the service has an available spot for them. Some clients that enter the service have
stayed with us for a long time. There are currently six clients who joined the service in
2005.
Carers who are caring for their loved ones for a long time have high levels of stress. They
are very isolated, physically exhausted and have no time to care for their own needs. This
is an issue that the service tries to address with carers, but it is a complex issue that
cannot just be solved by the provision of respite hours.
Recruiting and retaining skilled bilingual workers is an ongoing issue for the service. This
workforce is made up mainly of mothers who have family responsibilities which limit their
availability.
Page 115
Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the MCCS staff for their hard
work and support that makes EACH a success.
Lin Hong Ye
EACH Coordinator
Respite Care Service For CALD Communities
Funded by the Department of Ageing, Disability, and Home Care (DADHC)
The Respite Care Service aims to deliver support services to carers from culturally and
linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds who are looking after frail aged or people with
a physical and/ or intellectual disability, and who live in Fairfield, Liverpool, and
Bankstown LGAs. The service is funded by DADHC under the Home and Community
Care (HACC) Program. The Service is in its third year of operation since it started
officially in July 2006.
The Respite Care Service has continued to assist its service users through individual
client services and through community collaboration and service partnerships.
Individual Client Services
Services provided in respite include working directly with individual carers for
consultation, planning, care coordination and service monitoring and review. The
provision of episodic case management, including advocacy, for carers to access other
needed services is provided as required. Free interpreting services are also arranged for
carers with no or limited English language skills.
In the last financial year, the service has operated at full capacity. 56% of carers have
received active, ongoing services, while 44% left the service due to a range of reasons
such as death, change of location, circumstances requiring no further service, and care
recipients’ access to permanent, long-term care services.
Of the service-users ethnic backgrounds, 28% are Vietnamese, 24% are multicultural
(composed of Italian, Maltese, Greek, Timorese, Khmer, Pacific Island), 15% are Arabic/
Assyrian, 11% are Chinese, 11% are Spanish and 11% are Filipinos.
Community Collaboration and Partnerships
The service has continued its aim of supporting
and empowering its service-users, particularly
carers, through building and reinforcing
partnerships with stakeholders and other
community service providers to develop
activities that support carers, not just to learn
topics of interest but also to encourage
connections with others and identify other
available community resources for support
and participate in the community to help them
build skills in making informed decisions.
Photo: A group of participants on Carer’s Picnic Day
Page 116
Joint Carers’ Pampering Events with the Heights Community Services
With shared resources and a common goal of supporting carers, MCCS and the Heights
Community Service organised carers’ activities on two occasions in 2008. In August a
group of 26 participating carers came together for in-house activities with sessions on
positive thinking and information on Centrelink’s support for carers. In October a carer's
outing was organised to Bundeena. Highlights of this outing included sessions on Tai Chi
and aromatherapy and opportunities for socialising and sight-seeing.
Carers’ Events with Minority Ethnic Communities
Initiatives were undertaken by the respite service to reach out to communities which were
noted to have little access to MCCS services. Efforts were successful in connecting with
key community workers from the Filipino, Lao and Timorese communities.
Lao Information and Consultation Day – In collaboration with the Lao Community
Advancement Cooperative, Centrelink and the Commonwealth Carers’ Respite Centre,
an information day was held in February 2009 at Bonnryrigg Community Hall with 70
participants and some community leaders from the Lao community.
Timorese Information and Consultation Day – A similar event was organised with the
Timorese community in March 2009 at Cabramatta Community Hall, in partnership with
the Timorese Australian Council, Centrelink, and the Commonwealth Carers Respite
Centre.
20 people participated. During these events service presentations were
conducted and translated service pamphlets were distributed. Professional interpreters
were used to assist in the presentation as well as volunteers who helped with small group
consultations using guided needs questionnaires.
Filipino Information Day – In partnerships with Bankstown Area Multicultural Network
(BAMN), Filipino Australian Community Service (PACSI), and other stakeholders and key
service providers, the event was organised in Fairfield in November 2008, with 80
Filipinos participating. Various topics were presented in this event from accessing
community services to promoting safety, health and well-being through presentations and
the use of information tables.
In response to the last event’s evaluations, another Filipino Information Day was held in
May 2009 in Cabramatta in collaboration with PACSI. This time, the service focused on a
small, target group. Speakers from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship,
Southwest Community Transport, and the Commonwealth Carers' Respite Centre were
invited. Applying for a carer’s visa was the main concern raised by the majority of
participants and this was tackled in this event. There were 45 people who came to
participate.
Service Achievements
1. Strong links have been maintained with hospitals and local community service
providers. These have supported and sustained existing working partnerships for
service promotion, care coordination, client support, and the regular two-way flow
of referrals;
2. Opportunities for collaboration with new communities with no or limited access to
the service were opened up and working partnerships were initiated;
Page 117
3. Translations of respite service information and other relevant materials into various
local languages were undertaken and have started to be used with ethnic
communities with English language barriers;
4. Periodic delivery of information sessions on MCCS services to different
communities and during community events has been ongoing upon request;
5. Supporting carers to gain access to regular carers’ forums and events in the
community has been maintained through the service’s links to, and participation in
the network of carer-support service providers.
6. A few referrals from identified, minority ethnic communities to the service were
recently received after collaboration and service partnerships had been made with
their ethno-specific community workers and their communities. This was regarded
as a good outcome of the outreach efforts of the Service. These efforts will
continue to be undertaken to establish connections with those small communities.
Photo: As part of Carer’s Pamper Day, a cultural dance was presented for entertainment
In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the
management committee for their time, support, and commitment. Thanks to all CCC staff
who are always helpful and quick to respond whenever I come to them for help. My
respect for and gratitude to Juana, my manager, who is always there to listen and
respond in a timely manner with assistance despite her busy schedule. Last, but not
least, my appreciation to all my MCCS colleagues who are hard working, supportive, and
cooperative, contributing to that valuable team spirit we share which makes life at work
worthwhile and enjoyable despite our high workload.
Sylvia Valenzuela
Respite Officer
Page 118
Social Support Program
Funded by the Department of Ageing, Disability, and Home Care (DADHC)
The Social Support program is the youngest program of MCCS. It has been operating
since November 2007. The program is funded by the Home and Community Care
Program (HACC). It provides assistance to frail aged people and people with disabilities
and their carers who are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD),
living in Fairfield, Liverpool and Bankstown LGAs. The aim of the program is to reduce
the level of social isolation among the target groups by encouraging and assisting them to
participate in meaningful activities.
The program can accommodate 16 clients, each receiving a maximum of 3 hours
assistance per week, depending on each individual’s needs. In the last twelve months,
the service has reached its full capacity and sometimes has been stretched to
accommodate 18 clients. These clients are from the most common ethnic communities
within the service region. However, other small communities have been recruited to the
program which now has a waiting list of 10 people from a range of communities.
The language backgrounds of the clients using the service are:
Service Achievement
The program monitoring system has been fully developed. Monitoring tools have been
developed and modified in the past year. These ensure that client service plans reflect
their needs and the program works closely with the support workers who provide direct
care to clients and the clients’ family to identify increasing needs of clients. As the
program is not suitable for clients with complex care needs, referrals are made to
appropriate services. An example of this was referring three clients who required complex
care to the Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) for CACP assessment. These clients
were then transferred to CACP without any service gap.
The service provides flexible assistance in response to community needs and there have
been occasions where the service has provided temporary assistance to two clients in
response to their immediate needs.
Page 119
x Service Survey
The service conducted a survey in April 2009. From the survey, it was found that all
clients under the program have benefited from its services. More than 95% of clients
have more opportunity to access community services, and their disposition is happier
than before. Some clients requested more assistance due to the benefits they receive
from the program.
x Community Development and Service Promotion
A few information seminars were conducted with the collaboration of the Respite Care
program of MCCS. These seminars targeted small ethnic communities that exist in the
service area. The groups were Lao, East Timorese and Filipino communities.
The service was continuously promoted to other service providers, especially through the
HACC forum, ACAT and hospital medical team. One of the highlights of this year’s
activities was to promote the service to the
Brain Injury Unit at Liverpool Hospital, again
with the collaboration of the MCCS Respite
Care program.
x Setting up social groups
This year the program had a surplus which the
Department let us retain to provide increased
service delivery. Under the social support
guidelines the service can establish small
groups, made up of up to four members. Some groups have been established, especially
with the communities that were on the waiting list.
The setting up phase started in May. During this period the philosophy of the group and
related documents were developed. One of the most important documents was the
OH&S procedure that ensured clients understood evacuation procedures and fire drills. A
group planner was recruited as well as support staff from the MCCS pool of workers.
Three community groups have been established: Chinese, Vietnamese and Khmer.
Some of these groups already have waiting lists.
Challenges of the service:
x
x
There is high demand for
individual assistance. There
is also very little movement
out of the service. Some
people who have been on
the waiting list for more than
six months have little chance
to access to the service.
It has become more difficult
to refer clients for additional
assistance as Home Care
and Kin Care are not
accepting any new referrals.
Page 120
x
x
There is a high demand for group activities. Due to lack of funding, the service has
reached its capacity and cannot recruit more people to different community groups
It is difficult to organise bus trips for the group due to lack of resources
Future directions:
x
x
x
The Filipino community will be targeted to set up a social group. From experience,
this community is reluctant to access community services. It is important therefore
to link this community to a service which makes them feel more familiar with
services and not just rely only on family assistance.
Proactively seek more funding to meet the high demands of the community.
Create more social groups to meet community needs.
I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the MCCS management, all office
staff and the dedicated team of MCCS support workers. Without your strong support,
commitment and hard work throughout the year, the program would not be able to
operate smoothly. I would like to specially thank Sylvia Valenzuela who worked closely
with me throughout this year.
(Sue) Jue Zhen Huang
Social Support Officer
Page 121
Photo (above and right): Origami
Photo (below): Client Christmas party
Photo (below right): Team building activities
Photo (bottom): MCCS staff
Page 122
Photo: Staff Christmas party
Page 123
Thankyou for your support during 2008-2009
We look forward to working with
you in the future
Page 124

ccc agm report 2009-final.qxd

Transcription

Similar documents

Brochure

March 10, 2014 - City of Fairfield

Holly Bank, Deaks Lane, Ansty

A Political History of Religion, by Marcel Gauchet

Newsletter - Life Learning Cloud

Cabramatters Term 2 - 2016 - Cabramatta High School