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Community Industry Group invites members, supporters and students to our Annual General Meeting on Thursday 7 November 2019, 9:30 for a 10am start at Shellharbour Civic Centre. Everyone is welcome but only financial members are eligible to vote at the AGM. Please contact the office at info@cigroup.org.au to check if your membership is current. Special Guest Speaker: Mark Isaacs We last heard from Mark in 2015 about his time in Naru and his book ‘The Undesirables’. His latest book is The Kabul Peace House about a community of peace activists in Afghanistan. For a printable version of the invitation click here. To confirm your attendance click here.

Illawarra Consultation Forum – Shelter NSW Shelter NSW has identified five key elements that could underpin a system to deliver on our vision of A secure home for all. Everyone deserves a secure home to call their own. A diverse and integrated system provides a variety of options. All tenures provide dignity, stability and affordability. Cities, neighbourhoods and homes are built for diversity and inclusion. Communities are supported and engaged through change. Shelter NSW has developed a discussion paper to prompt conversations and engagement to build a coherent and persuasive set of messages that are informed by Shelter NSW members and stakeholders. Community Industry Group is partnering with Shelter NSW to seek the input of organisations in the Illawarra region. We want to hear what a secure home for all means to you. Friday 27 September 2019, 9.30am-12.30pm (morning tea included), Southern Youth & Family Services, 25 Lake Entrance Road, […]

The Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs has announced an Inquiry into the Adequacy of Newstart and related payments and alternative mechanisms to determine the level of income support payments in Australia. Details of the Inquiry, including the Terms of Reference are available here. Many of the clients and community members seeking supports from local community service organisations are living on payments such as Newstart and Youthstart. These payments are inadequate to help people get through tough times and into suitable employment. Our members report increasing levels of demand for supports for basic needs such as food and housing, and increasing levels of desperation in those people who are trying to survive on income which, by definition, puts them under the poverty line. The rate of Newstart has not been increased for 25 years, while the cost of living, especially housing and energy costs, has gone through the roof. Community […]

Community Industry Group was pleased to host The Hon Gareth Ward MP, Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services at a meeting with members of the Illawarra Disability Alliance (IDA) on Friday 30 August 2019. The Minister spoke at length about his vision for disability services in NSW, and about his role on the Disability Reform Council, a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) forum for member Governments to progress key national reform in disability policy including the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and to oversee reforms that are implemented through the National Disability Agreement and the National Disability Strategy to support people with disability, their families and carers. Members of the IDA had the opportunity to raise issues which are impacting on their clients and communities, and on their organisations. The Minister showed a willingness to continue to advocate strongly for people with disability in NSW. Pleasingly, he announced his intention […]

Community Industry Group were proud to sponsor and to participate in the Local Community Services Association (LCSA) Connecting Communities Conference held at the Novotel Wollongong on 26–28 August 2019. Highlights of the Conference included the address from The Hon Gareth Ward MP, Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services who recognised the value of frontline community work and outlined some of his key policy directions. Particularly pleasing was his commitment to ensuring recontracting of TEI services would begin within the month, and that he had no intention of going to tender for these services. Day 2 saw a keynote address from Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer of Locality in London, and from Gary Groves, Executive Director Their Futures Matter, followed by a lively panel discussion on the topic Getting the Outcomes Right for all Communities in NSW. Community Industry Group CEO, Nicky Sloan, participated in the Local Solutions for Global […]