Latest News

You are invited to our 2018 AGM We invite you to our 2018 Annual General Meeting on Thursday 13 December 2018, 9.30am for a 10am start at the Ocean Room, The Central, UOW Innovation Campus, Squires Way, North Wollongong. Please RSVP by 7 December 2018 to info@cigroup.org.au. For a printable version of the invitation with full details click here.

My Aged Care Updates To provide greater transparency and assist consumers to more easily compare different service offers, all providers will be required to publish current pricing information on My Aged Care by the end of November 2018. Information comparing prices will become available on the My Aged Care website from April 2019. A government committee is considering putting a cap on home care package administration fees amid claims some providers are charging up to 45 per cent on top of service fees. Additional home care packages will be funded by reallocating unused residential care funding. The government announced in the budget that it would combine the residential and home care programs from 1 July 2018 to allow for greater flexibility in the allocation of aged care funding, allocating $1.6 billion over four years for the budget measure. Extra high-level packages in the budget followed the government’s decision to convert 17,825 […]

Organisations providing Commonwealth subsidised aged care services are required to comply with the Aged Care Quality Standards (Quality Standards). This includes Home Care services, CHSP, Short Term Restorative Care, Residential Aged Care and the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program. Organisations will be assessed and must be able to provide evidence of their compliance with and performance against the Quality Standards from 1 July 2019. The Quality Standards focus on outcomes for consumers and reflect the level of care and services the community can expect from organisations that provide Commonwealth subsidised aged care services and are made up of eight individual standards: Consumer dignity and choice Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers Personal care and clinical care Services and supports for daily living Organisation’s service environment Feedback and complaints Human Resources Organisational governance. A webinar to support service providers to get to know the new standards […]

Community Industry Group is proud to offer this free webinar on The Housing Spectrum. This free webinar describes the steps of the housing spectrum (from homelessness to home ownership) and the definition of housing stress. It discusses homelessness, boarding houses, temporary accommodation and various resources.  

Today is the last day to book in for this event! Join us for Tea and Toast: Mentally Resilient Workplaces in our office at Oak Flats, Tuesday 30 October 2018, 9:30am – 11:30am, Free event for members $10 for non members. In support of Mental Health Month across NSW, Community Industry Group will be hosting ‘Tea, Toast & Talk: Mentally Resilient Workplaces’ on Tuesday 30 October from 9.30-11.30am. The event will highlight the importance of workplace wellbeing and resilience for employees of the not for profit sector, and will explore best practices in developing a mentally healthy workplace. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/tea-toast-talk-mentally-resilient-workplaces-tickets-51169190426?aff=ebapi

The latest Home Care Packages Data Report reveals that 64,668 people in the National Prioritisation Queue are still waiting for a higher level Home Care Package, 12,427 new people were able to access a home care package over the most recent quarter, and 30,281 new people were receiving support during the period 1 July 2017 to 31 March 2018. At 31 March 2018, there were 84,971 people in a home care package. A further 56,750 people on the queue were either not in, or assigned, a lower level home care package. Of those, it is estimated that around half were accessing CHSP services. Therefore, it is estimated that around 75% of people in the queue are accessing Government subsidised home care support to assist them to remain living in their home. The efficiency of home care package assignment and the accuracy of the wait-time calculator are reliant on the consistency […]

The Community Industry Group recently worked with Opal Residential Aged Care Denhams Beach, Red Cross and the NSW Health Dementia Behaviour Assessment & Management Service to pilot an Individualised Music Intervention Program. People with dementia maintain the ability to process music long after their ability to process verbal communication has deteriorated, and personalised music can be an intervention that provides a range of important benefits to individual residents, their family and staff. These guidelines were collated to enable other aged care service providers to offer similar programs. IMI Guidelines

Community Industry Group is proud to offer this free webinar on Working with Interpreters for community service organisations. It covers subjects such as: when to identify the need for an interpreter; how to engage an interpreter; maximising the interpreter and client experience; and interpreter services available within the Illawarra-Shoalhaven. For  information about our webinars click here.

Community Industry Group is proud to offer this free webinar on Good Governance for community service organisations. It covers subjects such as: Board roles and responsibilities Specific responsibilities for board officer positions Incorporation Good Governance Key terms For  information about our webinars click here.

From 1 October 2018, there are changes to the requirements of charities registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). You will no longer need to lodge annual reports with Fair Trading or pay the annual lodgement fee. This applies if your association has not yet lodged your NSW annual summary for your current financial year end by 1 October 2018. You must lodge your association’s Annual Information Statement (and financial statements if required) with the ACNC for each financial year. The change only applies to annual financial reporting obligations. All incorporated associations must continue to notify Fair Trading of any changes, such as the association’s name, details, constitution or public officer.  If your association is not on the ACNC charities register, your reporting obligations do not change. You must continue to lodge all annual reporting with Fair Trading and pay the lodgement fee. The change only applies if the association continues […]

NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the provision of disability services in NSW NSW Legislative Council Inquiry Portfolio Committee No.2 – Health and Community Services announced an inquiry into the provision of disability services across New South Wales following the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. You can find details of the Inquiry here. Community Industry Group held a discussion group, which was well attended by representatives from key disability service providers across the region, and prepared a submission to the Inquiry. What we heard from our members is that, while all providers were committed to the principles of the NDIS in providing choice and control for people with disability, the transition to NDIS has not been without its problems for both providers and participants. Read our submission here.

Today we released a special bulletin with information on the Stronger Communities Grants Program and the Shellharbour Child Safe Workshop. To read our special bulletin click here.

Community Industry Group is proud to offer this free workshop in conjunction with the Office of the Children’s Guardian and Shellharbour City Council. The workshop will help you understand and implement Child Safe principles in your workplace. Tuesday 16 October 2018, 10 am to 4.30pm Shellharbour Civic Centre Auditorium 76 Cygnet Avenue, Shellharbour City Centre Participants will learn about: • Creating a child safe culture • Codes of conduct • Situational prevention and effective risk management • Recruitment and selection tips • Obligations under the Working With Children Check • Complaints management techniques Participants will receive a workbook with helpful information and templates and a certificate of attendance. Places are strictly limited. Click here to book your space now. ​Visit www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au  to view other available sessions.

The Nous Group were engaged by the Department of Health in early 2017 to conduct a comprehensive review of Wellness & Reablement (W&R) approaches within the home care sector, including CHSP services, Home Care Packages, Transition Care, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Programme and Short Term Restorative Care. A summary of these consultations is now available, and key findings include: There is strong support for W&R approaches, and some great examples are emerging across the country. However, W&R approaches are not yet deeply embedded or consistently applied across the home care sector. Australia is home to international W&R trailblazers, with Victoria and WA already having W&R embedded in their programs for some time now. A lack of financial incentives is a constraint for some providers. Implementation progress varies across the five home care service types. Culture change remains the key challenge, with aged clients being […]

Christine Racar, Policy and Project Officer, recently attended the Filipino social group at Figtree Community Hall to talk about My Aged Care. After group discussion and many questions a wonderful lunch was served. In 1988, Rebecca Hansen, along with two others who were all Officers of the Australian Philippine Association Illawarra Inc. (APA) started a social group. The group started meeting at the old office of Illawarra Migrant Resource Centre at Rawson Street, Wollongong. Fifteen people attended the first meeting and one of the males from this group is now ninety three and still attends.  These days the group meets at Figtree Community Hall and has grown to 35-40 financial members with approximately 20-25 in attendance on monthly meetings. The social aspect continues (including bus trips) along with information sessions and for new immigrants how to settle into the community. Everyone brings a plate of food to share for lunch. As […]

Membership of Community Industry Group will bring many benefits including: • Invitations to contribute to regional responses to key government inquiries, discussion papers, and policy dialogue to help us form submission responses. • Significant discounts on all training run by Community Industry Group. • Access to Community Industry Group’s extensive sector knowledge, advice and consultation from our highly experienced staff members. • Free advertising for Positions Vacant and your events within our e-newsletter which is delivered to a subscription base of over 900 people. For a full list of benefits and our membership form click here.  

Our latest newsletter has just been released! To subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter sign up here: http://communityindustrygroup.org.au/subscribe/ If you are a member of Community Industry Group you can advertise your events and positions vacant for free in our newsletter which goes out to our subscriber list of over 975 people.

Wellness & Reablement Update With Wellness & Reablement (W&R) now an official requirement of all CHSP contracts, providers need to start measuring how they are supporting clients through a W&R approach to services. On 31 October each year, providers will need to submit an Annual Wellness Report covering assessment, support planning and service delivery. A new Wellness & Reablement Reporting Template will be distributed to providers by the end of August, so you will have a better idea of what information the Department of Health requires. The Government have allocated $5 billion over 5 years for the More Choices for a Longer Life Package, and $29.2 million of this funding will be used to promote independent living, with a reablement focused assessment model being trialled across four RAS locations over a 2-year period. Training and support for the trial RAS sites will be provided, based on the successful WA Active […]

As part of our NAIDOC week celebration at Community Industry Group, we decided to collate some information on some of the female leaders, activists and social change advocates who are being honoured in this year’s NAIDOC Week theme – Because of Her We Can. Barangaroo Barangaroo was an Aboriginal fisherwoman, from the Cameragaleon group, who lived around Manly and North Harbour and was one of the most powerful figures in Sydney’s early history. Cammeraygal women were highly skilled at fishing from their simple bark canoes with intricate crescent fishing hooks carved from a shell, and bark fibre lines weighted with stones. They lit fires on clay pads for cooking and warmth, and cared for small children and babies in rough surf while catching fish. As primary providers for their people, they were respected and powerful within their societies. Barangaroo’s first husband and two children died of smallpox. She later went […]

Inquiry into the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the provision of disability services in New South Wales. The NSW Legislative Council Committee for Health and Community Services has announced an Inquiry into the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the provision of disability services in New South Wales. You can find the Terms of Reference here. Community Industry Group will collate a submission to the Inquiry, and we are keen to have input from our members, providers, carers and participants. We will be holding a discussion group to inform our submission at 9am on 31 July 2018 at Interchange Illawarra, 81 Kenny St, Wollongong NSW 2500. We encourage you or your representative to attend. Please register your attendance here:    

The report of the Standing Committee on State Development into ‘Regional development and a global Sydney’ has now been released. Community Industry Group prepared a submission to the Inquiry, and appeared twice before the Committee to give evidence. We are pleased to see that much of our evidence has been included in the report, and that it has contributed to many of the recommendations. The report is available on the Committee’s website, along with submissions, transcripts of evidence and other documents associated with the inquiry.

Community Industry Group were eagerly awaiting the release of the so-called ‘cost of living’ budget on 19 June 2018.  However, despite a few bright moments, the budget largely holds little for community service organisations, or for people living on low incomes. Access to safe, accessible and affordable housing is the number one issue affecting families on low incomes and vulnerable people in South East NSW but there is little in the budget to address the issue. While we once again welcome the extension of the Social and Affordable Housing Fund in the 2018/19 budget, the reality is that many people on welfare or on minimum wage are trying to navigate the private rental market. We need incentives to encourage more affordable private rental properties as well as an urgent investment in more social housing. It’s great that the 2018/19 budget holds a further $61.3 million for the whole of government homelessness […]

Position Vacant – Project Officer (Casual) Community Industry Group Inc. is seeking a dynamic and passionate Project Officer to implement a range of short-term projects. We are a not for profit peak body which supports community organisations, promotes industry expertise and pursues social justice issues in South East New South Wales, with offices in Oak Flats and Batemans Bay. We’re a membership based organisation which offers training courses and conferences specifically designed for people employed within the community services industry. Our aim is to improve outcomes for the region’s disadvantaged communities and build a strong and informed community service industry. Our staff enjoy flexible work hours, a friendly office environment, rewarding projects with clear objectives, managerial support and mentoring. The Project Officer will work on a range of projects as determined by the CEO. We are looking for someone with an enthusiastic can-do attitude. Experience with social housing tenants, or within […]

NAIDOC Art Exhibition – Because of her we can Community Industry Group is supporting an art exhibition in Wollongong featuring artwork by Coomaditchie Aboriginal Artists Corporation artists (including Lorraine Brown, Narelle Thomas and Amy Day). The exhibition is located in the Curio Gallery, Church Street, Wollongong (opposite David Jones carpark entrance) and will be on display until the end of July.