TasCOSS

Newsletter December 2012

Tasmanian Council of Social Service

Voices of the community sectorTasCOSS 2012 Conference, p 6

Mental health diversity in the workplace, p 8

Young mothers program, p 13

Sharing resources, p 15

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From the CEOThe alarming rate of poverty in our state is unacceptable

Tony Reidy

TasCOSS Chief Executive

Contents3 From the CEO 4Sector’s priorities for State Budget 2013-14 5DHHS subsidises online reporting tool

6Voices of the conference

8Working well in a diverse workplace

11Work to do on multiculturalism

13Young mothers program built on flexibility

15 Successfully sharing resources

The latest report on poverty in Australia has found that nearly 14 per cent of Tasmanians live in poverty and many more are dangerously close to the edge.

The ACOSS Poverty Report 2012 was prepared by the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. The data source is the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ income and expenditure surveys for 2009-10 and previous years. The key finding is that in 2010, an estimated 2,265,000 people or 12.8% of all Australians, including 575,000 children (17.3%), lived in households with income below the poverty line used in interna-tional research, which is set at 50% of the median (middle) dis-posable income for all Austral-ian households.

In the case of a single adult, in 2010 this poverty line was $358 per week. In the case of a cou-ple with two children it was $752.

The Poverty Report 2012 also found that:

• 13.1% of people in Hobart live below the poverty line.

• 14.2% of Tasmanians outside the capital live below the poverty line.

• 13.7% of all Tasmanians live in poverty.

• When the widely used 60% of median disposable income benchmark is applied to the population of Tasmania, 24 per cent of Tasmanians are impoverished.

TasCOSS has made detailed recommendations aimed at al-leviating poverty in its annual submission, the Budget Priorities Statement, to the State Govern-ment.

Employment services shake-up neededTasCOSS is among the peak community welfare organisa-tions supporting a plan by Jobs Australia to design and model an improved employment ser-vices system. The redesign of this broken sys-tem must also be complement-ed with a $50 per week increase in single allowance payments, which have fallen well below the poverty line.

The Councils of Social Service and National Welfare Rights Net-work are supporting the move by the peak employment servic-es body, Jobs Australia, to invest significant funds to redesign a more workable model for a job-matching system that is more ef-fective in getting unemployed people trained and ready to take up jobs.

We know there is widespread concern that the current system is failing many unemployed peo-ple, especially younger people, migrant Australians, older work-ers, those with disabilities, and people who are experiencing homelessness. We need to work closer with business to better skill and match people into jobs, and adapt the system to the structural changes taking place in the Australian economy.

Improved employment services, in addition to a $50 increase for all single unemployed people on the Newstart Allowance, are essential elements of the policy response that will assist Austral-ians back into the workforce. There has been no real increase in the Newstart Allowance for al-most two decades.

Affordable housingThe recently released Census data showing an increase in the level of homelessness in Australia is deeply concerning, and Tas-COSS is part of the call for a con-certed national effort to address this worsening problem.

According to estimates of the prevalence of homelessness by the Australian Bureau of Statis-tics, the rate of homelessness in Australia was 49 people for eve-ry 10,000 people enumerated in the 2011 Census -- up 8% from the rate of 45 per 10,000 in 2006.

About three-quarters of the in-crease in the overall homeless-ness estimate to 2011 was ac-counted for by people born overseas.

Clearly we are not doing enough to deal with homeless-ness. One of the principal ways to deal with homelessness is to take measures to tackle the na-tions’ affordable housing crisis, which is causing so much strain and forcing people into poverty.

The Councils of Social Service have called for the establish-ment of an Affordable Housing Growth Fund in order to expand the stock of affordable housing, with a long-term funding strat-egy attached to it.

The National Rental Affordability Scheme, which directly encour-ages investment in new afforda-ble flats and houses, should also be expanded.

New manager for TasCOSS Sector Development UnitL i n d s e y Moffatt has joined Tas-COSS as the manager of our Sector D e v e l o p -ment Unit.

17 The problem with gambling

18Welcome to our new members

Advertising and insert rates 2012

Advertising (exc GST) Members Non Members

Full $70 $110

Half $40 $70

Quarter $25 $40

Inserts (exc GST)

Members Non Members

$85 $130

Editor: Gabrielle Rish gabrielle@tascoss.org.au Phone: 6231 0755

Lindsey has 20 years’ experi-ence in the not-for-profit and public sectors in the UK and in Tasmania, most recently conducting Volunteering Tasmania’s major State of Volunteering research pro-ject.

She is already hard at work at TasCOSS, along with col-leagues Dale Rahmanovic, Tim Tabart, Klaus Baur, Lure Wishes and Gus Risberg, to build the capacity of the sector in areas such as work-force development.

Contact Lindsey on 03 6231 0755 or email Lindsey@ tascoss.org.au

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Sector’s priorities for State Budget 2013-14The TasCOSS Budget Priorities Statement stresses the need to address social determinants of health and strengthen human services systems

The annual TasCOSS Budget submission presents recommen-dations to the State Government related to priority issues and areas of need that have been identi-fied through consultation with TasCOSS members and others in the sector across Tasmania, and through TasCOSS policy research and analysis processes.

This year’s submission focuses on four fundamental needs:

1. The need to tackle key social determinants of health, which hold many Tasmanians back from enjoying optimum health and wellbeing and from par-ticipating socially and eco-nomically in their communities.

2. The need to further protect vul-nerable Tasmanians.

3. The need to strengthen hu-man services systems to meet urgent and outstanding indi-vidual and community needs.

4. The need to ensure the ongo-ing effectiveness of the com-munity services sector in Tas-mania.

TasCOSS is concerned that we are seeing the emergence of ‘two Tasmanias’ as a conse-quence of a three-speed econo-my developing in the state.

While many Tasmanians enjoy the fruits of prosperity in some sectors of the state’s economy, others are under-employed in low-paid, casual and insecure jobs, and yet others – in fact, a third of the Tasmanian population – rely on Commonwealth support pay-ments as their major source of household income.

This situation is resulting in increas-ing affluence for some but in eco-nomic and social exclusion for others.

Exclusion from the workforce is not the only difficulty facing dis-advantaged Tasmanians. Many Tasmanians are experiencing the limiting long-term effects of low educational attainment; lack of appropriate, secure and afford-able housing; and lack of access to transport.

All of these factors, and the so-cial exclusion to which they can contribute, are associated with poor health status and outcomes – hence their characterisation as the ‘social determinants of health’.

The TasCOSS 2013-14 Budget submission begins by offering recommendations relating to fun-damental changes needed to address key social determinants of health.

These recommendations address education, housing and trans-port, including calls for strategic review and coordination process-es, for instance around educa-tion and transport. They also call for new or additional funding for particular programs, including in public housing.

The second section contains rec-ommendations for measures to protect some of the most vulner-able Tasmanians – children, older people and people with gam-bling problems. TasCOSS believes that some fundamental changes need to occur to ensure that vul-nerable people are better pro-tected in Tasmania.

We also offer recommendations for urgent additional funding to strengthen the Tasmanian human services systems that provide as-sistance and support to those ex-periencing disadvantage, need and vulnerability.

Major needs have been identi-fied in service systems – both gov-ernment and community sector – addressing mental health, disa-bility, families and children, youth, alcohol and drug treatment and support, and homelessness.

Additional funding is needed for existing services to meet need and to ensure the successful im-plementation of service and sys-tem reforms.

The final set of recommendations in the submission aims to ensure that the community services sec-tor is able to continue to deliver effective, efficient and high-qual-ity services and support to Tasma-nians in need.

The sector is now formally rec-ognised, in the 2012-15 Partner-ship Agreement between DHHS, DPAC and the Community Sec-tor Tasmania, as a significant and indispensible partner with govern-ment in the delivery of services and support to improve the lives of disadvantaged and vulner-able Tasmanians.

The need to continue to build and maintain an effective, ef-ficient and sustainable commu-nity services sector in Tasmania is more important than ever as in-creasingly more services are pro-vided by the sector on behalf of government.

The TasCOSS Budget Priorities Statement 2013-2014, presented to the Treasury Department on 30 November, is now available in the TasCOSS website, www.tascoss.org.au

Kath McLean

Manager, TasCOSS Social Policy and Research Unit

Portal to Standards and Performance Pathways now openDHHS has subsidised a red tape-slashing online resource

Jane Bradfield and Julie Nyland of

BNG NGO Services Online, right.

At a time when community service organisations are feeling the pinch, TasCOSS and DHHS, in partnership with the Peaks Net-work, have partnered to offer a new service that can dramatical-ly cut the time and cost of quality reporting to the State and Fed-eral Governments.

The Standards and Performance Pathways is an easy-to-use on-line tool. Its content covers the main sets of quality standards for providers of health and community services.

It allows Tasmanian organisations to assess themselves and report against 30 quality standards in common use around Australia, including the DHHS Quality and Safety Standards, Tasmanian Dis-ability Standards, the National Standards for Disability Services, National Standards for Mental Health Services, Community Care Common Standards and many more.

Using the SPP can cut the time it takes an organisation to comply with red tape by 80%. That re-leases staff to do other important work.

The SPP also has great guidelines for developing and improving work plans to help build an or-ganisation's capabilities.

The SPP is the brainchild of Syd-ney-based NGO management experts Jane Bradfield and Julie Nyland, of BNG NGO Services Online.

Jane and Julie came to Tasma-nia in November to run SPP work-shops for the sector. This oppor-tunity for a hands-on look at the SPP left no doubt what a brilliantly designed and very user-friendly resource it is.

Funding from DHHS will subsidise the annual subscription for any

DHHS-funded organisation to use the SPP for one year, via an online portal being hosted by TasCOSS.

An Early Bird rate (40% of the full price) is available to a maximum of 120 organisations until 28 Feb-ruary 2013. Subscription fees vary according to the total income of an organisation. (As a guide, us-ing the Early Bird discount the an-nual subscription starts at $120 for an organisation with income of less that $50,000.)

For more information about the TasCOSS SPP Portal, visit www.tas-coss.org.au or contact Tim Tabart on 6231 0755 or tim@tascoss.org.au

What the SPP provides

• Anelectronicworkbookcontainingonlineassessmentsagainstthecriteriaforallcomponents of relevant Australian community services and health standards.

• Automaticallygeneratedresponsestoassessmentresultsdescribingactionthatis required to complete compliance of any component of a standard.

• Guidedactivities,toolsandresourceslinkedtotheseactionsthatsupporttheuser to complete the action and reach compliance.

• Anelectronictemplatewhichdocumentstheactions,resourcesandenablestheuser to enter information for a work plan.

• Anevidencepackwherepre-existingornewlycompleteddocumentscanbe loaded from the user’s system and downloaded to provide evidence of complianceforexternalassessors.

• Anongoingprogressdisplaywhichshowsprogressintermsofcompletionandcompliance levels; users can track their own progress by both percentage of compliance and visual graphs.

• Cross-referencingwithallothercoresetsofstandardssothatcompletionofoneset of standards will automatically register with items in other sets of standards (meaning users can complete multiple sets of standards by completing a single set).

Tim Tabart

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Julie Butler of Speak Out, left, and Desiree Johnston giving their presentation

on self-advocacy for people with intellectual disability.

if the programs they fund save government money, they get a return on their investment.

Chief Magistrate Michael Hill, in his speech on solution-focused judging, offered a perfect exam-ple of a program that saves gov-ernment money: the cost of the solutions-based program is $100 a day compared to $370 to keep a person in Risdon Prison.

The Centre for Social Impact is trying to get three SIB schemes off the ground in NSW but can Tasmania, with its close business-government-community sector connections, get in first? TasCOSS

Centre for Social Impact’s Les Hems, shadow minister Jacquie Petrusma and

Parliamentary Secretary for the Cost of Living Bec White in conversation.

“I’m very keen that none of that work goes on the shelf to gather dust.” – Premier Lara Giddingson her government’s social inclusion strategy

“The corporate sector shouldn’t been seen as the enemy; many people in the corporate world have a social conscience.” – Jacquie Petrusma, Opposition spokeswoman on human services, children and the cost of living

“It’s the small things, the pedestrian things, the caring things that are a measure of what you are.” – Tim Costello, World Vision Australia CEO

“Hearing from the clients in the Anglicare Consumer Engagement program, seeing their strength, courage and their resilience -- although it almost broke my heart to have one of the women thank us for listening to her.” – TasCOSS staff member Lure Wishes, singling out her conference highlight

Voices of the conferenceThe ideas and conversations generated by the TasCOSS 2012 Conference will continue to resonate in the Tasmanian community sector

There are a million community sector workers in Australia and it’s time we made our voices heard above those of the mining mag-nates and poker machine opera-tors, and set the agenda for the national conversation.

That was the message for del-egates in the opening address of the TasCOSS 2012 Conference from World Vision Australia CEO Tim Costello.

In the closing address at the No-vember15-16 event, the message to people working in the sector was “what makes you different, what makes you work for low wages, is spirituality”. The speaker this time was that larrikin with an agenda, actor Robyn Moore.

In between these two keynote speakers, there were many voic-es, including the voices of mental health carers and consumers, a one-time street kid acting as an advisor on a youth homelessness survey and an intellectually disa-bled self-advocate standing up straight and confident to address a concurrent session.

There were two topics that came up again and again in the pres-

entations, questions from the floor and conversations in the foyer. One was Tasmania’s 49% rate of functional illiteracy – that means nearly half the adult population not having a high enough level of literacy and numeracy to do what they need to do in their eve-ryday lives.

The Governor of Tasmania, Peter Underwood, opened the confer-ence with an inspiring speech which praised the new 26TEN adult literacy initiative.

Vonnie Bradford, a Clarendon Vale resident involved in a univer-sity research project in her com-munity, urged Centrelink to steer clients to the 26TEN program.

Les Hems, the director of research at the UNSW Centre for Social Im-pact, wondered if low functional literacy had to be addressed as a critical part of the success of fi-nancial literacy programs.

The other hot topic of the confer-ence was the concept of Social Impact Bonds. SIBs have been used in other parts of the world to fund, among other things, pro-grams to cut recidivism. Private investors take out the bonds and

World Vision Australia CEO Tim Costello signs copies of

his book after giving the 2012 Dorothy Pearce Address.

Gabrielle Rish

TasCOSS Communications

and Membership Officer

“When they leave school they seem to slip through the system. Is it because their

parents are in the same boat?” – Vonnie Bradford, Clarendon Vale resident and

literacy mentor on the low rate of functional literacy in Tasmania

“Self-advocacy will become very important under the NDIS, when people will get more

control over the support they receive.” – Julie Butler, Speak Out

“A million people are employed in community services in Australia but our

sector hasn’t used its muscle to push back.” – Tim Costello, World Vision Australia CEO

“Passion.” – PremierLaraGiddings in answer to a question on how she keeps her

energy levels up

“Thirty-seven per cent of Australians can’t raise $3000 in a crisis.” – Les Hems, UNSW

Centre for Social Impact

“The reason to bother with Facebook to reach out to homeless youth is because they’re always on it – the place to be is

Facebook and you can get a conversation going very easily.” – James Davey, Anglicare

youth homelessness survey adviser

“Forget the philosophical basis – on an economic basis it’s worthy of merit.” –

Chief Magistrate Michael Hill on solution- focused judging

“I used to think I was different and difficult … but everyone can be different and difficult in certain circumstances.” – Amber Meredith, mental health consumer and Hobart Hearing

Voices Group convenor

is currently investigating Social Impact Bonds as a way to fund programs in this state.

One of the immediate results of the conference came out of a question from the floor to Premier Lara Giddings. Mental health advocate Lucy Hen-ry raised the issue of mental health patients having to pay for stays in public hospitals be-yond 35 days. The Premier was taken aback and unaware of this billing policy, which has cost patients over $1.6 million in the past two years. Questions are now being asked in high places.

TasCOSS CEO Tony Reidy and Premier Lara Giddings in

their Q&A. Photos: Anthony Francis

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Working well in a diverse workplace ‘Treat others as they want to be treated’ is the principle underpinning diversity practice

Elida Meadows is a Policy and Research Officer for the Mental Health Council of Tasmania. She

wrote the TasCOSS Workplace Diversity Toolkit, to be launched in early 2013.

Some useful diversity websites• Human Rights/Anti-Discrimination Commission or the Australian Human Rights

Commission. hreoc.gov.au/

• Care Aware Workplace can be found on the initiative’s website at: http://careaware.com.au/carers-resources/care-aware-workplaces/

• Diversity Council Australia is the independent, not-for-profit workplace diversity advisor to business in Australia. http://www.dca.org.au/

• Mental Health First Aid Kit http://www.mhfa.com.au/

• beyondblue website http://www.beyondblue.org.au/

Cartoon by Elida Meadows

ous to cover but what I want to emphasise is that we are all diverse in ways we probably haven’t even considered.

However, although we are dif-ferent, we are all human beings with the same needs for respect and understanding; we all want a flexible and inclusive work en-vironment; and we would like to be valued for our contribution.

This applies to all workers, regard-less of our backgrounds, experi-ences, perspectives and abilities.

Workplace diversity involves rec-ognising the value of individual differences and managing them in the workplace, so we are able to accommodate the need for flexible hours, we are able to pro-vide disability-friendly workplac-es, we respect workers’ religious beliefs and practices, the level of education they’ve attained, their cultural background and sexual orientation.

But we need to think outside the square because sometimes the things we think make good com-mon sense, are not as cut and dried as we imagine them to be.

For instance, from a diversity per-spective the notion of “treat oth-ers as you want to be treated” is probably not quite on target.

We may share similar values, such as respect or need for recogni-

What exactly is diversity in the workplace? And how do we ac-commodate it? I like to think of workplace diversity from two points of view:

1. We are all diverse and have differing needs.

2. We are all alike and have simi-lar needs.

Now before you think I’ve lost my marbles, allow me to explain.

Diversity covers gender, age, language, ethnicity, cultural background, sexual orientation, religious belief and family re-sponsibilities.

Diversity also refers to the other ways in which people are differ-ent, such as educational level, life experience, work experience, socio-economic background, personality and marital status.

Based on this we are, of course, all different but different in multi-layered ways.

You may be a middle-aged woman with an anxiety disor-der looking after young children and an aged parent. You may be a young person with a visual impairment undertaking a part-time degree. You may be from a non-English-speaking back-ground with special requirements relating to prayer and diet.

The variations are far too numer-

tion, but how we would like to be treated in accordance with those values may be different for different groups or individuals.

Instead of relying on “golden rules”, we could perhaps move to a diversity-sensitive perspective and adopt a new way of dealing with difference – “treat others as they want to be treated.”

Mental health in the workplaceBecause I work for the Mental Health Council of Tasmania and mental health is one of my chief concerns, I would like to relate the issue of diversity to the issue of mental health in the workplace.

Again, this is an issue that has two main perspectives.

Firstly, employers are required to provide a healthy and safe workplace which prevents work-ers from developing stress and other work-related psycho-social illness.

And they must provide a healthy and safe workplace benefits all workers, including those with mental illness.

A worker may develop mental illness prior to employment or during employment. Most work-ers successfully manage their ill-ness without it impacting on their work. Some may require work-place support for a short period of time, while a minority will re-quire ongoing workplace strate-gies. It is often presumed that a worker’s mental illness develops outside of the workplace. How-ever, an ‘unhealthy’ work envi-ronment or a workplace incident can cause considerable stress and exacerbate, or contribute to, the development of mental illness. (HREOC website)

As an employer, you have le-gal obligations in relation to the management of mental illness

in the workplace. The following guidelines are from the Austral-ian Human Rights Commission’s 2010 Workers with Mental Illness: a Practical Guide for Managers:

OHS legislation requires you to ensure your workplace is safe and healthy for all workers and does not cause ill health or ag-gravate existing conditions.

Disability discrimination legisla-tion requires you to ensure your workplace does not discriminate against or harass workers with mental illness. You are also re-quired to make reasonable ad-justments to meet the needs of workers with mental illness.

Privacy legislation requires you to ensure personal information about a worker’s mental health status is not disclosed to anyone without the worker’s consent.

You are also required under Commonwealth industrial law to ensure your workplace does not take any adverse action against a worker because of their mental illness.

Some of the major barriers to participation in employment for people with a mental health condition include stigma, fear and lack of knowledge amongst employers and co-workers, as well as inflexible and inappropri-ate working arrangements.

What can we do to meet our obligations to any workers with mental illness and to provide a safe and healthy work environ-ment? Here are some ideas.

• Work with employees who have a mental illness to ad-dress employment problems faced by them.

• Educate staff on what consti-tutes harassment, discrimina-tion and bullying in the work-place and raise awareness of the legislation and employee responsibilities in terms of workplace conduct including through a Code of Conduct or Diversity Plan.

• Arrange mental health first aid training – this teaches people how to help someone before professional treatment arrives. It is important to note that

while many people know a lot about physical health, they are often unaware of mental health issues.

• Identify possible workplace practices, actions or incidents that may cause, or contribute to the mental illness of work-ers and take actions to elimi-nate or minimise these risks. This includes having a general regard for the wellbeing of all staff.

• Negotiate individual arrange-ments in response to the indi-vidual needs of each employ-ee.

• Respect an employee’s right to confidentiality and assist them to decide on, and main-

tain, the degree of confidenti-ality.

• Identify specific accommo-dations to deal with mental health issues and put these in writing to provide clarity to em-ployee and employer.

• Put an agreed plan in place to assist an employee return to the workplace after an epi-sode of mental illness.

And remember, people with mental health issues are just as diverse as the rest of the popu-lation. They should never be de-fined by their illness and should always be respected and con-sulted when issues related to their situation arise.

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Work to do on multiculturalism A very active member of Tasmania’s African communities has been engaging with the community sector and general public

Ways to help newly emerging communities

• Minimise the concept of social exclusion and maximise social inclusion.

• Former refugees need the support and acceptance as part of the country they now call home.

• Maximise opportunities for them to access jobs to help them support themselves and their families.

• For the state government to have a proper rethinking about services for refugees to adapt in rural environment where their skills can be utilised.

• Enhance the provision of services that can better serve the needs and lives of refugees.

• Enhance community education in order to maximise the knowledge and awareness about refugee life experience and the transition into a new society.

• Academic programs that talk about the stories and lives of former refugees to be taught in schools for kids to grow with the knowledge and understanding about refugees and former refugees who now called Australia their home.

My name is Mr Fayia Isaiah La-hai. I am a former refugee from the Republic of Sierra Leone. I arrived in Tasmania in 2006 after fleeing Sierra Leone due to civil war and spending 14 years in many refugee camps in Guin-ea, West Africa. I am married and the father of four children. I am presently in the final stages of a sociology and social work degree at the University of Tas-mania in Hobart.

In December 2011, I was award-ed the Human Rights award for my role in advocating for the Culturally and Linguistically Di-verse (CALD) communities in Tasmania.

I am presently one of two Peo-ple of Australia Ambassadors representing Tasmania on grass-roots multicultural issues at a federal level.

I love doing what I do as a vol-unteer to positively contribute towards the diversity and multi-culturalism of the Australian so-ciety.

I am involved with many aspects of the Tasmanian community as a volunteer with the Trans-cultur-al Mental Health program at the Phoenix Centre, the Migrant Re-source Centre, Amnesty Interna-tional, the Australian Red Cross and other NGOs.

I have also been a member of several working groups in South-ern Tasmania aimed at address-ing issues for newly emerging communities, focusing on en-gaging positively with the media, police and the wider communi-ty in realising social inclusion and cohesion in Tasmania. I am also an active contributor to initia-tives in assisting migrant students in their transition to university at the Sandy Bay Campus.

I am a former chairman of the

Sierra Leone Liberia Union of Ho-bart and a founding member of the African Communities Coun-cil of Tasmania. I have served as a member on the Tasmanian Advisory Council on Multicultural Affairs advising the Premier. I am a member of the Glenorchy Cul-tural Diversity Advisory Commit-tee and also a regular speaker at community events in both Southern and Northern Tasma-nia.

As a member of this great state of Tasmania, I am always ready to do the little I could to make a difference. I belief Tasmania is a fantastic place for minori-ties within our society to use as a pathway for proper integration into the Australian society.

However, there are underlin-ing challenges that we need to work on together as a com-munity. For instance, for former refugees to smoothly integrate into the Tasmanian community, they need the support of the lo-cal community.

Members of the local Sierra Leone community, including Isaiah Lahai, second from left, await the arrival of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in Hobart on 8 November 2012.

cont: page 12

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YoungmothersprogrambuiltonflexibilityA local council’s program to support young mothers and their children withlife,workandstudyskillsisamodelthatmayspreadstatewide

Glenorchy, in Hobart’s north, is an area characterised by low-socio-economic status: 23.6% of households are one-parent families, well above the state average (17%); 34% of Glenor-chy households have a weekly income of less than $600; and Glenorchy has a teenage preg-nancy rate of 23.9%, compared to the state average of 16.5%. More than half (53.9%) of the adult population of Glenorchy leave school at Year 10 or be-low and have often become disengaged from learning be-fore that. The average daily ab-sence rate of students attend-ing local public high schools is 25.3% while the figure for primary schools is11.7%.

Meanwhile, the Australian Early Development Index results for Glenorchy show 24% of Glenor-

chy children are developmen-tally vulnerable on 1 + domains and 12.7% on 2 + domains.

Our young mothers face par-ticular challenges. The Making Choices project paper pro-duced by Family Planning Tas-mania (2012) indicated that pregnant and parenting teens who lack sound support net-works are at risk of poor edu-cation outcomes, rapid repeat pregnancies and are at risk in relation to a number of issues such as housing, low income, sexual and social violence, mental health and alcohol and drug issues.

The Steps to the Future project has been run by the Glenorchy City Council since 2010, provid-ing social support and training to local mothers, aged 17-25, and their children. The project

delivers a range of individual and group learning opportuni-ties at a local community level.All of the participants have been early school leavers who have shared the disadvantages of low income, unstable hous-ing, social isolation, depression and anxiety. They lack trans-port and have limited access to childcare.

Poor nutrition, poor health and wellbeing, unstable family and personal relationships, alcohol and other drug use, and offend-ing have affected their learning and literacy achievements.

They have all shared a common desire for connection with other adults facing similar issues and challenges. They want to de-velop their life skills, self-esteem, confidence and practical skills. They want time away from their children and in adult company. They also want their children to learn in a safe, supported and fun environment.

Since the project began in 2010 there have been 472 adult par-ticipants, many of them repeat participants, plus their chil-dren. There is a core group of 12 young mothers who attend regularly with 14 children.

Steps to the Future’s Independ-ent Evaluatior said: “Clearly the group members had formed a strong bond between them-selves and with the facilitators. The members appeared to have joined for a prolonged pe-riod rather than just attending a short course”. cont: page 14

Renate Hughes is a Social Planning Officer with the Glenorchy City Council and runs the Steps to the

Future Program with colleague Jill Sleiters.

Successful features of Steps to the Future program

• Building child/mother activities into the program (eg reading together, cooking, creative activities).

• Choosing venues that are easily accessible and ‘friendly’.

• A number of levels to engage, eg just come to a single session or join an eight-week program.

• Intensive pathway planning offered to participants who wish to set goals and progress on educational pathways.

• Individual meetings with participants on entry to identify goals, potential barriers to participation and build rapport.

• Time with staff outside the group (two-worker model) including assisted referral to support services.

• Partnerships with a range of support, education, health and employment-related agencies which expand the capacity of the program and increase referral rates.

• Flexible entry and exit from the programs.

• Involvement of participants in forward planning and planning days.

There are many barriers experi-enced by the newly emerging communities. Language for ex-ample, is a huge obstacle for many of us.

Secondly, most of the newly emerging communities come from multi-cultural perspectives and to properly settle in an in-dividualistic culture like Austral-ia, requires a process. Accul-turation is presently an issue for many.

Thirdly, some of us would like to call Tasmania home forever. However, accessing employ-ment for example is a big prob-lem for many and that is leav-ing some with no choice but to leave the state for the mainland cities in order to access jobs and other opportunities such as proper housing, family reunifica-tion and others.

I believe that together, we can make Tasmania a state where everyone has the opportunity

to make a difference, especially when it comes to social inclu-sion and multiculturalism. Tasma-nia could become a model for other states around Australia to follow.

In my role as People of Australia Ambassador, I am determined to make a difference within Tas-mania. I have so far been talking to schools on grassroots multicul-tural issues and also to commu-nity forums. I am keen to reach most of the schools within the state.

I simply believe that multicultur-alism is a system of beliefs and behaviours that recognises and respects the presence of all di-verse groups in an organisation or society, that acknowledges and values their socio-cultural

differences, and encourages and enables their continued contribution within an inclusive cultural context which empow-ers all within the organisation or society.

As a community, we need to collectively work towards key concepts that will enhance the liveability of the emerging com-munities in Tasmania.

Finally, as a former refugee and now citizen of this great country, I want to be receptive and to be able to contribute positively towards the continuous devel-opment of Australia. I have the desire to add my cultural rich-ness to the multicultural bedrock of Australia.

African Youth Forum attendees at Port Arthur in July 2012. Isaiah Lahai was a keynote speaker at the event.

Fayia Isaiah Lahai is a 2012 People of Australia Ambas-

sador and UTAS sociology and social work student.

Consumer engagement resourcesTwo major new consumer engagement resources have been produced by TasCOSS HACC project officer Klaus Baur. The Consumer

Engagement Handbook for HACC services in Tasmania and Consumer Engagement Literature Review, Good Practice Approaches and Pilot

Projects in HACC in Tasmania are of interest and application beyond the HACC sphere and are available from www.tascoss.org.au or by phoning TasCOSS on (03) 6231 0755.

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To date we have conducted 60 different types of programs, events and information ses-sions ranging from oral health to cooking, art, managing relation-ships, parenting, retail, fitness, work preparation, self-care and computer skills. There have been volunteering opportunities for participants. There is also a focus on health literacy and wellbe-ing for young mothers and their children and opportunities and activities to build family literacy.

A feature of the Steps to the Fu-ture model is local service net-works supporting program deliv-ery. This network includes about 37 services. These were the initial entry point for young mums into Steps to the Future. Now word of mouth is the major referral path-way.

Steps to the Future is run very flexibly and allows participants to choose the level of engage-ment they wish to have. Some of the programs are ongoing and run throughout the year while others are short courses of one or two sessions.

Most are morning sessions with an average length of three hours. This fits best with young mums’ stated needs and atten-tion spans.

Most programs involve sharing a light meal or snack and this

has been found to be effective as a social connection point, to build trust and also to allow healthy food information to be introduced to the program. Most programs involve some level of physical activity with a walk fac-tored into as many programs as possible.

After the first year, the focus of the project shifted towards offer-ing more substantial training op-portunities for those participants who wish to extend their skills base and develop pathways into employment and training, such as the Retail Skills training program offered in partnership with St Vincent De Paul, and a Certificate II in Work and Train-ing, offered in partnership with the Tasmanian Polytechnic and Mission Australia.

Some 25 young mums have been involved in the Pathway Planning Program to give them ongoing learning support.

Among the programs that have worked well has been a range of short programs in partner-ship with Glenorchy LINC, such as computer skills and literacy support. We have also run rela-tionships programs, the Let’s Get Driving event, family nutrition and Zumba sessions, and the Re-tail & Work Skills training program with St Vincent de Paul.

Graduates of the Steps to the Future and Vinnie’s Retail Training Program

in November 2011.

The strength of Steps to the Fu-ture has been its flexible deliv-ery, its piggy-backing on other programs, provision of childcare and transport, and the mixing of group work with individual sup-port.

The challenge we have faced is that Steps to the Future is a labour-intensive program given the central relationship between the staff, participants and ser-vice/network partners. Also, on-site childcare and the provision of transport are an essential part of the program but have proved expensive.

Also we have the challenge of how to best deliver pathway planning and support services, and how to build in literacy sup-port for individuals as well as via group settings.

Looking to 2012, we will move into Stage 3 of the project – shar-ing the model -- with a roadshow of the project around the state. The Rosny LINC has already adopted a modified version of Steps to the Future with its First Steps program.

The project will come to an end for the Glenorchy City Council in June 2013 but we are happy to say that negotiations are in progress to transfer it to a large well-resourced NGO. This will see Steps to the Future expand-ing beyond Glenorchy to the broader southern region.

Gus Risberg

TasCOSS Shared Services project manager

Successfully sharing resources Sharing resources is already proving beneficial for cash-strapped Tasmanian community services organisations

Key Strategies for Sharing Resources

1. Determining whether to share. Identify candidates utilising the TasCOSS shared services page and register of CSOs near you. Meet with candidates for a coffee and determining benefits and costs of sharing and consider the impact on your organisation’s mission.

2.Creatingthesharingagreement.Gettingasharingagreementinplacewithbuiltinflexibilityandexitstrategiesiscriticaltothelong-term success of the arrangement.

3. Managing sharing relationships: It is important to manage sharing relationships by reviewing the arrangement periodically and communicating issues in a timely and effective manner.

4. Utilising resources to facilitate sharing. The Resources section on the TasCOSS Shared Services web page is a great place to start. See www.tascoss.org.au

Life is about sharing. Whether it is the food we eat or our local community centres, our success is based on sharing resources for the benefit of everyone.

Yet sharing for the community services sector can be fraught with difficulties such as deter-mining who to share with, what is a fair sharing agreement, and how we combine the purchasing power of the sector for the ben-efit of everyone.

Determining who to share with is the first and most important step for community service organisa-tions seeking to share accommo-dation and back-office services.

There are many models that are being used around the world in relation to creating community sector service hubs. Yet to cre-ate a new facility or convert an existing facility to accommo-date an array of CSOs takes a significant amount of time and resources.

TasCOSS started its Shared Ser-vices project in August 2012, with several strategies within the broader aim of encouraging the pooling of resources.

TasCOSS is committed to cre-ating longer-term “greenfield” type community service centres but also realises that there are ways for CSOs to share resources in the short term.

The shared services strategy is already beginning to work for CSOs around the state and is exemplified by a CSO in Hobart which had excess space due to recent funding cuts. The CSO is an advocacy health organisa-tion that also provides assistance and care to its clients.

The CEO met with another advo-cacy organisation and the two leaders agreed on a sharing ar-rangement that is working for the

benefit of both organisations.

Although the CSOs compete for similar funding they have bene-fited from the expertise each or-ganisation brings to fundraising as well as a host of other man-agement issues including reduc-ing administrative costs.

The first step to sharing is to iden-tify community service organisa-tions already located near you that have an interest in sharing accommodation and related services.

The recently developed TasCOSS shared services web page lists organisations who have shared service opportunities around the state. TasCOSS also maintains a register of community service organisations by postcode and type of services offered that can be utilised to find ideal candi-dates for sharing accommoda-tion and services.

The next step is to visit each candidate for a cuppa and dis-cuss opportunities for sharing re-sources. This will also give you an opportunity to learn about the culture and values of the organi-sation and how you might work together to reduce back-office costs such as rent, IT, training and administration services.

Community Connections gets ball rollingCommunity Connections Inc is a not-for-profit service that has been operating for 14 years in the Mersey/Lyell region of Tas-mania.

The organisation delivers servic-es through a variety of projects including youth homelessness through the provision of a crisis shelter, a youth transition service and transitional housing; coun-selling services for young people and their significant others for

Comments from program participants

“It gives us time to meet each other – we have formed a bond”

“People think when you are a young mother you are doing nothing – coming here is doing something useful for my future”

“Knowing my kids are in a safe place and are learning social skills”

“No-one judges you here”

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Anglicare Gambling Help

counsellor Mara Lovrin speaks at the Anti-Poverty

Week forum.

alcohol and substance abuse; and mental health through a co-morbidity service.

Community Connections recent-ly held a meeting attended by a number of Burnie-based youth service organisations to discuss the opportunity for creating a co-location youth facility in central Burnie.

In my role as TasCOSS shared services project manager I at-tended the meeting and was impressed with the interest of the organisations in co-locating and working together to create bet-ter outcomes for young people.

Different models were discussed which ranged from simple sharing of accommodation and back-office services with like-minded organisations to a more integrat-ed model with one shared gov-ernance model and one intake and assessment process.

Based on input from the partici-pants at the meeting, Commu-

nity Connections will be formulat-ing a proposal in December for further discussion.

One of the key benefits of shar-ing resources with another CSO is that the rents sought are often significantly lower than the com-mercial market rates and there is a common understanding of the financial challenges facing the sector.

The starting point for determin-ing fair rental rates and related services is to speak with a real es-tate agent or utilise commercial real estate search engines. The agreements need to be put in writing and reviewed by the ap-propriate parties and include an exit strategy in case the arrange-ment does not work out for either party.

Managing the shared resource requires a system for tracking what is shared, ensuring that it is accounted for by keeping re-cords of transactions and period-

ically reviewing the arrangement with all parties in a timely and ef-fective manner. Sharing resourc-es requires parties to be flexible and adaptable to changing cir-cumstances.

Combining purchasing power The TasCOSS Shared Services Project is also about utilising the purchasing power of the sector to lower costs and tailor products and services to the community sector.

The purchasing power of the sector is significant, yet is rarely combined to negotiate cost-effective products and services such as insurance, electricity and training.

TasCOSS is in the early stages of developing products and services tailored for the sector. Stay tuned for further develop-ments via the TasCOSS website, www.tascoss.org.au, e-news and newsletter.

How sharing resources works

Inthisexamplethree organisations have three different problems. Yet they are unaware of each other’s situation. The TasCOSS shared services website hub connects the three organisations and provides them with the tools to solve each of their problems in an efficient and effective manner.

The problem with gambling TasCOSS and Anglicare Tasmania staged an Anti-Poverty Week forum to highlight the massive human cost of the poker machine industry

You can lose $1200 an hour on a poker machine in Tasmania if you are determined.

More than 2500 Tasmanians have gambling problems and studies show that for every one of them, another five to 10 people are also affected. This means around 27,500 Tasmani-ans are harmed by gambling, including 2000 children.

The 2012 Social and Economic Impact Study into Gambling in Tasmania, commissioned by the Department of Treasury and Finance, estimated that the social cost of gambling prob-lems in Tasmania – measured in terms of loss of productivity and employment, crime and legal costs, treatment costs and hu-man misery – was between $51 million and $144 million in 2011.

A joint TasCOSS-Anglicare Tas-mania forum, held on 16 Octo-ber during Anti-Poverty Week 2012, drew attention to the impact of gambling on low-in-come and disadvantaged Tas-manians.

Most poker machines in Tasma-nia are concentrated in lower-income communities, and play-er losses per person are higher in these areas.

Former publican and Australian Hotels Association head Greg James took aim at the national campaign of the poker ma-chine lobby at the forum.

He stressed that, far from being a boon for the hospitality indus-try, the Tasmanian hospitality sector had experienced zero growth in the 17 years since poker machines were intro-duced in the state.

“There were 5000 jobs in hospi-tality in 1995 and there are still 5000 jobs in hospitality,” Greg said. “It’s stopped the growth

of hotels, tourism has stalled, there’s no backpacker accom-modation, no innovation, ex-cept at the five-star end.”

He said the effect of the $610,000 a day being fed into pokies in Tasmania was not just to stifle growth in the hospitality sector – including creation of part-time jobs for unskilled low-income workers – but to suck money out of other businesses in local communities.

Anglicare Gamblers Help coun-sellor Mara Lovrin told the forum there were many ways people became addicted to gambling. One factor was lack of impulse control; another was the big-win theory – that you would crack the code to winning and all your problems would be solved with the jackpot takings.

“Then there’s the environmen-tal factor, the time in life when people are more likely to gam-ble: relationship breakdowns, a death in the family, children leaving home,” Mara said.

Currently, only 15% of people with gambling problems seek professional help. One of those people, Karyn Wagner, spoke at the forum.

Karyn’s personal story highlight-ed the fact that children of peo-ple with gambling problems are more likely to develop a prob-lem themselves.

“My grandparent had gambling problems, my parents had gam-bling problems,” Karyn told the forum.

She recalled once being left outside in the car with her sister, “hungry, thirsty and scared”, for four hours while her stepfather gambled in the TAB.

She turned to poker machines herself after returning to Tasma-nia from interstate with her two young children and all her world-ly goods in two suitcases. She was hoping to win the money to set up in a new home.

Karyn, whose children are now teenagers, eventually sought help for her gambling problem in 2011.

“I don’t want my children grow-ing up thinking that gambling is the way to solve a problem,” Karyn said.

Findingsofindexationimpactsurvey

TasCOSS recently commis-sioned a survey to explore the impacts of reduced indexation of DHHS funding on Tasmanian community service organisa-tions, and what might happen if this funding trend continues.The 23 organisations participat-ing in this research overwhelm-ingly agreed that it was a para-mount issue for service providers.

Regardless of size, location of service, or service focus area, or-ganisations are finding strategic or long-term planning impossible and the delivery of core services to clients challenging.What is obvious is that a range of changes are now, individually and together, starting to “bite”. and indexation is one of these. On its own, it may present as a

relatively low amount to indi-vidual organisations in dollar terms. But when an organisation is already operating with a mini-mal budget, rising costs and an increase in demand from clients, this can mean the difference between the ability to deliver core services to clients or not.The full Indexation Impact report is available from the TasCOSS website, www.tascoss.org.au

Gabrielle Rish

18 19

Welcome to our new membersAmentalhealthfacility,aunionandavolunteerhomehelporganisationhave recently joined TasCOSS

TasCOSS recently welcomed three new organisational mem-bers. They are The Hobart Clinic (see separate profile), the Austral-ian Services Union and Launces-ton VFC Services Inc, which pro-vides community transport, home maintenance, social support and domestic assistance through its caring group of volunteers.

These three new members typ-ify the diversity of the TasCOSS membership, which ranges from organisations with one paid staff

member, through to100 per cent volunteer groups and major em-ployers in the sector.

Membership of TasCOSS starts from as little as $50 a year for or-ganisations (depending on the organisation’s income) and is $57 for waged individuals ($15 con-cession or unwaged).

The benefits of being a member include concessions on attend-ing TasCOSS events and training courses, a 20-page printed news-letter three times a year and am-

Staff of The Hobart Clinic, including CEO Amanda Quealy, front centre.

The Hobart Clinic

ple opportunity to network and provide input on policy and sec-tor development issues.

Every new member assists Tas-COSS in its role of advocating for low-income and otherwise disadvantaged Tasmanians and strengthening the sector that sup-ports them.

Visit www.tascoss.org.au to find out more about TasCOSS mem-bership or call 6231 0755 for a membership pack or to take out your annual membership.

The Hobart Clinic Association was founded more than 30 years ago by a group of health professionals.

We operate The Hobart Clinic as a private not-for-profit mental health facility with an inpatient unit as well as outpatient group therapy programs for people with anxiety and depression, addictive behaviours, eating disorders, mood disorders and psychosis.

The Clinic’s mission is to promote mental health by providing opti-mal care in a safe and support-ive environment. We take a ho-listic approach to mental health though the employment of a range of medical, nursing and al-lied health professionals.

Our inpatient program focuses on assessment and treatment of mental health conditions and our outpatient therapy programs focus on psycho-social rehabilita-tion, recovery and relapse pre-vention.

We work closely with community organisations, general practition-ers and government services to develop an integrated care plan with our patients.

Our range of outpatient pro-grams provide both continuity of care for inpatients and commu-nity support to intervene at the earliest possible time to prevent deterioration or hospitalisation.

Outpatient programs are run on a group basis and include:

• Alcohol and Drug

• Mood Management

• Anxiety Management

• Wellness and Support

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

• Memory Clinic and Memory Enhancement

• Older Persons Ageing Well

• Eating Disorders Assessment and Group Therapy

Further information about The Ho-bart Clinic is available at www.thehobartclinic.com.au or phone 6247 9960.

The Tasmanian Council of Social Service, TasCOSS, was established in 1961. TasCOSS is the peak body

for the Tasmanian community services sector.

Our mission To advocate for the interests of low-income and

otherwise disadvantaged Tasmanians, and to serve as the peak council for the state’s community

services industry.

Our visionA fair, just and inclusive Tasmania.

Wynne Russell

Policy and Research Officer

Social Policy and Research Unit

Gabrielle Rish

Communications and Membership Officer

Jill Pope

Finance Officer

Tony Reidy

Chief Executive

Tim Tabart

Development Officer

Sector Development Unit

Klaus Baur

HACC Project Officer/Consumer Engagement

Sector Development Unit

Beng Poh

Executive Assistant

Dale Rahmanovic

Development Officer

Sector Development Unit

Kath McLean

Manager, Social Policy and Research Unit

TasCOSS is supported by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Sponsored by Hesta.

Lure Wishes

Adult Literacy Support Officer

Sector Development Unit

Printed by Monotone Art Printers. Design by Charlie Bravo Design.

Printed on 100% recycled paper.

Gus Risberg

Shared Services Project Manager

Sector Development Unit

Lindsey Moffatt

Manager, Sector Development Unit

Meg Webb

Policy and Research Officer

Social Policy and Research Unit

TasCOSS