Centre for Civil Society
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We bring people together in each federal electorate (150 electorates around Australia) to work locally in engaging our communities and our  representatives in an agenda of empowerment of ordinary people and strengthening of civil society.
 CLICK HERE to join us.
SELF-DIRECTED
SERVICES AND PERSONAL BUDGETS

You can take charge of your social support, education and health care through a personal budget.
CLICK HERE for further information.
AGM SEASON

Making a difference in our not-for-profits.
CLICK HERE for further information.
STREET BY STREET

Linking up people who live in the same street or nearby to build community through practical helping tasks - on a national scale.
 CLICK HERE for further information.
COMMUNITY BUILDING
NATIONAL NETWORK
CLICK HERE  to participate in the Network.

LEFT AND RIGHT?

"The Left and Right have been as bad as each other. The Left has allowed its distrust of markets and endless faith in government to obscure the importance of civil society. The Right has been so focused on replacing the state with markets that it has forgotten how to cultivate a trusting society.

This is the politics of the absurd. The Left identifies with the good society but rarely talks about the mutualism and trust between people. The Right recognises the importance of moral obligation but gives the impression of trusting market transactions more than civil society.

Few things seem to happen anymore without a government law or market transaction to guide them. This is how record levels of GDP in Australia now sit alongside record levels of crime, social stress and family  breakdown. The political balance needs to swing back towards civil society.

This task, in fact, requires a new type of politics."
Mark Latham, Mutualism: A Third Way for Australia," 1999.
 CLICK HERE to read more. 

SURVEYS
If you are the proprietor of a small business, please send us your thoughts on how we can support small businesses through our
SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY

If you are caring for an ill or disabled family member at home, please click here to participate in our

Family CarERS  SURVEY 

 
 
 

Community building NATIONAL NETWORk

A NATIONAL NETwork of community builders


CIRCLES OF SUPPORT

Circles of Support are a key strategy to make social inclusion work for people with disabilities, people with mental illnesses, vulnerable children and families, young people in foster care, single young parents, and others struggling with social isolation. By building an intentional circle of support around a person, comprising friends,  neighbours, family, shopkeepers, drivers and support workers, real connections and communities can be built.

We would like to hear from individuals and organisations around the country interested in developing Circles of Support in their community.

And we'd like to hear from people who are already participating in or running Circles of Support, so we can share experiences and information and assist others to start up.

We want to make it as easy as possible to find out how Circles of Support might be able to transform the lives of people close to us.

Our goal is 100 Circles of Support by the end of 2010. And 300 by 2011. The conference on 21/22 April will explore how to best achieve this goal.

Information, resources and contacts will be posted in the members section of the Community Building National Network.

Register your interest in participating by using the form below.

Further information:

Vern Hughes
03 9824 4713
network@civilsociety.org.au
 

CIRCLES OF SUPPORT
Registration of Interest Form

Name  

Email  

Phone  (bh)     Phone (ah) 

Organisation  

Address  


  I am interested in Circles of Support but am not currently
participating in one.

  I am currently participating in a Circle of Support.

  I am currently facilitating or hosting a Circle (or Circles) of Support.


     Tick the boxes in the areas where you are interested in Circles:

       Disability
       Mental illness
       Young person in foster care
       Foster care family
       Ageing
       Young parent
       School student
       Vulnerable child
       Drug/alcohol   
       CALD


Tell us about yourself and your interests

 

 © Centre for Civil Society 2007-2010

TRANSFORMING OUR SCHOOLS

CLICK HERE for details of our campaign for a Real Education Revolution.

PARENTS FAMILIES AND CARERS

CLICK HERE for info on the National Federation of Parents, Families and Carers.
MAKING IT PERSONAL

Charlie Leadbeater, Jamie Bartlett and Niamh Gallagher have authored this highly influential Demos Report on Self-Directed Services and Personal Budgets.
CLICK HERE to read Making It Personal.
THIRD WAY FORUM
Communitarianism,
Mutualism, Third Way Thinking
CLICK HERE to find out more.

SUBSCRIBE

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Family Carers
There are 2.7million family carers of people with a disability, a chronic or mental illness, or aged frailty in Australia. They are invisible to politicians and policy makers. Read more...
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