Editorial:
Whatever happened to the 'Education Revolution'?
One of the more remarkable and hopeful signs of the
emerging paradigm
shift in government and social policy is the story of Peter
Shergold's jump
from Canberra bureaucrat numero uno, to advocate of
power to the people.
Peter was Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister
and Cabinet during the John Howard years, having made
his way to Canberra back in the 1970s. He was the
inaugural CEO of ASIC, surely one of the most daunting
positions from which to reflect on the achievements and
limitations of government. But his retirement from the
public service in 2008 has allowed this trained historian to
reflect seriously upon the travails of government, and to
observe the world from the standpoint of a
civilian. And fortunately, he's been
able to bring a historian's eye to
changes and trends that are gestating
below the surface of everyday
paper-shuffling:
"Already some
Australian
governments are
enabling citizens
with disabilities
or
those who have
suffered accidents
to exert greater
control over the
support services
they choose and
even, with
assistance, to
manage their
publicly funded
budgets. The
opportunity to
personalise services
and
individualise
programs can be
extended to the aged
or jobseekers, to
parents or students,
to social housing
tenants or families
under pressure.
Citizens can become
active agents in
organising the
services they
receive.
Choice can
be given voice. By
starting to regard
public funds as
their own,
those who
depend on them will
generally spend more
wisely."
But there is one
area that is standing firm against the trend: education.
Old-fashioned government paternalism remains alive and
kicking in our
schools and education departments. No matter how loudly or
expertly a
parent of a child with dyslexia presents their case for an
individualised
learning program, they will still be met by the same blank
stares and hollow
professions of "there's nothing we can do" that every parent
of a child with
learning difficulties or developmental challenges has
experienced ad
nauseum.
The phrase 'one size fits all' might be readily accepted
as inappropriate in
some areas, but in education it is still the default modus
operandi. It is the
daily operating system of teachers, principals, and regional
officials around
the country, traversing public and private sector ideological
divides as though
these were but a figment of someone's imagination.
In this context, Kevin Rudd's 'Education Revolution'
in 2007 was a spin
doctor's masterstroke. It suggested freshness and change. It
served its
electoral purpose.
It 2009, the 'Education Revolution' has become
'Building
the Education
Revolution', with a focus on debt-funded building
renovations to halls and
gymnasiums across the nation which the Rudd Government
is determined to
present as fulfilling its 'Education Revolution'
promise.
But really! Do they seriously think Australians are this stupid? A
refurbished
school hall is not an 'Education Revolution'. Not in our book.
Two forums in Sydney and Melbourne next
month will ask Whatever Happened to the
Education Revolution?
The forums will run from 10am to 2.00pm on Monday 17
August in Sydney
and Tuesday 18 August in Melbourne. They aim to gather
parents, educators
and policy makers in exploring what a real education
revolution should look
like and how we can make it happen. There is no cost
for parents.
We will explore and discuss a
Charter for a Real Education Revolution as a
tool for opening up debate about school reform and developing
a broad
parent-driven movement for real change in education. A draft
outline of the Charter is available here.
We would like your input into this
process.
"What has happened to
Aborigines and Torres Strait
Islanders is just the most horrifying symptom of
structures of governance locked in the past. It reflects a
world in which individuals are perceived by the public
servants who deliver government policy - generally with
commitment, good faith
and worthy intentions - as
beneficiaries or recipients.
Treated as
dependents, it is
scarcely surprising
that many of those
on
welfare or on the
dole learn
helplessness from
the manner of state
intervention. They
are forced to fit
themselves to the
services they
receive.
The
undermining of
self-reliance is
certainly not
confined to
indigenous
Australians.
For more than 20
years, at all tiers,
governments and
public
administrators
have
sought to increase
the efficiency and
effectiveness with
which they
deliver
programs. There has
been greater
emphasis on
achieving results
and
improving
service quality.
That's the good
news. The bad news
is that, in a
foolhardy attempt to
privatise the
language of public
management, those
who receive public
funds have been
rearticulated as
"customers"...
Too much
government is
delivered today in
ways that create
passivity. It
need
not be so. Already
there are important
signs of change
emerging, if
only
they can be
liberated from the
institutional forms
of the past. New
approaches, enhanced
by the
transformative
potential of social
media, can
create a
government2.0 in
which the citizen is
placed at the centre
of
power."
Noel PearsonThe Scream "I read the communique from the Council of
Australian
Governments meeting in
Darwin this week, which had
indigenous disadvantage as the main
agenda item.
You know that
famous painting by Edvard Munch
titled The
Scream? Imagine a more
rotund, dark figure instead with his
hands clutching his head. That's me
after reading the rubbish coming out
of
Darwin.
The Prime
Minister and his colleagues across
the country have little clue
about
what to do to achieve their stated
aim of "closing the gap" on
Aboriginal wellbeing. The COAG
partnership agreement gives me no
confidence that we are on the right
road to turning around the plight of
indigenous Australians. Putting the
words "closing the gap" in front of
every
policy initiative does not
magically turn useless policies into
effective ones.
But this is the new
mantra of bureaucrats and
politicians across the country.
The country's
most senior bureaucrats do not
understand what needs to be
done.
Their political masters know even
less. The only politician who made
any sense this week was West
Australian Premier Colin Barnett who
went
into the meeting declaring that
the shutdown of sit-down money and a
fully
concerted effort to get
indigenous people into real jobs was
the main
agenda. Barnett said:
"There is no doubt that Australia's
greatest social
challenge is the
condition of the Australian
indigenous people and I think
every
government in Australia recognises
that. I hope every person in
Australia recognises that."
The rest of it
was just a Groundhog Day of official
consternation about the
results of
the Productivity Commission's latest
biannual report on the state
of
indigenous Australia. The report
tells us not much progress has been
made from the turn of the millennium
and, indeed, there has been
deterioration in some areas. Without
a doubt the most worrying statistic
concerns rates of substantiated
child abuse. The rates are reported
as
having increased from 4 per cent
in 2000 to 6 per cent today....
Policy
formulation within the highest
levels of government is extremely
poor.
The Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet has developed
all sorts of
facsimiles of Downing
Street-style "strategic policy",
"joined-up government"
capabilities.
The Blairite social policy
revolutions that largely failed are
being
regurgitated by a new
generation of policy wonks who have
no clue about
how social change
happens in the real world."
Dates for Australia's first Social
Innovation Camp have been confirmed for
October 15-16.
The Social
Innovation Camp concept was developed
in the UK by the Young Foundation, and has been used
successfully to harness and develop ideas for social
innovation. The concept is that innovators present their
ideas in an intensive two day forum to a panel of
financiers, marketers, designers, IT gurus, and
entrepreneurs to explore development and application
possibilities.
A selection process precedes the
Camp, so that 5 ideas for innovation
are brought forward for intensive treatment. Resources and
networks
accessed during the Camp will hopefully continue afterwards
through to the
application stage.
This first Australian Social Innovation Camp
will restrict its 'social' brief to
innovations that address social disadvantage or exclusion. It is hoped that
5
ideas will be brought forward to a
panel of up to 100 people.
CLICK HERE
to
express an interest in the Camp, either as a prospective
innovator, or as a prospective panelist.
CLICK HEREfor information on the UK Social Innovation Camp.
Phillip
Blond Capitalism for the poor
Phillip Blond, philosopher, theologian and economist, will
be in Australia in October as a guest of the Centre for Civil
Society. His Progressive Conservatism Project
in Britain is
turning the left-right spectrum upside
down in a way we
haven't seen for a century.
Blond describes 'progressive conservatism' as 'using
conservative means
to achieve progressive goals'. This means using the
institutions of civil
society (families, neighbourhoods, voluntary associations) to
achieve social
goals rather than government departments, quangos and NGOs.
This is a
revolution in public policy. It is the revolution we need in
Australia too.
"Over the last 30
years the Anglo-Saxon world has adopted
the most
disingenuous of economic
systems. Under the guise of capitalism
for all, we
have produced an
extraordinary amount of capital but an
ever diminishing
number of capitalists.
Rather than trickling downwards, wealth
has leveraged
upwards – denying
increasing numbers of people the ability
to truly own,
trade and prosper.
In 1976, excluding
property, the bottom half of the UK
population owned 12%
of the marketable
wealth; by 2003 that had fallen to just
1%. Economists at
Société Générale
recently calculated that in the United
States, the income
of the highest paid
fifth rose by 60% after 1970, while for
all others it has
fallen by 10%. Through
monopolisation of capital markets,
deployment of
unprecedented leverage
capital has centralised around a model
of debt-
financed speculation that –
without any due diligence – has been
transferred
wholesale to the taxpayer,
more than doubling the entire
national debt.
The key political aim ... must be the
generation of an asset effect for the
decapitalised bottom half of society.
Assets must, however, come from
somewhere, and since redistribution and
expenditure via the state has such
a
poor record in alleviating dependency, a
fresh approach is required.
Welfare or
public expenditure should move from a
spending to an investment
model. The aim
must be to free the poor from welfare
subsidy through the
generation of
asset independence.
The following are
some ideas as to how this might
be achieved:"
After Neo-Liberalism: Ownership,
Participation and Community - The
New Policy Paradigm October 28-29
Phillip Blond will be a keynote speaker at this
National Policy Conference in
Sydney on October 28-29.
Expressions of interest are invited in presentation of policy
ideas and policy
perspectives in the form or papers or workshops on the
following conference
themes:
Changing
the Way Government Works
Fixing
the Political Process
Re-Capitalising the Bottom Half of Society
Re-Designing Social Policy
Re-Thinking Markets
Expressions of interest should be forwarded by email to
Vern Hughes
in no
more than 300 words.
CLICK HERE
to express your interest in the
Policy Conference.
Rediscovering Christian Social
Thought October 22-23
Phillip
Blond will also be a key speaker at this Ecumenical
Conference in
Melbourne on October 22-23.
Expressions of interest are invited in presentation of papers
on the following
conference themes:
Historical Formulations of Christian Social Thought
Catholic
Social Thought and Distributism in Australia
Anglican
and Reformed Traditions of Christian Social Thought
in Australia
Economics, Capital Ownership and Markets in
Christian Social Thought
Associative Relationships in Theology, Economics,
Society, Politics
Re-Framing Social Justice
Theological Liberalism and Conservatism/Political
Liberalism and Conservatism
Expressions of interest should be forwarded by email to
Vern Hughes
in no
more than 300 words.
CLICK HERE
to express an interest in the
Conference.
Following
a National Symposium on Community
Building: Critical Voices, Alternative Strategies on 19 June 2007, a
national network of community
builders was initiated.
Last month's National Conference on
Natural
Neighbourhoods, Real Communities
adopted a number of
initiatives for
national development and coordination of key community
building strategies
that will be taken up by the Network.These are:
Street
by Street
Neighbourhood
Power
Circles of Support
KeyRing Supported Living
Networks
The
Sharehood
Neighbourhood Cultural Exchange
National Street Party Weekend November 28-29
Social Inclusion Week November 23-29
CLICK HERE
to participate in the Network. There is no cost.
UnitingCare Wesley
in Adelaide has
developed a neighbourhood
support program
called In Your Street. It aims to foster the
development of caring communities by linking
up people who live in the same street
or
nearby. The focus is on practical helping
tasks which can relieve
isolation and make the difference between someone
remaining in their own home or
needing to move into more supportive
accommodation, such as:
Taking the bin in
and out
Hanging washing
Getting a few items
from the shops
Getting mail from
the letter box
Calling in for a
chat
Practising language
skills
Our Street by Street
project will replicate this model in towns and suburbs
around Australia. Its beauty is its simplicity.
We would like to hear from
individuals and organisations around the country
interested in participating in rolling out Street by
Street on a national scale.
Community centres, service clubs,
neighbourhood houses, community
health centres, scout and guide groups, and voluntary
associations are
some of the organisations that we hope will participate in
auspicing a local Street by Street initiative.
Where two or more residents in a street are known to be
in need of regular
practical support from neighbours, an auspicing group will
begin by
distributing a flyer in that street, inviting neighbours who wish to lend a hand
to
make contact with the group, attend an information session, and begin
connecting up.
CLICK HERE
for further information and to
register your interest.
Neighbourhood Power is an initiative of the City
of Wodonga in north east Victoria. It is a practical
exercise in devolving power to neighbours that
deserves to be replicated in communities around
Australia.
We would like to get 50 local councils across the
country to take up Neighbourhood Power. We would
like your involvement in a campaign to achieve this goal.
Tracey Farrant coordinates
Neighbourhood Power in Wodonga. This is how
she describes the project:
"Imagine a city that is rich with neighbourhoods –
Parents help each other
with child minding, potluck dinners on Friday nights, at a
different house
each week. Families take turns at updating the neighbourhood
notice
boards with local birthdays, activities and bits of news. A
street that owns a
set of pink plastic flamingo’s that turn up in a different
front yard each week
and children make great detours walking to school to include
this street in
the journey because it’s so much fun finding the flamingos.
Adults and
teenagers working together to fix the neighbourhood
children’s broken bikes.
Young people giving impromptu concerts in local parks on
weekends.
In Wodonga, we acknowledge that
the potential for this fantastic picture
already exists within the imagination, skills and capacities
of our local
neighbourhoods.
But instead of the
traditional approach of “harnessing” all this potential
and
“leading” our people forward, Neighbourhood Power is putting
the leadership
and power firmly back into the hands of our residents. It’s
up to our
residents to come forward with their visions and dreams and
plans – our role
is to walk along side our community people and act as guide,
enabler,
facilitator and capacity builder. Quite a different approach!
One of the key
tools to this new development approach is our matching
grants scheme. The concept of matching grants is
acknowledging that
communities are full of fantastic assets, skills and
talents. With a few
dollars, and courage on council’s behalf to get out of the
way and let people
get on with their own projects, not only does the city get
infrastructure and
community development outcomes, but also improved
relationships, real
community ownership of the city and a higher level of
democratic
involvement.
What is a matching
grant?
To qualify for a matching grant, a group of
neighbours come up with a project, request a
grant, and match the grant dollars with a
contribution of their own.
For example, 4 neighbours decide that there are
a number of new people in their area that they
don’t know. They get together one Saturday
afternoon and plan a bbq event...They can
apply for up to $x from the matching fund to
supply food, entertainment, decorations etc.
This same concept works for activities such as
playground upgrades, traffic calming activities,
environmental projects, public art projects. The
list is as long as the imagination.
We would like to hear from individuals and organisations around the country
interested in a campaign to press their municipality to
introduce Neighbourhood Power.
CLICK HERE
for further information and to
register your interest.
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
Australia
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.
Information,
resources and contacts will be posted online.
CLICK
HERE for further
information and to register your interest.
KeyRing Supported Living Networks
are a successful model of social
inclusion for people with disabilities, people with mental
illnesses, vulnerable
young people and others in need of supported living.
A Network consists of ten houses or flats in the same
neighbourhood, within
walking distance of each other. The tenth home is a residence
for a Network
Volunteer or Worker who lives in the same neighbourhood and
acts as an
anchor for the group. In exchange for free rent and utilities
the Network
Volunteer or Worker provides the group with support on a
part-time or flexible
basis. This arrangement enables KeyRing to build layers of
support around
the network members and with others in the neighbourhood.
We would like to see 50 KeyRing Networks up and running
around Australia
very soon. Through sharing information and contacts, and
working together,
we can achieve this goal.
We would like to hear from individuals and
organisations interested in
participating in a KeyRing Network, or in supporting or
hosting the
development of a Network.
CLICK
HERE for further
information and to register your interest.
The Sharehood A Neighbourhood Community Building
Infrastructure
The
Sharehood is an initiative of Rachel Kitchener in
the northern suburbs of
Melbourne. It is all about sharing resources within a
neighbourhood, such as
sewing machines, cars, tools, books and washing machines.
Skills too are
meant to be shared - gardening help, handiwork, bike repairs
and so on.
The Sharehood websitewww.thesharehood.org
allows neighbours to put up a
profile of the goods they are willing to lend, the produce
they create, and the
skills they are willing to share. Logged in neighbours can
browse or search
these profiles. They can also have forums for car-pooling,
sharing of goods,
freebies, wanted items, and a social forum.
If you would like set up a 'hood' in your neighbourhood,
get in touch through
the website and a hood can be set up up on the website for you.
Neighbourhood Cultural Exchange
Heinz Kreuz is an elected councillor in the City of
Boroondara in Melbourne, and a Professor of Germanic
Studies and Linguistics at Monash University. This is not
a common double role.
Having
developed a university-based conversation and
cultural exchange program between ageing immigrants to
Melbourne from Italy, Spain, Germany and Greece, and
young students learning these languages, Heinz is keen
to extend this
program into the community. His vision is for community-based
conversation
and cultural exchange programs linking people across
generations in
settings of cultural diversity.
Heinz is
keen to receive ideas and suggestions about how this
might be
developed and implemented on a large scale.
CLICK HEREto send through your
ideas and comments, or to express your
interest in this project.
The idea of
a common weekend around the country when neighbours are
encouraged to hold simultaneous street parties has been
developed by
Jonathan Welsh, of the Choir of Hard Knocks, now the
Choir of Hope and
Inspiration.
This Week is also an initiative of
Jonathan Welsh, and
it provides
a potentially useful public profile
opportunity for lots of community
inclusion initiatives.
Jonathan
says "Every Australian needs to be
able to connect with family,
friends and work, along
with their own personal interests and local
community in order to feel socially included, and an
intrinsic part of the
fabric of Australian society
and culture. There is no more important issue,
and
time for us all to start to care, connect and
support each other through
some of the hardest times
our country has ever faced as we move into the
21st
Century."
CLICK HEREto let us know your
thoughts on how this week might profitably
be used for grass-roots community building initiatives.
Social
Enterprise Coalition Melbourne Roundtable July 29
The social enterprise field in
Australia requires its
own
leadership and public voice drawn
from its own ranks. An initial
roundtable discussion in Sydney in
June explored the role of this voice
and the form it might
take. This
second roundtable discussion in
Melbourne will further this agenda.
The
roundtable will take place on
Wednesday 29 July at mecu
Credit
Union, 222 High St, Kew from
11.00am to 1.00pm. A light lunch
will
follow, courtesy of mecu Credit Union.
The
Social Enterprise Coalition will be a leadership
vehicle and voice for
social enterprise. To represent the full scope of the sector,
its Leadership
Council will comprise two representatives from each of:
a. cooperatives and
mutuals
b. for-profits with a social purpose
c.
community sector ventures for a social purpose
d. indigenous businesses and social enterprises
e.
rural community businesses and social enterprises
f.
environmental businesses and social enterprises
g.
consumer empowerment businesses
Expressions of interest
are invited
in membership of the Leadership Council
according to this schedule of two representatives from each
of six sector
segments. Please forward your EOI by email and include the
following
information:
a. The sector segment you wish to represent;
b. Background information about your social enterprise;
c. A CV or statement about your background and
experience in social
enterprise; and
d. A statement of no more than 300 words on the issues and
challenges
facing the social enterprise sector in Australia.
Six Discussion Points
were considered at the previous social enterprise
leadership roundtable, and were amended as follows. These Six Points will
be reviewed and
finalised on 29 July:
1. The social enterprise sector in Australia lacks a peer-generated leadership and a public voice. The
UK Social Enterprise
Coalition provides a good working model for the creation of a leadership and voice.
2. A social enterprise is a
financially independent, market-based business for a social purpose. It may be for- profit or
not-for-profit. A venture that is dependent on government or philanthropic or charitable
funding is best
described as something other than a social enterprise.
3. An Australian
Social Enterprise Coalition will be a leadership vehicle and voice for social enterprises. To represent the full scope of
the sector, its Leadership Council will comprise two representatives from
each of:
a. cooperatives and mutuals b. for-profits with a social purpose
c. community sector ventures for a social purpose d. indigenous businesses and social enterprises
e. rural community businesses and social enterprises
f. environmental businesses and
social enterprises
g. consumer empowerment businesses
4. The
Coalition will be a leadership vehicle and voice, not a provider of
services or member benefits or employment. It
will speak to governments
and the general public on the value of social enterprise and
engage them in
the growth and development of the social enterprise sector.
5. The Coalition will advocate against government
interference in the social enterprise field. It will
not seek special industry assistance but
will seek
major regulatory reform in creating a favourable operating
environment for
social enterprise.
6. The
Coalition will also advocate for a key role for social enterprise in
the break-up and reform of service delivery structures in health,
ageing, education, housing, indigenous affairs, community services,
rural affairs and environmental innovation.
CLICK HERE
to express an interest in participating in the roundtable discussion, or if you can't attend, an interest in
participating in this project.
Social
Enterprise Mark A brand for social enterprises?
f One of the early tasks for the new Social Enterprise
Coalition will be to consider the development of what
in the UK is called a
Social Enterprise Mark - a
trademark designating enterprises which display
the
SEM as bona fide social enterprises which warrant
the custom and support
of the general public.
[Photo: Cape York Red Gum. Pure Bush Oils.
Boys from the Bush]
A fierce debate is taking place in the UK as to
which kind of ventures should
be served by the SEM. The UK debate is plagued by the
participation of
many organisations which are not businesses but non-trading
community
projects. Fortunately, the Social Enterprise Coalition
in Australia will have
short-circuited this debate by restricting the term social
enterprise to
genuine social businesses.
A glimpse into the UK debate can be found in this review
from Laurence de
Marco of the Social Entrepreneurs Network of Scotland:
"Work towards establishing a UK wide social enterprise
mark (SEM)
continues on schedule for a November roll out- but
discussions have taken
a turn which makes me uneasy. The English Government (Office
of the
Third Sector) are keen to bring two things together- a
widespread awareness
campaign about social enterprise- and the roll out of the
SEM. The wider
campaign is to raise profile and will invite a large number
of people and
agencies to sign up their support- the SEM is only for
authentic social
enterprises. The problem arises because it is proposed that
both the
campaign and the SEM are to carry brands "which have a strong
visual
continuity"- which means customers are intended to assume
that they are
parts of the same thing. This implies that anyone who claims
to support
social enterprise will be able to brand alongside us- which
we think will invite
confusion about what the brand actually identifies."
CLICK HERE to tell us your views
about the value of of a Social Enterprise
Mark in Australia.
"Malcolm Turnbull needs to bring
Noel Pearson to Canberra as
a
conservative to not only revive
the quality and substance of
the
Coalition, but to improve the
fabric of the whole National
Parliament.
There is one thing that current
opinion polls will not tell you
and that is that
both sides of
parliament need a profound shake
up. When politics leaves
you
feeling sick in your stomach,
bored out of your mind – the
idea of new
hope and blood is
overwhelmingly appealing. The
most admired potential
future
Prime Minister of Australia is
almost certainly Noel Pearson. If
Malcolm Turnbull has any sense he
will now use whatever power he
has as
Federal Coalition leader
to bring
Noel Pearson into the Federal
parliament as
a conservative."
Update:
Charities that pay collectors
Many thanks to readers who sent
in additions to and comments on our list
of charities that pay collectors while making out that
they're volunteers.
We think this practice of hiring
back-packers and students to pretend to be volunteers stinks.
The
charities we know of to date which engage in this
practice include:
Australian Red Cross
Oxfam
PLAN
World Vision
The
Wilderness Society
Greenpeace
Australian Conservation Foundation
The
Fund for Nature
Medecins sans Frontieres
Mission Australia
Amnesty International
There are four recruitment agencies that specialise in
supplying back-
packers and students to the charities:
AIDA
Sales & Marketing Pty Ltd
Cornucopia
Consultancy Pty Ltd
Veracious Business Solutions Pty Ltd
Face2Face Fundraising
Australia
Out of every credit
card holder signed up by the recruitee, a proportion of
the
donation goes to the labour hire recruiter, and a proportion
goes to the kid
hired to make the approaches to donors. We are keen to find
out what the
breakdown is for each donated dollar.
CLICK HERE
to send through any information you have about the
actual
breakdowns.
We are
also keen to publish a detailed breakdown of costs in
the child
sponsorship industry, and where this money goes. If you can
help with any
information, send it in.
The Mental Illness
Fellowship of
Victoria was formed by families of
people with schizophrenia in
1977. But over the years families
and consumers have been
steadily squeezed out. The
'Fellowship' has been turned into
a service provider, just like any other service provider.
Most of Its board are
consultants and professionals in the mental health industry.
Today
the Mental Illness Fellowship of Victoria has a
board of between 12
and 20. Just 2 of these are from families with a person with
a mental illness.
A group of parents and individuals with a mental
illness are gathering support
for a General Meeting in MI Fellowship to change the
Constitution to require
at least 6 of its board members to be families or carers of a
person with a
mental illness, and at least 2 to be consumers. That's hardly
radical for a
'fellowship' of people in mental health.
The group also want to stop the Board of MI
Fellowship from endorsing its
hand-picked people to fill the Board positions, instead of
trusting MIF
members to vote for its own candidates. It's proposing a rule
change here
too.
CLICK
HERE
to contact Liz Stewart if you are a member of
MIF and are able
to add your name to the requisition to hold a General Meeting
to make these
two changes.
If you've been considering
putting yourself forward for election to a board or
committee in your not-for-profit this year, we want to hear from you.
We are particularly keen to hear from people interested in nominating for
election to the
following boards:
Australian Credit Union
Carers Victoria
National Seniors
Australian Unity
Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria
Autism Victoria
Carers ACT
Carers SA
Complete this AGM Expression of Interest Form
to express your interest or to tell us your views on organisations you believe need a leadership challenge.
Tell us too if you want to assist others who are nominating, through moral or practical support.
Volunteer
Three
roles available with the Centre for Civil Society
The Centre for
Civil Society is experiencing huge growth in the scope and scale of its activities. If you are looking for a volunteer
role that is intellectually stimulating and practically challenging, we
want to hear from you.
We have three roles for which we are
seeking to appoint volunteers. Applicants are invited from all states and territories, for
varying time commitments.
Events Organiser
-
assisting in the organisation of forums and
conferences
Writer -
mentoring and support is available in writing
news and opinion pieces on various topics which
fit the Centre's agenda
Administrative Assistant -
assisting in various administrative, financial
and database management tasks
If you have an interest in any of
these roles, please send a CV and the names of 3 referees along with a covering letter on your
interest in the work of the Centre to
Liz Stewart.
Register
your participation in our five point,
non-party-political campaign for an agenda of
respect, empowerment, and inclusion.
CLICK HERE
to register
in your
electorate (there is no cost).
On registering, participants will be connected to an
online forum in their electorate, and will receive access to resources and
guidelines for local activity.
This message notifies you of news,
events, publications and opinions from the Centre for
Civil Society, a not-for-profit non-party political
think tank leading an empowerment agenda for ordinary people in Australia.
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update, simply reply to this email with 'unsubscribe'
in the text or subject line.
NOTE THE DATE After Neo-Liberalism: Ownership,
Participation and Community - The
New Policy Paradigm
National Policy Conference
OCTOBER 28-29 2009
Sydney
NOTE THE DATE
MAKING IT
PERSONAL
Charles Leadbeater, Jamie Bartlett and Niamh Gallagher
have authored this highly influential Demos Report on Self-Directed
Services and Personal Budgets. This small publication is set have a lasting
impact on social policy debate for many years to come.
Charlie Leadbeater Click here
to read
Making It
Personal.
For purchases, contact
Audra Kunciunas
Tel 03 9878
3477 Email
admin@cra.org.au
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."
Mark Latham, Mutualism: A Third Way for Australia,"
1999. CLICK HEREto read
more.
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 a family member at home who has an illness or
disability or aged frailty, please click here to
participate in our
Family CarERS SURVEY.
RESPECT
EMPOWER
INCLUDE
brings together people in each federal
electorate (150 electorates around Australia) to work
locally in engaging our communities and our
representatives in an agenda of respect, empowerment and
inclusion.
CLICK HERE
to join us
THE number of
Australians reporting long-term mental and
behavioural problems has risen by 200,000 in the
past three years.
Figures released by
the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday show a
9 per cent jump in the prevalence of mental ill
health between 2004-05 and 2007-08, to 2.3 million
from 2.1million.
The number of
Australians popping pills and potions for
depression, anxiety and insomnia has skyrocketed
over the same period. The proportion of people using
prescription drugs, herbal supplements or vitamins
for mental wellbeing almost doubled from 19per cent
to 37 per cent.
Of those on
medication, antidepressants (72 per cent), sleeping
pills (27 per cent) and anti-anxiety medicines (23
per cent) were the most frequently used drugs among
adults, the latest National Health Survey found.
Source:
Australian Bureau of Statistics,4363.0.55.001 2009. CLICK HERE
for the
full report.
NO CLUE ...
"The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has
developed all sorts of facsimiles of Downing
Street-style "strategic policy", "joined-up government"
capabilities. The Blairite social policy
revolutions that largely failed are
being regurgitated by a new
generation of policy wonks who have
no clue about
how social change
happens in the real world."
Noel Pearson Click hereto read more.
CORPORATE WELFARE
WATCH
Latest Handout Tally
$6.2b handout to
car-makers
$2b Commercial property construction industry
$3.9b Free emission permits to coal-fired electricity
generators
$2b Car dealer finance guarantee
$149m GMH 4 cylinder car
RESPECT
EMPOWER
INCLUDE
brings together people 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.
CLICK HERE
to join us
NOTE THE DATE After Neo-Liberalism: Ownership,
Participation and Community - The
New Policy Paradigm
National Policy Conference
The 
To qualify for a matching grant, a group of
social
This Week is also an initiative of
The Mental Illness
Fellowship of
