Noel Pearson Supported self-help after ATSIC
"There
is nothing the government (or anyone else) can do for
the Aboriginal people of Australia that the people are
unwilling to do for themselves.
If people from the progressive side of the political
divide
reflect on this principle, they will agree. They would
realise
what they think of as self-determination is consistent with
this principle:
nothing will work if the people who are the subjects of
reform efforts are not
willing to make the reform.
If people from the liberal and conservative side of
the cultural and political
divide reflected on this principle, they would also agree.
After all, it is one of
their own classical nostrums about the relationship between
government and
citizens. They would think of it as the necessary
responsibility that must be
held by citizens.
Properly understood, what the Left calls
self-determination and the Right
calls responsibility are one and the same thing: the power
that people must
have to take charge of their own destiny.
In Australia the two sides have failed to recognise
this commonality. This is
because those on the progressive Left side (including the
majority of
indigenous leaders) came to interpret self-determination as
all power, no
responsibility. This was the problem with the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait
Islander Commission: it gave some substantial powers to
indigenous people,
but the mentality was one of "we want power, but it's all the
governments'
fault when there is failure". It's true these powers were
residual and many
areas of failure - not the least health and education - were
in fact state and
commonwealth government responsibilities, rather than ATSIC's.
But the
defining feature of the old ATSIC paradigm was power without
responsibility.
Those on the liberal-conservative side, on the other
hand, have also failed
on responsibility, for two reasons. First, when it comes down
to it, Australian
liberal-conservatives are still big believers in government.
They think
overwhelmingly that it is government that needs to be the
main actor in the
salvation of the indigenes. Like their social democrat
opponents, they see it
largely as a matter of state service delivery rather than
what we have come
to call in Cape York Peninsula supported self-help.
Second, while they are keen for individual
responsibility, they would prefer to
ignore any group, community or people as holders of
responsibility. Their
aversion to collectivism makes their position too extreme. So
they want to
abolish indigenous organisations, and replace them with what?
Large,
mainstream, welfare-delivering non-government organisations
like the Smith
Family, Mission Australia and so on? As if they do a better
job of delivering
welfare."
CLICK HERE to read
the full text of this article.
Transforming Our Schools
A national parent-teacher initiative
Transforming Our Schools grew out of ideas and
insights generated in
forums in Sydney on 17th August 2009 and Melbourne on 18th
August 2009.
It is a
comprehensive approach to breaking the stalemate in education
reform in Australia. It begins with parents and teachers, and
seeks political
and policy support for measures which empower grassroots
people and drive
innovation towards a Real Education Revolution.
There are three components to Transforming Our Schools:
Partners in Learning is a
parent-school partnership model, directed to
schools, and oriented to school-based innovation;
The Parent Teacher Guarantee is
directed to governments and MPs, and is
oriented to political campaigning;
Charter for
a Real Education Revolution is a
longer term vision and policy
direction statement.
Partners in Learning
This is a
parent-school partnership model,
oriented to school-based innovation and
partnership with parents which is applicable
to every school in Australia. It is oriented to
parents at the school level who want to
partner with their school in shaping and
governing the design and culture of what their
school can offer to students and their parents.
The model
based on four key features:
1.
Groups of parents participating in
Partners in Learning
determine an
educational philosophy, culture and pedagogy that fits what
they want for
their child, and this philosophy, culture and pedagogy are
subject to a
process of negotiation and agreement with their school (there
may be one
or
more parent groups in each school);
2.
Schools which embrace the
Partners in Learning
model undertake to form
a partnership with the participating parent group(s) to
implement their
preferred approaches to learning;
3.
Parents, teachers and administrators in
Partners in Learning
schools
undertake to manage the partnership in a collaborative
manner, with
reciprocal rights and responsibilities;
4. Parents
and teachers combine to select and appoint a non-parent, non-
teacher mentor for each child as an additional
partner in each child's
learning.
Partners
in Learning has a 5 step process based on the experience of
parents and teachers at Winters Flat Primary School in
Victoria.
CLICK HERE
for more information.
CLICK HERE
to register your interest
The Parent Teacher
Guarantee
The
Parent-Teacher Guarantee
is directed to governments, MPs, and
political players, and is oriented to campaigning by parents
and teachers. It
is a campaign to get MPs, parties and governments to sign the
guarantee.
Text of
The Guarantee:
"In
public office, I/We will support the introduction of the following measures
to guarantee a quantum leap in the quality of our schools:
1.Every
child and student is entitled to a portable
Individual Learning Plan that will be
accepted by
schools, teachers and specialist practitioners as a
foundation document and ongoing tool for the design
and management of each student's learning.
2.
Every parent is
entitled to negotiate with and enter
into partnerships with schools and other education
providers to shape and govern the educational philosophy,
culture and
pedagogy that best fits their child.
3. Every
parent is entitled to a student-centred funding entitlement for their
child and young person with a weighting for educational and
socio-economic
disadvantage, rural and remote location, and disability or
developmental
challenges, to give parents greater leverage in selecting an
appropriate
school for their unique child and in negotiating with and
forming partnerships
with schools and other education providers.
4. Every
parent is entitled to an annual financial report from their school on
how their student-centred funding entitlement is spent.
5. Every
parent and student is entitled to at least four certificate options to
mark the completion of their child's school education so that
the choice of
an appropriate certificate is available to meet the needs of
a diverse range of
students.
6. Every
conscientious and talented teacher is entitled to ongoing public
investment in their skills, professional development and
remuneration to
retain quality teachers in the profession and to attract the
best and brightest
of each generation into the teaching profession.
7. Every
teacher who is not suited to teaching is entitled to active support
from schools and education departments in exiting the
teaching profession
without industrial relations agendas inhibiting their rapid
movement out of the
profession.
8. Every parent
and teacher is entitled to adequate resourcing, both financial
and human, in building partnerships that enhance the quality of
learning for
each child.
9. Every
student on reaching the age of 18 is entitled to a Lifelong Learning
Account, in which post-school education, training and further
education and
community education funds may be held and retained for
lifelong use as the
student chooses."
CLICK HERE to register your interest.
Charter for a Real Education Revolution
The Charter is a longer term vision and policy
direction statement. It is not
intended for immediate campaign use, but for the development
of a more
sophisticated and strategic public debate about school and
education
reform.
CLICK HERE
to read the full text of the Charter.
CLICK HERE
to register your interest in Transforming Our
Schools.
Revolution in Castlemaine Winters
Flat Primary School
At Winters Flat Primary School in
Castlemaine in central Victoria, a group of
parents have begun a real 'Education
Revolution'. They have successfully negotiated
with a state school to introduce a stream of
education running parallel to the conventional
stream, characterised by a high level of
parental involvement in the classroom around
a negotiated curriculum and educational
philosophy. The Community Class at Winters
Flat Primary now has 75 kids in 3 classes.
Next year, the parent group will undertake the
same process as their kids move on to
secondary school.
The
precedent has been set. Parents and
state schools can enter into partnerships to
shape our education system for the 21st
century.
CLICK
HERE to register
your interest in Transforming Our Schools.
Wanted A parent and teacher contact in every
school
Your participation in Transforming Our
Schools is warmly invited. There are
many ways to become involved, and
there is no cost.
Our goal is to have a parent
contact in
every school in Australia, and a teacher
contact in every school.
To register your participation, complete this
online registration form.
Health
reform A health service 2.0
Charlie Leadbeater outlines the
case for a health service 2.0:
"All
over the developed world the assumption is the same:
health is what
hospitals and doctors deliver. The more that hospitals can
produce high
quality, personalised, mass customised treatment, along a
more or less
linear patient pathway which looks something like a
production line, the
better health care we will get. The patient goes in at one
end ill, is worked on
by doctors and nurses, and emerges out the other, like a
finished product,
well again....
The hospital based health care system was a response to
the spread of
contagious and acute disease born by urbanisation and
industrialisation in
the late 19th century. Now this system of professional
diagnosis,
prescription and monitoring has to deal with an epidemic of
chronic disease,
much of it associated with a society in which people live for
longer...
In the UK, 45% of the adult population have one or more
long-standing
medical condition. Amongst the population more than 75 years
old, the
fastest growing group of the population, the figure is 75%.
By 2030 the
proportion of 65-year olds with a long-term condition will
double. In 1990,
heart conditions and cancer were responsible for 19% of
deaths: most
people died too young to be troubled by chronic conditions.
In 2004
circulatory diseases and cancer were responsible for 63% of
deaths. They
are one of the main reasons people go to see doctors. About
80% of
consultations with a general practitioner are about an aspect
of a long-term
condition. Another 10% are for minor ailments and conditions
that are best
dealt with through self-treatment and over the counter drugs.
General
practice is increasingly a reassurance service for people who
have minor
ailments that doctors can do little or nothing about or
long-term conditions
that are also incurable...
The closed, professionalised system is too centralised,
cumbersome and closed to cope with the epidemic of
chronic conditions which mainly stem from people's
lifestyles. The front line of health care is not in hospitals
nor
even general practice waiting rooms, but in people's living
rooms and kitchens, pubs and clubs, supermarkets and
restaurants, gyms and parks. By the time someone realises
they have a chronic condition that warrants a visit to the
doctor it is too late. We need a health system which catches
conditions
early, even better prevents them altogether and allows
people to take action
without having to wait to see a doctor. Such a health system
would have as
its prime aim enabling people to stay healthy and well. That
in turn would
mean patients and users becoming participants in and
producers of their
own health: user generated health care.
We will not deal with the health challenges of the 21st
century - ageing and
chronic disease - with a professional service, hospital
health system
designed for the contagious diseases of the 19th century,
which leaves
people dependent upon doctors for solutions they usually
cannot deliver
because it is too late to do much. People need to become
participants in
and producers of their own health rather than passive
patients. A healthy
society is not what doctors deliver to us, but what we
produce together.
Social innovation by the masses not just for the masses is
what we need.
Motivation is the new medicine. Public services will be more
effective the
more they motivate, support and educate people towards more
effective self-
help: the user generated state."
CLICK
HERE
to read the full text of this article.
Consumer-Centred Health
Care National Conference 22-23 March 2010
Melbourne 22-23 March 2010
Angliss Conference
Centre
This
national conference over two days will explore the
emerging agenda of
consumer-centred health care.
Key themes
include:
Commonwealth reform initiatives: driving
change
Self-care and self-management in heath
Medicare Select: opt-in health plans
Organising and empowering health consumers
Consumer-centred systems
Consumer-centred funding arrangements
Community engagement in health reform
Partnerships between practitioners and consumers
CLICK HERE
to contribute a paper or presentation.
CLICK HERE to register.
CLICK HERE for more information.
CIMID Health Plan Chronic Illness,
Mental Illness, Disability
The
CIMID Health Plan
is a voluntary opt-in
health plan
for people with chronic illness, mental illness and
disability (CIMID
= Chronic Illness, Mental Illness and
Disability).
Individuals with these conditions, and their
families/carers, are invited to enrol with the Plan; the Plan
will then negotiate with the Commonwealth Department of
Health and Ageing (as a number of indigenous health
organisations currently
do) for funding arrangements for the development of
packages of
integrated
care for its enrolled members.
This
project is in response to the ground-breaking
recommendation of the
Final Report
of the National Hospital and Health Reform Commission
(NHHRC) on 30 June 2009, that the Commonwealth consider
over the next
two years the development of a system of competing health
plans, as a
consumer-centred, consumer choice-based extension of
Medicare, badged
in the Report as
Medicare
Select.
This is a unique opportunity for people with chronic
illness, mental illness
and disability to take some giant steps towards integrated
person-centred
health care, with a strong emphasis on coordinated care and
preventative
strategies.
The
CIMID Health Plan will be a
demonstration project in how a health
plan for person-centred care might be developed and
implemented by and for
people with chronic illnesses, mental illnesses and
disability.
Its strategy
is to draw participants
from existing networks and groups who
have an interest in care coordination, consumer choice and
self-
management.
It is envisaged that several partners will participate
in the Plan
from the corporate, academic and community organisation
fields. It is also
hoped to partner with several national bodies in the health
reform debate.
By describing this as a demonstration project,
it is acknowledged that there
will be a lot of trialling and testing of innovative
arrangements for mutual
benefit.
Governments are searching for innovative models
in chronic and mental
illness and aged frailty/disability, but the perennial
obstacle to their efforts is
the lack of a mechanism for demand aggregation (that is, a
means of
developing a pool of consumers for whom alternative funding
and care
arrangements can be planned, assembled, implemented and
evaluated).
As an opt-in pool of consumers and families with
close familiarity with
various service models in disability, mental and chronic
illness, and aged
frailty, we can assist the Commonwealth, and ourselves, by
generating our
own mechanism for demand aggregation. We understand, more
than the
average healthy citizen, what an agenda of coordinated care
is all about.
Hence our own Health Plan.
The
experiences gained by the Plan over the next six
months will be
presented at the National Conference on
Consumer-Centred Health
Care:
Policy, Innovation and Empowerment
on 22-23 March 2010.
CLICK HERE
to enrol. There is no cost.
CLICK HERE
for more information.
Leadership
Development Program for Families 2010 Intake
Applications are invited for participants in the
2010 Leadership Development Program for
Families.
The Program runs from February 2010 to
November 2010.
This is a leadership development program for
families (parents/siblings) who meet four
criteria:
1. have a family member with challenges (disability,
mental illness, chronic
illness, aged frailty, addictions, etc);
2. are searching for living solutions for their
loved one in social support,
accommodation, meaningful paid or voluntary work, or
financial security;
3. have experienced obstacles, frustration, and
powerlessness along the
way; and
4. want to play a leadership role in assisting other
families in developing
solutions, through both public policy change and social
innovation.
Participants are required to
nominate two key challenges that they are facing
at the start of the program, and each group will participate
in a shared
search for solutions to these challenges as they move through
the year.
The program will consist of:
1. Three residential weekends for visioning,
learning and skill development;
2. One three day tour of arrangements/models;
3. Online learning program
with a focus on key case studies and models;
4. Shared group input into
two nominated challenges facing the participants
over the course of the 10 months; and
5.Occasional forums, dinners
and meetings.
Diane Gow from Melbourne is the Program
Director.
Di has worked in the disability
field for 35 years, and is
passionate about family support and empowerment, social
inclusion and community building. She has worked in the
UK and Australia in planning person and family-centred
solutions to the challenges facing families with loved ones
who have complex issues. She has three sons and a foster
child.
The 10 month program is auspiced by the National
Federation of Parents,
Families and Carers.
An online registration form is
available here.
CLICK HERE for
more information.
Noel Pearson,
Peter Shergold, Phillip
Blond:
After Neo-Liberalism:
Participation, Ownership and Redistribution of Power October
28-29
National Policy Conference on the New Policy Paradigm
Sydney 28-29 October 2009
Register Here
Call for Papers
"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." Peter
Shergold
(Macquarie
Group Foundation Chair at the Centre for Social Impact,
and former secretary of the
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.)
Papers and presentations are invited which examine the
emerging shift in
public policy towards a new paradigm "in which the citizen in
placed at the
centre of power".
Papers are invited which address
these themes in the following four streams:
1. Policy
analysis, case studies, innovation proposals or policy reform
proposals in social policy in the fields of:
- Health
- Education
- Welfare
- Disability, ageing and
social support
- Rural and regional affairs
- Indigenous affairs
- Family and social
relationships
- Community strengthening and
civil society
- Rights and responsibilities
frameworks
2.
Policy analysis, case studies, innovation proposals or policy reform
proposals in economic policy in the areas of:
- Civilising global capital
- Building the capital assets of
the bottom half of society
- Disaggregating concentrations
of ownership
- Making competition work for
small consumers and small business
- Tackling corporate and
middle class welfare
3.
Critical assessments of and prognoses for:
-
Notions
of Left and Right
- Neo-liberalism
- Social democracy
- Managerialism
- Communitarianism and
mutualism
- Third Way perspectives
[Photo at right:
Phillip Blond, ResPublica, UK]
4.
Strategic perspectives on:
-
Processes of public policy change
- Processes of empowerment of
citizens and communities
- Diversifying and deepening
public debate
- Citizen participation in
reform of the political system
Expressions
of interest in presenting a paper or workshop or display should
be forwarded, in no more than 300 words by 30 September
2009, to:
Vern
Hughes, Conference Convenor.
vern@civilsociety.org.au
Tel: 0425 722 890
Register Here
CLICK
HERE for more
information.
Social Enterprise
Coalition Invitation to social enterprises
The Social Enterprise Coalition
Australia
was formed on 29th July 2009 in
Melbourne. It is a peer-generated
leadership voice and strategic
development tool for the emerging social
enterprise sector in Australia.
Membership of the Coalition is open to
all social enterprises who meet the
eligibility criteria.
There is no fee.
|
|
 |
The Coalition is a lean development-oriented
innovation-focussed network - it
is not a provider of services or member benefits, nor is it a
consultancy.
The members of the inaugural Leadership Council of the
Coalition are:
Dianne Batterham,
General Manager, Westgate Health Cooperative, South
Kingsville VIC
Denis Grehan, CEO,
Maroondah Credit Union, Ringwood VIC
Greg Peel, CEO, Community Sector
Banking, Bendigo VIC
John Simpson,
CEO, Finding Workable Solutions, Mt Barker SA
Peter Collins,
Business Manager, Bleeding Heart, Brisbane QLD
Robert Pekin,
CEO and Enterprise Coordinator, FoodConnect,
Brisbane
QLD
Paul Knight,
Managing Director, Djenbella Group, Sydney NSW
Peter Challis,
CEO, Wangaratta and Wodonga Credit Union, Wodonga
VIC
Mark Thomson,
Director, The TVS Partnership, Brisbane QLD
Robert Chewying,
Managing Director, ChewYings Lawn and Horticulture,
Nowra NSW
Gail Slocombe,
CEO, PeakCare, Brisbane QLD
Simon Cox,
Employment Training Coordinator, HopeStreet, Sydney
NSW
Cynthia Nadai,
Director Balmain / Rozelle Community Bank©
a branch of
Bendigo Bank, NSW
Vern Hughes,
Director,
Social Enterprise Partnerships, North Melbourne
VIC
To join the Coalition, complete
this online
membership form.
CLICK HERE
for more information.
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:"
CLICK
HERE to read the
full text of this article.
Rediscovering Christian Social Thought October 23
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Melbourne
Phillip Blond will also be a key speaker at this
Ecumenical Conference in Melbourne on
October 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
-
Christian Social Thought and notions of Left and
Right
Expressions of interest should be forwarded by email to
Vern Hughes
in no
more than 300 words.
Register Here
Enquiries:
Scott Stephens 0411 320 349
scott.stephens73@gmail.com
CLICK HERE
fro more information.
Christians in Politics
National Summit A Christian Social Agenda
National Summit
Centre for Theology and Ministry
24 October 2009
This
event is a political action summit,
strategic and
action-oriented in style.
Expressions of interest are
invited in
presentation of ideas, strategies and
proposals in the following two areas:
Perspectives on social and economic policy::
- Persons and social
relationships in public policy
- Building the economic assets
of the bottom half of society
- Making markets and
competition serve social purposes
- Community and associative
principles in governance and policy
- Localism and globalism in
Christian thinking
- Church institutions and
public service delivery
- Rights and responsibilities
Strategic perspectives
on:
-
Christian identity and values and social plurality
-
Processes of public policy change
- Christian communities and processes of empowerment of
citizens and neighbourhoods
- Diversifying and deepening public debate
- Christian participation in
reform of the political system
Register
Here
Enquiries:
Scott Stephens 0411 320 349
scott.stephens73@gmail.com
CLICK HERE
fro more information.
Community
Building National Network
Following
a National Symposium on
Community
Building: Critical Voices, Alternative Strategies
on 19 June 2007, a
national network of community
builders was established.
July'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.
CLICK HERE
for information on the Network.
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 HERE
to send through your
ideas and comments, or to express your
interest in this project.
AGM Season 2009: What's wrong with advocacy
organisations?
"Building the voluntary sector's
capacity to support person
centred services will be vital. But
some voluntary groups see their
main role as advocates for better
services within the traditional
professional service model."
Charlie Leadbeater
We'd like to hear from readers on why advocacy
organisations so often lose
their way and succumb to a kind of Stockholm Syndrome -
identifying more
with policy officers and officials in government and service
providers than with
user, consumers and families?
One partial
explanation is that career paths in the service
sector frequently
see staff move backwards and forwards between service
providers,
government agencies and and advocacy organisations, so that
distinctions
between them become blurred. And policy officers in one area
tend to feel
more in common with policy officers in another area than with
the unpaid,
anonymous users they might sometimes be employed to
'advocate' for.
The Carers
Associations and
the Mental Illness
Fellowship of Victoria are
cases in point. The Fellowship 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. Its policy
officers, advocates and
most of its board members will move in and out of various
professional and
consulting roles 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.
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
this change.
The movement of policy officers in Carers Victoria
is even more of a merry-
go-round. Like many organisations initially set up to serve
an advocacy role,
gradually and seamlessly, a service provision function has
been added to the
advocacy function, creating impossible conflicts of interest
in the process. A
loss of identity and an almost complete capitulation to the
logic and culture
of professional service delivery models is the result.
A meeting
of Carers Victoria members to plan a reform campaign
will be held
on Sunday 4th October at 2.30pm in Melbourne.
CLICK HERE
to contact Liz Stewart if you are interested in
participating.
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 for a
board or committee, through moral or practical support.
Click here
for more information.
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.
Organising by Federal Electorate
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.
CLICK HERE
for more information.
