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HOME PAGE
NOVEMBER UPDATE
OCTOBER UPDATE
AUGUST
UPDATE
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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. |
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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. |
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AGM SEASON
Making a difference in our not-for-profits.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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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. |
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COMMUNITY BUILDING
NATIONAL NETWORK
CLICK HERE
to participate in the
Network. |
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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. |
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SURVEYS |
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If you are the proprietor of
a small business, please send us your thoughts on how we can support
small businesses through our |
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SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY |
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If you
are caring for an ill or disabled family member at home, please click
here to participate in our |
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Family CarERS SURVEY |
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The Centre for Civil Society was formed in 2007. It is a a public policy and
social innovation institute, established to strengthen civil society and empower
ordinary people.
The Centre is both a think tank and a social
movement. Most think
tanks in Australia and overseas are formed by organisations on the Right or the
Left of politics who have money to spend commissioning and then publishing
information in order to advance the interests of their backers. Big business,
trade unions, and universities sponsor and fund most think tanks,
and they do so with money that is usually not their own (big business uses shareholders' money, trade unions use their members' money, and universities
use taxpayers' money).
The Centre for Civil Society has been established to
promote an agenda of empowerment for people with little money or institutional
backing. People in civil society - who are not part of powerful institutional,
industrial or provider interests - are relatively powerless and invisible in
public affairs - families, consumers, carers, communities, volunteers, the aged, small
shareholders and independent owners. This
makes the Centre a very different creature from every other think tank in the country. It
conducts events and publishes papers, but it also organises in a practical way
(bringing together citizens with common interests to take initiatives, or to
further social innovation).
The core unit of our organising is the
FEDERAL ELECTORATE. In each
federal electorate (150 around Australia) we appoint a Convenor to bring
together people who wish to work locally to influence policy and opinion.
Participants organise local initiatives, events, lobbying and media activity to effect a
sea-change in public policy on social policy, with a particular but by no means
exclusive focus on disability, mental health, ageing and family issues and to
advance our agenda of empowerment. We have a particular interest in disability,
mental health, ageing and family issues because people in these situations are
the most disadvantaged and invisible Australians, and have most to benefit from
a stronger and visible civil society.
Applications for appointment as an FEA Convenor should be made to the Director -
vern@civilsociety.org.au
CLICK HERE to become involved in the work of the Centre and its
various projects.
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©
Centre for Civil Society 2007-2011 |
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TRANSFORMING OUR
SCHOOLS
CLICK HERE for
details of our campaign for a Real Education Revolution.
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PARENTS FAMILIES AND
CARERS
CLICK HERE
for
info on the National
Federation of Parents, Families and Carers. |
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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. |
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THIRD WAY FORUM
Communitarianism,
Mutualism, Third Way Thinking
CLICK HERE
to find out more. |
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SUBSCRIBE
To SUBSCRIBE to our FREE email news bulletin, enter your
email address here.
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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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How to Use this Website
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If you are visiting
this website for the first time, please note that there are two
sets of links - one at the top of each page; and a second on the
left hand side.
Click on the links on the top of the page for information on the
Centre for Civil Society - including an overview of our current
CAMPAIGNS
and
POLICIES
we would like you to comment on
.Click
on the links on the left to
JOIN,
VOLUNTEER
or make a
DONATION; or to participate in one of our
DISCUSSION forums.
Use the
SEARCH
button to find items of interest; or the
WRITE
button to send us your comments and suggestions.If you are
having problems navigating, there are additional links at
the bottom of each page. Or click here for our
PLAIN TEXT version (ideal for printing).
For those with
reading difficulties, this website has been designed so you can
click on 'Text Size' in your 'View' menu to enlarge the font..
If you need more
assistance, feel free to send a message to our
WEBMASTER.
And don't forget
to visit again soon to see our website - and our ideas,
campaigns and policies - evolve. We value your
contribution. |
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