Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Services

For 29 years, Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Services has proudly stood as the Central Coast's only Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, serving 6,000 of the 22,000 Aboriginal people in the region.

We offer an incredible suite of 52 services and programs that span Medical, Social, Emotional, and Wellbeing support—built on our transdisciplinary model of care.

Named in honour of Eleanor Duncan who sadly passed at 48 due to preventable disease, and one of the first Aboriginal nurses to graduate in NSW, our legacy is deeply rooted in her story. Eleanor's family moved from Moree to the Central Coast in the 1950s, and her spirit continues to inspire us as we carry out her vision of holistic, culturally responsive health care for Aboriginal families.

From Elders Care and Out of Home Care (OOHC) to NDIS services, Homelessness support, Connected Beginnings, and our renowned language program, Ninganah No More, we deliver on our commitment to improving lives. Our services are more than just health care; they are a testament to our enduring cultural protocols, a deep respect for community, and a constant drive for innovation.

As a flagship organisation, we continue to showcase Blak excellence across every aspect of our work—celebrating cultural identity, resilience, and the pursuit of long, healthy lives for all. We’re more than just a service provider; we are a beacon of strength, empowering our community with the tools, care, and support they need to thrive.

Together, we build strong, healthy, and long lives—today and for future generations.

Last week, NCOSS CEO Cara Varian appeared before the Public Accounts Committee to provide evidence on the formation of the new NSW Wellbeing Budget Framework.

A wellbeing budget framework is a great idea because we know that not everything that is important can be measured by dollars.

We support the government's focus on equity, inclusion and fairness. For this new framework to create meaningful change it must include the definition and measurement of poverty in NSW as a baseline to understanding community need and creating the right programs to address them. We also recommended that a social inclusion index and wealth inequality measure be included to better understand the needs of the people who live in NSW.

NCOSS is calling for nominations for election as a Director to the NCOSS Board. This year, there are five vacancies to fill.

To be eligible for election to the NCOSS Board, you will need to be the “nominated representative” of an NCOSS member organisation or an individual member in your own right. Nominations must also be:

Proposed by a NCOSS member (i.e. the nominated representative of another NCOSS member organisation or an individual member)
Seconded by another NCOSS member.

The completed nomination form must be emailed to the Company Secretary by 11:59pm on Sunday, 29 September 2024. For more information, visit our website or email us.

Resolutions for consideration by the Board also close on 11:59pm on Sunday, 29 September 2024, using this form.

Under one of the raft of “Closing Loopholes” changes to the Fair Work Act, intentionally underpaying staff will become a criminal offence from 1 January 2025. The new laws will not criminalise honest mistakes. They apply to employers who intend to underpay employees (and those that do not take reasonable measures to ensure compliance). However, even if the underpayment is unintentional, hefty fines may still apply.

Employers can mitigate risk – and establish a compliance baseline – including by:

Reviewing the work their employees are doing and ensuring their employees are correctly graded
Conducting an audit to identify and rectify any pay-related compliance issues
Reviewing payroll rules to ensure they are consistent with the award or agreement (whichever is applicable)
Ensuring record keeping is capturing accurate and reliable information.

Will knowing that your staff regularly do unpaid overtime constitute wage theft?

Margaret Tipper, Executive Officer of NCOSS member organisation WESTIR Ltd, has also flagged concerns that sector organisations may put themselves in jeopardy under the new laws if they know their staff are regularly putting in additional hours to meet the ever-increasing demand for services, but are not claiming overtime or time in lieu (which is technically overtime).

“Workers in our sector go above and beyond because they genuinely care about the people knocking on their service’s door, and who do not have anywhere else to go,” Margaret said. “That has been exploited by successive NSW Governments that have not provided enough funding for the sector to do the work the government would otherwise have to.

“Criminalising intentional wage theft has, rightly, put this issue in the spotlight. We should be be following the award as a minimum and ensuring workers are being paid correctly, including for overtime or getting time in lieu instead. Now there’s a further reason to make sure worker are not working hours they are not being paid for.”

NCOSS has also been lucky to engage experts in employment laws, Lander & Rogers, on a pro bono basis to help us work out whether knowing your employees are working unpaid, additional hours will put your organisation on the wrong side of the new laws. Stay tuned.

The People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis has shown the far-reaching effects of the housing crisis on people’s lives. It called for a drastic rethink of how Australia tackles housing.

Now, the Roadmap to Reform has turned that work into a plan for all parties and candidates, ahead of the next Federal Election, with four key elements:

1. Raising the rate of JobSeeker and income payments

2. Coordinating nationally consistent protections for renters

3. Phasing in tax reform

4. Implementing a broad-based social housing program.

Read the roadmap here.

Rosalie Rendu Forum - Rental Reform
Vinnies NSW
16 October, Online
Free | Register here

This year’s theme is: “Rental Reform: Is ending no grounds eviction the end of the story?”

Join us as we hear from leaders advocating for a range of reforms to make renting fairer, more affordable and of an acceptable quality for low-income households.

Our speakers include: Trina Jones, NSW Rental Commissioner; Jemima Mowbray, Tenants’ Union NSW; Dr Penelope Bowyer-Pont, Macquarie University.

Navigating Boundaries and Difficult Conversations
LEAD
30 October, Rooty Hill Novotel
$55 - $90 | Register here

In community services, where the lines between professional and personal lives often intersect, it’s easy for boundaries to become blurred. The very qualities that make you a compassionate and nurturing service provider can also leave you susceptible to blurring, especially when coupled with fatigue. Establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries is crucial for the safety and respect of both you and your clients.

Dementia Australia Diversity Small Grants
Closing Date: 11 October 2024

Dementia Australia is offering grant opportunities of up to $30,000 (inc. GST) to Australian Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse organisations or groups.

This grant aims to:

increase equity of access to dementia information and support across diverse groups
build greater understanding of dementia
empower staff and community leaders to facilitate conversations about dementia in their community.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Pride Foundation Australia Small Grants
Closing Date: 18 November 2024

The Small Grants program supports projects proposed by individuals and or organisations and or communities who would otherwise be limited by the constraints of other funding programs.

The maximum grant has been increased to $1000 in 2022 and there will be more grants awarded (if successful) each round. The project needs to directly or indirectly assist, involve and benefit LGBTQIA+ people and promote positive social outcomes and mental health in the community.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Lesbians Incorporated Grant
Closing Date: 21 September 2024

Lesbians Incorporated has established a Community Grants Program to give out $20,000 in grants (grant funding is up to $2000 per successful application) per round in 2024.

To be eligible for funding, projects must demonstrate that they:

meet an identified social, cultural, educational, health, welfare, recreational, personal development or legal need of the lesbian community;
target discrimination against lesbians and/or aim to improve the civil rights and/or status of lesbians within the general community;
aim to improve the access of lesbians to programs, services, activities and opportunities available to the general community;
aim to increase the vocational training and/or employment opportunities of lesbians.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Some of the latest from our Jobs Board:

Alcohol and Other Drugs Community Service Worker (Lilyfield) - WHOS - VIEW JOB

Rural and Regional Community Development Officer (Wagga Wagga) - NSW STARTTS - VIEW JOB

MCRN Manager (Blue Mountains) - Mountains Community Resource Network - VIEW JOB

Speak Out Dual Diagnosis Program Caseworker/Counsellor (Sydney) - WEAVE - VIEW JOB

Team Leader, Community Health Promotion (Newcastle & Hunter) - ACON - VIEW JOB

Executive Assistant (Inner City Sydney) - Seniors Rights Service - VIEW JOB

Counsellor (South West Sydney) - South West Child, Adolescent & Family Services - VIEW JOB

Senior Carer Practitioner (Nowra) - Anglicare - VIEW JOB

NCOSS gives its members the opportunity to share their stories, research, resources, events and more through NCOSS eNews. If you have something to share with the sector, send through a short blurb (50-70 words), image (250 x 250px) and relevant links to info@ncoss.org.au.

We will endeavour to add it to an edition of NCOSS e-News (goes out every fortnight on Thursday morning). Deadline for content is 5:00pm on Monday, the week of publication. The next deadline is Monday, 30 September 2024.