Celebrating 90 Years of NCOSS!

21 August 2025

CEO Update

Picture this. It's 1935. The Great Depression has Australia in its grip. But in the face of overwhelming need, a fierce group of women refuse to stand by. They step up, roll up their sleeves, and create something extraordinary — the foundation of what would become NCOSS.

From Depression-Era Heroes to Today's Changemakers

What started as a handful of determined women coordinating relief efforts has grown into an advocacy organisation representing over 400 members and spanning every corner of New South Wales. We've weathered depressions, wars, social revolutions, and countless battles against poverty. For 90 years, NCOSS and our members have provided critical ballast to our community.

🏆 Introducing The EVAs: Awards That Matter

We are celebrating the unsung heroes of our state – the inaugural EVA Awards, a nod to legendary former NCOSS Director Eva Cox. We are shining a light on the Excellence, Vision, and Advocacy in our NSW Social Service Sector.

Four categories. Countless stories.

🚀 Organisation Award For the game-changers, the innovators, the programs that don't just serve communities – they transform them.

⭐ Leadership Award For visionaries who don't just lead – they inspire, innovate, and ignite change in everyone around them.

💪 Frontline Worker Award For the everyday heroes showing up with dedication that moves mountains and impact that ripples through generations.

🗣️ Amir Bodenstein Lived & Living Experience Individual Honorary Recognition For advocates turning their own journeys into lifelines for others.

We know the work of the community service sector is often under-recognised, but we also know our communities see it and value it. We want everyone to see the great work and exceptional outcomes achieved by our sector.

By recognising your organisation, a program or a colleague, you will be doing your bit in bringing the stories of our sector to life.

Every nomination you make shines a light on the work that we do for our communities. Every story you share proves that our work isn't just important – it's essential, it's transformative, and it's time the whole state knew it.

🎯 Ready to nominate? Click here. At 90 years, it is past time we put our mark on this state by recognising the valuable work we do each and every day. The EVAs will be the opening chapter of telling this richer story.

NCOSS spoke with Eva Cox about her memories of NCOSS and how it has changed over the years.

What’s your first memory of working with NCOSS?

It was 1977 and I’d just finished my degree in sociology and was active in the Women’s Electoral Lobby and other causes. I saw a job advertised and applied. I didn’t know anything about NCOSS, and it had about five people down on Liverpool Street with a shoe salesman on the ground floor and a little office upstairs.

I decided we needed to grow the organisation; my friend Leon Fink owned the building around the corner so I wheedled a larger office out of him. There we developed a model of activism rather than just service delivery or advocacy. We had big problems, and we needed to make the case for change.

And how has NCOSS evolved since then?

NCOSS was quite an isolated organisation when I began. What I set out to do over the years was to build networks, seeking out groups to support each other. We recognised that all the social services are connected to each other but also linked to arts groups and unions. Through being active we discovered it was possible to change things, build awareness and pursue our objectives politically. We also worked actively to build a national network of state COSS’s and started punching above our weight.

How do you think NSW has changed over the life of NCOSS?

NCOSS was established at a time of high immigration, especially post-war. It was really focussed on developing community, not just on delivering services. Because we were close to the ground, we were valuable to decision-makers, both in delivering services and designing them. One of the things we did in NCOSS was drive research to provide an evidence base for communities and advocate from there. While I think the state has changed and obviously communities have grown, those challenges remain today.

What’s the biggest challenge the state faces today?

We have a major problem in working out where we are going as a society. All the focus is on economics and now we have AI coming in, which is going to have a real social impact that hasn’t really been thought through. Even in my old age I think we need to make sure the younger generation understands that social connection can be an incredible driver of improving things. If we want positive change it needs to be driven by people.

What sort of people choose to work in the sector?

I think people who work in the sector want to live in a decent society. They want a world where everyone lives well. They see we are social beings not just an economic unit.
They don’t accept that government has the answer to everything and that there are other voices that need to be listened to. The community voice is not just something they represent but something they validate.

Finally, how does it feel to be immortalised with the EVA award?

I always thought I’d be immortalised for being a pain in the arse! Instead of that I seem to have left some changes that means things to people so that is very gratifying.

As part of NCOSS’ 90th Anniversary celebrations in 2025, we’re launching the NCOSS Excellence, Vision & Advocacy Awards.

Known as the EVAs, the awards are a nod to social justice icon and former NCOSS CEO Eva Cox. The EVAs recognise and honour the excellence, positive impact, vision, dedication, advocacy and courage of individuals and organisations in the NSW Social Service Sector.

There are four award categories:

Excellence & Impact: Organisation
Excellence & Impact: Leadership
Excellence & Impact: Frontline Worker
Amir Bodenstein Lived/Living Experience Individual Honorary Recognition.

To find out more, or to nominate someone you know, go to the NCOSS website.

Last Thursday, Ashcroft Public School hosted the 2025 Liverpool Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Combined Schools NAIDOC Event. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from 27 local primary and high schools came together to immerse themselves in culture for the day.

NCOSS’ School Gateway Project and Mirrung sponsored the ZEN Tea Lounge Foundation to provide a cafe cart for the event. Teachers could enjoy a variety of delicious drinks and snacks while supporting a powerful message of inclusion and social impact. The Café Cart offers people with diverse abilities a real-world work experience while also contributing to community events.

NCOSS invites you to take part in a 15-minute survey on proposed changes to the SCHADS Award by the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which may impact your workforce, pay rates, and operational processes.

Your insights will help shape our submissions to the FWC (due 5 September 2025) and representation at hearings in October.

Please note: The survey is designed to capture your organisation’s experience, and is therefore open to staff in operations, HR, and executive roles. Your responses will be de-identified in any published reports.

More background information is available on the survey’s front page.

Closing date for the survey is Wednesday 27 August, 2025.

Thank you for making your voice heard in this crucial process.

Please take the survey at the link here.

The NSW Government is working with the Australian Government and other states and territories to design foundational supports for children under nine with autism and developmental delay. These supports would help children with low-to-moderate support needs and their families, carers and kin.

Foundational Supports will help children to meet developmental milestones, learn, be social, and support them with their emotional, physical and mental health. Supports are also being designed to give families, carers and kin the right information to understand and support their child’s needs.

DCJ will be traveling across NSW to meet with people who are interested in how foundational supports can meet the needs of children and families in NSW. We want to hear from parents, carers and kin, people with disability, and people working in early childhood education, disability or early intervention services.

Community consultations will occur from August to September 2025. Please register to be part of the community consultation sessions.

Click here to go to the registration page.

If you have any questions, please send these to: foundationalsupports@dcj.nsw.gov.au

No To Violence have been funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services to design and build an online National Directory of services supporting people using violence.

The aim of the Directory is to increase referrals to and service uptake by those who use or are at risk of using violence. It will support this by improving the findability of and supporting connection to available services.

If you are interested in having your service listed in the Directory, or know a service you think should be listed on the Directory, head to the project webpage.

If you have any questions, concerns or feedback, please get in touch with the project team at projects@ntv.org.au.

New findings from the Australian Early Development Census: Implications for policy and practice in NSW
FACSIAR
26 August, Online
Free | Register here

The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) collects data on five key areas, or ‘domains’, of early childhood development.

In this webinar, Dr Mary Taiwo, AEDC NSW state Coordinator, will present the 2024 AEDC findings for NSW and explore how they can be used by practitioners in early intervention and family strengthening programs.

Self-Care for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Workers

LEAD Professional Development

27 November, Seven Hills
Free - $45 | Register here

From an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective, health and wellbeing are more than just about your own physical wellbeing. It includes the social, emotional and cultural wellbeing of the whole community.

During this workshop we will explore the risks of compassion fatigue, burnout and vicarious trauma with a view to growing your resilience and strength in ways that will help you keep track of, account for and assist in resisting the negative outcomes of working with people experiencing trauma.

16 Days of Activism 2025
Closing Date: 3 September 2025

The NSW Government is supporting the prevention of Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence (DFSV) at the local level through annual grants to communities across the state.

There are three key objectives of the 16 Days of Activism Prevention Grant Program:

Increase awareness in the community about the primary prevention of domestic, family violence and sexual violence by tailoring initiatives to address the four gendered drivers of violence outlined in the Change the Story framework by Our Watch.
Reinforce messages about positive behaviours and social norms rejecting violence against women.
Engage local groups, organisations – including men's organisations – and schools in leading efforts for change.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Community Road Safety Grant
Closing Date: 15 September 2025

Transport for NSW Community Road Safety Grants help community groups across NSW to implement small scale, local projects to increase road safety awareness and encourage safer behaviours on our roads.

Grants up to $5,000 are available for local community road safety projects aiming to increase road safety awareness in specific community groups or locations.

A limited number of $30,000 road safety grants are also available to larger projects with broader reach within the community.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Elsa Dixon Aboriginal Employment Grant
Closing Date: 30 September 2025

The Elsa Dixon Aboriginal Employment Grant adopts a number of strategies to develop and support Aboriginal people through the creation of training and employment opportunities.

Promoting diversity, innovation and service responsiveness in the NSW workforce, the Elsa Dixon Aboriginal Employment Grant subsidises the salary, development and support costs of Aboriginal employees in public service agencies, local government authorities and Aboriginal community controlled organisations.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Some of the latest from our Jobs Board:

Project Officer, StreetCare (Sydney CBD) Justice and Equity Centre - VIEW JOB

Program Manager - Homelessness (Griffith) The Salvation Army - VIEW JOB

Director, QLife (Sydney CBD) LGBTIQ+ Health Australia - VIEW JOB

Aboriginal Family Worker (Western Sydney) Junaya Aboriginal Corporation - VIEW JOB

Manager (Mid North Coast) Connecting Neighbourhood Centres of Bellingen Shire - VIEW JOB

Team Leader – Multicultural Peer Navigation (Sydney CBD) ACON - VIEW JOB

Intake Case Worker (Greater Blue Mountains) Blue Mountains Women's Health & Resource Centre - VIEW JOB

Policy Officer – Energy and Water Justice (Sydney CBD) Justice and Equity Centre - VIEW JOB

Targeted Earlier Intervention Caseworker (Inner City Sydney) Weave - 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 Wednesday morning). Deadline for content is 5:00pm on Monday, the week of publication. The next deadline is Monday, 1 September 2025.