Resources to support your community through the summer

10 December 2025

CEO Update

While NSW braces for another summer of oppressive heat and sadly, what looks to be an inevitable fire season, NCOSS members are doing more than clearing the gutters and checking their evacuation plans.

With a presence on the ground across most of the state’s communities, our members are preparing to support communities through the summer should the worst occur.

Members like Manning Valley Neighbourhood Services who have supported their community through bushfires, severe weather and floods.

It was only a handful of years ago we were devastated by the 2019-20 summer bushfires that destroyed almost 2,500 homes, ravaged 5.4 million hectares of land and resulted in the loss of 26 lives.

The impact across communities, businesses, wildlife and agriculture was unprecedented, due to the length and intensity of the bushfire period.

But, as night follows day, it’s also the floods that follow the fires we also need to be cautious about.

But from these hardships, we have collected resources tools to support our members with the impacts of disasters in NSW.

For the 2025-26 summer we’ve put together a range of resources and tools to plan and respond to disasters in NSW.

The Heat Resources page is a handy catch-all for weather information and warnings, and links to health information and resources on ways to beat the heat and reduce the risk of developing heat-related illness.

Our Disaster Support page provides tools and resources to build the resilience of services coping with increasing disasters.

There’s also a link to Charles Sturt University's free online course offering practical strategies to improve disaster resilience in community service organisations.

As we wind down on the working year, and look forward to spending time with our loved ones, we encourage you to familiarise yourself with our resource pages and prepare for the summer ahead.

NCOSS spoke to Jasmine Perry, National Leader Foster Care Development at MacKillop Family Services. Her organisation was the recipient of the Excellence & Impact: Organisation award at the NCOSS Excellence, Vision and Advocacy (EVA) Awards in October.

What does receiving this award mean to you?

It's nice to know that all the work that we're doing is being recognised, not just for us, but for our carers. Winning the award means I’ve been able to highlight that carers deserve to have the attention and the focus on them, because ultimately, foster and kinship carers very rarely do so. And ultimately, they're the ones that are doing the hard work, day in, day out, caring for children.

What were some of the challenges for carers that you were getting feedback about?

A lot of our carers were vulnerable, and they were providing a lot of feedback to us over many years around what was working or what wasn't working for them. There were systemic issues, like carers feeling like they need to ask for resources or support. When you're caring for a child or multiple children that have above-standard needs — extra appointments, extra health and medical requirements — there's a lot of time and resources that go into that, and carers are often left to their own devices to get on with it.

But we need to flip that. We need to ask what we can do to be able to make this easier for you as a carer, instead of you having to ask all the time for this support?

Now a carer will only ask once, because once that information has come to us, it gets logged on to our system and it gets monitored by a number of staff. So case managers, coordinators, managers and directors all have oversight of every carer request that comes into the organisation on a dashboard, and we monitor that until it's resolved.

Tell me about the Spotlight Project?

The Spotlight Project found that carers were really struggling when a child or young person leaves their home and the people around them don't really understand the loss that they're experiencing. I think people try to be helpful, and they say things like, "Oh, well, you know, that's what foster care is. It's only temporary."

We commissioned research in 2023 and there was a report released in 2024 that really dug into those two concepts of ambiguous grief for foster carers

Children in out of home care have always had a transition plan, but the carer family, like their children, their grandparents, and other people around the child, have never really had attention on their well being. So we're hoping to support them in that space of grief and loss in a meaningful way.

Because this is going to happen a number of times, and that ultimately leads to poor outcomes for our carers and their families.

Tell me about the podcast. Why did you decide that a podcast was necessary?

We had all this research and information that we had collected from a small number of carers, and we wanted to get this out to our carers more broadly. We know carers really struggle to get to trainings because they're just so busy. So we thought a podcast would be more accessible for them. People can play it while they are vacuuming the floors or driving kids to school or whatever it might be.

It's called Preparing Our Hearts : A Foster Care Journey. And the concept of it is that people tell carers, "Oh, I don't know how you do that. I wouldn't be able to cope when they leave." But what we hear from carers all the time is, yes it hurts, and it does have an impact on you, however, the benefit to the child and to me and to my family outweigh those negative impacts that we feel at the end of it.

So for people out there who could be really amazing carers, if they were to hear real stories from real foster carers. They might think, okay, well, if they can do it, then I can probably do it too.

Fifteen women leaders from the social service sector will receive a fully-funded scholarship to maximise their leadership potential, thanks to a new collaboration between NCOSS and Chief Executive Women (CEW). The scholarship will be open to NCOSS members working in small-to-medium sized community services organisations in NSW.

The NCOSS Harrison-Church Women’s Leadership Scholarship aims to elevate leadership capability in the social service sector and tackle the stark gender pay gap between male and female senior leaders in the not-for-profit sector.

Attending the CEW Leaders Program will provide expanded opportunities to meet other leaders, develop peer support relationships, and potentially open doors for cross-sector collaboration and service innovation.

We strongly encourage applications from women leaders based in rural, regional and remote NSW and First Nations leaders (especially those who work for NCOSS member organisations that are ACCOs or ACCHOs).

The first intake will be in June/July 2026. Applications for the first scholarship round close on Sunday, 1 February 2026. To apply, you will need to complete an application form on the NCOSS website and submit it by the closing date.

To find out more information and apply, please visit the NCOSS website.

The Local Community Services Association (LCSA) is conducting a Training Needs Analysis survey as part of the Community Organisations Disaster Adaptation (CODA) Project.

The survey will help identify the skills, knowledge, and resources local non-government community service organisations need to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Survey results will guide the development of a disaster management training program for organisations initially in the four CODA project areas.

The link to the online survey is - https://lcsansw.acspri.org.au/648663?lang=en

We would greatly appreciate you completing the survey. We would also appreciate it if you were able to circulate the survey to your members in the Northern Rivers, Hawkesbury and South East NSW areas. These are the local areas involved in the project.

We welcome input from organisations with all levels of experience, ranging from minimal to extensive to inform our understanding and assist in developing future training.

Time to complete: Approximately 20 minutes

Who should complete it: The manager or a nominated staff member

When will it be available and for how long: The survey is open and closes 30 January 2026

The CODA Project received funding from the Australian Government and the NSW Government.

Please contact Bronwyn Hutchings, LCSA Disaster and Resilience Manager on bronwyn@lcsansw.org.au if you wish to discuss this further.

Sweltering Cities is running a huge national survey on heat, health and homes and they want to make sure your story counts.

You might be:

leaving the house to go somewhere cooler
feeling sick, anxious, isolated
concerned about high electricity bills
stuck in a hot home or workplace
dreading or avoiding taking public transport

Your ideas for solutions to the heat are just as important as your experiences, this is your opportunity to share these too.

The survey is open from now until the end of February 2026. The best time to share with friends, family, colleagues and your community is when it's hot out!

Tell your story. Help others tell theirs. And together, let’s shift Australia’s national heat narrative.

Here is the link for participating in and sharing the survey.

In partnership with the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse, the University of the Sunshine Coast research team is undertaking a study to explore accessibility of child sexual abuse prevention services across Australia.

Participants are invited to complete an anonymous online survey, which would take approximately 10 minutes.

The survey is designed for service providers, professionals, community members and families, and young people over 16 years.

Participants may also enter the draw to win one of three $150 gift cards. For more detailed information and to access the survey, please click here.

Please encourage young people to have their say, as youth voices are key to developing accessible CSA prevention services.

Please feel free to contact satkins@usc.edu.au if you have any questions.

Service NSW has launched a new tool so you can check if your workplace is registered for the Portable Long Service Leave Scheme.

Workers who are not listed by 31 December 2025 will miss out on a bonus of 365 days of service credits to their record.

How to check if your organisation is listed:

Visit the Service NSW Portable Long Service Leave Employer Register tool.
Search using your employer’s organisation name or ABN.
If your workplace is not registered, contact the ASU so they can help your employer complete the process before the 31 December cut-off.

Can't see your employer listed?

Contact the ASU today on (02) 9310 4000 or by emailing help@asu.org.au and we'll help ensure your employer registers ASAP.

Neami National and Equally Well are proud to launch the updated Neami Health Prompt, a free conversation tool designed to support person-led discussions about physical health in community mental health and social service settings.

The Health Prompt was created to meet the needs of people living with mental health challenges, who often experience higher rates of physical illness, delayed diagnosis and barriers to accessing care.

The tool was updated through a co-design process involving people with lived experience, community and sector representatives and has been reviewed by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration.

Learn more and download the prompt here.

NCOSS Local Connect (Sydney, South East Sydney and Northern Sydney)
NCOSS
24 February, Redfern
Free, Register here

This one-day forum is designed for locally-based non-government organisations and networks, including government agencies and local council staff, working and volunteering in the diverse field of social services and community health.

The NCOSS Local Connect forum will explore the existing strengths of community organisations and explore solutions to shared challenges and unmet needs.

NCOSS Local Connect (Illawarra Shoalhaven and Southern NSW)
NCOSS
17 March, Nowra
Free | Register here

Stolen Generations Grants
Closing Date: 22 December 2025

The Healing Foundation works with Stolen Generations survivors, descendants and organisations, service providers and stakeholders to address the priority healing needs of the Stolen Generations. Grants of $5,000 - $50,000 are available for ACCOs supporting Stolen Generations survivors

The 2025/26 Stolen Generations Grants are designed to meet the unique healing needs and aspirations of Stolen Generations survivors, with a focus on healing and commemorative activities.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Australian Government National Disability Conference Initiative
Closing Date: 15 January 2026

The purpose of this grant opportunity is to provide funding to eligible conference organisers to assist people with disability to participate in nationally focused, disability-related, conferences held in Australia.

Funding may also support eligible conference organisers to provide accessibility measures that will maximise the inclusion and participation of people with disability at their conference. The grant opportunity aims to support organisations, especially those run by and for people with disability and/or their families, which have limited resources to implement accessibility measures at their conference.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Elsa Dixon Aboriginal Employment Grant
Closing Date: 28 February 2026

The Elsa Dixon Aboriginal Employment Grant (EDAEG) 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.

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. This is the last enewsletter for 2025. The next deadline is Friday, 23 January 2025.