Central Australia
Table of contents:
Central Australia Policy Officer
Sector support
Workforce forums
Networking and meetings
Training
Central Australia Policy Officer
Jonathan Pilbrow
Address: PO BOX 1251, Alice Springs
Contact Phone: 08 8952 8400
Contact Fax: 08 8953 8602
Email: Jonathan Pilbrow
The Role of the Central Australian Policy Officer
The Central Australian Policy Officer position is responsible for:
- Social and Community Sector Industry Development;
- Facilitation of input by the Social and Community Sector in Central Australia into social policy development and advocacy, including input into Government reviews and consultative processes
Sector Support
A significant aspect of the NTCOSS role in Central Australia Empowering and enabling the NGO Sector in Central Australia through Industry Development & Capacity Building. This takes the form of facilitating the provision of training, regular emails of information and tools, networking opportunities and general information and support.
Community Sector Workforce Forums
Recruitment and retention and training of staff are critical issues in Central Australia and throughout the whole NT Community Sector Workforce Forums to discuss some of these issues were held in Tennant Creek and Alice Springs in March 2006. The Department of Health and Community Services (DHCS) funded NTCOSS to research and convene forums with the community and welfare sector and training providers to discuss community sector workforce issues: recruitment, retention, turnover and staff development. The goal of the Forums was to get a clear picture of the issues in staffing community services, what gaps exist and to propose strategies to alleviate the identified problems.
The NTCOSS Community Sector Development Officer has prepared a report to DHCS on the outcomes of the forums.
Priorities identified in Central Australia included:
- Coming to terms with the implications of Work Choices legislation
- Effective orientation of new personnel
- Wages, conditions and resources for CS
- Getting good quality affordable management training
- Low work skill levels in the community
- Attracting skilled professional workers to town
- Attractive social services and infrastructure
- Access to effective community service training locally
- Low literacy levels of local workforce
Networking and Meetings
Tennant Creek Networking
Network Meetings for NGO’s in Tennant Creek have been held at various times in the past two years. Such meetings give people the opportunity to share information across agencies (e.g. in relation to policies and procedures) and identify 'issues of concern’ and discuss local solutions.
Interagency Meetings
The Alice Springs Interagency meetings occur every three months and continue to be very well attended, by both Government and Non Government agencies. These meetings provide an opportunity for agencies to share information about their services, to meet new workers, engage in networking and find out about new programs or services. These meetings are particularly valuable for NTCOSS in terms of sharing information and discussing issues with a range of agencies.
Training
Governance Training
Governance training “Roles and Responsibilities for Board Members” was held in Alice Springs towards the end of 2005. Training was targeted at both Managers and Chairpersons/Board Members of NGO’s.
The role of the Advisory Committee is specifically to:
- Provide support to the Central Australian Policy Officer
- Provide advice on social issues, policies and procedures impacting on services in Central Australia
- Provide advice on consulting with the social, community and housing sectors in Central Australia and on developing effective consultation mechanisms
- Act as a ‘sounding board’ in relation to the identifying of local priorities
- Provide advice and support which assists the worker to undertake their role
- Feedback NTCOSS issues through relevant networks