Our Work

consulting Brisbane inner-south residents and business owners about their experiences of the local action in the January 2011 floods. Their insights will inform the Flood Recovery Group’s flood response plan designed to make grass roots, self-managed local responses to disasters more effective in the future.

preparing a summary of options for providing affordable housing (both for rent and for purchase), including links to examples in Australia and elsewhere, for the Urban land Development Authority to use in communicating with potential developers.

developing a Community Connectedness Strategy for Gold Coast City Council. This involved detailed consultation with Council staff and community organisations, developing a framework and objectives for community connectedness, outlining a set of actions to achieve the objectives, and proposing strategies for the use of the internet to enhance community connectedness.

helping Redland City Council develop an award-winning social infrastructure strategy that outlines an integrated approach to identifying and delivering high priority facilities, services and networks over the next 20 years. In 2009, the Planning Institute of Australia honoured the strategy for its  fresh, practical approach to social infrastructure planning. Check out the strategy at http://www.redland.qld.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/
_About_Redlands/SMBI/SMBICAC/20091118/
7.1_Att1DraftRedlandsSocialInfrastructureStrategy.pdf.

developing a planning framework for the Department of Communities to prioritise investment in human services in greenfield growth areas.

compiling a community “think piece” and fact sheets to stimulate discussion as part of Redland City’s Community Planning process, and editing the resulting Community Plan. It’s at www.redlands2030.com.au.

working for the Esk Kilcoy Community Service Association on a service integration and collaboration project around young people’s issues in the Brisbane Valley http://www.uq.edu.au/boilerhouse/docs/EIFSfinalprojectreport.pdf.

developing the Social Planning Strategy for Fitzgibbon on behalf of the Urban Land Development Authority, in partnership with Briggs and Mortar. This involved developing a plan for this green-field site which addressed requirements for social services and social infrastructure, heritage preservation and housing diversity.

assessing the loss of affordable housing from major infrastructure projects, and proposing ways to mitigate against this loss in a project for the Queensland Government’s Office of Urban Management, in partnership with The Policy Practice. This involved getting into the nitty gritty of how major projects are managed, how social impacts are assessed and how to make sure this does not make the lives of low income households even harder.

working with a range of local community and government organisations on a Place Management Project in Stafford on Brisbane’s Northside. We worked with a range of partners to make some real, tangible improvements to local service delivery. This project has resulted in the creation of a new consortium to improve services in Stafford and a realistic work-plan to which community members are strongly committed.

working with the proponent of a caravan park development to assess the social impacts of the proposed site should people opt to live there long-term. We looked at the potential access to essential services and recreation opportunities and consulted with local organisations to gauge their views.

completing a detailed business plan for a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing organisations in South-East Queensland. This exercise included an analysis of housing need in the South-East Queensland Aboriginal Community, and analysis of the existing operations and capacity of the organisations, development of a series of business options, and the development of financial, property, organisational structure and risk management strategies for the preferred option.

drafting a short “think piece” and fact sheets to stimulate discussion as part of Redland City’s Community planning process. You can see how the Council is using this material at http://www.redlands2030.com.au/pages/default.aspx.

facilitating a workshop for the State Library of Queensland’s Multicultural Services Advisory Group to create the basis for a refreshed Multicultural Strategy
for 2009-2011.

facilitating strategic planning for the Health and Community Services Workforce Council’s Professional Support Coordinator child care project. We enjoyed helping them grapple with the complexity of their work in this vital sector and they said they loved the end result, as well as some of the left-brain elements of the process we designed.

helping Redland Shire Council develop a strategy for their library service that pushes innovative solutions like regional cooperation towards a borderless library.

business planning for services including Noosa Shire Council’s Tewantin Child Care Centre and Redland Shire Council’s respite, home assist secure and school age care services to improve performance, responsiveness and viability.

support for National Shelter in bringing together a group of stakeholders on Indigenous housing and developing a brief policy position on issues around Indigenous housing. The resulting policy position, A way forward for housing Indigenous peoples in Australia, can be seen at http://www.shelter.org.au.

development of a citizen (consumer) participation policy, framework and action plan with Micah Projects so that people who use their services can be meaningfully involved in decisions that shape the way services are provided. We also developed and delivered a training program about Working on Committees for a group of interested people who use Micah Project’s services. In the project feedback the staff member who contracted us said I was impressed with the reaction of all who took part and how much they got out of it. It was pitched at just the right level for people to learn, absorb and enjoy.

support for the development of the Queensland Affordable Housing Consortium. This new initiative brings together community organisations, local governments, private developers and investors to take advantage of new Commonwealth incentives for affordable housing. It aims to produce an extra 1000 units of affordable housing in various Queensland locations in the next two years, with even more ambitious expansion plans after that.

assistance with Queensland Shelter’s statewide consultation and policy development process around community views of the One Social Housing System. You can read the discussion paper at http://www.qshelter.asn.au/conerence-materials/day-one-powerpoint-presentations-and-notes#attachments.

development of a Social Inclusion policy paper with the Social Infrastructure Committee of the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors. The paper articulated the case for focusing on social inclusion in Australian cities, a policy vision and principles and a proposal for complementary efforts by local, state and federal government.

working in 2007 and again in 2009 to assist National Shelter, Australia's non-government housing peak organisation, to develop it policy platform. This document is widely circulated and highly influential in national housing policy debates. You can see these documents at http://www.shelter.org.au/.

development of service protocols with staff from the Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability in the areas of abuse and neglect prevention, consent, complaints, eligibility and rights and responsibilities. We worked with the team as part of their preparation for accreditation to ensure their systems were consistent with their service ethos. Our support meant they did not have to divert too much time from client service in the process.

written website text for the dynamic Logan agency Youth and Family Services which asked us to help them make their site more easily understood by clients. We met the challenge to get rid of jargon from our brains and our writing to come up with words to describe YFS services that made sense for service users. Have a look at http://www.yfs.org.au.

worked in the Pilbara, Western Australia, alongside staff of the Aboriginal controlled organisation Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa to put in place operational plans, policies and staff development tools to help sustain their innovative partnership between Martu people and whitefellas to build an economic base in the desert that strengthens Martu culture.

supported Umpi Korumba Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Corporation with their self assessment process for accreditation under the Standards for Community Services.

worked with the Down Syndrome Association of Queensland to help the organisation differentiate more clearly between staff and committee roles and improve lines of communication and accountability.

developed policy manuals for Mangrove Housing, Queensland Shelter and other organisations. We have had fun developing a policy format that is useful and meaningful, rather than something that sits on the shelf.

facilitated agreement between the government and community sector stakeholders involved in the operation of the Forde Foundation – one of the outcomes of the Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland institutions. We drafted the protocol document which articulated their respective roles and the principles and communication arrangements to underpin their collaboration.

worked with a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing organisations on projects including the development of a shared policy manual, the development of funding applications, and business and operational planning.

facilitated action planning with Save the Children Queensland who wanted to celebrate the achievements of their staff as well as acknowledge the impacts on them after a period of significant change in their structure and reporting arrangements.

explored future options for a Bayside disability support organisation. These ranged from maintaining the status quo to pursuing innovative commercial strategies that could subsidise the organisation’s ongoing work.

undertaken a feasibility study for amalgamation of four Brisbane housing organisations, and facilitated decision making to progress the merger. This highly participative project dealt with the organisational culture aspects of change as well as the logistics.

consultation with social housing tenants in various parts of Queensland and a literature review to inform a submission from the Tenants’ Union of Queensland for the review of the Queensland Government’s Tenant Participation Program.

an evaluation of the provision of tenancies and support services organised by Micah Projects Inc for 58 homeless people who were being moved on from public space.

child care business reviews for Maroochy and Redland Shire Councils, resulting in outsourcing of some child care service delivery and business development for other services. These projects were a great opportunity to investigate local governments’ role in direct service provision and to provide solutions that benefit Councils and communities.

an operational audit of arts venues operated by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, providing information to help Council make decisions about operating existing facilities and planning future arts infrastructure.

a review of staffing and structure for a domestic violence service in a changing area. The aim was to improve effectiveness and position the organisation to deliver on its strategic plan.

consultation with stakeholders in the wake of the Queensland housing peaks review, to help Queensland Shelter make informed decisions about policy directions and organisational issues to fulfil its new broader role.

an evaluation tool to gauge the success of Micah Projects’ trial of a service user committee as a new channel for participation for people using some of their services.

work with Shelter NSW, the peak non-government housing organisation, to investigate the impact of changes in public housing eligibility and allocation policies on neighbourhoods with high concentrations of public housing. This project involved background research on the issues and five focus groups with tenants in different areas of NSW. The resulting report, View from the Estates, can be viewed at the Shelter NSW website http://www.shelternsw.org.au/publications.shtml

research into the state of play in the boarding house and caravan park sectors in Australia for National Shelter. The resulting report, Marginal Tenures: A National Picture, can be found at the National Shelter website: http://www.shelter.org.au.

analysis of the impact of recent changes in Aboriginal housing policy in NSW for a consortium of community agencies, and development of a set of recommendations for positive policy change.

twelve regional homelessness profiles to support local planning for homelessness services commissioned by QCOSS. These profiles pulled together data about each region’s demography, housing, homelessness, contributing factors and service system. Coming soon to the Community Door website.

a report into the policy context and program options for supporting low income households into home ownership to help housing advocacy organisation Shelter NSW stimulate debate and strengthen its policy position on this issue.
This paper is available at http://www.shelternsw.org.au/publications.shtml.

analysis of data from the annual survey of members of QCOSS and development of a report for members and stakeholders documenting the findings.

surveys of tenants in a number of Brisbane Housing Company sites to provide feedback about facilities and management. This information is useful for current service provision and planning for future developments.

a research report on affordable housing in Brisbane’s Northern Suburbs, in partnership with Wyeth Planning Services, on behalf of Brisbane North Housing Solutions – the Northside branch of Queensland Shelter. Once the report was finished we facilitated a workshop with stakeholders to explore how to
address the issues.

case study scenarios for the Queensland Council of Social Service who had contracted with Queensland Health to provide relevant input to their Community Health Review. We interviewed service users from metropolitan, regional and remote areas and wrote up their stories to illustrate both service barriers and innovative responses. In a similar project we wrote up scenario papers that illustrated care coordination in the primary health care environment. Our skills in policy development and human service delivery were an ideal mix to ensure the scenario papers were relevant and illuminating.

research into opportunities and potential responses to a number of issues identified for part of Brisbane’s fast-growing urban fringe. This project, undertaken with Wyeth Planning Services for the Kallangur/ Northern Growth Corridor Place Project, included a community profile.

a report for QCOSS analysing 72 case studies to present a case for access to for quality, accredited interpreting and translating services and cultural competence in Queensland services working with culturally and linguistically diverse people. The case study report is available at http://www.qcoss.org.au/upload/4614__QCOSS_MatterOfInterpretation(e).pdf

training materials for domestic violence partnership broker the CEO Challenge to use for staff development sessions with corporate partners

a pithy document for QCOSS outlining the current picture of poverty in Queensland for use during Anti-Poverty Week 2007. This project enabled QCOSS to generate extensive state-wide media coverage raising awareness of the issues for disadvantaged Queenslanders. You can see it at http://www.qcoss.org.au/upload/2827__QCOSS%20Fair%20Qld%20-%20Anti%20Poverty%20Week%20Oct%202007.pdf

“My Life, My Home, My Solution”, a campaign document and plan for a coalition of disability organisations pushing for alternatives to current models of group housing for people with disability. Safeguards available at http://www.99consulting.com/download/CSC.pdf

Launch into Life – a booklet to help young people with disability move from school into work, further study or other options. Developed with Queensland Parents for People with a Disability http://www.qppd.org/transition/qppd_files/downloads/Launch_Into_Life_Booklet.pdf

working with QCOSS and some community sector agencies to develop a simple guide to case management. This tool is designed to improve understanding and practice of case management across the sector. It’s available at http://www.communitydoor.org.au/planned-support-guide

working with the Queensland Futures Forum and Queensland Government agencies to help develop the Queensland Compact, launched in November 2008.  Implementation of this inter-sectoral agreement is being driven by a cross-sectoral governance committee. See the QCOSS website for more information http://www.qcoss.org.au/Article.aspx?type=sector&id=4716

assisting Queensland Shelter in mid 2009 with consultations on the revised National Community Housing Standards, facilitating a number of focus groups and writing up the results for use by the Commonwealth and State Governments

project managing and writing QCOSS’s 50 years of history project, including developing an appealing booklet celebrating 50 years of QCOSS and the Queensland community sector.

assisting with the development of a National Compact between the Federal Government and Australia’s broad Third Sector – non-profit organisations ranging from voluntary service clubs to opera companies. We helped draft the Compact based on input from Third Sector and government representatives, and wrote a consultation paper to get feedback on a draft. Third sector organisations are being invited to sign up at www.nationalcompact.gov.au