Exceptional Community Partnership
The winner of the Exceptional Community Partnership award must:
- Show evidence of how stakeholders have worked in partnership to achieve an extraordinary outcome for the community of Western Sydney
- Must provide evidence of the positive impact this project has achieved in Western Sydney.
4ESydney HipHop Festival and Conference, now in its 6th year, provides an incredible example of social cohesion and community resilience. It is a space where community, industry and education meet, to create unique opportunities for the growth and preservation of HipHop culture, professional development and industry sustainability. Through several key relationships and partnerships, the project achieved many things including: launching a new four-day HipHop conference to have discussions around youth engagement, global impact, First Peoples leadership, and much more; starting a series of on-going engagement through jam sessions, industry meetups and HipHop drop-ins across Western Sydney; and engaging over 50 youth through mentoring and creative programs.
The Postcard Stories Project was a joint partnership project with: CAPAH, Penrith City Council, WestWords, Social Justice Office, Catholic Diocese of Parramatta and St Oliver’s Primary School. The Stories Project captured and narrated four personal stories of people in Penrith LGA, depicting their struggles, hardship and the devastating impact of housing stress and lack of affordable rental housing. The stories give a human face and an emotional connection to the issue of housing affordability. The project was inclusive to individuals from culturally diverse communities, in particular those who are disadvantaged.
Café Connect was developed in 2019 by Macarthur Disability Services and Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly Councils, toto implement a joint and collaborative community partnership model called over a twelve-month period until June 2020.The objective was to improve collaboration and partnerships between Aged Care and Community Organisations across the Macarthur Region and to assist older residents in navigating the Aged Care system and Commonwealth Home Care Programme Services. Each café is free and offers older people pathways to connect with different service providers, ask questions and seek information provided about services, programs and activities in one location.
The Inclusive Communities Network in Canterbury-Bankstown comprises local organisations who are dedicated to increasing the inclusiveness of LGBTIQ+ people in the area, as well as within their organisations. On Friday 17 May, the Network held a panel discussion to mark IDAHOBIT in 2019. Each panellist was requested to discuss and share experiences related to micro aggressions, access to health care and creating safe spaces within Western Sydney. The panellists were from Muslim, Indigenous and/or CALD backgrounds and represented a diverse range of sexual and gender identities. This event demonstrated the need for more information relating to the experiences of LGBTIQ+ people in the local community.
The Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue chose the CEO and co-founder of Catalysr, Usman Iftikhar as winner of the Dialogue’s 2019 Leadership Prize for Entrepreneurial Achievement in honour of his work to empower Migrapreneurs (high-performing migrant and refugee entrepreneurs). Usman’s leadership allows Catalysr to be a place for people with fresh ideas who are ready to dream, to work hard and to challenge themselves to bring their big ideas to life. Catalysr has had an extraordinary impact across Australia via migrapreneur networks. Catalysr includes 500+ professionals, advisors and investors. They have supported 101 migrapreneurs nationally since 2016 and have created 30 businesses so far.
NSW Meals on wheels have undertaken a pilot program in partnership with Fire & Rescue NSW/ Emergency Services NSW and Australian Red Cross. Nepean Food Services has been an organisation that has implemented the program. The concept is to utilise existing volunteer & individual relationships to educate and assist senior citizens to best prepare for emergency situations. The CRIP pilot has resulted in improved fire prevention, better evacuation strategies and increased support networks. Due to the potential of the program, information will be shared at a National conference in 2020 with the view to roll out nationally.
In 2018 an average of 8.3 deaths by suicide were recorded in Australia each day, i.e. a total of 3,046 deaths by suicide in 2018. Lifeline receives over 1 million contacts a year from Australians in crisis and at risk of suicide. Over 200,000 of these calls go unanswered. The current partnership supports national suicide prevention strategies by building the capacity of GWS students to support Australians in crisis through the creation of the Fast-track Crisis Support Workplace Training Program. Through this program, students work with Lifeline Macarthur, as a co-credentialing opportunity, therefore creating a sustainable model to support suicide prevention.
Blacktown Meals on Wheels (MOW) in partnership with Riverstone Neighbourhood Centre and the Men’s Shed have developed the “Garden 2 Plate” Project. The Men’s Shed plant, grow and maintain their vegetable garden all year round and volunteers from Blacktown Meals on Wheels visit once a month to create a dish utilising produce from the garden. This project improves the quality of health and well being, gives the men a sense of belonging and gives them the skills and knowledge to take home and put into practice. The project will be continuing in 2020.
There are very few youth services with a physical base in the fast-growing LGA of Camden, particularly in the new Oran Park development. In late 2018, headspace Campbelltown partnered with Camden Council to address the shortage of services for young people and their families by establishing an outreach site at Oran Park Library to provide psychological support, AOD counselling, mental health coaching, vocational/study support and case coordination. This site has provided local schools and youth-focused organisations with a specific referral point for young people in need. Also, headspace Campbelltown partnered with Elizabeth Macarthur High School to have a clinician based at the school one day per week in 2019.
Cerebral Palsy Alliance (CPA), in partnership with Hume Community Housing, have assisted in customising homes for people with cerebral palsy. Their coordinated approach has led to creating a supported environment for their clients surrounded by familiar care workers from CPA and staff from Hume, and to improve ease of transport and schedule coordination between external care providers and the CPA team. This partnership allows both service providers to respond to the clients’ changing needs and optimise the homes accordingly, while always involving the clients’ families to ensure they are part of the process.
The Inspired Girls Camp was an opportunity for 15 Muslim girls from Western Sydney to develop resilience, mindfulness and push outside their comfort zones as they experienced the Australian native bushland in a controlled and culturally acceptable manner. Fifteen girls aged 15-17 from Auburn, Merrylands and Holroyd participated in the five-day adventure which was run in partnership with Outward Bound and Community Migrant Resource Centre and funded by Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation. The Inspired Girls Camp was designed to build on the leadership, confidence and teamwork capabilities the girls had already started to develop through participating in Creating Chances’ Youth Development Pathway programs at Holroyd High School.
In a collaboration led by the CORE AOD team, 6 youth-focused services in the 2168 area were brought together, as well as any services who provided outreach, to find innovative ways to approach young people in the area. This then developed into the Miller Youth Space, which provides a friendly and safe entry approach for people aged 12-25 years to address complex needs such as drug and alcohol issues, homelessness, mental health issues, unemployment and domestic violence. The primary focus is to ensure a holistic view of addressing these issues and improve the young people’s experience of orientation, navigation and/or access to services through the sharing of resources and expertise.
In 2018, MDAA began a partnership with Parramatta Leagues Club to establish a project that addressed the social isolation experienced by people with disability, their family and carers in the greater Western Sydney area. The partnership now supports two projects that enhance the physical and emotional wellbeing of people with disability from a multicultural background through social participation and strengthened informal support networks. The programs have experienced great and solid participation from people in the community and has proven to benefit people with disability, their family and carers from CALD backgrounds by celebrating diversity in all respects.
For 5 years, MWA Linking Hearts Multicultural Service has advocated how vital it is to include men as an integral component to end domestic & family violence. Linking Hearts Ambassadors is an alliance of influential male leaders from all walks of life across Sydney who share the vision commitment to building a DFV-FREE Australian home through sustained, practical dialogues and respectful attitudes and behaviours. Led by Patron Graeme Richardson, over 40 participants including mayors, police senior officers, school representatives, businessmen, sports organizations and doctors have pledged to Make CHANGE a reality through actions in the language used, culturally appropriate policy implemented or by activating courageous conversations.
Nautanki is an independent theatre company based in Western Sydney which has been promoting theatre on a cross-cultural platform since 2012. Nautanki works for cultural development, community engagement, education and training through live performing theatre. They began their journey from the grassroots community level to evolve as an Independent Theatre Company practicing cross-cultural story telling in partnership with Riverside Theatre since 2012. In the last 7 years, Nautanki Company has successfully presented six live theatre performances and kick-started the annual South Asian Theatre Festival in 2016. Their aim is to produce creative opportunity with a true representation of contemporary Australia and provide equal access to everyone.
Paint Mt Druitt REaD is a joint initiative between Blacktown Area Community Centres Inc (BACC), Richard Johnson Anglican School – Oakhurst Campus and Yawarra Community & Child Care Centre. The program mentored and trained students from Richard Johnson Anglican School – Oakhurst Campus to deliver Rhyme Time at Yawarra Community & Child Care Centre. Using songs, rhyme and finger play to develop children’s language and pre-reading skills, each weekly session increased the high school students’ confidence, leadership and public speaking skills. This simultaneously benefitted the pre-schoolers, as being read to everyday develops children’s language and pre reading skills that can significantly increase employment and health outcomes later in life.
Since 2018, Settlement Services International (SSI) has worked in partnership with the University of Sydney (USYD) to develop and trial the ‘Person Centred Emergency Preparedness (PCEP) tool’. This initiative develops the capacity of individuals with disability, particularly from a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background, in emergency preparedness. This program is important, as the impact of disasters is often felt disproportionately by vulnerable members of society. PCEP involved joint SSI, USYD workshops, the sharing of information and interactive game-based learning. PCEP has educated people with disability on the increasingly vital area of emergency preparedness and flooding.
Platform, Lendlease and Rochford Place Retirement Living are working together to provide community mentoring and community connections to young homeless people navigating through their tertiary education. The partnership is based on “reverse mentoring”. The young people accommodated at Platform mentor the retiree residents at Rochford with social media, computers and technology as well as provide companionship. In return the Rochford residents are providing the young people with the nurturing and support that these young peoples are unable to receive from their families due to current homelessness. This support has included guitar lessons and performances, driving lessons, aqua aerobics, birthday celebrations, bake offs, as well as present drives and Christmas celebrations.
Sydney Community Foundation’s Sydney Women’s Fund and Liverpool Neighbourhood Connections established a ‘Place-based philanthropy’ partnership in response to entrenched disadvantage for women and girls in the Warwick Farm community. The SydneyCommunity Foundation place-based philanthropy approach, brings social investment into a specific geographic area of high need. This location-focused giving brings together resources needed by the community to support the changes they wish to achieve. Together with SCF SWF, LNC grew from its first Pepper’s Place Coffee cart to a portfolio of social enterprises providing comprehensive supported education and employment opportunities, and a micro-business incubator reaching local women in need.