How are Neighbourhood Houses funded? Expand The State Government's Department of Families, Fairness and Housing provides core funding to more than 95 per cent of Victoria’s Neighbourhood Houses through the Neighbourhood House Coordination Program. Other sources of income may include the Department of Education and Training, Local Government, Federal Government, grants, and funds generated by Neighbourhood Houses themselves (e.g. room hire fees).
First Nations Community Education Liaison - Kathryn Coff Expand Kathryn is responsible for facilitating greater engagement between NHVic and Aboriginal-led neighbourhood houses, and for creating greater understanding across the sector on First Nations worldview, and how neighbourhood houses can make their operations more culturally inclusive.
Communications Specialist - Brittany Prentice Expand Brittany is responsible for NHVic's strategic communications and marketing, including the development and implementation of marketing campaigns, maintenance of our social media channels and website, member communications, and event management.
Communications Support Specialist - Jenny Woang Expand Jenny supports the Communications Specialist and assists with the development and implementation of marketing strategies and creating communication materials for NHVic’s various programs and partnerships.
Do Neighbourhood Houses have paid staff or is it all volunteer based? Expand At the very least, each Neighbourhood House employs a Manager/Coordinator who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the house. Depending on the size of the organisation, the paid workforce of a single Neighbourhood House could vary from one to dozens! The Neighbourhood House sector employs over 5,000 people across the state. Volunteers play a massive role however. Without them, many services and activities simply wouldn't occur.
Finance Officer - Lola Kroger Expand Lola is responsible for finance-related administrative functions and providing support to the Chief Operating Officer.
Finance Officer - Misa Le Vo Expand Misa is responsible for finance-related administrative functions and providing support to the Chief Operating Officer.
Financial Inclusion Associate - Lee Kerr Expand Lee is responsible for creating awareness through Neighbourhood Houses and assisting low-income community members in accessing Good Shepherd's No Interest Loans, and other financial relief programs.
Area Support Manager - Christine Zubrinich Expand Christine provides tailored support to the network of Neighbourhood Houses located in the Wimmera West Grampians.
Area Support Manager - Jane Grimwood Expand Jane is responsible for enhancing neighbourhood house's connection, resilience and advocacy in the Central Highlands region of Victoria, through engagement with, and support of, CHANH network organisations.
How are Neighbourhood Houses governed? Expand The vast majority (86%) of Neighbourhood Houses are incorporated associations with a committee/board of governance. Otherwise: 7% are council managed 5% are auspiced by another organisation 2% are cooperatives or companies limited by guarantee
Locum Manager - Izolde Bensch Expand Izolde supports Neighbourhood Houses with general management, organisational capacity building, optimisation, strategic planning facilitation, organisational health checks, governance support and marketing strategy workshops.
Locum Manager - Mary Francis Expand Mary supports Neighbourhood Houses during periods when they are without a Manager, to ensure strategic and operational continuation of service.
Social isolation and loneliness - a neighbourhood house perspective Expand Year released: 2020 Summary: This report focuses on the human, social and economic costs of loneliness and social isolation, the risk factors and barriers to connection, and the impact neighborhood houses have on participants sense of belonging and connection.
Digital literacy in neighbourhood houses Expand Year released: 2019 Summary: The aim of this research, funded by Australia Post, was to gain a deeper understanding of the types of digital literacy offered in neighbourhood houses in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. It includes data relating to timing, costs, funding, target groups, barriers and more. Download - full report: Download - Victorian snapshot:
Does the Neighbourhood Houses Victoria have authority over individual Neighbourhood Houses? Expand The quick and simple answer is no. As a peak body, it is our job to support and promote best practice, provide informed advice and advocate on behalf of the sector, however each Neighbourhood House is its own separate entity with its own autonomy.
The inclusion of people with disability in volunteering Expand Year released: 2019 Summary: This literature review was conducted as part of the Victoria Alive project, and is intended to provide an overview of the current state of volunteering for people with disability primarily from an organisational point of view but also taking into account the experiences of people with disability.
Adult Community Education Our advocacy throughout 2018 and 2019 resulted in a Ministerial Summit and Ministerial Statement, strengthening the future of adult community education in Victoria Expand Neighbourhood houses account for two-thirds of all Learn Local providers and 49 are Registered Training Organisations (RTOs). They receive funding by the State Government to deliver subsidised training for Victoria’s most vulnerable learners to set them on the path to further education and employment opportunities. Our advocacy in this space is incredibly important to ensure the ongoing viability for current providers, as well as making it easier for more neighbourhood houses to provide this vital community service. In 2018 we partnered other peak bodies ACEVic, Adult Learning Australia and Community Colleges Australia to develop a sector statement which addressed our concerns regarding the current and future state of the Adult Community Education (ACE) sector. We were very concerned at the number of closures of RTOs and a signficant drop in the number of Learn Local organisations providing pre-accredited training. Read the statement. The statement was submitted to the Minister of Training and Skills Gayle Tierney MP. As a result, the Minister announced her intention to host an ACE Ministerial Summitt. On Wednesday 7 August 2019, our CEO Nicole Battle presented at the ACE Ministerial Summit. The summit was opened by the Minister of Training and Skills Gayle Tierney and brought together government and policy makers, industry peaks and providers, to discuss the issues impacting community education in Victoria. We put forward a series of recommendations, developed in partnership with ACEVic, Adult Learning Australia and Community Colleges Australia, and informed by a consultation process across the Learn Local sector (with responses from 143 providers, representing an impressive response rate of 79 percent). Read the recommendations. Leading up to the summit, Nicole went on her own community education roadshow to get a first hand, on-the-ground perspective of the issues impacting providers. Some of these visits were shared to social media: In November 2019, Minister Tierney launched a Ministerial Statement - the first of its kind in 15 years, outlining her priorities to elevate adult community education in Victoria.
Where are all the men? Expand Year released: 2019 Summary: The report looks at men's participation within Neighbourhood Houses in Victoria. The aim of the research is to explore and understand how men currently engage with Neighbourhood Houses, identify potential barriers to participation, and to seek the views from neighbourhood house managers and staff on how to encourage men’s involvement in the sector. It was conducted by two Melbourne University students, Erin Tidswell and Yongyi Lin, on behalf of Sussex Neighbourhood House and in collaboration with Neighbourhood Houses Victoria.
Local government support for Neighbourhood Houses in Victoria Expand Year released: 2016 Summary: The report looks into the scope and significant variations in the nature of the support and collaboration between local government and the Neighbourhood House sectors.
Community careers counselling Expand Year released: 2015 Summary: What are the enablers of effective career guidance and learning choice for people with a disability? Which enablers are the most effective for educators? This report examines challenges and enablers and provides practical guidance for practitioners. This Adult and Community Further Education (ACFE) funded research was conducted as partnership between Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and the ACE DisAbility Network. Download - full report Download - guidelines for adult educators
How do I raise a concern or make a complaint? Expand Members of the public who have a complaint about a Neighbourhood House should use the organisation’s complaint process. Each Neighbourhood House is required to have one of these which may be an online or a paper based form. Members of the organisation who have a complaint about the governance should use the process outlined in the organisation’s constitution. Employees who have a complaint about their manager/committee should use the process outlined in the relevant industrial award or agreement as per their employment contract.
Project Manager - Melinda Spiteri Expand Melinda is responsible for the Safe Seats, Safe Kids program and other project management and business support functions.
Victoria's mental health system Expand In response to: Royal Commission into Victoria's mental health system Submitted: July 2019 Summary: As places where people with mental health issues participate equally alongside other community members in a range of activities and capacities over time, Neighbourhood Houses undoubtedly contribute to improved attitudes to people with mental illness.