How many Neighbourhood Houses are there in Victoria? Expand There are just over 400 Neighbourhood Houses across Victoria. 52% of these are in metropolitan Melbourne 13% are in regional/rural towns with populations greater than 10,000 14% are in rural towns with populations between 3,000 to 10,000 20% are in rural towns with populations less than 3,000 Across Australia, there are over 1,000 Neighbourhood Houses - that's more than the number of McDonalds!
How many people visit a Neighbourhood House? Expand Around 200,000 Victorians visit a Neighbourhood House in an average week. Throughout a year, over 10 million visits occur across the state.
What services do Neighbourhood Houses provide? Expand Every Neighbourhood House is different and will provide different services and activities based on the needs of the community they are situated in. Some common services you may find at a Neighbourhood House include: Adult education (pre-accredited and accredited training) Art and craft classes Childcare Community events Community lunches / Social eating groups Community gardens Digital literacy training Food banks Government services such as Centrelink, Vic Roads Job seeking support Health and wellbeing activities such as exercise, walking groups, yoga and tai chi classes Internet access Library or book swap services Maternal child health Men's Sheds Migrant support programs e.g. english classes Playgroups Room hire Referrals Self help and support groups Seniors' groups Toy libraries Visitor/tourist information Volunteering opportunities Youth programs
How do I volunteer at a Neighbourhood House? Expand There are over 6,900 people who volunteer at Neighbourhood Houses across Victoria. Their duties could range from assisting with arts classes, to cooking meals, to office admin. If you're interested in getting involved in your local community, contact the Neighbourhood Houses in your area directly to find out if they have any volunteering opportunities available.
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).
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.
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
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.
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.