The Interagency provides a forum for service providers to build relationships and work collaboratively to improve outcomes for the Shellharbour, Kiama, Wollongong and Shoalhaven communities.
National Harmony Week will run from 20 March to 26 March 2023 to celebrate, recognise and to respect and inclusively bring together Australians from all different backgrounds. Council will be recognising it this year by hosting a Greek cooking workshop, an Indian henna workshop, a children’s movie showcasing Mexican culture and by offering a variety of multicultural menu specials from our Civic Square Café. All this will be held under our Cultural Treasures festival banner which encourages the Shellharbour community to value, celebrate and embrace our rich cultural diversity. Bookings can be made via: https://www.shellharbour.nsw.gov.au/whats-on
invite you to the upcoming inaugural Australian Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Recovery and Healing Conference with the theme ‘The Right to Recovery’, which the Illawarra Women’s Health Centre is hosting on behalf of the Australian Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Recovery Alliance. It is being held here in Wollongong, 4-5 May.
The overall goal of the conference is to highlight the importance of investing in DFSV recovery as an area that supports both healing and prevention, as well as establish a community of organisations and individuals across Australia who will collectively drive change in the way we perceive and respond to DFSV.
We will be discussing the four pillars of recovery: holistic models of health care; housing and economic recovery; centering children and young people and responsive, safe, and accessible pathways to justice – and consistent with best ethical practice, at least 50% of presenters and facilitators will be people with lived experience/expertise.
We have a range of excellent and experienced speakers and panellists, which will make this conference enlightening, educational and absolutely engaging. They include Rosie Batty AO, Tarang Chawla, Karen Iles, Dr Janina Fisher, Dr Karen Williams, Rebecca Glen, Yumi Lee, Annabelle Daniel and the Australian DFSV Commissioner Micaela Cronin, with a more extensive list here, and more on the way.
This is the first conference in Australia specifically on domestic, family and sexual violence recovery and healing – so not to be missed!
The registration link is here, and more information on the Alliance and the conference can be found here.
Lifeline South Coast is holding an information and Q&A session for people interested in joining the 13 YARN and 13 11 14 crisis support lines.
This information session is for our training course which will be held 16th to 26th May in Nowra.
Scholarships are available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for this training course, and there is an opportunity for pathway to paid employment on 13 YARN, the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander crisis support service.
Across four workshops, you’ll work with peer facilitators and fellow trans community to learn about resilience, community care, trans histories, and futures whilst working together to make a space for connection.
Workshop Details:
Online Workshops open to all trans community across NSW
Every Tuesday night from 28 March – 18 April, 6-8:30pm
Online workshops for Sistergirls, Brotherboys and trans mob
Every Thursday night from 20 April – 11 May, 6-8:30pm
Please fill out an expression of interest here and the team will be in contact.
Or visit Transhub for trainings, workshops and registration link here and our Trans Vitality toolkit for great community resources here.
Community Industry Group in partnership with Inside Out Recovery will be holding a 2-day training session in April focusing on the complexity of both hoarding and squalor. The aim is to provide participants with an in-depth understanding of these disorders and how to support or diagnose the presence of hoarding and squalor. The training provides front line workers, psychologists, GPs, housing providers, NDIS LACS and planners, real estate agents, and others with an in-depth understanding of these disorders and how to support or diagnose the presence of hoarding and squalor.
Learning outcomes:
Understand Hoarding Disorder (HD) and Severe Domestic Squalor (SDS) from a holistic framework.
Understand the behaviours, psychology, and emotional attachments that underpin these disorders.
Effectively identify the presence of Hoarding Disorder (HD) and Severe Domestic Squalor (SDS).
Identify appropriate intervention strategies – what works and what doesn’t?
Effectively use assessment tools to inform work practices.
Anna Brown, CEO of Equality Australia, will be moderating the forum, with The Hon. Brad Hazzard, the Hon. Penny Sharpe MLC, Jenny Leong and Alex Greenwich coming along to speak to us about the commitments to the health and human rights of our communities that they are taking to the next election.
Please REGISTER HERE to let us know you can attend in person, or via the online livestream, and submit any questions you would like us to pose to the panelists on your behalf.
To fully understand the significant challenges the Community Services sector (Illawarra/Shoalhaven/Southern NSW) is currently facing, Community Industry Groupis conducting a ‘Temperature Check’ (key issue survey) to find out what issues are most concerning to you/your organisation/community and what supports may be needed.
Community Industry Group in partnership with Bradley Foxlewin will be holding a 1-day training session in March focusing on providing participants with an understanding of Trauma Informed Recovery Practice for Social & Emotional Wellbeing and how to apply principles and skills when supporting those with mental health challenges and/or problematic substance abuse.
Outcomes: Participants will be able to:
Build on previous knowledge of impacts for people living with and experiencing the aftermath of complex trauma.
Articulate the core principles of a relational approach to trauma that supports trust, connection, and the centrality of relationship in recovery and self-determination.
Understand the impact of age-related trauma, including developmental trauma, to navigate effective and strategic alliances with survivors and minimise retraumatisation.
Build skills in creating safe situations utilising regulation and co-regulation strategies to help survivors narrate their current experiences more effectively.
Critique historical approaches to working with survivors to ensure greater understanding of their experiences and their expressed needs.
Discuss the spirit and processes of intersubjective guidance as an effective approach to guiding change.
Recognize the impact of verbal and non-verbal communication and have strategies to monitor these in relation to retraumatisation.
Have greater understanding of self and team care.
Understand and utilise strategies for supporting people in raising awareness of change possibilities.
Develop knowledge of and articulate how coping strategies are understood in the context of surviving trauma.
Describe the importance of centering lived experience in the processes of recovery.
Describe how trauma informed recovery practice and approaches hold therapeutic value outside the context of conducting therapy.
Initially this workshop will focus on the principles underpinning the ‘relational turn’ in trauma informed and recovery-oriented practice, TIRP. TIRP principles parallel the move towards person-centred practice in the mental health and disabilities contexts and a range of other contexts including intellectual and learning disabilities, forensic mental health, AOD and acquired brain injury.
Secondly, the workshop will focus on the use of intersubjective strategies that align with the co-creation of safe environments that support self-determination and recovery decisions. All strategies have a good fit with intersubjective and neuroscientific approaches and draw from this evidence-base whilst not engaging in therapy.
Ultimately the purpose of this workshop is to focus on approaches, strategies, and skills for effectively supporting people to make recovery choices, to navigate the process of change and to break the cycle of unnecessary involvement with acute mental health, homelessness services, justice systems and problematic substance use. There is a growing body of work that supports the use of these strategies when working with people living with the impact of cognitive impairment.
Limited spots available so please register using the link below….
Family friendly event showcasing various NSW Police Force units.
BBQ (gold coin donation to a chosen charity who will be cooking the BBQ) Gold coin entry donation to a chosen charity who will be working voluntarily at the event to collect donations.
Illawarra Interagency 