The 2010 Catholic Social Services Australia Awards

The 2010 Awards

The 2010 Catholic Social Services Australia Awards were held on the 8 February 2010 during the Catholic Social Services Australia National Conference in Canberra.

The Awards recognise and promote the work of Catholic Social Services Australia Member Organisations and of individuals working in the broader social services sector.

Three awards were announced - two, which are open exclusively to member organisations, and a third  which is open to all individuals working in the social services sector.

Catholic Social Services Australia acknowledges the generous sponsorship contribution from Catholic Church Insurances (CCI) who have supported this important event for many years.

NORMA PARKER AWARD FOR THE MOST INNOVATIVE PROGRAM  

This award highlights outstanding achievement by a member of Catholic Social Services Australia which offers programs that set trends and benchmarks in their area of service. The award is presented in honour of Norma Parker, who co-founded Australia's first professionally organised child and family welfare agency.

This year also awarded a Highly Commended in this category.

2010 WINNER: Catholic Community Services' Severe Domestic Squalor Project

The Severe Domestic Squalor project provides support to people living in environments that are so unclean that their health, ability to receive services or their ability to live independently in the community is jeopardised.  The project also aims to educate service providers working in the community about how to respond when situations of squalor are encountered.

As a result there is a decrease in the consequences of living in squalor, less safety, health and fire risks, and clients became less isolated from the community. They also had less risk of eviction.

In the twelve months to July 2009 the Project ,which has been widely acclaimed by local government and local health services, ran 32 training sessions for 748 people and an estimated 1,000 calls for advice were received on the squalor hotline. 

Speech (Winner) - Norma Parker Award for the Most Innovative Program - Organisational - 8 February 2010

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Sacred Hearts Mission Journey to Social Inclusion

Sacred Heart Mission has been addressing homelessness and disadvantage for 28 years ensuring people have access to necessities including housing, food and healthcare. 

Realising about 40 per cent of their clients are trapped in the cycle of homelessness the Mission developed a service model, Journey to Social Inclusion, that will provide people with the help they need to break the cycle of homelessness and reconnect with the mainstream community.

It took three years to develop the pilot which started in November last year. The biggest challenge was to raise the $3.8 million needed for the three year program which will involve 40 people who have been either consistently homeless for more than a year or who have had several episodes of homelessness over the past three years. The program will spend $30,000 per person over the next three years and will show that a long-term, well resourced and intensive service can permanently end a person’s chronic homelessness.

Speech (HC_J2SI) - Norma Parker Award for the Most Innovative Program - Organisational - 8 February 2010

PERKINS AWARD
FOR EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE (INDIVIDUAL)

This award is presented to an individual who has shown outstanding commitment to service. The award is open to people from our agencies and also to people in the wider community.  The award is presented in honour of Bishop Eric Perkins, who had a major impact on national Catholic social policy.

This year also awarded two Highly Commended in this category.

2010 WINNER: David Helmers, Executive Officer of the Australian Men's Sheds Association (AMSA)

Centacare Hunter Manning has auspiced the Lake Macquarie Shed Project and more recently the Hunter Valley Shed Cluster Group and the Australian Men’s Shed Association.  David Helmers has project managed all three programs. David’s commitment, creativity and passion have taken the project from the locally-based Lake Macquarie Shed Project to a regional and a national body.  The Lake Macquarie Shed Project is a unique effort involving Federal, State and local government; businesses, employment service and training providers; not for profit organisations and the community.

The Shed helps unemployed youth, mature aged unemployed people, retirees, young offenders and early school leavers by using skills of older people, providing mentoring opportunities, creating positive, dynamic community partnerships and helping participants to prepare for further education, training and employment.

David’s extraordinary capacity for community engagement is central to the success of all three projects. His relationship with shed volunteers, the business community, prospective partners, government agencies, members of parliament and the shed community throughout Australia is unique. His dedication to raising the profile of the shed movement makes him very worthy of this award.

Speech - Perkins Award for Excellence in Service - Individual (DavidH) - 8 February 2010

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Fr Leo Donnelly, Port Macquarie Parish Priest

Leo Donnelly was nine years old when he got the idea of becoming a priest and never lost that desire.  Since then he has spent the past 56 years dedicated to the community of Port Macquarie Lismore.  He lists starting the vocational education school in Port Macquarie as the highlight of his career.

Port Macquarie has for some time now been described as a LIGHTHOUSE Parish - testament to his vision and leadership. He is proud of the parish education system which now boasts three primary schools and four secondary school campuses with around 3,000 students. St Agnes Aged Care has more than 600 residents and a new 112 bed high care facility at Emmaus was started late last year.

Centacare also provides a comprehensive range of services and many of these essential responses to community have come about because of Fr Donnelly’s commitment to his faith and his community.

In recent years the Parish’s missionary endeavours to help less fortunate near-neighbour dioceses in PNG, the Solomon Islands and the Kimberleys.

Speech - Perkins Award for Excellence in Service - Individual (FrD) - 8 February 2010

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Josie Gregory, Advocate for Women and Children Experiencing Domestic Violence, Centacare Broken Bay

Josie has been the coordinator of the Northern Sydney Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service for 14 years.  Her reputation as a strong, down to earth advocate has ensured realistic resources and support are in place for women and children experiencing domestic violence.

Her professional approach and commitment to women and children has led to productive working relationships with court staff, policy and other support services, and the enduring respect of magistrates.

Josie is passionate about her clients. She combines compassion and professionalism and she uses her innate understanding of the frustrations and limitations of the work to train less experienced staff to become strong advocates for women and their children.

Speech - Perkins Award for Excellence in Service - Individual (JosieG)- 8 February 2010

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE (ORGANISATIONAL)

This award is presented to the program which has most successfully met or is meeting the needs of a local community.

This year also awarded two Highly Commended in this category.

2010 WINNER: Centacare Brisbane’s Catholic Prison Ministry

Started in 1985 in St Mary’s Church in South Brisbane this program for prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families, has grown to a comprehensive service that helps more than 50,000 people each year.  These clients are some of the most highly disadvantaged and marginalised people in the community. They experience high levels of mental health problems, homelessness, abuse, discrimination and unemployment. They have struggled with numeracy and literacy skills and historically come from dysfunctional families and lack positive role models.

Catholic Prison Ministry is a case management model which actively works with up to 400 prisoners and ex-prisoners and 900 court attendees and family members at any one time. Over 100 volunteers support and advise families, defendants and victims in 9 courthouses in south east Queensland.

The Family Support Program provides counselling, advocacy and practical support for the families of people in prison; Liferaft is a peer support program for families and friends of prisoners; Prison Visitation Services are extended to all prisons in South East Queensland; and the Offender Reintegration Support Service helps prisoners with pre and post release needs.

Benefits to the community include reduced welfare payments, significant reduction in the cost of the justice and penal system and savings in physical and mental health costs.  Catholic Prison Ministry has been acclaimed as best practice by a broad range of people and organisations.

Catholic Prison Ministry believes prison must be an absolute last resort, that the criminal justice system must aim to bring about reconciliation and restoration – not incrimination and retribution. It believes justice is a community responsibility – that social inequalities and injustices give rise to crime, and that people will usually make the choice to live a lawful lifestyle if they are supported in an environment that provides for their basic needs and affirms their self worth.

Speech (winner) - Award for Excellence in Service Organisational (members) - 8 February 2010

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Marymead Child and Family Counselling Service

Established in March 2006, Marymead Child and Family Counselling Service is an early intervention program targeting families in the Canberra and regional community with infants or young children under eight who are showing behavioural or emotional difficulties or difficulties that affect the caregiver-child relationship.

The program was designed to meet specific needs not available elsewhere in the community as many existing health, community and welfare services specifically exclude children with behavioural and emotional problems and very few services had the skills or capacity to do relationship focused work with families of infants or young children.

Marymead's a team of experienced professionals have provided invaluable assistance to families and are recognised as a centre of excellence by doctors, care givers and parents, locally.  The service has also been rated ‘world class’ by a visiting international specialist in the area of infant and early childhood mental health.

The service attracts federal and ACT government support and the sponsorship of several Canberra clubs and benevolent groups.

Speech (HC_Marymead) - Award for Excellence in Service Organisational (members) - 8 February 2010

HIGHLY COMMENDED: MaristYouth Care’s Aboriginal Trainee Support Worker Project for Western Sydney.

Western Sydney has the largest urban Aboriginal population in NSW.  Many Aboriginal people face low levels of formal education, poor literacy and numeracy skills, a history of offending or incarceratin, transitory accommodation, unstable employment histories, substance abuse, domestic violence problems and poor physical and mental health.

The Aboriginal Trainee Support Worker Project for Western Sydney is a full-time mentoring and support program that addresses these barriers by enabling participants to gain skills, qualifications and employment in the community services industry.

The successful program has received enthusiastic support from Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek; Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion, Ursula Stephens; various NSW politicians, Federal bureaucrats and agencies and Marist Youth Care is now proposing to extend it into an enterprise model.

Speech (HC_MYC) - Award for Excellence in Service Organisational (members) - 8 February 2010

Please see here for award details and information on previous winners. 

Enquiries:
Judith Tokley
Public Affairs Manager
judith.tokley@catholicsocialservices.org.au
0408 824 306
61 2 6285 1366

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