Whittlesea Community Futures

Council and WCF members identified shared advocacy opportunities for key community service organisations in the municipality.

Whittlesea Food Collective was established; inter-agency referral pathways were strengthened; and Whittlesea Emergency Relief Network established a Christmas hamper and toy donation campaign with partner support. 

In 2020/21 Council identified and reached vulnerable community members through the established relationships with Community Service Organisations (CSOs).

Council and WCF worked closely to access this support offered by the State Government. Council employed 258.5FTE. Exactly half were employed directly by Council and half by local community services.

City of Whittlesea were the only LG to offer this to Community Service Organisations, resulting in additional support for our community.

Strong advocacy by Council and the WCF Family Violence. WCF Working Group has resulted in an Orange Door Access point in Epping.

WCF established the Whittlesea Housing and Homelessness Action Group. One of the key outcomes of this group has been Council’s successful representations to the Big Build initiative resulting in being named a priority area.

WCF Partner agencies provided funding to deliver services to Whittlesea residents, but lacking infrastructure assisted our successful grant application to establish the Hub with a new model of service provision. 

Significant data capture of the current state of our human services system within Whittlesea to inform WCF and Council advocacy and strategic planning.

WCF strongly supported Council’s successful objection to more pokies at the Commercial Hotel. WCF facilitated community involvement in the advocacy.

WCF key contributor to many years’ advocacy for a satellite headspace site which is now up and running at Edge. 

Partnership with CSOs allowed for a quick response to service needs.

The Whittlesea Community Forum brought together 56 attendees from 25 diverse health and community organisations to discuss key public health challenges.

Speakers from La Trobe University, Berry Street Northern Specialist Family Violence Services, and Kids First Australia highlighted the impact of social determinants like housing, income, and cultural background on wellbeing, emphasizing the need to address the "causes of the causes" - the deeper systemic factors driving disadvantage. Collaborative, cross-sector solutions were identified as crucial for lasting change.

Key updates included rising homelessness, gambling harm, and climate change impacts, with a focus on inclusive service delivery for vulnerable groups. The importance of care teams was emphasized, recognizing that services are often a temporary but vital part of a person’s evolving support network - their "changing village."

The City of Whittlesea aims to integrate community feedback into its Health and Wellbeing plans to ensure targeted, sustainable solutions.

Over 42 people from more than 24 diverse organisations attended the Whittlesea Community Futures Forum on Thursday 5 December as part two of a two-part series exploring Navigating New Beginnings: Enhancing New Migrant Engagement.

We learned about incorporating men’s perspectives from diverse communities in developing effective strategies and engagement in primary prevention of gender-based violence, where community leader Salam Dankha and local resident Reem Deep shared their lived experience of settling in Whittlesea and supporting others doing the same. Gurvinda Kaur shared her lived experience and professional wisdom on reducing social isolation and the impact of mental health on newly arrived migrants.

We celebrated the partnerships 2024 achievements including the contributions of existing strategic coordinating group members and welcomed five new members. 

We are looking forward to an impactful 2025 focused on strengthening advocacy and capacity building for longer term planning.

Over 36 people from more than 24 diverse organisations attended the Whittlesea Community Futures Forum on Thursday 12 September as part two of a two-part series exploring An Intersectional Lens to Social Inclusion.

We explored how overlapping identities impact individuals experience and needs and gained insights into applying intersectionality in service delivery for more equitable outcomes. Attendees were privileged to hear the lived experience of a proud Mutthi Mitthi Yorta Yorta Aboriginal Woman and a proud Mutthu Mutthi, Yorta Yorta, Wemba Wemba and Wurrundjeri Aboriginal Young Amputee Woman who shared incredible stories of culture, discrimination and achievement.

We heard how the Fix It Fridays Initiative in Whittlesea Township has impacted local people's lives through solving problems with wrap around services and creating a pathway for belonging. We took away the metaphor of intersectionality as a literal road intersection. Roads of racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, ageism, with cars of discrimination and people with multiple Identities finding themselves in the middle of major intersections unable to avoid the impact of the cars.

The partnership opened its Intersectional Service pilot project, bringing services to the community in a warm and welcoming way whilst strengthening collaboration and referral pathways between services. 

Over 50 people from more than 26 diverse organisations attended the Whittlesea Community Futures Forum on Thursday 27 June as part one of a two-part series exploring Newly Arrived Migrants. Part two will take place in December.

We heard about the range of reasons and places people migrate to Australia and settle in the CIty of Whittlesea. Through the service lens we heard about the settlement journey in the City of Whittlesea for skilled migrants, family visa arrivals, refugees, asylum seekers and students.

Local settlement experts shared the complexities of challenges people face in settling here and the support pathways available. We learned the three best practice models and projects including the importance of trauma informed practice, collaborating with respected community leaders and the bi-cultural health navigator project.

New collaborative links have already been created between services as a result of the forum, enhancing the settlement experience for our newly arrived migrants.

Over 58 people from more than 30 diverse organisations attended the Whittlesea Community Futures Forum on Thursday 15 March as part one of a two-part series exploring Social Inclusion. Part two will take place in September.

We were privileged to hear presentations on social inclusion, barriers and solutions including the challenges in responding to the increasing prevalence of extremist groups from Dr Josh Roose, Associate Professor Politics for Citizenship and Globalisation, and Dr. Vivian Gerrand Research Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University. 

Four local experts shared what social inclusion looks like in their space followed by four dynamic workshops unpacking topics including intersectionality and social inclusion, strengthening policy and procedures to safeguard social inclusion, integrating services and increasing social inclusion practices across the life stages.

80% of respondents indicated their knowledge of social inclusion was substantial to very substantial after the forum.