Western Australian Council of Social Service (WACOSS)

We welcome the $1.5 million uplift to three charities to deal with increase demand over Christmas, their support is critical to those who are most in need. Our Cost of Living Report released yesterday showed more Western Australians than ever are falling into financial hardship and struggling to put three nutritious meals on the table. WA families and households need the Government to deliver targeted and genuine long-term solutions to cover the cost of their basic needs. See our election campaign for the solutions. https://lnkd.in/gN-T8HMQ

In this fortnight's Sector News - 💻 CEO Louise Giolitto will host an Election Countdown webinar on 21 January, for any organisation interested in learning more about how to join our campaign to #MakeWAFair. Register: https://lnkd.in/gpNHHuHY 📅 Registrations are open for our annual New Year Sector Breakfast on Friday 31 January. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gZFezB6X ✨ Nominations are open for the Community Services Excellence Awards. Nominate now: https://lnkd.in/gY2VEeR8 💼 Congratulations to Joni Sercombe from Anglicare WA who was the recipient of a joint scholarship between Tower Human Capital and WACOSS for the next Entry to the C-Suite Program! 📝 Consultation on the Service WA app payments is taking place, with the intent to address recent issues that arose from the WA Student Assistance Payment, resulting in the perpetuating and enabling of economic abuse. 🏆 Congratulations to the WA Digital Inclusion Project who received a Special Commendation at the IPAA Awards last week, and big congratulations to the Financial Wellbeing Collective, who received the Business News NFP Award for Excellence, and the WA Rent Relief Program, who received the Moore Australia Award for Best Practice in Collaboration! 🏢 Sweltering Cities is recruiting for a campaigner in WA: https://lnkd.in/gGyRz-ri 📌 Sector News: 18 December 2024 - https://lnkd.in/g2py2zBx 📧 Subscribe for fortnightly updates - http://eepurl.com/dkLEer

All I want for Christmas is... 🎁 A ticket to the WACOSS Conference! With Christmas fast approaching, why not give your staff the gift of a ticket to the Conference? Innovating Together: Leaving No One Behind will be a three-day conference that will explore how services are evolving alongside emergent technologies, and how we can make the most of these technologies so that no one is left behind. As the largest gathering of community sector workers, it's a great time to step away from desks and become immersed in the local, national, and international speaker line up, and to learn from and network with peers. With a big Early Bird ticket savings, and even greater savings for members (it's not too late to join!), give your staff the gift of a Conference ticket, and a professional development opportunity to look forward to in 2025! Tickets: https://lnkd.in/gFSmekzu #InnovatingTogether #LeavingNoOneBehind #ProfessionalDevelopment

Today we released our 2024 Cost of Living Report. For years the report has demonstrated that people on the lowest incomes are struggling, unable to afford life's essentials. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the dual-waged household (two parents, one on a full-time income, and the other on part-time minimum wage), is struggling to afford a reasonable standard of living, and unable to make ends meet with rapidly increasing living costs. Dramatic increases in rental prices have subsumed and outpaced any income growth. When combined with the pressure of ongoing high living costs, low-income families can no longer stretch household budgets to cover the basics. #CostofLiving #MakeWAFair Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/gEiVqwQm

We would like to extend our congratulations to Joni Sercombe from Anglicare WA, who was recently selected for the Tower Human Capital Group and WACOSS Scholarship for the Entry to the C-Suite Program! Joni is a community sector leader with more than 20 years of experience across Government and NFP in both WA and overseas. Her career has centred around designing opportunities for and with excluded cohorts to have a greater stake in growing their version of a good life. This work has leveraged her skills in sociology, human-centred design, community development, grant funding, advocacy, policy development and social enterprise. Joni has led Anglicare WA’s strategic ShiftLab unit since 2021, designing, testing and scaling place-based responses and new service models to respond to complex social challenges. She was recently seconded into the WA Government Department of Finance to lead a project around social procurement policy. She founded the social enterprise St James Supply Co, which employs migrant women to produce high quality haircare in plastic-free packaging and has had a longstanding involvement with the Town Team movement through the Vic Park Collective. The next Entry to the C-Suite Program will commence in February 2025. Congratulations Joni, and best of luck with the program! 💫

Last year Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service, Starick, Social Reinvestment WA, Gumala Aboriginal Corporation, Busselton Hospice Care Inc. and Man Up took out the accolades for outstanding organisation in their categories at the Community Services Excellence Awards. Who will you nominate this year? ✨ Nominate now https://lnkd.in/g4SxFpu 💻 The awards are a partnership between WACOSS and the Department of Communities WA, supported by Lotterywest, and in 2025 we look forward to welcoming our newest partner, Council of Aboriginal Services Western Australia (CASWA).

A big welcome to our third Keynote Speaker the 2025 Conference, Stefan Prandl! Stefan is the Founder and current Chief Technology Officer at his network cyber security company, hyprfire, has more than 8 years teaching as Curtin University Associate lecturer on computer sciences, and has led workshops and demonstrations on the current state of cyber-related topics. He is a member of WA-based cyber events, and us actively involved in growing local talent, through sponsorship of Student of Cyber and Bsides, and other local events to support students in IT. You can find his published cyber security papers are publicly available, as well as his podcast appearances. We look forward to welcoming Stefan on Day 2 of the Conference! #InnovatingTogether #WACOSSConference2025 #LeavingNoOneBehind #WACOSSConference

Introducing our second Keynote Speaker, Sophie Howe! In her role as Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, she held the Government to account on how their decisions affect future generations, influencing major policy reforms, and being a significant voice in other countries. She works with corporate business to implement long-term governance, while being a Global Ambassador for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, and holding a number of Board and Academic advisory roles. She has been named one of the UK's Top 100 Changemakers and at number 5 on the BBC Women's Power List, is not afraid to call out the madness of short-term decision making! We cannot wait to welcome her onto the big screen on Day 3 of the Innovating Together: Leaving No One Behind - 2025 WACOSS Conference! #InnovatingTogether #WACOSSConference2025 #LeavingNoOneBehind #WACOSSConference

We are very excited to announce our first Conference Keynote Speaker, Sisonke Msimang! Sisonke lives in Perth, and is a South African writer, with an impressive CV. She has been published in a range of publications, including the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Newsweek, and Al Jazeera. Previously Sisonke worked for the United Nations, and managed a global programme in New York, providing support on gender issues in the East and Southern Africa regional office of the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS. We are very excited to welcome Sisonke to speak on Day 1 of the Conference! #InnovatingTogether #WACOSSConference2025 #LeavingNoOneBehind #WACOSSConference

It's here! Early Bird registrations are now open for the 2025 WACOSS Conference! The program is shaping up to be one not to miss, as we explore the transformational potential of emerging technologies; investigate how services are being conceived, funded and delivered innovatively; and develop our broader understandings of wellbeing measurement to guide informed policy and investment decisions. The Conference will begin with a half-day workshop, presented in partnership with the Council of Aboriginal Services Western Australia (CASWA). Early Bird pricing won't last! Register now: wacossconference.org.au Thanks goes to our major supporters, Department of the Premier and Cabinet of WA, Department of Communities WA and Lotterywest.