CITY OF STIRLING


MINUTES

COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING
07 OCTOBER 1997

ITEM SUBJECT / LOCATION / NAME PAGE

COMMUNITY SERVICES

LEISURE SERVICES

LS11 * FEASIBILITY STUDY - CONSULTANTS REPORT/ALEXANDER DRIVE INGLEWOOD/INGLEWOOD AQUATIC CENTRE 26

* - Indicates Separate Attachments submitted with Agenda.

# - Item requiring special Council attention .
MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE HELD IN THE PARMELIA ROOM, CIVIC PLACE, STIRLING ON TUESDAY 07 OCTOBER 1997 AT 3.03 PM.

Present:

Chairman

Councillor J Copley JP

 

Mayor

Councillor D C Vallelonga JP

 

Councillors

R J Daniel, E S Martin (from 3.07pm),
W M Stewart (from 3.04pm) JM Camilleri OAM JP (Deputy for Councillor Ham)

 

Observers

Nil

 

Staff

Chief Executive Officer - M J Wadsworth (from 3.05pm), Executive Manager Community Development - J Glover, Manager Leisure Services - F Strutt, Communication
Co-Ordinator - P Flynn (from 3.04pm)
Senior Administration Officer - C Evans, Administration Officer - J Byrne

 

Public

Nil

 

Press

Nil

APOLOGIES

Councillor VA Cooke
Councillor ES Martin (late)
Councillor BR Ham
Councillor WM Stewart (late)


DECLARATION OF FINANCIAL INTEREST

Nil


MINUTES

Moved Councillor Vallelonga, seconded Councillor Daniel

That the Minutes of the Meeting of 9 September 1997 be confirmed, and signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record of proceedings.

The motion was put and declared CARRIED.


ITEMS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

Nil

COMMUNITY SERVICES

At 3.04pm Councillor Stewart arrived at the meeting during consideration of Item CS1.

CS1 ATTENDANCE AT 25TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS - CANBERRA 21 - 24 SEPTEMBER 1997

ITEM: CS1 FILE: 8.6.0

SUBJECT ATTENDANCE AT 25TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS - CANBERRA 21 - 24 SEPTEMBER 1997

REPORT Manager Community Services - 2 October 1997

Moved Councillor Vallelonga, seconded Councillor Camilleri that

THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS TO COUNCIL

That the report of the Manager Community Services on the 25th National Conference of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) held from 21 - 24 September 1997 in Canberra be RECEIVED.

The motion was put and declared CARRIED.

RECOMMENDATION TO COMMITTEE

That the report of the Manager Community Services on the 25th National Conference of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) held from 21 - 24 September 1997 in Canberra be RECEIVED.

REPORT PURPOSE

To report to Council on the 25th National Conference of the Australian Association of Social Workers.

REPORT

Council approved the attendance of the Manager Community Services, Mrs Pat Olver at the Australian Association of Social Workers conference. Cr June Copley and Cr David Boothman also attended.

The theme of the Conference was "Social Work Influencing Outcomes". The Conference was opened by the Governor General of Australia, Sir William Deane. He spoke with great passion on the many issues social workers are involved in, but made special mention of two areas of particular concern to him. These are:

1. Protecting the self esteem of young people. He said the stresses which face youth, such as unemployment, which lead to self confidence and self respect being undermined and in extreme cases, suicide, must be alleviated and;

2. Aboriginal Health. He presented a bleak picture of a situation which is not really improving. He stated that, contrary to popular belief, less per capita is spent on indigenous health than is on the general Australian community.

The "Norma Parker Address" given by Ms Imelda Dodds, President of the Australian Association of Social Workers, continued the challenge for social workers to be involved in very real current issues such as: Aboriginal reconciliation, anti-racism, unemployment, housing, tertiary education changes, women's issues, health service changes, statutory work, the need for registration and influencing an emerging "mean" society where financial expediency overrides justice issues.

An excellent plenary address was given by Emerities Professor Maev O'Collins entitled "2000 and Beyond - Realising the purpose of social work in the global context".

She was a most vibrant and amusing speaker with nevertheless a very strong message to impart. She stressed the necessity of working in partnership with families and the community and within the cultural context.

Concurrent sessions were attended in a variety of areas, with the Manager Community Services and Councillors attending different groups to gain a wide exposure to information offered.

An interesting paper on "influencing policy" was given by Helen Disney, Director of Relationships Australia, in which she gave hints on working with current power brokers. The need for "preventative" policy development was stressed.

Information gained from social workers involved in the Blackhawk tragedy and Port Arthur massacre will be useful in updating the Community Services Emergency Management Plan to keep it appropriate for disaster situations.

Several sessions were concerned with issues of the aged community and those on Alzheimer's clients and their carers were particularly relevant for the City's work.

Other sessions attended looked at performance measurement effectiveness in human service endeavours. It has some benefits but was generally thought to be limiting with again a narrow focus on what is considered "value for money". Contracting out was also of doubtful value for community and social work services.

Cr Copley has prepared a report as well which is as follows.

"Sessions of note:

Key note address by Emerities Professor Maev O'Collins; I think her last words summed up her presentation. "All social workers need to be informed and up to date on issues related to poverty, deprivation or discrimination".

She called for social workers to respond to challenges and be professional world citizens working with their own or with strangers in an increasingly diverse cultural context.

Alison Rowlands from Newcastle presented her topic "Circles of support for brain injured and other disabilities".

She found through her studies that the main concern of most people with disabilities, mainly brain injuries, were loss of social contacts, loneliness, depression and for the people who had a normal life before becoming disabled have difficulty in adjusting to loss of jobs and income. Therefore she stressed that emphasis must be placed on addressing social relationship and reducing isolation.

Another key factor of concern is that women as mothers or partners become the main source of emotional support for the individual.

A circle of support, also known as a circle of friends, is a network of volunteer relationships intentionally built around a specific person and the changes are known as dreams. It is to allow distinction between anything clinical, try to talk about reality and not medical jargon but also in reality not all dreams can be attained.

She gave a few case histories which impressed me a great deal. A little bit of this I think is in our frail aged department.

John Murphy from Victoria spoke on poverty and how to cope with the changes from being affluent to on the bread line.

In Frankston, population of 103,000, they have started community based outreach services to provide short term generalist case work support for individuals and families on low income with a prevention and early intervention. It also incorporates an emphasis on community development and social action. Most of this is done with volunteers and one or two expert help. Some funding comes from the Council and a lot of help from the business sector.

There were ten sessions to choose from a day. Only two could be utilised and it was a hard choice to pick which ones."

The conference was very well attended and worthwhile and I thank Council for the opportunity to participate.

At 3.04pm Communications Co-Ordinator P Flynn arrived at the meeting during consideration of Item CS2.