Waterloo Human Services Plan

Sydney local Health District in partnership with Counterpoint Community Services are holding a Wellness Clinic on Tuesday 5 May, 10am to 2pm Waterloo Neighbourhood Centre, Shop 95, Wellington Street, Waterloo. The clinic is aimed at social housing tenants in Redfern and Waterloo and will:

We know that Covid-19 has been a challenging time, are you in need of a mate? Counterpoint Community Services has put together a flexible response team of "mates" to help. The mates can help with: Job seeking assistance; Emotional and counselling support; Collection of essential shopping, medicines and other household items; Help with navigating and accessing on line services; Support and wellbeing check and assistance to access other supports; Assistance with small tasks around the house; and Support for personal growth, education and development. This is the poster for the Flexible Errand Project funded by a City of Sydney grant. Counterpoint will do a simple assessment for the best way to assist you as this service is for community members identified as with a ‘priority need’ and who are significantly affected by COVID-19 in the City of Sydney’s LGA.

The Waterloo Impact Project explores local perceptions to establish what views exist around the local client referral system and coordination between agencies, both government and non-government, and the needs for any improvement. The consultation consisted of interviews and focus groups with residents and agencies. A draft report was made public in January 2020, and feedback was requested. Independently facilitated follow up workshops took place to test the findings and recommendations. This was a challenging endeavour due to the impacts of Covid-19. The Counterpoint team worked alongside the Waterloo Neighbourhood Advisory Board Waterloo Redevelopment Group and the Redfern Waterloo Groundswell since August 2019 to ensure the report’s relevance and accuracy. The report has now been completed along with final recommendation presented in PowerPoint slides.

These are the final recommendation PowerPoint slides to accompany the Waterloo Impact Project Report. The Waterloo Impact Project explores local perceptions to establish what views exist around the local client referral system and coordination between agencies, both government and non-government, and the needs for any improvement. The consultation consisted of interviews and focus groups with residents and agencies. A draft report was made public in January 2020, and feedback was requested. Independently facilitated follow up workshops took place to test the findings and recommendations. This was a challenging endeavour due to the impacts of Covid-19. The Counterpoint team worked alongside the Waterloo Neighbourhood Advisory Board Waterloo Redevelopment Group and the Redfern Waterloo Groundswell since August 2019 to ensure the report’s relevance and accuracy.

This information sheet, titled Staying Safe during COVID-19 Information for Department of Communities and Justice Tenants, is in various community languages. OPen the PDF file and find yopur language. This sheet was distributed into the high-rises at the end of July 2020.

In this correspondence from Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) on 18 August 2020 it was confirmed that the Housing and Property Group within the Department of Planning, Industry & Environment will lead the Waterloo Human Services Plan with support from Department Communities and Justice (DCJ). More details will follow on who will be responsible for this work.

This paper has been put together to assist those entering the Waterloo Human Services Plan (HSP) discussions to understand the historic context. It sets out what Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) believe can be achieved by a Waterloo HSP. It was released on 9th October 2020 in the leadup to discussions with DCJ District about establishing an accross agency Waterloo Human Services Collaborative Working Group.

This is a copy of the 25 October 2021 Consultation draft of the Waterloo Human Services Action Plan. This plan has been developed by two Coordination groups meeting every two weeks since May 2021 and then combined into a joint plan by the Waterloo Human Services Collaborative and endorsed for consultation. The collaborative proposes to finalise the plan at its mid December meeting after taking into account feedback. PDF 1.1 MB.

In January 2024 the Waterloo Human Services Collaborative established its own website. This is the link to that site where you can stay up to date with the Collaborative and its activities including the implementation of its Waterloo Action Plan.

This presentation on Loneliness Social Prescribing and Wellbeing was made by Jane Massa from Sydney Local Health District (SLHD). Jane is based at the Redfern Health Centre and is the Coordinator Suicide and Depression Prevention, Older People which is part of the Towards Zero Suicides Program. File is 2.7 MB PDF. More information on Loneliness Services and resources from the REDWatch meeting can be found at www.redwatch.org.au/RWA/humanservices/wloohs/241003redwr

On 3 October 2024 REDWatch held a meeting on Loneliness Social Prescribing and Wellbeing (see link to slides below). In preparation for this session REDWatch spoke to a number of people with experience in Loneliness and Social Prescription. Below, based on our preparation for this meeting are some suggestions for resources people can access if they need specialized help or need to find activities. This list was correct as at 31 October 2024.

On June 8 2023 at the Sydney Town Hall around 60 people including representatives of resident action groups, social and community organisations, and researchers from the City of Sydney Local Government Area, attended a forum about loneliness in the city. This report summarises some of the main points from the discussion on the day, along with some highlights from relevant research about loneliness and examples from other countries about what is working to address loneliness, including local councils. It includes recommendations and suggestions for action that could be taken at the local level to address loneliness and increase social connection. The forum was co-hosted by Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore (City of Sydney), Sydney Alliance, Wayside Chapel, the Coalition of Caring for Community Centres (4CCCs), Inner Sydney Voice and the Greens. The forum focused on three themes: • What is known about loneliness, particularly as it impacts those in the inner-city? • What works to prevent loneliness? • What opportunities are there at the local level, for those living and working in inner city, City of Sydney Council, to address loneliness?

Barnardo's have decided to close the Yurnguai Learning Centre that operates out of Counterpoint's Factory Community Centre in December 2025. This is a statement from Counterpoint's EO about the proposed closure in response to a video about the Yurnguai centre and a campaign to get Barnardo's to keep the centre going. You can see the video at https://vimeo.com/reviews/3d2d24ff-432c-494b-9884-fda51deae152/videos/1143310916

Mission Australia runs the Department of Communities and Justice funded Tenant Participation and Community Engagement Program (TPCE). In December 2018 TPCE replaced the Tenant Resource Participation Service (TPRS) and the Housing Communities Program (HCP) supporting inner city public housing tenants. TPCE is to support social housing tenants to access information and services, connect with their local communities and participate in housing and community issues which effect their lives. Under the TPCE Program, Mission Australia supports Neighbourhood Advisory Boards and tenant groups, provides coaching and training opportunities, and communication with tenants. In this section of the site we have collected material about TPCE including the the details of DCJ's expected outcomes and expectations from the establishment of TPCE.

This update on the Waterloo Human Services Collaborative's Action Plan appeared in the October 2023 Waterloo newsletter.