ER Conference 2009 - Program

DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY 25TH NOVEMBER

9.00 – 9.30

Registrations

Welcome to Delegates - Chris Hall, WACOSS President

9.30 – 9.40

Welcome To Country

9.40 – 9.50

Master of Ceremonies - Ian Craig

9.50 – 10.10

CONFERENCE OPENING

Hon Robyn McSweeney MLC

Chris Hall – WACOSS President
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Jacquie Thomson – General Manager Lotterywest

10.10 – 10.30

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Building a Sustainable and Healthy Financial System

Lin Hatfield Dodds – National Director UnitingCare Australia
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10.30 - 10.45

Future Directions for the Commonwealth Emergency Relief Program

Elizabeth Stehr - National Branch Manager, Money Management Program

FaHCSIA Business Centre Canberra

10.45 – 11.00

A Hand Up or a Hand Out?

Sue Ash - Chief Executive Officer WACOSS
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11.00 – 11.15

Question Time   - with panel of morning speakers

11.15 – 11.45

MORNING TEA

11.45 – 12.00

Marie’s Story – A personal perspective and reflection on using emergency relief

12.00 – 1.00

IDEAS

Let’s talk about ER - Joel Levin  

ER   - difficult, demanding, thankless, ethical dilemmas, too little, too much, too many criteria, too much paperwork, nowhere to refer to, repeats, volunteer turn over, not enough supervision

All words and phrases that too often come to mind ……..

So why do we do it?   Why are some agencies deciding not to do it?   How do we avoid burnout? Are we making a difference? If not why not?

There will be plenty of time to explore these perplexing questions in this session.   Because it’s all about you!   We want you to tell it like it is! Why do you do it, what’s good, what’s bad, what do you do to keep sane? What would help from a provider perspective?

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1.00 -2.00

LUNCH

2.00 – 2.30

The Concession Maze

This is an interactive and light hearted approach to getting your head around the maze of concessions, as well as a more serious look at how effective the current systems are in assisting clients in financial crisis.

2.30 – 3.30

Financial Hardship & Essential Services

This is an opportunity to meet the Consumer Utilities Project staff from WACOSS and to explore the provision of essential services with Ken Nylander from Synergy, Greg Will from Horizon, Mark Harris from Alinta and Peter Andersen from the Water Corporation.

Lanie Chopping, Manager of Customer Protection, Economic Regulation Authority, will discuss retailer codes of conduct and how they serve to protect residential consumers.

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3.30 – 4.00

AFTERNOON TEA

OPTION 1

Mandatory Reporting & Duty of Care   (Sussex Street Community Legal Service)

This session will be presented by a legal practitioner and will cover two important issues;
1) Who, what and when we need to report ?
2) Where does our duty of care begin and end?
This session is relevant for workers and managers dealing directly with clients.

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OPTION 2

A House at the end of the Yellow Brick Road

A common frustration for front line workers is finding suitable accommodation for clients.   Clients and workers alike are often frustrated at the lack of options available. The Social Housing Taskforce was established as a catalyst for developing Western Australian strategies that produce a vibrant and growing social housing sector.    Lets take a look at how far we are on the yellow brick road to affordable and available housing.
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OPTION 3

ER Funding – Meeting Funding Guidelines and Contractual

Covering the new contract requirements, what you can and can’t do with ER funds, data collection requirements and acquittals

OPTION 4

Fun in the Sun

When discussing emergency relief becomes overwhelming take some time out to have some fun in the sun

EVENING EVENT

MORNING TEA

6.00 – 8.00

DINNER   

A conference dinner will be held at Miss Maud Cnr Murray & Pier Streets   Entertainment provided by a diverse range of performing artists

DAY 2 - THURSDAY   26th NOVEMBER

9.30 – 10.30

Rural Perspectives

A range of services from regional WA will give us some insight into working with clients in financial crisis and provide feedback on the impact of some of the programs being implemented.

Short presentations from 3 regional agencies

Australian Red Cross – Kalgoorlie – Kaye McLennan
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Centracare Kimberley – Trish Jones
The challenges and complexities of delivering crisis intervention ER services in a social, economic and culturally diverse environment in the Kimberley region of Western Australia:
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Newman Womens Shelter – Deanne Lewis
The Newman Women’s Shelter assists women and children from Newman and surrounding communities escaping domestic violence, or facing homelessness. Approximately 250 Indigenous Martu people reside in Newman, while a large number of transient Aboriginal people pass through on a regular basis.
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10.30 – 11.15

INNOVATION to IDEAS

Jason Clarke – Minds at Work

Jason will surely provide conference delegates with something ‘outside the box’. He is one of the most sought-after Creative Thinkers in the country, and his motivational address should equip you with the skills and inspiration to allow your creativity to surface.

11.15 – 11.45

MORNING TEA

11.45 -12.45

INNOVATION

Showcasing Examples of Innovative Service Delivery

Innovation is the latest buzz word in funding. Additional money announced in the last round of FaHCSIA funding called for services to develop innovative approaches to ER delivery. This session will showcase examples of where innovative service delivery models have been trialled and examine at the results.

Foodbank – Doug Paling

Foodbank are involved in a number of school programs and with the help of DVD technology Doug will run through the highlights of these programs.

Anglicare – Emergency Relief Innovation

Whilst continuing to maintain their traditional ER services during 2008-2009, Anglicare WA ran an ER case managed service through 14 Community service programs. The principle behind this model is to truly make a difference by providing brokerage funds as part of an overall approach to changing people’s lives. Hear how this alternative approach is working and how it is making a difference.
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Communicare - Play-Group Participation as Emergency Relief

ER is seen primarily as providing basic material relief to families. However research has now clearly established the impact of a psychologically impoverished environment on early childhood development. If play-group fees can also be seen as an essential ER requirement, parents will be able to access wider social supports and their children utilise developmentally appropriate play materials and socialisation opportunities.
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12.45 – 2.00

LUNCH (Including Entertainment)

2.00 – 4.00

IDEAS

Developing new Models of Service Delivery

Jason Clarke

We know the problems so its time to get working on the solutions. Using the collective brainpower of 100 plus delegates and one exceptional facilitator we will be putting our minds to work.

This is the session that is bound to inspire and allow you to explore the possibilities and to get your creative senses active and come up with practical tools and ideas to put into action. We are very fortunate to have Jason Clarke from Minds at Work who will bring his unique and unconventional methods to help us.   To find out more about Jason Clarke and his team at Minds at Work go to http://www.mindsatwork.com.au           

( A short afternoon tea will be taken during this session)

4.00 – 4.30

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Conference Resolutions, Evaluation and Wrap Up