Neighbourhood and community centres strategic repositioning
Neighbourhood and community centres (NCCs) are the cornerstones of our communities and play a vital role in connecting and supporting people experiencing social isolation and loneliness.
They provide critical social infrastructure, play a key part in building community connection and cohesion, and provide services and supports that help the lives of hundreds of thousands of Queenslanders that visit NCCs each year.
The Queensland Government is committed to working in partnership with neighbourhood and community centres to ensure more people can be connected to the support and services they need in their local community.
Neighbourhood and Community Centres Strategic Repositioning Committee
In 2021, the department commenced the NCC Strategic Repositioning Project, which included formation of the Neighbourhood and Community Centres Strategic Repositioning Committee in May 2021.
The role of the committee is to create and facilitate a contemporary NCC strategic framework to support the work of 127 government-funded NCCs in Queensland and the broader NCC system.
The refreshed strategic framework will guide financial investment, strengthen best practices, and build a contemporary and networked service model that responds to a wide range of community needs.
Committee tenure and deliverables
The strategic framework being developed by the committee includes three core components:
- An Agreed Purpose Framework, to provide a clear strategy for NCCs and to underpin place-based operational service models and principles, with explicit focus on community diversity, including First Nations peoples, diverse cultural and linguistic communities, people with disability; and agility to adjust services to changing local community needs and strengths based on data and evidence. The Agreed Purpose framework will capture the evolving role of NCCs, including in-reach service planning and the move towards planning at the network level with key local service partners.
- An Investment Framework for both recurrent and capital funding, which is robust, fair, and equitable.
- A Performance and Reporting Framework to underpin measurement of NCC’s role in improving social, economic, digital and cultural outcomes for Queenslanders.
The Committee provides advice and expertise regarding the directions and content of the strategic framework, and will advise the department on:
- an Engagement and Communications Strategy to ensure the voices of the sector and other key stakeholders are heard in the project
- a Strategic Implementation Plan to guide effective and efficient implementation of agreed directions.
Committee membership
The committee consists of a cross-section of stakeholders with experience and knowledge of NCCs and their key stakeholders and client groups. It includes the following representatives:
| Name | Position, Organisation |
|---|---|
Mr Gary Adsett | General Manager, Queensland Independent Schools Block Grant Authority |
Ms Mara Basanovic | Chief Executive Officer, Volunteering Queensland |
Ms Karen Dare | Chief Executive Officer, Communify |
Ms Sandra Elton | Manager, North Townsville Community Hub / Queensland Community Alliance representative |
Ms Nyoka Fetoa’i | Executive Director, Kambu Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Health (Kambu Health) |
Mr Matthew Gillett | General Manager, Programs, Community Services Industry Alliance (CSIA) |
Ms Louise Judge | Manager, Chinchilla Community Centre |
Ms Em James | Chief Executive Officer, Neighbourhood Centres Queensland (NCQ) |
Mr Geoff Leeming | President, Kingston East Neighbourhood Centre |
Ms Michelle Lucas | Executive Director, Logan Together |
Mr Tomas Passegi | President, Neighbourhood Centres Queensland |
Dr Nancy Spencer | Executive in Residence, Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith University |
Ms Tanya Stevenson | Chief Executive Officer, Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre |
Ms Regina Turner | President, Mura Kosker Sorority Inc |
The Committee is chaired by the Executive Director, Community Services or their delegate, and secretariat for the committee is provided by the department.
Committee meeting communiques
- Committee meeting communique—28 October 2022 (PDF, 224.04 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—24 August 2022 (PDF, 90.1 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—29 June 2022 (PDF, 109.37 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—4 May 2022 (PDF, 366.46 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—6 April 2022 (PDF, 103.64 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—9 March 2022 (PDF, 105.14 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—8 December 2021 (PDF, 115.54 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—24 November 2021 (PDF, 108.16 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—3 November 2021 (PDF, 110.48 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—20 October 2021 (PDF, 103.33 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—21 July 2021 (PDF, 110.5 KB)
- Committee meeting communique—9 June 2021 (PDF, 111.05 KB)
More information
Find out more about neighbourhood and community centres.
- Last updated:
- 6 January 2023