The Department of Industry & Investment NSW has released an Energy Assistance Guide to provide a 'one stop shop' of information to be used in assisting household manage their energy costs.

The Guide outlines customer rights and billing information as well as details about what rebates and programs are available to assist with payment with of energy bills and explains how to access energy assistance.

The Guide and associated Fact Sheets are now ready for download on the Department’s website: 
www.industry.nsw.gov.au/energy/customers/energy-assistance-guide   

The Energy Assistance Guide has been prepared for and in consultation with Community Welfare Organisations, Energy Retailers' Customer Hardship Units and Financial Counsellors.

The Community Builders Funding Program is a community strengthening and capacity building program. The Program includes both fixed term funding available each year for new projects, and a renewable component that comprises former Community Services Grants Program (CSGP) services transferring to the Community Builders Program.

A Community Builders Fixed Term Tender for new projects will open on 1 November 2010. The Tender closes on 8 December 2010.

For more information, go to the Community Builders website:  www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au

Energy poverty is something people experience when they have inadequate access to a supply of energy. Energy poverty affects people’s day-to-day lives, impacting on their health and wellbeing.

Four short video clips created by PIAC’s Energy and Water Consumers’ Advocacy Program (EWCAP) and posted online this week focus attention on energy poverty. You can access the clips at: http://www.piac.asn.au/energy-poverty

The clips include conversations with:

• Kevin, an energy consumer; 
• Dr Lynne Chester, an energy researcher from the University of Sydney, and
• Dr Alan Morris, a sociologist from the University of NSW.

A short panel discussion on Energy Poverty is also included.

If energy poverty is something that you have experienced or feel strongly about, PIAC invites you to leave a comment on the page at the link above.

EWCAP’s policy team will use your feedback to advocate for affordable and accessible energy for energy consumers across NSW. The Energy Poverty web page also includes a link to information about support that is available for people who are struggling to pay their energy bills.

Contact the Public Interest Advocacy Centre for more information on ph: 8898 6500

As part of 2010 Anti Poverty Week and five months out from the March 2011 NSW State Election, NCOSS held a forum on 22 October to re-launch Vote 1 Fairness in NSW and ask the question “Are We Fair Yet?”.

The forum was hosted by The Hon Clover Moore, MP, and NCOSS invited speakers recognised for their services to the community in 2010 to speak about what fairness means to them. Speakers included Ms Ronni Kahn, Australia’s Local Hero 2010, Mr Robert Schneider, Community Father of the Year and Rachael Martin, from Wirringa Baya Aboriginal Women's Legal Centre and winner of the 2010 Justice Medal.

NCOSS also released 33 individual Vote 1 Fairness in NSW Fact Sheets which can be used by community sector organisations in their campaign and advocacy work in the lead-up to the March 2011 Election. The Fact Sheets can be used individually to support campaigns on particular issues or as an adjunct to the information in Vote 1 Fairness in NSW. 

NCOSS will continue to use Vote 1 Fairness in NSW and the Fact Sheets post-Election to ensure that Election commitments are implemented.

Download Fact Sheets:  www.ncoss.org.au/vote1fairness/factsheets

The Sydney Food Fairness Alliance presents a lively and thought provoking Q&A style forum as part of the Sydney International Food Festival!

Helping Ourselves Restaurant critic for the Daily Telegraph Simon Thomsen will moderate this Q&A style forum that will explore the innovative ways that people are providing for themselves and debate how to best work to foster access to enough, healthy food for all Sydneysiders.

Audience members are invited to asks questions of a panel of experts including The Reverend Bill Crews from The Exodus Foundation; Ronni Kahn from Oz Harvest; and Simon Gregory from Food For Life community supermarket.

• When: 6.30pm on Thursday 21 October 2010
• Where: Sydney Mechanics School of the Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney.
• Cost: $15 or $10 for members and concession (cash only on the night)
• RSVP: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Refreshments from Agape Restaurant, Iggy's Bakery and B-d Paris Creek Farm will be served.

• Download brochure

Information: 

• Mark Ludbrooke Service Development Officer
  Sydney Food Fairness Alliance
  email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

NCOSS welcomes the launch of the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal’s energy price comparison website: www.myenergyoffers.nsw.gov.au.  

The NSW Government’s Energy Information Line is also available to provide customers without access to the internet information from the My Energy Offers website. The Energy Information Line number is 1300 136 888.

The website and information line allow customers to compare electricity and gas prices from all NSW energy retailers, including additional charges such as late fees, moving house fees and early disconnection fees. The information can assist households to choose the best deal and potentially save money on their energy bills, especially on those additional charges. The website and information line are part of the NSW Government’s Customer Assistance Policy aimed at reducing the impact of large electricity price rises.

The New South Wales Oral Health Alliance will launch Issues in Oral Health for Low Income and Disadvantaged Groups in NSW: An Advocacy Kit for Community and Welfare Non-Government Organisations during Dental Health Week on Wednesday.

• When: 9.30am-10.30am, Wednesday 4 August 2010
• Where: Jubilee Room, Parliament House, Macquarie Street, Sydney

The launch will be hosted by Greg Piper MP, Independent Member for Lake Macquarie and Mayor of Lake Macquarie City Council. Other speakers will include:

• Alison Peters, Director, Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS)
• Dr Matthew Fisher, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Dental Association (NSW Branch)

This will be followed by a short consumer panel which will provide an insight into some of the issues facing disadvantaged groups in the community who are most at risk of poor oral health.

About the Oral Health Issues Advocacy Kit and the NSW Oral Health Alliance

Issues in Oral Health for Low Income and Disadvantaged Groups in NSW: An Advocacy Kit for Community and Welfare Non-Government Organisations has been developed by the NSW Oral Health Alliance for community and welfare organisations in NSW.

The Advocacy Kit contains facts about 11 disadvantaged groups most at risk of poor oral health, supported by a number of case studies. It outlines the key issues with dental services in NSW, along with the Alliance’s recommendations to improve equity in oral health, and suggestions about how organisations can take action to raise awareness of oral health issues and put pressure on our politicians to make teeth matter!

The NSW Oral Health Alliance is a group of non-government organisations concerned with improving access to dental service for low income and disadvantaged people in NSW. It is convened by the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS).

Spokesperson & Media Contacts:

• Alison Peters, Director
  Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS)
  Mob: 0425 231 814
  Tel: (02) 9211 2599
• Bernard Rupasinghe
  Australian Dental Association (NSW Branch)
  Mob: 0408 234 344
  Tel: (02) 8436 9900

At the time of writing a Federal Election has just been called for 21 August and the election campaign is well and truly underway. While it is very hard to predict exactly what will emerge during the campaign the position of the social and community services sector is pretty clear –all political parties and politicians must address the needs of those affected by poverty and inequality.

NCOSS will be joining with ACOSS to advocate for:

• Better support for the long term unemployed to help them get work;
• A fairer system of income support for those who need it;
• Greater investment in social housing;
• Ongoing commitment to reduce homelessness and risk of homelessness;
• A health system that coordinates and integrates health promotion and primary care and improves access to health services with better health outcomes for low income Australians;
• Greater investment in both oral health and mental health;
• Action to close the gap in health, education and employment for aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; and
• A genuine commitment to address climate change and to introduce measures to mitigate the impact on low income and vulnerable households

We will also be calling for support to provide new and full funding of any increases awarded by Fair Work Australia in the application for an Equal Remuneration Order for social and community service workers in recognition of the role of the sector in providing support and assistance to at least 6.5 million Australians living on low incomes. This is crucial for the sustainability of social services where demand for support far outstrips supply and most services are already struggling to attract and retain workers.

Commonwealth Governments have an important and increasingly influential role on many programs and services delivered by the State Government. The outcome of the Federal Election will have an impact on the priorities and approaches taken by the NSW Government following the State Election next March. Many of the issues we will be highlighting in the federal election are not that much different to those issues we are campaigning for as part of Vote 1 Fairness in NSW – at their heart is a belief that improving the opportunities for those who are struggling is the right thing to do and that we are all better off from doing so.

ACOSS has developed more detailed positions on all of the issues outlined and will be coordinating the COSS network and the broader sector in campaigning around them. These are issues that really matter to NCOSS and our members but are often overlooked in political campaigns driven more by polling and focus groups than vision and leadership. It’s important that we join with ACOSS in highlighting these issues to a broader audience and seeking support for fairer outcomes for those who are doing it tough.

For more information about the ACOSS campaign and how you can participate:

website: www.acoss.org.au

On 10 June the NSW Parliament adopted the biggest change to the State’s residential tenancies law in more than 20 years. Passage of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 completed a review process initiated five years ago by the then Minister for Fair Trading, John Hatzistergos. Community comment was first sought on an Options Paper that was released in July 2005, followed by a Discussion Paper released by Minister Burney in September 2007, and a draft Bill released by Minister Judge in November 2009.

More than 2,000 submissions were received from individual tenants, landlords, agents, and key interest groups, including NCOSS, in the three rounds of public consultation held during the course of the review. According to the Minister for Fair Trading, Virginia Judge, the new legislation “delivers fairness, balance and social justice to hundreds of thousands of NSW families, whether they are tenants or residential property owners.”

The new Act has not been proclaimed and is thus not yet law. It will come into effect after the necessary supporting regulations have been made. It is hoped this will occur later in the year.