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How we engage with our members and stakeholders
We’re always finding better ways to listen, learn and work with the people who matter including our members, the broader sector, and those with lived experience.
That happens through policy groups, community forums, and plenty of conversations in between.
We also make sure their voices are heard in key spaces run by others.
Here are some of the forums we’re part of:
Forum of Non-Government Agencies (FONGA)
The Forum of Non-Government Agencies (FONGA) is a meeting of leaders of non-government organisations in the community and health sectors. Services represented include ageing, disability, youth, women, domestic violence, housing and justice.
FONGA meetings give us a chance to share information, problem solve and find solutions for the challenges we all share across the sector.
The membership of FONGA is open to NCOSS Organisational Members. Read the FONGA Terms of Reference.
Contact Sector and Community Engagement Officer, Michelle Shackleton for more information if you’d like to be involved in FONGA.
NOCSS Local Connect and Regional Members Meeting
The NCOSS Regional Members Meeting brings together community leaders from across NSW to share insights and and amplify the voices of people living outside metro Sydney.
We meet online to talk through the big issues facing facing regional, rural and remote communities and the innovative, place-based solutions already taking shape.
In these meetings, we:
- Connect with politicians and decision-makers to discuss priority issues for regional, rural and remote communities.
- Embed a regional perspective to the NCOSS policy and advocacy agenda.
- Engage in networking, skill-building, information-sharing and partnerships.
- Put a spotlight on growing inequities and diverse needs for of regional, rural and remote communities.
- Take part in consultations and important sector briefings.
The Regional Engagement Framework outlines the history and purpose of our regional engagement.
If you’re an NCOSS member who is based outside metropolitan Sydney, we invite you to attend. If you are based in Sydney but have regionally based teams, please contact us to put them on the mailing list.
We also run in-person forums across the state. ‘NCOSS Local Connect‘ social sector forums are for locally-based non-government organisations and networks, including government agencies and local council staff, working and volunteering in the diverse field of social services and community health.
The NCOSS Local Connect forums share important sector updates, hold discussions about what matters most to our sector, connect like-minded people in your area and create new networks, and build sector capabilities through practical workshops and resources. Register for a forum near you.
Contact Sector and Community Engagement Officer, Michelle Shackleton for further information if you would like to be involved in NCOSS’s regional engagement.
Health Equity Alliance
The Health Equity Alliance is all about closing the health gap for people living in poverty across NSW.
It brings together smart minds from community organisations, peak bodies, universities and beyond. Our goal is to work together to push for policies that lead to better, fairer health outcomes.
Health Equity Alliance meetings provide:
- A space to share insights and learn from others
- Advice on the current and emergency health policy issues shaping access and equity
- A chance to find common ground and work together on what matters most.
Read the Health Equity Alliance Terms of Reference.
Contact Project Lead, Elyse Cain for further information if you would like to be involved in the Health Equity Alliance.
External stakeholder groups
NCOSS takes part in a range of external stakeholder groups and community forums convened by other organisations.
Some of these currently include:
- Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Ministerial Advisory Group
- NSW Health NGO Advisory Committee
- NSW Health Oral Health Advisory Group
- NSW Health Primary School Mobile Dental Program Reference Group
- NSW Women’s Alliance
- NSW Ageing Alliance
Working with people with lived experience
We partner with lived experience advocates and communities to champion real, systemic change. We’re committed to supporting people with lived experience to lead and speak up for themselves.
Our approach is shaped alongside advocates and Councils of Social Services across Australia, making sure everything we do reflects their knowledge and priorities.