General NSS Services & Resources

• Information and referral
• Assistance to emerging and established groups with project planning and management.
• Room & basic conference equipment for community activities. (bookings required)
• Information sessions, workshops & cultural awareness training for corporate or educational groups.
• EAPA -Emergency assistance with electricity, gas and water accounts (by appointment only).
• Tax Help - taxation return assistance to people with low incomes (July-Oct).
• Legal Clinic - provided by Hunter Community Legal Centre
• Outreach field visits by officers from Department of Immigration & Citizenship

Registered Migration Agents

• Providing information for Visa Applicants in the Community
• Migration advice, information and assistance to eligible clients through registered Migration Agents (by appointment only).
• Fees apply for migration agent services.

Community & Welfare Services

Multicultural Access Project (MAP) Hunter

This project promotes and supports equitable access to Home and Community Care (HACC) funded services for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people who are frail aged, people with a disability and their carers by:

• The provision of strategic advice, information, referral, and assistance to ethno specific, multicultural and mainstream services to improve outcomes for frail aged, younger people with a disability and carers from a CALD background.
• Undertaking research to identify and report on the needs of the frail aged, younger people with a disability and carers from a CALD background in the Hunter to inform the HACC planning process to ensure services are responsive to specific needs and reflect local demographics.
• Providing information and advice to CALD communities to increase their awareness of and access to appropriate HACC support services.

Funded by Ageing, Disability and Home Care NSW Department of Human Services through the Home and Community Care Program (HACC) & managed by Northern Settlement Services Ltd.

Download Multicultural Access Project - Terms of Reference

Refugee Support Team

Provide post IHSS assistance with orientation, accommodation & other needs associated with refugee & humanitarian entrant settlement. African Youth Worker, African Family Support Worker & General Refugee Support services (funded by DoCS) are available.

Funded by the Department of Immigration & Citizenship Link: http://www.immi.gov.au

Complex Case Support (CCS)

Providing Complex Case Support for new or recently arrived refugee clients experiencing extreme hardship & disadvantage in their settlement, above & beyond the more routine services which all refugees have on arrival to Australia.  The program provides for a level of critical intervention for the most needy, to enable those barriers they face to be addressed as a matter of urgency and for strategies to be developed that will enable them to return to the settlement process. Support is provided through a variety of means, these can include interagency casework meetings; family conferencing; support through court processes and arranging access to legal advice & assistance; facilitating parent meetings with schools; linking clients with community support networks and working with a team to assist with urgent housing needs. 

Referrals can be made to the Department of Immigration & Citizenship – please contact the CCS worker for more information.

Hunter Outreach Settlement Grants Program (SGP)

A Hunter based program that provides orientation and culturally sensitive welfare casework to migrants, new arrivals and humanitarian entrants in the Hunter Region with locations at Singleton, Cessnock, Raymond Terrace, Salamander Bay and Charlestown .

Funded by the Department of Immigration & Citizenship Link http://www.immi.gov.au

Rural Support Settlement Grants Program (SGP)

The Rural Support project provides assistance and mentoring, resourcing and direct support to DIAC funded projects in Northern NSW, and consultancy to other services in the Hunter, Mid North Coast, Richmond Tweed, Northern (New England), Central Western and Far Western regions.
Funded by the Department of Immigration & Citizenship
Link: http://www.immi.gov.au

Filipino Welfare Worker (Bilingual)

A Hunter based program that provides ethno-specific welfare casework, including information and referral, group work, intervention and advocacy and liaison with government and non-government agencies, to people of Filipino background in the Newcastle and Hunter Region.
Funded by the NSW Department of Community Services
Link: http://www.community.nsw.gov.au

Russian Welfare Worker (Bilingual)

The project provides support services to Russian speaking people, mainly women and children who are experiencing immigration issues, social isolation, language problems, access & information to career & education avenues, confronting & coping with barriers to settlement.  The project also provides information and referral, group work, intervention and advocacy and liaison with government and non-government agencies, to people of Russian background in Newcastle.

The Russian Welfare worker is available one day a week.

Funded by the NSW Department of Community Services
Link: http://www.community.nsw.gov.au

Thai Welfare Worker  (Bilingual)

The project provides information and referral, group work, intervention and advocacy and liaison with government and non-government agencies, to people of Thai background in Newcastle.

Funded by the NSW Department of Community Services
Link: http://www.community.nsw.gov.au

Multicultural Family Support Worker

The Multicultural Family Support Worker provides information, referral, and welfare casework support to families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds with children under 5 years of age. Home visits, group activities, assistance to parents is the focus of this prevention and early intervention strategy that helps parents give their children a good start in life. As part of the Families First initiative this project seeks to connect parents to each other for support and build communities and services that support families with children 0-5. This project is also Hunter based and operates in the Newcastle & Lake Macquarie areas.

A Families First Initiative
Link: http://www.parenting.nsw.gov.au/public/s26_homepage/

Pacific Islander Welfare Project - Tongan & Samoan (Bilingual)

A Hunter based program that provides ethno-specific welfare casework, including information and referral, group work, intervention and advocacy and liaison with government and non-government agencies, to people of Pacific Island background in the Newcastle and Hunter Region. Programs include monthly community newsletters, women's groups, youth support via the South Pacific Island Culture in Education (SPICE group) and consultancy.

Funded by the NSW Department of Community Services
Link: http://www.community.nsw.gov.au

Community Visitors Scheme

NSS based Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) is a program that provides companionship to, through volunteers who visit, socially isolated people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who reside in Australian Government-funded aged care homes.

Residents of aged care homes may become isolated and lonely due to limited family and social contact, for cultural reasons, or through disability. Aged care residents come from a variety of different social and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, community visitors from all backgrounds are welcome. Volunteering as a community visitor can be a rewarding experience if you are interested please contact the CVS at NSS.

Funded by The Department of Health and Ageing
Link: http://www.health.gov.au/...

Community Aged Care Packages (CACP)

NSS administers Multicultural Community Aged Care Packages (CACP). Coordinates service delivery to older frail NESB people to support them in living at home. A CACP is an individually tailored package of care services, which helps people with lots of different care needs to stay living at home by co-ordinating the different services they need.

Funded by The Department of Health and Ageing
Link: http://www.health.gov.au/...

Multicultural Social Support Service – Central Coast

Providing multicultural services on the Central Coast

Funded by the Department of Ageing, Disability & Home Care (DADHC) under the Home & Community Care (HACC) Program. The service supports individuals from culturally & linguistically diverse backgrounds who are frail aged, or younger people with a disability as well as Carers. Services are provided by a group of volunteers from the community - contact the office if you can offer your time to volunteer (training,support,reimbursement provided).

Phone NSS Central Coast (02) 4334 3877 for more details
Funded by Ageing, Disability and Home Care NSW Department of Human Services through the Home and Community Care Program (HACC) and managed by Northern Settlement Services Ltd.

Hunter Multicultural Respite Service

Funded by the Department of Ageing, Disability & Homecare through Home & Community Care Program (HACC) & auspiced by NSS limited. The service provides respite care for frail older people or people with dementia from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) experiencing difficulty in accessing Day Care Centres. This service also provides respite service in a linguistic & culturally appropriate way in consultation with the user, the service & the carer.Available to Newcastle, Lake Maquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens & Cessnock areas.

For further details contact the HMRS coordinator at NSS

Settlement Grants Program Workers ~ New England (Armidale & Tamworth)

The NSS Armidale & Tamworth based outreach welfare service provides orientation as well as generalist welfare casework and group work support to migrants, new arrivals and humanitarian entrants to assist them to integrate into the Australian community.

Contact NSS Head office for more information – or click on Locations for direct numbers for these offices

Funded by the Department of Immigration & Citizenship

Link: http://www.immi.gov.au

Brighter Futures Program

The program offers targeted support to vulnerable families, to support them in caring for their children.  The key aims include to promote the healthy development of children, develop strong functional & well supported families & to reduce & prevent child abuse & neglect in families.  The program provides a wide range of service coordination that caters for individual & family needs to improve emotional, social, health & educational developmental outcomes for families & their children.  The service components include the following categories; case management; home visiting; quality childcare; and parenting programs.

The target group is families who are expecting a child or have children up to 8 years of age.

Northern Settlement Services delivers the program to CALD families in the Newcastle & Lake Macquarie areas.

Funded by the Department of Community Services through the Early Intervention Program.

Multicultural Family Worker – Central Coast

The project provides support to CALD clients who live on the Central Coast. The worker assists families with young children, adolescents and their families and women who can be suffering from various disadvantage, hardship, misfortune and isolation. Furthermore the project assists the general community, government & non government agencies and ethnic groups and communities bu providing information & referral, support, casework on a case by case basis.

Funded by the NSW Department of Community Services
Link: http://www.community.nsw.gov.au

Settlement Grants Program Worker (SGP) – Central Coast

The Project provides information, referral and support to newly arrived migrants and refugees, some highly disadvantaged, within their first five years of settlement in the Central Coast area.  The SGP program also offers community development.

Funded by the Department of Immigration & Citizenship Link: http://www.immi.gov.au

Volunteers Coordinator & Homework Centres

The worker recruits, registers and coordinators the activities of volunteers who work with refugee families. The project also oversees the establishment & operation of the Homework Support Centres in Newcastle area, particularly for newly arrived refugee students,