About this organisation
Summary of activities
Highlands Community Centre has been a source of support for vulnerable community members for 34 years, providing a range of financial supports, casework and programs. We operate from two sites – Stafford Cottage (located in front of the Library and Community Health) and the Youth Hub (located at Loseby Park). Our current range of supports include: • Targeted Earlier Intervention program working with children, young people and families. • Covid-19 Regional Partnership funding to provide financial and other support (including care packages and food vouchers) to people who are, or have been, impacted by Covid. • Aboriginal Recovery Fund (brokerage). • No Interest Loans Scheme. • Highlands Youth Services – casework, counselling, drop-in, tutoring, school holiday activities, outreach, in-school programs. • Highlands Aboriginal Services – casework, outreach, Women’s Yarning Circle, Cultural Connections program. • Highlands Domestic & Family Violence Services – casework, safety planning, counselling (food vouchers, phones, SIM cards also available). • Work Development Orders. • EAPA Scheme. • Back to School assistance. We have worked collaboratively within the sector to help facilitate food programs, interagency forums, domestic and family violence services and programs for young people.
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Outcomes
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Programs and activities
Name: No Interest Loans
URL: http://www.highlandscommunity.org.au
Classification: Community service organisations (Community development > Community service organisations)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- Females
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Males
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- People with disabilities
- Unemployed persons
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: My Life My Dreams
URL: http://www.highlandscommunity.org.au
Classification: Community service organisations (Community development > Community service organisations)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- Females
- Financially disadvantaged people
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- People with disabilities
- Unemployed persons
- Victims of crime (including family violence)
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Dhungung (Food) Share
Classification: Community service organisations (Community development > Community service organisations)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- Females
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Males
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- People with disabilities
- Unemployed persons
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: School Holiday Activities
URL: http://www.highlandscommunity.org.au
Classification: Community service organisations (Community development > Community service organisations)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Females
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Males
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- People with disabilities
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Advocacy & Support
URL: http://www.highlandscommunity.org.au
Classification: Community service organisations (Community development > Community service organisations)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Families
- Females
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Males
- People at risk of homelessness/ people experiencing homelessness
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- People with disabilities
- Unemployed persons
- Victims of crime (including family violence)
- Victims of disasters
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Targeted Earlier Intervention
URL: http://www.highlandscommunity.org.au
Classification: Family services (Human services > Family services )
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- Females
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex persons
- Males
- Migrants, refugees or asylum seekers
- People at risk of homelessness/ people experiencing homelessness
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- Victims of crime (including family violence)
- Victims of disasters
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Highlands Aboriginal Services
URL: http://www.highlandscommunity.org.au
Classification: Family services (Human services > Family services )
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- Females
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex persons
- Males
- People at risk of homelessness/ people experiencing homelessness
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- Victims of crime (including family violence)
- Victims of disasters
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Highlands Youth Services
URL: http://www.highlandscommunity.org.au
Classification: Youth development (Human services > Youth development )
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Females
- Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex persons
- Males
- Migrants, refugees or asylum seekers
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Highlands Domestic & Family Violence Support Services
URL: http://www.highlandscommunity.org.au
Classification: Women's services (Human services > Special population support > Women's services)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- Females
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex persons
- Migrants, refugees or asylum seekers
- People at risk of homelessness/ people experiencing homelessness
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- Victims of crime (including family violence)
- Victims of disasters
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Finances
What is this?
This graph shows how much revenue (money in) and expenses (money out) the charity has had each year over the last few years. Charities have many sources of revenue, such as donations, government grants, and services they sell to the public. Similarly, expenses are everything that allows the charity to run, from paying staff to rent.
What should I be looking for?
First off, this graph gives a general indication of how big the charity is - charities range in size from tiny (budgets of less than $100,000) to enormous (budgets more than $100 million). You're also looking for variability - if the charity's revenue and expenses are jumping up and down from year to year, make sure there's a good reason for it.
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want revenue to be slightly above expenses. If expenses is reliably above revenue, the charity is losing money. If revenue is much larger than expenses, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
If a charity receives more money than it spends, that's a surplus (in business, it would be called profit). If it spends more than it receives, that's a deficit. This chart shows surpluses and deficits for the charity over the last few years.
What should I be looking for?
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want a charity to make a small surplus on average. A deficit means that charity lost money that year, which may indicate poor financial management or just a series of bad circumstances. If the charity always has a huge surplus, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
This chart compares the amount the charity receives from various sources, including donations (i.e. money given by the general public or philanthropy), goods and services, government grants, and other sources.
What should I be looking for?
Donations are an important source of revenue for some charities. Others rely more heavily on government funding, or on revenue from other sources. This is an indication of how much they need donors to accomplish their mission. Note that there is no 'good' or 'bad' amount of donations for a charity to have. It might be interesting to look at values over time - are they going up or down? A charity that gets less donations every year may be in trouble.
What is this?
Assets are things that the charity owns that are worth something. This could be anything from a car to investments. Similarly, liabilities are debts or obligations that the charity owes to someone else, like a loan or an agreement to pay for something.
What should I be looking for?
Firstly, in general a charity should have more assets than liabilities. If it doesn't, it implies that the charity might not be able to pay its debts, and you should look very closely at the charity's annual and financial reports to make sure they are taking steps to remedy this. Current assets should generally be above current liabilities - that means the charity can easily pay off the debts that are coming due soon. Beyond that, look for a large stockpile of assets. While a charity should have enough assets to keep it afloat in hard times (a 'buffer') if that stockpile gets too large the charity could be using that money more effectively. As always, if you have concerns check the annual and financial reports.
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