A new round of funding was distributed as part of the NSW Government’s Social Sector Transformation Fund, delivering a welcome boost to not-for-profits over the next 12 months.

This funding will look to provide free support for small to medium NGOs and Aboriginal medical services to assist them to grow their capability, effectiveness and sustainability.

AbSec, through $1 million of funding, will offer small to medium-sized not-for-profits and Aboriginal medical services with a holistic model of supports, providing practical advice and solutions to help organisations improve how they do business.

The support service will deliver multi-faceted support, advisory, information, agency development and training services that will integrate:

• Advice and support
• Develop and implement leadership training
• Workforce plan and support for remote and flexible working
• Targeted information and resources

The service will be targeted at Aboriginal agencies, Aboriginal medical services and non-Aboriginal agencies that deliver services to Aboriginal people, with online training and resources available to targeted agencies. The service will aim to develop a more culturally skilled workforce to enable better outcomes for Aboriginal people.

Six other organisations received funding to provide services under the Social Sector Transformation Fund, including:

• Infoxchange will receive $2.7 million to provide digital and information technology advisory services to not-for-profits, migrate organisations to the cloud and enhance the Digital Transformation Hub;
• Social Impact Hub will receive $1.5 million to deliver governance and strategy support through its Professional Impact Network to help not-for-profits grow, innovate and become more sustainable;
• The NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) will receive $1 million to support resilience building for emergency responses and to convene a symposium for health and community service NGOs to come together to share the results, opportunities and challenges that the SSTF has generated;
• Justice Connect will receive $1 million to deliver a range of legal services for not-for-profits to help board members, staff and volunteers understand the law, prevent legal problems and increase efficiency;
• The Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies will receive $1 million to deliver on-demand leadership training and workforce development activities through online workshops and face-to-face training; and
• Sefa (Social Enterprise Financial Australia) will receive $1.5 million to deliver a range of strategic analysis, governance support, quality assurance and evaluation services to help organisations future-proof their operations.

We look forward to providing more details soon on how AbSec’s services will support the sector and begin working with not-for-profits to improve their operations.

For comments on the funding announcement from Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Alister Henskens, read the media release: $10 MILLION BOOST TO SOCIAL SERVICES SECTOR.

For more information, contact SSTF Manager Vicki Barton on (02) 9559 5299 or vicki.barton@absec.org.au.