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Annual Report
Queensland Community Impact Award winners
Strive for excellence with the community services sector in Queensland
By understanding what community service sector excellence looks like and providing practical training, resources and one-on-one support to address knowledge and skills gaps, we ensure our sector has the skills it needs to thrive.
Partner with the community services sector and Queensland and Commonwealth Governments to define community sector excellence and identify key areas for development by 30 June 2024
At the QCOSS’ 2024 Town Halls, participants were asked what the characteristics of an excellent or high performing organisation in the community sector are. The findings from this activity will inform the development of an ‘Excellence Framework’ that will define what community sector excellence is.
At the conclusion of the Town Hall series, data was collated and analysed alongside a QCOSS conducted literature review, with the intent of proposing a draft Excellence Framework.
Deliver a program of capacity building activities focused on quality, governance, cultural capability, using data, human rights and emerging challenges by 30 June 2024
In partnership with the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training, QCOSS developed and delivers statewide workshops to help community-based organisations respond effectively to funding applications for the Skilling Queenslanders for Work (SQW) initiative.
This year, we delivered a total of 23 sessions across Queensland. SQW’s key focuses include tender writing skill support, project planning and funding applications. Additionally, QCOSS also maintains a SQW webpage that contains useful information, resources and materials for community organisations that are considering applying for Skilling Queenslanders for Work (SQW) funding. During the 2023-24 financial year, the project hub online received 1,063 visits.
Human Services Quality Framework (HSQF)
The Human Services Quality Framework (HSQF) assesses and promotes improvement in the quality of human services for the Queensland Government. To help organisations implement quality systems and prepare for their quality assessment activities, QCOSS provides one-on-one and small group support as well as information and resources, including an HSQF eTraining course and policy templates.
More than 25 organisations received one-on-one HSQF support, and QCOSS hosted regional HSQF workshops as well as providing HSQF auditor training. This year, QCOSS has also supported the upcoming HSQF reform disseminating information and gathering sector feedback through events and consulting with the department.
HSQF support impact case study:
A small, regional domestic and family violence (DFV) service had not been re-certified under the HSQF at their recent audit and had not addressed all areas of non-conformance after deadline extensions. They were referred to QCOSS for intensive HSQF support in an effort to avoid de-certification. De-certification would have lost the service their funding and left a regional community without essential DFV support.
QCOSS provided guidance and strategies to address non-conformances with HSQF standards. The service was re-certified in March 2024.
Quality Collaboration Network (QCN)
The Quality Collaboration Network (QCN) meets once a month to share knowledge and collaborate on projects, provide feedback to relevant stakeholders on common issues arising in the Human Service Sector and identify compliance matters to provide feedback to the Queensland Government HSQF team. Important discussion topics this financial year included data privacy and capturing consent from vulnerable cohorts and effective survey designs and methods.
QCOSS Human Rights Network
The QCOSS Human Rights Network is a community services sector network for those deepening their capacity to understand human rights and apply this to their work. In 2023–24 the network delivered six webinars including Upholding the Rights of Older People, Human Rights Act in Advocacy and Engaging with the Queensland Human Rights Act Review.
Four Human Rights newsletters were also distributed throughout the sector during period with discussion points including: Inequality Caused by Extreme Heat, Equal Rights for First Nation Voices and Defending the Rights of Children in Watchhouses.
QCOSS delivered governance and leadership events and information to the sector throughout the year
In January 2024, we commenced delivery of the On Board newsletter and On Board workshop series for people interested in community sector governance.
The On Board workshop series has consistently had a waitlist, while the newsletter is our most opened and read. QCOSS also continues to provide a range of leadership resources including delivery of the first QCOSS’ paid workshop: Conscious Leadership for New Leaders – a three-part sold-out series.
In response to sector need, QCOSS worked to address priority skill gaps
Throughout the year, we delivered two notably popular courses: Media Training for CEOs and Media Training for Communications Officers, both of which received a five out of five-satisfaction rating from participants.
As cost-of-living issues are hitting the people our sector assists hard, we also delivered three events around alleviating poverty: one on understanding and assisting with SPER debt, one on supporting financial resilience through No Interest Loans (NILS) and one aimed at assisting community workers to have conversations about money.
We delivered general grant writing workshops and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Department of Communities Tender Writing Workshops around the state and online. And finally, we completed a Social Isolation and Loneliness Community of Practice Guide for the Department of Child Safety Seniors and Disability.
Provide the community services sector in Queensland with accurate place-based data that supports service planning and advocacy and can be downloaded from the QCOSS website by 30 September 2023
In 2024, QCOSS launched Data Point – an interactive data tool available on the QCOSS Data Hub. This resource provides a central location where the community service sector in Queensland can access relevant and meaningful data. Datasets are categorised across QCOSS policy focus areas including Housing and homelessness, Youth justice, Living affordability, Women’s equality, Children and young people, Community services, Cost of living and Labor force and employment.
QCOSS’ Research and Policy team continues to deliver community data profiles on key policy areas including Community services, Cost of living, Housing and homelessness, and Children and families
Data to inform these profiles across Queensland is gathered through community town halls and a partnership with Infoxchange.
This resource has proven helpful for community services to better measure the level of demand for services across the sector.
Updated annually, the Queensland social housing register dashboards are interactive visualisations of the social housing register for Queensland
Using data to support
Skilling Queenslanders for Work
As part of the Skilling Queenslanders for Work (SQW) program, two webinars were held in August 2023 and March 2024, which looked to support community organisations on to how to find quality data relevant to their community, navigate freely available open data sources, and then integrating them into a grant application. The combined webinars received a total of 158 registrations from people across the sector.
QCOSS provided data support to 20 community organisations across Queensland in 2023-24. The support helped organisations access and interpret local community data to inform service planning.
Celebrate the impact of the community services sector through delivering the annual Community Sector Impact awards by 31 October 2023
More than 350 Queensland community service sector representatives gathered at Brisbane City Hall to recognise and celebrate our community heroes for the sold out 2023 Queensland Community Impact Awards. The awards night was emceed by journalist and broadcaster Rebecca Levingston.​​
148 nominations were received across four award categories:
Human Rights
Recognising the contribution of an organisation or individual in advancing a human rights respecting culture in Queensland.
Frontline Hero
Recognising the extraordinary contribution of a frontline worker in supporting or serving their community in Queensland.
Community Impact
Recognising the extraordinary contribution of an organisation or team in supporting or serving their community in Queensland.
Neighbourhood Centre
Recognising the extraordinary contribution of a Neighbourhood Centre in supporting and developing their community in Queensland.
The Community Impact Award received the
highest number of nominations with 83 in total.
The recipients were:
Community Impact
Tivoli Social Enterprises
For providing direct relief of poverty and disadvantage for people in the Ipswich region and beyond through community programs and enterprise business activities.
Frontline Hero
Lida Daliri
(Multicultural Australia)
For her dedication to ensuring refugees feel safe, connected, and empowered.
Professor Sandra Creamer
For her extraordinary efforts to uphold and extend human rights for Indigenous peoples in the local, national, and international arenas.
Neighbourhood
Centre
Nambour Community Centre
For creating space for women with lived experience with housing distress and homelessness to advocate and develop housing solutions.
Thank you for all the work that you do.
