Relief Agencies Survey
9 October 2006 at 1:10 pm
VicRelief+Foodbank, Victoria’s largest emergency relief centre, is to survey more than 120 welfare agencies across the State to benchmark the operating standards, methods, resources and specific needs of emergency relief providers.
Funded by the Victorian Government and facilitated by CIVic (Community Information Victoria) the survey will comprise group consultation sessions with welfare agencies in 16 local government regions where there is a high demand for emergency relief services to assist Victorians in social hardship.
Swan Hill is one of 16 local government regions chosen to host the group consultation sessions which form the basis of the survey among emergency relief providers.
Hilary Bolton, General Manager, Sector Development for VicRelief +Foodbank has described the survey as a groundbreaking study in to the current capacity and capability of emergency relief providers to meet the increasing demand for their services.
Bolton says the provision of emergency relief to Victorians has been evident for 150 years and the service provided in this State is unique in Australia. But it has developed into a vast and complex operating sector of over 800 various organisations providing many different forms of support.
She says that for a very long time there has been an urgent need to conduct a survey of this type to determine the issues which impact on providers’ ability to sustain their services in to the future, and how VicRelief+Foodbank can support them to do this in an efficient and effective way.
For further information contact CIVic (Community Information Victoria): 03 9672 2001.
