The Mobs on Line website is online and ready for you to list your service for free! The website has been updated to include services from Port Macquarie to Tweed Heads and you can update your organisation's details and  add new Service Providers onto the Directory. Mobs on Line aims to increase referral pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

 RDA Northern Rivers has received additional information regarding the definition of ‘small towns’ from the RDAF team and the response is copied below. This information can also be found on the website by clicking HERE.

 Statistical evidence of the relationships between child abuse and neglect, homelessness and juvenile justice supervision was released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

 Volume 34 of the Ageing & Disability Digest has just been distributed across the Region.  If you would like to subscribe please email Linda Mills on  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and let her know.  There are a number of new entries this time round particualry under the 'Research, Reports & Resources' section.

NSW Parliamentary Service has created a paper designed to help community groups locate funding oportunites.

 The Family Law Pathways e-directory is a project of the Northern Rivers Family law pathways network - an initiative of the Australian Attorney General’s Department. To assist in ensuring families are informed and have access to all available resources, we have developed an extensive directory for service providers and would like your organisation to be listed in this Directory. It is quick and easy to register. Your information can easily be updated and upcoming groups can be added an anytime.

In 2012, NRSDC held a training session on Absue of Older Adults for the Home & Community Care sector.  A recent NRSDC survey showed the majority of agencies across the Region based their policies and procedures on the NSW Government's Interagency Protocol for Responding to Abuse of Older People and the training was adapted to reflect this and other current knowledge in identifying and responding to abuse.

A new official definition and method of estimating homelessness has been published by the Bureau of Statistics (ABS) with revised homelessness figures.

The Family Support Network calendar for term 1, 2013 is now available.

 The Far North Coast Family Referral Service is now in operation and taking referrals from community organisations and community members. The new service is central portal consisting of a free telephone hotline and a face-to-face referral service that will connect vulnerable families in the region with the appropriate local services available to help them. If you would like to refer a family to the service, the service operates weekdays from 8am until 6pm and can be contacted on the phone number 1300 338 774.

Participants in the innovative Lived Experience Project are set to change the future of mental health services now they have graduated from studying Certificate IV in Community Services and Mental Health. Pictures of the graduation ceremony can be viewed online here....

On Thursday, August 16, 25 North Coast students with a lived experience of mental illnesses took part in an inspiring graduation ceremony at the Byron Bay Community Centre and are now ready to transition into employment as peer workers in mental health and community services. After experiencing mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Eating Disorders, completing the long, hard journey of re-entering education and completing work-experience placements was a major achievement for them. For some of them, it had been more than 23 years since they had been in a classroom and for others, it had been more than 20 years since they had a job.

 The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has released a new report National social housing survey- state and territory results 2010.