Manager's Report

by Elizabeth Riley

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

Hi everyone. There are a number of exciting projects underway at the Centre and I would like to take the opportunity to inform you of these in my report.

New Website

Over recent months we have been working closely with our web designer to create a new website that will be visually more interesting and much easier to navigate. The design will allow for easy access to all the ranges of information previously available through readily accessible menu options that will be available on all pages. There will also be a number of new features including a site map, a search engine and the capacity to download a range of resources in either P.D.F. or Word format. In addition it will be possible for individuals to submit articles to Polare online.

By the time this edition of the magazine arrives the new website will be in place and I would encourage those of you with Internet access to visit the site and have a look around. Feedback on the site will be most welcome so if you have any ideas on areas where we might further improve the site we would love to hear from you.

Quality Management Services (QMS)

Over the coming twelve months the Centre will be engaged in a formal accreditation process. We are contracted with Q.M.S., an independent accreditation provider to the health and community sectors, to complete the accreditation process. While accreditation is a relatively lengthy and involved process it basically looks at the broad range of systems employed by an agency in the delivery of services and comprehensively measures these against standards developed by the Quality Improvement Council.

The Centre will be measured against a set of Core Standards and an additional set of Primary Health Care Standards. The Core Standards are divided into three sections each of which contains a number of specific standards. The Core Sections are Building Quality Organisations, Providing Quality Services and Programs and Sustaining Quality External Relationships. The Primary Health Care module contains additional standards relevant to the provision of service that complement the core module Providing Quality Services and Programs above.

In order to gain accreditation an agency must demonstrate that it meets the requirements of all standards, so the process affords us a valuable opportunity to ensure that the Centre is compliant with best practice in all our systems of service delivery. I will keep you posted on our progress.

Working Beyond the Frontiers

This project is independent of the accreditation process but it comes in a timely manner and will certainly be complementary. The project is an initiative of the S.A.A.P. Inner West Interagency which comprises thirty-five homelessness agencies in the inner west area, including the Gender Centre, funded by A.S.A.P.SAAP.

The primary aim of the project will be to maximise the capacity of these agencies to work more closely together through consultation and the sharing of resources and expertise. As the project is established it will provide the opportunity for agencies to interact, provide managerial support, share resources such as policy documents or systems of work and provide access for each agency to areas of expertise which may be available in other agencies.

This capacity for sharing will reduce the isolation in which agencies often find themselves working and will go a long way towards developing successful partnerships. This, in turn, will promote an understanding of the diversity within client groups and the barriers that often confront members of those groups, an issue pertinent to the transgender community.

The Gender Centre welcomes this initiative and we look forward to playing our part in ensuring its successful outcome.

Social and Support Worker (SSW)

Since the Social and Support position became vacant a few people have approached me enquiring about the position. I initially advised people that the position would be advertised in this edition of Polare. However, in light of the Accreditation process and along with a proposed review of how our services are being delivered there is a strong likelihood that a number of changes will occur in the job descriptions of positions at the Centre and these will affect the role of the Social and Support Worker. With this in mind, and with the intention that any changes made will be aimed at improving the way in which services are provided to clients, it would be premature to advertise the position before determining its structure.

In the meantime Rick Winters is filling the role in a relief capacity until we formally advertise and all the usual social and support activities are continuing. I thank Rick for making himself available and I welcome him to the Centre for the time being. It is likely that the Social and Support Worker position will be formally advertised in the next edition of Polare.

Polare

Over the past three years we have benefited from some additional funding for Polare and this has enabled us to make significant improvements to the quality and content of the magazine. Unfortunately the additional funding was only available for three years and it seems unlikely that additional funds will be available. The reduction in funding coupled with escalating postage and printing costs means that we will have to make some changes in Polare's distribution. While a number of options have been canvassed it seems that the only viable one, if we are to maintain the quality of the magazine, is to reduce its frequency from bi-monthly to quarterly. While this is not ideal it is more palatable than the other suggested options. Katherine has addressed this issue in her editorial and has asked for input from the community.

If no alternative presents itself this edition is likely to be the last of the bi-monthly issues. If, however, we do have to go to quarterly production it may be possible to expand the content and we will certainly do our best to make sure that every issue is a joy to receive.

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.