President’s Mid-Year Update

Over the last 18 months Every Child CQ has been endeavouring to secure funding to continue to progress the great collaborative work being done across community to address issues to improve the lives of children and families in the Rockhampton Region.

Every Child CQ was established in 2015 as a community-based organisation to bring all local service providers and community together to address the issue of inequity of opportunity for our regions children, youth and young adults which embeds lifelong disadvantage and diminishes our region as a place of choice for families. It has been funded to date by volunteers and support funding from Queensland Government Department of Communities.

The data indicates that the matters of concern for our children, youth and young adults are growing despite their being some 10,000 people employed with responsibilities to address these matters in our region. The need to bring these efforts together in a community driven approach separate from, but engaging with, 

 the very committed people in government and the Not-For-Profit sector to harness effort in a more simplified and collective manner has never been greater.

During this time our Coordinator, Susie Cameron, has ably led an agenda to connect and build on the resources within community towards a shared understanding of the issues and developing a shared agenda, through the establishment of the Community Alliance. In tandem with this valuable work, the Management Group of Every Child CQ has engaged with State and Federal Government officers of the Stronger Places, Stronger People (SP/SP) Program to secure funding to maintain the community momentum to drive this work forward.

With regards to the ongoing work of Every Child CQ, we remain hopeful of securing adequate funding in the near future to sustain the employment of a capable person to continue to establish the Community Alliance as a Community Voice to promote and together,  drive systemic change to address community issues.  We are currently working with SP/SP officers and are looking forward to sharing some good news with you shortly in this regard.

Susie has now returned to her substantive position with CQHHS and we at Every Child CQ would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Susie for the great work she has done in community, particularly in building trust and reciprocity, engaging unheard voices, and delivering tangible outcomes through collaborative partnerships, including a partnership with Darumbal People Aboriginal Corporation (D-PAC). Her skill will not be lost to community as she continues her CQHHS role and Every Child CQ looks forward to continuing to work with both Susie and the broader community to achieve what we know the Community Alliance has the capacity to do for this region.  Susie will also continue to be a passionate supporter of the work of Every Child CQ in a voluntary capacity.

Maxine Brushe
President
Every Child Central Queensland Inc.

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this country and recognise their connection to land, wind, water and community. We pay our respect to them, their cultures, and to the Elders both past and present.