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Providing a better service to Indigenous Australians

Two new positions have been created to assist Indigenous Australians in accessing services in South and South-Eastern Sydney reports City News on 23 December 2009.

The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) has funded the employment of James Hoff and Michael Ingrey to provide outreach support and information to Aboriginal People in Redfern/Waterloo and La Perouse.

Their roles will involve assisting and informing Aboriginal People of services and opportunities available to them, as well as promoting services that do a good job in servicing the Aboriginal community.

Mr Hoff, son of Independent City of Sydney Councillor Marcelle Hoff, described his role as being a ‘one stop shop’ for finding out information rather than having to go to a variety of different places.

“[It’s about] being able to point [Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders] in the direction where they need to go to help them out,” he said.

“Another part of the job is helping, not only Indigenous people to access mainstream services but helping mainstream services to better service Indigenous people as well.”

Mr Ingrey, who grew up in the La Perouse Aboriginal community said he wanted to ensure that “services are providing a culturally appropriate service to my people.”

“The Information and Referral Officer will bring a needed service for Aboriginal people of La Perouse and provided better access to services,” he said.

“This may range from building relationships with particular service [providers] or providing ways to improve the service delivery to Aboriginal people.”

Both Mr Hoff and Mr Ingrey said they hoped to see mainstream services better serving Indigenous clients in the future.

“The La Perouse Community are moving forward at a rapid rate due to dedicated community members of all ages making positive changes. Personally, I would like to see this community access services for a better lifestyle,” Mr Ingrey said.

Another initiative Mr Hoff said they were working on was organising a Rugby League game between the La Perouse and Redfern local clubs, which would double as an information day.

“We’re putting that together at the moment … it’s an information day but it’s also going to coincide with the football game,” he said.

“[We’ll be] bringing a lot of people together for the football … and as a result of that they’re also going to be able to access information by a number of different services that will be set up around the outside of the ground.”

Mr Hoff said a date for the event had not been set yet but it was likely to occur at Redfern Oval in late March or early April 2010.

Both Mr Hoff and Mr Ingrey said they found their work rewarding.

“The rewarding part of this job is seeing my people access basic services that all Australians take for granted,” Mr Ingrey said.

To which Mr Hoff agreed, “To be able to help people to actually use something that’s available to them that they didn’t know of … helping in that regard is rewarding.

“I’ve only been doing it for about two months but I’ve [also] formed some good relationships with quite a few people just in that time.”

Source: www.altmedia.net.au/providing-a-better-service-to-indigenous-australians/14722