Agency News

UNITINGCARE Australia has welcomed the joint announcement today from the federal government and the Australian Greens that promises to deliver dental care to disadvantaged adults and to children from low-income families. National Director Lin Hatfield Dodds said today's announcement is a well-targeted measure that addresses a big gap in Australia's social service system. "Today's announcement demonstrates we can overcome social ...

AN innovative partnership between UnitingCare Health and UnitingWorld is helping to change an entire nation and its future for the better. The Helena Goldie Hospital in Munda in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands provides one of only three Diploma of Nursing programs available in this tiny nation. Run by the United Church in Solomon Islands, the hospital partners ...

BLUE Care Sunday will be held in Uniting Churches across Queensland to celebrate the Church's establishment of and on-going commitment to community services. Blue Care Director of Mission Rev Heather den Houting is encouraging congregations to incorporate appropriate aspects of thanksgiving and prayer into their worship services on 26 August, Blue Care Sunday. "Blue Care is part of the network ...

THE opening of the new Blue Care Gracemere Aged Care Facility is a new chapter for Blue Care in the Rockhampton region. The new facility, which replaces the older facility built in 1976, comprises 64 air-conditioned, private rooms, six landscaped courtyards, a hair salon, staff room, eight reading nooks, as well as rooms for dining, leisure and religious activities. Blue ...

TENS of thousands of people have been left homeless and starvation once again threatens the people of North Korea after heavy flooding this month. A United Nations Team visiting the area has reported 88 people killed and is assessing the damage with a view to developing an aid plan. North Korea remains one of the world's most closed societies. Its ...

AUSTRALIA'S largest aid and development agency, World Vision, has created a special Brisbane-based office to spearhead an ambitious plan to double its investment in fighting poverty in the Pacific and Timor-Leste. The agency plans to increase its annual investment in the region from $15 million to $30 million in the next four years. Staff at the new office, based in ...

VOLUNTEERS are travelling outback and picking up tools, paintbrushes and scrubbing brushes to help with the vital upkeep of Frontier Services buildings across the country. A work party consisting of 12 people from across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria has met in Charleville for a two week stint to complete vital jobs at a number of the services based ...

AFTER months of consultation and planning – involving people from across Australia – UnitingCare Queensland's Blue Care has announced its new service model, Blue Care Tailor Made. Blue Care Executive Director Robyn Batten said the new model will guide and shape the organisation's services and will be implemented at Blue Care's 260 sites during the next two years. "Blue Care ...

A report released at the end of May on the impact of the multibillion dollar Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea (PNG) highlights the value of bringing diverse interest groups together to address social challenges, said Dr Kerry Enright, National Director of UnitingWorld. The LNG project offers the prospect of substantial economic growth to PNG's Hela region. ...

THERE'S something in the water at Toowoomba, where people with dementia are participating in a new swimming program that is stirring up happy memories and delivering surprising benefits. Every week, eight Blue Care residents head along to Milne Bay Aquatic Centre. Some know why they are going and some don't, but everyone has high spirits and a sense that something ...