Federation Celebrates Forty Years Connecting Community Organisations

Tina Reid, the Federation’s Executive Officer, said the organisation had grown from small beginnings.

"We were established in 1969 with a core membership of 18 national organisations. Over the last forty years we have now grown to represent 136 national, regional and local member organisations," she said.

Tina said the focus of the organisation has also changed over the years.

"At one time we focused only on training and building capacity in the community and voluntary sector. However, with the availability now of university-level qualifications for the non-profit sector, our focus shifted away from this to one to where we are now an active network of social services organisations working together. We know that our sector strength comes through a collaborative voice. As a national umbrella organisation, we identify and focus on issues that are important to the sector and do something about them.

Tina pointed to the achievements in these areas such as hosting the Community Sector Taskforce in 2003, being a founding member of ComVoices—a collaborative initiative aimed at raising the profile and awareness of the community and voluntary sector as well as providing it a voice.

"We have always been keen to facilitate awareness about and access to ICT tools to the benefit of all sector groups. So, we were a founding partner in developing Community Central, a website providing a platform for community organisations to network, share information and make connections, and we have partnered with Connecting Up Australia to bring the software donation programme TechSoup to New Zealand," she said.

"Along with other umbrella organisations in our sector, we frequently work closely with Government Ministers and agencies on matters affecting the wider sector, such as managing in the current recession."

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