South Australia’s enviable track in responding to COVID-19 and appropriate reopening of businesses and borders means that South Australia is well-placed for communities and economies to thrive in the COVID-19 recovery phase. This is not to say that life has been easy for South Australians, but we are still better placed than many other jurisdictions.…
COVID-19 has meant all of us are doing things differently. But while it’s been a challenging, frustrating and stressful time, many of us are looking at the world differently. From this, some new opportunities have emerged. One change that we’ve noticed in the aged-care sector has been the increased uptake of new technologies among older…
In less than 7 months since its urgent commissioning, South Australia’s COVID-19 Mental Health Support Line has delivered more than 10,000 contacts to people impacted by COVID-19. This includes more than 7,000 calls to people returning from interstate and overseas who are quarantining in local hotels. Simon Schrapel, Chief Executive of Uniting Communities which operates…
Aged care homes are filled with stories – both those of residents, who are rich with the memories of the time before they needed care, and those of staff, who may have come to aged care from other sectors. For many staff, their stories began in countries very different to Australia. A number have had…
Don’t leave loneliness alone After six months of COVID-19, Uniting Communities is encouraging South Australians to respond to R U OK? Day and reach out to someone they haven’t seen for six months. This can help to maintain and rebuild connections lost in isolation. Loneliness can have major health and wellbeing impacts; indeed, research suggests…
Uniting Communities’ innovative U City building has taken out the Good Design Award for Social Impact in Australia’s International Good Design Awards. The winners of Australia’s peak international design awards – the highest honour for design and innovation in the country – were announced today during the 2020 Good Design Week. ‘We’re honoured that…
Young people desperately want to work and are very concerned that their futures have been compromised, particularly by COVID-19 and flow on impacts reducing jobs. On Monday 24 August, the National Youth Commission (NYC) will be releasing its first major report about futures for young people in Australia, with a major focus on Youth Employment and…
Bowel cancer does not discriminate. It affects both men and women from all backgrounds and the risk increases if you are over the age of 50 years. Last year there were almost 17,000 new cases diagnosed. If detected early, however, the majority of these can be successfully treated. June is Bowel Cancer Awareness month – an important time to talk about this serious disease. With the recent situation…
Uniting Communities has made the decision after 13 years of commitment to step out of its direct advocacy work on behalf of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) communities. The Anangu Lands Paper Tracker Project of Uniting Communities was set up in 2007 to track government commitments, policies and programs impacting Anangu communities in the APY…
The world we know has changed significantly over the last few months. Some of the things we took for granted are not possible at the moment. Even though there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel, in many areas we still need to exercise some caution. One which has been in…
