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We’d love you to join our conversation about sustainable living, where we share the successes and pitfalls faced by grassroots small business, volunteers and community groups around Australia.

You can contribute by commenting or tipping us off with stories that show how we can balance local community needs with business success and jobs, without the expense to our natural and cultural heritage.

Let’s take control of our own future!

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Dealing With Suicide Prevention, Hunger Relief, Gambling In Oz…

PWF has found the TRI Community Exchange (TRI) on Twitter. TRI is a NSW community info exchange that has been in operation since 1992. They’re dealing with:

Suicide & Self Harm Prevention- TRI has just launched a national suicide/self harm You Tube channel. They’re asking for feedback.

Hunger In Australia - TRI is also reporting on the silent epidemic in Australia – familes/peope who do not get enough to eat.

Jessica Burke from Foodbank Australia says it’s estimated up to a million Australian children don’t get enough to eat, often going to bed without dinner or to school without breakfast.

It’s a hidden issue because it is often not understood in the broader community that people in Australia go …

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The Growing Community Social Enterprise Movement

The ABC’s Inside Business has provided a very positive picture of a Hepburn Wind an Australian community owned social enterprise.

This registered cooperative is Australia’s first community owned wind farm.

A Strong Conclusion From Collaboration

Hepburn Wind chairman, Simon Holmes a Court’s concluding statement to reporter Rebecca Nash says it all:

“There’s a real appreciation that we can get on and take constructive action right now. We don’t have to wait for government, we don’t have to wait for a CPRS. We can take action today on climate change.”

The Inside Business Hepburn Wind Discussion

SIMON HOLMES À COURT: We’ve unlocked a whole new class of investor. The community social enterprise investor. We’ve shown that given the opportunity the

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Appalled At Aged Care Process – More Bureaucratic Concerns?

The need to better manage Aged Care processes has not lessened – something else for our Indies to address? PWF has addressed this issue before with
Something’s Wrong – Families Struggle To Support Elderly
and
Good News On Direct Family Input Into Aged Care Packages?

The following story about a 92 year old mum written by her daughter, Margaret Gray, recently arrived in my email from www.civilsociety.org.au and appalled me.

The message is about ‘Consumer Directed Care in Aged Care, Disability and Family Services’.

“My mother will be 92 in November. She has no dementia but is ACAS-assessed as High Care as she is wheelchair bound and frail. She lives with my husband and I in outer metropolitan Melbourne in

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Democracy Evolving? In New Zealand AND Australia?

After being buoyed by Australian post-election ‘let’s improve the democracy discussions’ I see the NZ Opposition is braving the twittersphere inviting open discussion on new policies, espousing transparency and an opening up of the public sector, just like our Australian ‘Indies’ are requesting – the evolutionary process?

A Personal Pre-Election Gripe

Pre-election, the National Broadband Network issue was coming across as very important – ‘the Snowy River Scheme of the 21st century’ – and one of the few real policy differences between the two major parties, but I couldn’t find any detail on it, let alone an impartial assessment of the two approaches. I do listen/read/watch to a lot of current affairs programs, but perhaps I didn’t try hard …

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Cycling And Bike Helmets…More Carrots Than Sticks Needed?

Cycling IS good for our health and the environment. Helmets DO protect riders. In Victoria you can be fined $146 riding without a helmet.

  • Why did Melbourne start a $5.5 million Bike Share project?
  • Why don’t Sydneysiders cycle?

A ‘Melbourne-World’ Comparison

Andrew Bolt in Melbourne’s Herald-Sun observes:

  • Most cities around the world with similar networks of docking stations of hire bikes find the system works ‘a treat’. Montreal, a city Melbourne’s size, in its first five months logged a million rides
  • In Melbourne, with 600 bikes available in 50 docking stations in the city, people have bought 70 rides a day in two months
  • Melbourne Bike Share’s surveys show the greatest disincentive is having to wear a helmet
  • Mexico scrapped helmet laws to make its system

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