Community Capacity Building Program

The Community Capacity Building (CCB) program equips and empowers new and emerging organisations and communities to work towards collectively increasing the social participation, economic and personal wellbeing of community members. This program works towards positive settlement outcomes in the long term.

A community leader is anyone who is taking action towards improving the wellbeing and success of their community. Leadership can be informal, or it could be someone in an elected position. A community leader can be any gender or any age, in any stage of settlement in Tasmania.

MRC Tas provides individualised support for community leaders and organisations which serve newly arrived community members with issues such as:

  • Learning about governance (the legal processes and responsibilities of running an Incorporated Association),
  • Event management and promotion,
  • Connecting to Government and other services,
  • Finding funding for your projects,
  • Opportunities for established and emerging community leaders to attend training, skill-shares and networking events.

This program is specifically designed to provide support for communities with large numbers of members from humanitarian migrant background, or who have large numbers of community members with low English fluency.

For example, in Southern Tasmania we regularly engage with:

  • Australian Oromo Association of Tasmania Inc.
  • Bhutanese Community Association of Southern Tasmania Inc.
  • Eritrean Community of Tasmania
  • Ethiopian Association of Tasmania Inc.
  • Hazara Association of Southern Tasmania Inc.
  • Iraqui and Syrian Community
  • Karen Community
  • Shia Association of Ahl-E-Bayt Tasmania Inc.

For more information about this program or to enquire about support please contact communitydevelopment@mrctas.org.au or call (03) 6221 0999.

Resources & Links

Tasmanian Government – Consumer, Building and Occupational Services – legal information about Incorporated Associations in Tasmania, and how to get Incorporated: https://www.cbos.tas.gov.au/topics/clubs-fundraising/incorporated-associations

Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia (FECCA) Guide to starting and running your Community Organisation: https://fecca.org.au/resources/community-guide/

Settlement Council of Australia guide to community organizing: “The Best of Both Worlds: A governance toolkit” http://scoa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Best-of-both-worlds-SCoA-Governance-Toolkit.pdf

Institute of Community Directors Australia – tools and resources for getting started: https://communitydirectors.com.au/tools-resources/home

Australian Institute of Company Directors – Resources: https://aicd.companydirectors.com.au/resources/all-topics

Tasmanian Council of Social Services – “Take Me to Your Board” (Podcast): https://tascoss.org.au/tmtyb/

Multicultural Council of Tasmania – peak body representing needs of migrant communities to Government in Tasmania: www.mcot.org.au

Hobart Community Legal Service – can provide legal advice on governance issues: https://www.hobartlegal.org.au/