Under the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs strategic framework, Strengthening Australian Communities, Partnerships Week 2007 was held from 20–24 August. Partnership Week operates on the premise that communities are stronger, more cohesive and dynamic when individuals, community organisations, government and businesses work together to achieve positive social outcomes.
Partnerships Week 2007, an initiative of the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership (the Partnership) was held in each capital city in all States and Territories across Australia. The Partnership Week 2007 workshops were targeted towards small to medium businesses (SMEs).
The Workshops provided participants with practical interaction and information toolkits to assist with establishing partnerships, employee volunteering programs, and communicating the benefits of community business partnerships.
The three toolkits are Media Team Australia’s Promoting Positive Partnerships; Partnering with Community Organisations: A Toolkit for Small and Medium Sized Businesses; and Employee Volunteering: A Guide for Small to Medium Sized Enterprises.
The Media Team Australia’s Online Tools was launched by the Minister for Families, Communities Services and Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, in Canberra on 27 March 2007.
The Partnering with Community Organisations: A Toolkit for Small and Medium Sized Businesses was launched by De-Anne Kelly MP on behalf of Minister Brough.
This toolkit is aimed at assisting SMEs and community organisations establish partnerships by simplifying the ‘practice of partnership’.
The toolkit provides an eight step guide and a corresponding set of tools that will allow the establishment of a partnership and therefore secure the benefits of the partnership. It is not prescriptive but allows for flexibility and adaptation to suit different business need and circumstances.
This toolkit also provides additional information and research that will enhance the chances of partnership success, and includes ten SME and community organisation case studies which represent a range of industry sectors, locations, sizes and partnership arrangements and provide useful insights, including the benefits, successes, and challenges of partnering.
The third toolkit, Employee Volunteering: A Guide for Small to Medium Sized Enterprises, was developed by Volunteering Australia to help SMEs engage in best practice volunteering and not for profits to target business partners and create suitable volunteering roles.
It incorporates a skills assessment that helps both parties understand how commercial skills can translate into a not for profit context.
This toolkit draws on case studies to outline the benefits, address any perceived obstacles and to illustrate the process of forming and sustaining volunteering partnerships.
For businesses, strategic volunteering partnerships can lead to the development of employees’ skills and local community networking. Not for profit organisations have the opportunity to capitalise on the skills business volunteers can offer them and to raise community awareness about their work.
More information on Partnerships Week 2007 and links to the toolkits can be accessed at www.partnerships.gov.au
