Investing in Rural Community Futures NSW South Coast

A colourful graphic representing the IRCF South Coast journey.
Ulladulla is situated on the South Coast of NSW, on the lands of the Murramarang People of the Yuin nation. The IRCF program in Ulladulla included the coastal communities of Ulladulla, Milton, Mollymook, Narawallee, Lake Conjola, Conjola Park, Fishermans Paradise, Bendalong, Manyana, Burrill Lake, Dolphin Point, Tabourie, Bawley Point and Kioloa.

Their combined population is over 20,000, with more than 30 not-for-profit organisations supporting the community.
A group of happy people celebrating with jazz hands.

Ulladulla Community Roadmaps

Community Roadmaps guided the activity undertaken in the community and grants awarded aligned to the agreed priorities. The roadmap was reviewed annually and evolved over time.

Watch this video summarising the IRCF program in Ulladulla

“It’s all so interwoven. Through our ability to promote ourselves effectively, we had a massive response in five programs. Before it was really hard to fill the programs and communicate effectively what the programs were. Also what we are as a service and how we fit in the scheme of things. We are all about connecting people through activities. It directly led to us being able to get numbers from the program.”
Dunn & Lewis Youth Development Foundation
“The multi-year IRCF program, with roadmapping and year- on-year capacity building grants has been wonderful. It has supported further community networking and collaborative project planning to support other grant applications. The capacity funding supports the core areas that are not always part of traditional grants.”
Matt Dell, Volunteer with Community Connect Southern Shoalhaven and President of the Milton Ulladulla Business Chamber
Nowra lies on the Shoalhaven River, surrounded by stunning natural landscapes of mountainous hinterlands, rainforests, rivers, estuaries, beaches and national parks. It has been cared for by the Dharwal / Tharwal and Jerrinja people of the Yuin Nation for thousands of years, with Aboriginal people now making up 5.9 percent of the population of the Shoalhaven Local Government Area (LGA).

Part of the Shoalhaven City Council, Nowra takes in East Nowra, North Nowra, Worrigee, South Nowra and villages of Bomaderry, Kangaroo Valley, Shoalhaven Heads and many smaller villages. With a combined population of more than 46,125 people, the community is supported by many NFPs, with more than 146 registered charities, all of whom were welcome to be involved in the IRCF program.
A group of people standing in front of a dam, holding a sign that says "How do we work together to strengthen our organisations now?"

Nowra Community Roadmaps

Community Roadmaps guided the activity undertaken in the community and grants awarded aligned to the agreed priorities. The roadmap was reviewed annually and evolved over time.

Watch this video summarising the IRCF program in Nowra

“(We are) building up women and giving them the tools to solve the problems in their own life. We walk beside them, build up their confidence and skills, listening to what they need. We go into the community and talk with elders about what is going on. We do a lot of outreach services. We are part of the community, not a separate service provider - it makes us very accountable.”
Faye Worner, CEO Waminda (South Coast Women’s Health and Wellbeing Aboriginal Corporation)
“From a qualitative perspective our staff group and our ability to operate, the staff cohesion, would not have been at the level it is (particularly) the Emerging leaders training. I can tell the impact. The people who did that training together... the maturity level by which they think about things is so much more developed. Those people are the linchpin… that group is really steady and on the same page. Overall… personally, I’ve learnt a lot from the process about how to do things and harness the strengths of staff. The relationship I’ve been able to build with the FRRR staff to genuinely know our organisation hopefully that’s a two-way thing.”
Noah's Ark Centre of Shoalhaven Inc
Batemans Bay, in the Eurobodalla LGA, is home to three important river systems - Clyde River in the North, Tomago River and Moruya River in the south. It includes stunning natural landscapes of mountainous hinterlands, rivers, estuaries, beaches and national parks. This region is on the unceded lands of the Walbunja, Brinja Yuin and Djiringanj people of the Yuin nation.

Batemans Bay and surrounds, including Malua Bay, Broulee, Tomakin and Mossy Point, has a population of 23,214 people (2023), while Moruya, who also participated in the program, has a population of 6,933. There are many NFPs in the area, including 58 registered charities.
A group of people standing at the entrance of a building that has an arch.

Batemans Bay Community Roadmaps

Community Roadmaps guided the activity undertaken in the community and grants awarded aligned to the agreed priorities. The roadmap was reviewed annually and evolved over time.

Watch this video summarising the IRCF program in Batemans Bay

“At the start, I thought why do we need to do this evaluation – now I would be a stronger advocate. We needed to look at our governance. Too many programs don't look at that. It was so helpful to look at the six stages. So then we had a process. We know what good governance can look like – you have helped us on that.”
South Coast Health and Sustainability Alliance
“Being able to get funding to organise workshops has grown the strength of our Commitee and helped other organisations. The workshops helped us work out our future direction.”
Clyde River Historical Society
The Bay & Basin region is the combined communities of Sussex Inlet, St Georges Basin, Sanctuary Point, Vincentia, Basin View, Wrights Beach, Erowal Bay, Old Erowal Bay, Tomerong, Wreck Bay, Huskisson and Jervis Bay. The region is located on the lands of the Wandra Wandian people of the Yuin Nation, on the South Coast of NSW.

The Bay & Basin communities have a combined population of around 12,000, supported by more than 30 NFPs.
A group of people standing together and cheering in front of the Sussex Inlet branch of the Bendigo Bank.

Bay & Basin Community Roadmaps

Community Roadmaps guided the activity undertaken in the community and grants awarded aligned to the agreed priorities. The roadmap was reviewed annually and evolved over time.

Watch this video summarising the IRCF program in Bay & Basin

“The smaller grants gave us more freedom – it allowed us to focus on a specific thing without the reporting requirements of larger funding. We can be flexible and responsive with it. The human approach is good, the interviews with the evaluation are really great.”
Vincentia High School P&C
Stretching across the traditional lands of the Yuin People, Bega Valley Shire, located in the far south-eastern corner of New South Wales, is renowned for its breathtaking natural beauty. The region features a unique coastline with deserted beaches, tranquil rainforests, serene rivers and lakes, and picturesque mountain backdrops. It is NSW’s largest coastal local government area, with a 225 km coastline that forms the Sapphire Coast.

With a population of around 35,000, the community is dispersed across 12 villages, 4 major towns and surrounding rural areas.

There is a strong presence of not-for-profit organisations in the area, supporting community wellbeing, education, environment, and social services.
A large group of people in a conference room with posters on the wall behind them.

Bega Community Roadmaps

Community Roadmaps guided the activity undertaken in the community and grants awarded aligned to the agreed priorities. The roadmap was reviewed annually and evolved over time.

Unlike other IRCF communities, there was no granting as part of the IRCF program. NFPs in the Bega Valley were supported and strengthened through a mix of on-the-ground support with local facilitators and access to workshops and training opportunities in collaboration with other local community groups.

Twenty-two local leaders graduated from a leadership program run by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation, a significant outcome of which was a collaborative network of NFP leaders equipped to make even more impact.

This program was supported by the Australian Government as part of the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery fund.

Project Impact

Watch this video summarising the IRCF program in Bega

“It was very powerful and I think for myself, I can only speak for myself on this one, it helped my recovery because I was able to help others... As a community member I was seriously impacted as was everybody else, but I think because I was in the position of being able to help people, that really helped me.”
Chris Walters, Cobargo Community Access Centre

Watch this video summarising the IRCF South Coast program

“What I observed throughout the years was the growth of community and organisations starting to attend a lot more of the workshops and the observation of the needs and things that needed to happen in community and the projects that people were putting together. I think growth in community and business was one of the things that stood out the most for me [in the IRCF program].”
Uncle Vic Channel, Murramarang Traditional Owner (attended, contributed to and provided a Welcome to Country at our roadmapping workhops)
“We have a much greater sense of who we are and where we are going in the future, much greater clarity... because of that we are able to engage more with the wider community and other organisations.”
Shoalhaven Health and Arts
“It’s all so interwoven. Through our ability to promote ourselves effectively, we had a massive response in five programs. Before it was really hard to fill the programs and communicate effectively what the programs were. Also what we are as a service and how we fit in the scheme of things. We are all about connecting people through activities. It directly led to us being able to get numbers from the program.”
Dunn & Lewis Youth Development Foundation
“The FRRR funding is the only money we‘ve been able to put into the corporate bucket to sustain the back end.”

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge and extend our appreciation to the Dharwal / Tharwal, Jerrinja, Wandiwandian, Wandandian, Brinja, Brinja-yuin, Budawang, Murramarang, Djiringanj, Walbunja peoples of the Yuin Nation and the many lands in the communities where the IRCF program has been embedded for the past five years. The warm welcome and spirit of collaboration offered by Elders and Aboriginal organisations has been extraordinary. We are grateful for the opportunity to walk alongside First Nations people in this work and for the cultural knowledge they have shared so generously. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend our thanks for their continuation and sharing of the cultural and educational practices of Australia’s First People.

We also thank and acknowledge the commitment and contribution of local leaders, who participated so fully in this program. It took courage and trust in FRRR and in the process for them to invest in their organisations and in leadership development, at the same time as responding to increased service need and disruption.

I have a question, who can I talk to?

If you have a question about the overarching IRCF program or how it could be implemented in your community,
please don’t hesitate to reach out:

Deb Samuels, People Lead

Ph: 1800 170 020 or Email: [email protected]

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