Client Services Report
INFORMATION AND REFERRAL SERVICE
Staffed by committed volunteers our Information and referral service continues to respond to daily information enquiries by
local residents. Volunteers received more than 5,200 information enquiries, while also providing reception for the many
services provided at WCC. Information resources were also replenished and kept up to date by a small team of volunteers
who have put in place a system to do so.
All our information volunteers receive training and must undertake a 9 week certificate in Community Information Work
which prepares them to work in a Community Information Centre. This financial Year, 1 course was conducted at Lalor Living
and Learning Centre and from this, the Information and Referral service received 6 new volunteers. All new volunteers are
linked up to a mentor to provide them with ongoing induction and support. All volunteers attend regular training to update
skills and are also offered information sessions about services available to clients. Volunteer meetings are held bi-monthly to
share knowledge and contribute to the ongoing development of the service.
The majority of enquiries continued to be for Emergency Relief, either for our service or referral to other services in the area.
This year Emergency relief took up to 66 % of
Information Service Inquiries (Excluding ER)
total enquiries. The following graph indicates
2011- 2012
other enquiries received throughout the year and
income related inquiries along with inquiries for
general support services remained high.
Immigration 1%
Other 27%
Income 37%
Employment 1%
Community
Affairs 2%
FEDERATION PUBLIC ACCESS COMPUTER ROOM
Support
Services 19%
Transport 3%
Legal 1%
Accommodation
The Federation Computer Room continues to
Education 2%
4%
Health 3%
operate as a valuable community resource,
providing free computer and Internet access to
residents in the City Of Whittlesea. The computer room is operated by a small team of 3 IT facilitators who provide assistance
and support for those who need help using the computer or internet as well as maintaining statistics of service use.
This year, over 816