Membership application

Why become an ANHLC member?

Over 90% of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres (NH&LC) in Victoria are ANHLC members. Your membership raises our profile with the state and federal governments, giving us a strong voice to advocate for policy and funding to benefit our communities. Your active participation in your peak body – from completing surveys to joining working parties to sharing your success stories – strengthens us as a sector.

Your financial support in the form of membership fees helps pay the wages of the ANHLC staff who keep you up to date on changes to policy, legislation and regulations that affect you and your communities, who advocate to government for increased funding and better policies, who work to raise the profile of the Neighbourhood House sector, and who support you with information, resources and referrals.

Amongst ANHLC’s achievements in the 2011-12 financial year are:

• Continued the campaign for increased investment in the NHCP, including raising the minimum funding threshold for all NHs to 20 hours. While we were not successful in seeing an increase in 2012-13, it is a positive sign that the NHCP was not affected in a tight fiscal climate that has seen many organisations experience funding cuts.

• Participated in the successful Pay Equity campaign for community sector wage increases. ANHLC continues to provide information to members on the implications of the pay equity claim and translation to the modern award. In 2012-13, we will be negotiating a new Collective Agreement for the sector.

• Coordinated a high-profile campaign to demonstrate the negative impact of the withdrawal of federal and state government funding for occasional child care. While we did not succeed in having state government funding restored, our advocacy contributed to the Federal government’s decision to provide 250 new Commonwealth funded occasional child care places in Victoria for the first time in over a decade. ANHLC’s policy research and campaign efforts were cited in both Federal and State Parliament and our media profile was at an all-time high.

• Coordinated members’ input into the review of VET Fees and Charges. The joint ANHLC / ACEVic submission to the Essential Services Commission was cited more extensively than any other in the Expert Panel Review and several of our advocacy efforts met with success, including:

• 5% loading for rural ACE provision, not including online delivery
• Change in eligibility criteria to enable VCAL students to access subsided training at Cert II level and above
• Higher student contact hour funding for Foundation Skills
• Better quality protections in addition to price monitoring
• Protection of funding for pre-accredited training.

• Facilitated development of the Neighbourhood House Good Practice Guide by a voluntary working party and the Neighbourhood House Networks Good Practice Guide by the Combined Networks group to strengthen quality standards in the sector

ANHLC’s strategic priorities for 2012-13 include:

• In consultation with members, to improve data collection to strengthen the evidence base for increased investment in the NHCP and demonstrate the intrinsic value, and value for money, of Neighbourhood Houses

• Negotiation of a new Collective Agreement for Neighbourhood Houses and ACE Providers

• Ongoing support to the Australian Neighbourhood Houses & Centres Association (ANHCA) in the campaign for NH&LCs to access DGR

• Roll out of resources developed through the ICT projects for community development and business practices in NHs.

ANHLC provides two categories of membership, as per the ANHLC constitution:

• Full Membership
• Associate Membership 

Attached below are the following documents:

• Application Form (Full and Associate membership)
• ANHLC Code of Ethics
• 2012 / 13 Fees Information Sheet
• Member Benefits 2012 / 13
• Sector Framework (describes the sector vision, purpose, philosophy, principles, practice and outcomes)

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.  We look forward to receiving your application.