Community West is a neighbourhood house and forms part of the Neighbourhood Coordination Program and complies with its Guidelines and Eligibility Requirements.

The purpose of a neighbourhood house is to host and support a variety of programs, activities, and services involving and engaging a diverse range of people from the local community. Neighbourhood houses support individuals and groups within the community, particularly those who are disadvantaged, and are usually managed by a community-based committee of management or board of management (as is the case at Community West). Neighbourhood houses develop activities and services appropriate to their local community and funding from Department for Planning and Community Development is usually complemented by funding from other State and Commonwealth government departments.

In this context, Community West has grown and flourished for more than 20 years. The Community West Management and Administration team provides leadership, management, administrative, and financial infrastructure for Community West’s State and Commonwealth funded programs. These programs are:

Adult Community Education Program
Provides classes in language and literacy and computers.
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Children’s Contact Service
Supervises on-site contact (access) and facilitates smooth contact changeovers between parents and their children to support the relationship between children and their separated parents.
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Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre
Provides free legal advice, advocacy for law reform, and community education.
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Family Violence Program
Through self help groups and maintaining a network for local agencies, provides support and information for women experiencing family violence or sexual assault, and assists women prisoners who have experience family violence or sexual assault.
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Volunteer Program Provides on-site work experience for community members seeking to make a difference. Please contact us for more information.

Community West is governed by an elected voluntary Board of Management. The seven member Board meets monthly.  If you are interested in joining our Board of Management, please contact the Executive Officer on 93631811.

The current Board Members are:

Timothy Bertch - Chairperson

Tim is a Chartered Accountant (qualified in 1990) with a Masters in Finance.  Tim was previously a Director of Credit Suisse.  He is currently working as a lawyer at  Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Tim volunteered at Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre in 2006. He has been a board member for two terms and been Deputy Chairperson for one term.

James McCarthy - Deputy Chairperson

James has been a board member for Community West for the past four years and Chairperson for two terms. James is a social worker based at Melbourne City Mission and at the Western Region Health Centre.  He has extensive experience working with people with a range of disabilities, disadvantaged youth and the homelessness sector. James is a member of the Board of Management for Interchange Victoria and is a member of several other community organisations. He has a strong commitment to social justice and community development particularly in the western suburbs of  Melbourne.

Catherine Allison - Treasurer

Catherine holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.  She is employed at  Ballarat Group Training as Finance Manager.  Catherine has a strong commitment to the not-for-profit sector and has strong social justice principles. Catherine has been the Treasurer of Community West for two terms.

Michael Kingston - Secretary

Michael has practised as a lawyer since 1983, mainly in the fields of corporate and commercial law.  He has also worked as a government lawyer in Papua New Guinea.  Michael recently completed a year’s further study, concentrating on human rights.  He is a Trustee of the Collier Charitable Fund; Board member of Austin Hospital Medical Research Foundation; volunteer lawyer at Fitzroy Legal Service; former Board Member of the Public Interest Law Clearing House.  Michael has served as Secretary on Community West’s Board for two terms.

Rose Grodzki- General Member

Rose has worked in the west for a number of years in various community agencies.  Rose currently works in a youth focused community agency based at The Youth Junction.  She is a passionate supporter of Community West and describes its programs as “achieving fantastic results”.  Rose’s commitment to social justice underpins her enthusiasm to participate in the governance of Community West. This will be Rose’s second term on the Board.

Geraldine Brooks - General member

Geraldine Brooks was elected in November 2008 as Greens councillor for Harvester Ward, Brimbank City Council.  Following election she was appointed to the board of the Keilor Cemetery Trust.  Geraldine is a qualified Podiatrist with post graduate qualifications in Public Health and has spent most of her working life in community health services in Melbourne’s West.  Geraldine is also a breast feeding counsellor with the Australian Breastfeeding Association Brimbank group, immediate past president of the Ardeer Community Playground Committee, school councillor at Sunshine Primary School, a member of the Brimbank Transport Action Group and the Friends of Kororoit Creek.  She is currently full time carer for her three young children. Geraldine lives in Ardeer and cares passionately about the community that she lives in. This will be Geraldine’s first term on the Board.

Lisa Ta - General member

Lisa is dedicated to raising the voice of youth in Brimbank.  Lisa is a founding member of AYMS (A Youth Motivational Saga) Youth Leadership Crew.  AYMS is a group of young people aged 14-26 who are committed to engagement and development of young people in Brimbank.  AYMS is passionate about making a positive contribution to the community through events and activities which are organised and run by young people. Lisa has a B Commerce and Dip Modern Languages (Japanese) and works for the NAB as an associate.  She believes she can bring a youth perspective to the Community West board and believes her commitment to developing future leaders in Brimbank complements Community West’s mission to be leaders in community strengthening. This will be Lisa’s first term on the Board.

Robyn Shilton

With more than 10 years experience in the Not-For-Profit sector, Robyn brings to Community West her extensive knowledge and expertise in training, quality assurance, marketing and the community sector. Robyn has a vision to make Community West the most outstanding community agency in the west.

Community West receives funding for a range of funding bodies. We gratefully acknowledge the support of these funding bodies.

Each year, Community West presents its Annual Report at the Annual General Meeting.

Download Community West's Annual Report:

Annual Report 2009 (2.06Mb)

Annual Report 2008(3940k)

Community West's Board Nomination Form Download our board nomination form here

Are you interested in becoming a member of Community West? Download our membership form here

For a copy of Community West's Rules of Association click here.

You will need to have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer in order to view Community West's Annual Report and Membership Form. If you do not already have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.