FROM THE LAST MEETING – 1st September 2026

 Guest Speaker: Anne Mitchell – Steps Outreach Service (Concern Australia)

The Steps Outreach Service is a Melbourne-based youth homelessness program run by Concern Australia. Operating since 1985, workers and volunteers meet and support children, young people, and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness through night-time street engagement around the CBD and ongoing daytime support.

How the Service Works

• Street Outreach: Teams meet young people directly where they gather, famously including the steps of Flinders Street Station, during night patrols.
• Daytime Support: Provides ongoing relational care, advocacy, practical material aid (like food and clothing), support at court, Centrelink and referrals.
• Holistic Pathways: Connects youth with long-term housing solutions, educational support, mentoring programs, and life-skills training.

Every night in Australia there are more than 122,000 homeless people. Rough sleepers have increased by 10%. Victoria has 30,000 homeless people and 24% are youth.

Steps Outreach Services and Rotary Central Melbourne collaborate in a number of ways:

1. Bernie Gerlinger Hope for The Future Scholarship – supports young people to stay connected to educations. This aims to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage. The program provides material aid, mentorship and introduces participants to extracurricular activities such as sport or the arts. Ultimately the aim is to help young people reach their potential.
2. Tree of Joy – With RCM’s support Step Outreach has been able to develop relationships corporate partners who have been will to support the annual Christmas gift drive for young people. RCM has played a significant role in making some of these introductions.
3. Christmas Hampers – are produced and procured each year by RCM members. These are distributed to families to assist with the basics during the festive season.

Anne highlighted Steps Outreach Services “maintain hope for people until they have hope for themselves”. 

Anne thanked RCM and it’s members for their ongoing support.

Members’ Announcements

Neville John – highlighted the significance of the clubs Bunnings sausage sizzle activities. In the absence of alternate major fundraising activities, the sausage sizzles provide a significant ongoing revenue source for the club. These funds are what enable RCM to deliver many of the services and support to the community.  Member’s support to conduct these activities is crucial. 

Rhys Williams – provided an update Mawien Ariik’s home village of Lou Ariik in South Sudan. Tribal violence continues with 60 people dead and many displaced. He extends his gratitude for the donations. Donations can be made at http://southsudanesehealth.org/donate

The Fundraising and Foundation committee are seeking creative fundraising activities to complement the club’s current efforts. 

The committee has also reintroduced regular raffles. The first has been sent to members and will support fundraising during Foundation month.

Elias Lebbos – would like to remind members that our Music Exchange student, Rosa Mendez from Germany will be arriving in Melbourne next Wednesday 9 September. Rosa will be staying with Rhys, Roy and Elias. Her music schedule hasn’t been finalized yet so it is difficult to determine when she will be available to spend time with club members. I’ll keep you posted.

Presidents Announcements

Paul Fowler – informed members the Board had met on 19 August and a number of changes to the way club members meet were agreed.

• The introduction of hybrid meetings was approved. The necessary equipment has been purchased and is being tested. These meeting should go live before the end of 2026.
• The club will trial an evening meeting on Tuesday 17 November. This meeting will commence with a short 15 minute session in the auditorium and followed by drinks and dinner in the bar across the hall.
• The club AGM will be conducted online at 7:30 am on Tuesday 24 November. Members are encouraged to attend as it is important that we have a quorum.
• This year’s Christmas Party will be held as a luncheon at the Savoy Hotel. Details to follow.

Guest speaker - Briony Jones

With more than two decades of public safety and emergency management experience, Briony Jones has dedicated her career to serving and protecting Victorian communities.

Her career spans across the Victorian Sheriff's Office, as the second-in-charge of Northeast Victoria, before transitioning to Corrections then joining Victoria Police.

During her Policing career, she has held a diverse range of operational and leadership roles, including General Duties, Air Wing, Public Order Response Team (PORT), and the State Emergency Response Coordination Division (SERCD), where she is currently performing duties as an Acting Inspector. Throughout her policing career, she has been deployed to numerous major emergencies and natural disasters across Victoria, coordinating multi-agency responses in some of the state's most challenging environments.

A highlight of her operational experience was serving as the Aviation Capability Officer for Operation Genesis during the 2019-2020 Mallacoota bushfires, where she coordinated aviation resources in one of Australia's largest emergency response operations.

Beyond her professional career, Briony is a volunteer firefighter and Road Crash Rescue operator with the Country Fire Authority.

An advocate for lifelong learning, she has completed postgraduate studies in Public Sector Leadership and Management and Police Management, alongside qualifications in Project Management, Emergency Management and Mental Health.

Her dedication to service has been recognised through numerous awards, including the Victoria Police Service Medal, National Emergency Medal, Victoria Police Command Commendations, and community service awards.

Passionate about leadership, emergency management and building resilient communities, she is committed to developing innovative approaches that strengthen collaboration between emergency services and the community.

Hello Neighbour

A stronger society starts at street level

Small connections, big impact    

Hello Neighbour is a grassroots initiative to strengthen social cohesion and improve community safety by supporting vulnerable people early. It aims to complement existing efforts like Neighbourhood Watch to reduce isolation, build trust, and create informal support networks within communities. Hello Neighbour highlights the belief that resilience starts with connection and small acts of neighbourly support can have a lasting impact before, during and after emergencies.

At its core, Hello Neighbour encourages small, everyday interactions between neighbours and strangers by applying the LARA framework:

• Look out

• Ask

• Reconnect

• Assist

Hello Neighbour seeks to partner with community organisations including Rotary, Neighbourhood Watch, The Big Issue and local councils to strengthen community resilience, improve perceptions of safety, and contribute to early intervention and crime prevention.

This continuing project supports the DV Safe Phone National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, with the objective to end gender based violence within one generation.

Our Club assists DV Safe Phone, a registered charity based in Mooloolaba, Queensland by collecting unwanted mobile phones which are then repaired and given to domestic violence survivors, through domestic violence and law enforcement agencies, safe houses and hospitals Australia wide.

We have had successful collections in 2024, 2025 and earlier this year. It is time for our next call for phone donations

We ask you to locate any unwanted mobile phones you or friend or work colleagues may have, and either:

• bring them to our “in person” Rotary meetings in September 2026; or alternatively
• contact Tom Callander (mobile 0418 332 019, email tcallander@rigbycooke.com.au) or Rebecca John (email beng1@iprimus.com.au) to arrange for drop off or collection; or
• There is another simple choice – you can drop off your phone/s at the DV Safe Phone Collection Box in the TAL foyer, 500 Bourke Street, Melbourne (opposite the RACV).

DV Smart Phone will ensure your phone has been erased, but it is helpful that you sign out of your devices and erase your data the correct way to save time and give peace of mind. Tom can email you simple steps to do so if you need them – just ask.

"You will be interested in the following news from Ashton Wood, the founder of DV Safe Phone Australia:

Creating safer futures together

Spring has arrived, and as many of us clear out cupboards and drawers, it’s worth remembering that an old mobile phone gathering dust could have an important new purpose.

From individuals donating unused phones, to communities rallying behind collections, frontline services connecting people with support, and corporate partners contributing funding, technology, expertise and volunteer time - every contribution strengthens the network that helps Safe Phones reach people experiencing domestic and family violence.

Whether you donated one phone, made a financial gift, volunteered your time, hosted a collection or encouraged your workplace to get involved, you are part of this impact.

This month alone, we’ve seen hundreds of phones collected in Victoria, new funding helping Safe Phones reach communities across Queensland and New South Wales, important conversations about technology-facilitated abuse in Melbourne, and corporate teams helping us prepare hundreds of devices for frontline services across Australia.

Behind every one of these achievements is the same purpose: helping someone experiencing domestic and family violence have access to a safe, reliable way to connect.

Thank you for being part of the DV Safe Phone community. And if your spring clean uncovers an old phone or two, I hope you’ll consider giving them a new purpose.

Together, we’re creating safer connections in communities across Australia - one Safe Phone at a time.”

As part of Foundation Month we are pleased to launch our 2026 Spring Carnival raffle.  There are currently four raffle items to win and we can still accept new items if you have something to contribute. 

This years major prize is 2 tickets to the members enclosure to this years Melbourne Cup valued at $790.

Tickets will be drawn on Friday 16th October at 9.00am and you can purchase them from Raffletix.  If you aren't a horse racing fan but would still like to contribute go to Rotary Foundation Australia.

Thanks for your ongoing support of the Club.

Gallery

Neville John and guest speak Anne Mitchell

Kieser guests Hamish McConnell and Paige Lovett

Viraj Ashad and Ignacio Inchausti

Pres Paul Fowler