About us
20 October 2020 2025-06-24 11:10About us
What is a Neighbourhood Centre?
A Neighbourhood Centre is just that – a centre for the neighbourhood to use. The first Neighbourhood Centres were established in 1973, with the help of State Government funding. Currently there are 8 Neighbourhood Centres throughout Cardinia Shire.
Neighbourhood Centres are special because they are managed by and for the community. The Committee of Management and staff at the Centre share decision making on management, policies and procedures.
Neighbourhood Centres have a special atmosphere. They are welcoming, non threatening places where anyone can come to meet new friends, get helpful information and learn new skills. Although Neighbourhood Centres differ from each other in many ways, they all aim to reflect the needs of their community, encourage personal growth, self help and sharing of knowledge, and provide stepping stones to allow people to grow.
History of the Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre
Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre commenced as Beaconsfield Community Centre operating out of a portable building in Beaconsfield Avenue, thanks to an enthusiastic group of Beaconsfield residents who formed an Incorporated Association to run a neighbourhood house in 1992. Activities were held in several different buildings because the Beaconsfield Avenue building venue was small.
In 2004 the Centre relocated to its current, larger venue in the Beaconsfield Community Complex in O’Neil Road. The move offered an opportunity to expand programs and the Centre grew rapidly. The name was changed to Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre, to avoid confusion with the name of the new building.
All programs are now held under one roof at the Complex, with a popular children’s program and a wide variety of social, art and craft, health and learning activities. The courses and activities change to reflect community demand but many of the original programs are still offered and well-attended.
Statement of Purposes
The organisation follows a set of rules. The Constitution of the Association states the formal purpose of Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre:
(1) The principal purpose of the charitable Association is to advance education and social and public welfare by providing a venue and focal point that offers a wide variety of community services, activities and information to support the local community.
(2) In support of the principal purpose the supporting purposes of the Association are to–
(a) establish and operate a pre-school;
(b) establish and operate a child-care centre for children who are too young to attend school;
(c) provide opportunities for education and training for children and adults, including those with a physical or mental disability, to build skills and encourage natural learning opportunities;
(d) provide individuals and families with opportunities for meaningful participation and active inclusion in the local community;
(e) provide general community support, particularly to youth, children, families and older people;
(f) support and work collaboratively with other organisations, groups and individuals in the community;
(g) provide services, activities and resources that are responsive to the changing needs and expectations in the community.
Meet Our Committee of Management 2024-2025
President: Noel Wyett
Vice President: Maree Hynes
Secretary: Katharine O’Carroll
Treasurer: Sharyn Cronin
General Members:
Valerie Boumann
Louise Stirling
Miryam Prasetyo
Bronwyn Thomas
Monica Spiteri
Subcommittees and Working Groups
Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre has ongoing Subcommittees, and sometimes short term working groups, to assist with getting the work of the management group done. Subcommittees and working groups usually have between 3 and 6 members. The small number of people can do in-depth work on particular issues and come back with plans or recommendations for the Committee of Management to decide on. The President may be an ex-officio member of each Subcommittee.
They can help to:
Reduce overwork in very active members
Better use the skills and expertise of many people
Share power and responsibility
Give opportunities for training and skill development
Allow the Committee to co-opt people with new ideas or expertise
Share the “dirty” work
Make it easier for individuals to participate
Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre Subcommittees include
Hall and Building
Staff
Finance
Publicity and Promotion
Fundraising
Open Day and Special Events
Children’s
Privacy Policy Statement
Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre (BNC) is committed to safeguarding your privacy online. BNC does not collect personally identifiable information about individuals from our website or social media accounts except when individuals specifically provide their information on a voluntary basis. For example, personal information may be gathered from requests submitted through our contact form or from social media postings (e.g., forums or comments).
BNC will always make reasonable efforts to keep any information that we have about you secure, and to ensure that any of our staff or volunteers who have access to information provided do not make any unauthorised use, modification, reproduction or disclosure of that information. We implement reasonable security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access and use. However, please note that no data transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.
Personally identifiable information will not be sold or otherwise transferred to unaffiliated third parties. Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of those websites before providing any personal information.
We do reserve the right to perform statistical analysis of user behaviour and characteristics in order to measure interest in and use of the various areas of the site as well as the number of users that have been exposed to or clicked on posts.
CCTV Privacy Notice
Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre (BNC) has a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system at our premises. This Privacy Notice outlines how the CCTV system will be used to be consistent with Victorian privacy law.
Need for CCTV
BNC is committed to ensuring the safety of our employees, members, visitors, property, and information stored on the premises. The CCTV system enhances our ability to provide a safe and secure environment, helps to protect our assets against vandalism and theft, and assists our organisation to prevent and manage inappropriate behaviour.
Use of CCTV
CCTV may be used to monitor public areas to deter crime or address incidents. BNC may use CCTV cameras to prevent, support and verify incidents involving:
• Criminal behaviour
• Misconduct or other inappropriate behaviour
• Incidents in which a person has sustained injury, loss or damage on the premises
• Visual coverage during emergencies.
Location of Cameras
CCTV cameras are located at the Centre’s entrance, in the foyer and in the rear yard. There are no hidden or covert cameras. CCTV cameras are NOT located in private areas such as toilets, showers, or within the Centre’s rooms. Signs are located at the Centre’s entrances, which alerts people to the presence of cameras within the premises and this CCTV Privacy Notice is displayed in the breezeway and on our website. Entering the premises implies consent from individuals to be recorded by CCTV.
Data Access
CCTV footage is only accessed for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice and the BNC CCTV Policy and only by the following people:
• The Centre Coordinator or staff explicitly authorised by the Centre Coordinator
• Members of the BNC Committee of Management
• Any other people permitted by law.
Data Storage
CCTV footage is securely stored on a dedicated video recorder. CCTV footage is kept for no more than 31 days. If CCTV footage has not been used in any of the ways set out above, and there has been no request to view or access footage during this period, the footage is deleted. Where CCTV footage has been used to verify an incident or where it is required to be retained for legal reasons, BNC will manage and securely retain the footage as necessary.
Privacy
BNC is obligated to comply with relevant privacy laws, including the Privacy Act 1988 and the Surveillance Devices Act 1999. For more information of how our organisation may use the CCTV system and who may access the footage, please see our full CCTV Policy. We regularly review our CCTV policies and practices to ensure they remain compliant with evolving laws and best practices.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the use of the CCTV system in our Centre, please contact the Centre Coordinator to discuss by phone: (03) 8768 4400 or email: coordinator@bncinc.org.au.
