OUR PROJECTS

 WordWeaver a Professional Writing Consultancy

Annual Reports

  • Contracted to prepare annual reports for: Bankstown City Council & NSW Dept of Housing

Advice on and preparation of grant funding proposals

  • WordWeaver Consultancy has been contracted by Synengco Pty Ltd to review and edit a number of technical grant applications dealing with the transitioning of the National Energy Market toward renewable energy sources and real-time performance monitoring and equipment fault detection for building energy plants and in the oil and gas industry. We have successfully guided the client toward clearly conveying highly technical concepts in accessible language for a non-technical audience. As will be evidenced by their testimonial provided for this website, Synengco was delighted with our work.
  • Prepared a funding application to the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Community Engagement Grants for South West Sydney Legal Centre
  • Reviewed and edited a funding application to Community Legal Centres Qld for Queensland Advocacy Inc
  • Prepared four ADHC tender proposals for Sunnyhaven Ltd
    1. Therapy Services for Individuals
    2. Early childhood intervention / Therapy and Skill Development
    3. Case management, Local Coordination & Development/ Decision Support
    4. Other Community Support / Support Activities
  • WordWeaver prepared a successful Staying Home Leaving Violence funding proposal for South West Sydney Legal Centre, which resulted in funding which exceeded their expectations.
  • Provided advice to Cumberland Women’s Health Centre on preparation of a funding proposal
  • Assisted Marrickville and Redfern Legal Centres in the preparation of submissions for new grant funding
  • Prepared successful Corrective Services tender for Enough is Enough Anti Violence Movement Inc
  • Wrote successful applications for a number of organisations funded under the Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Program
  • Assessment of grant applicants’ policies for NSW Ageing, Disability and HomeCare

Code of ethical conduct documents

  • Reviewed and re-drafted Code of Ethical Conduct for the NSW Dept of Corrective Services

Communication Strategies

  • Prepared a communication strategy for the Travel Compensation Fund of Australia to launch a proposed new contribution scheme. The strategy included:
    • Industry magazine articles
    • Website Q & A
    • Website article
    • Letters to key stakeholders

    Prepared a communication strategy for the Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service which included:

    • Policy position paper incorporating Q&A section
    • Media tip sheet
    • Newspaper article
    • Speech notes

Designing community and industry funding programs

  • WordWeaver was contracted to design and draft all relevant documentation for the NSW Fair Trading NILS® Funding Program
  • As an employee of NSW Fair Trading, Catherine Weaver designed and drafted all relevant documentation for the Home Building Advice and Advocacy Funding Program

Editing

  • Sub-contracted by Transforming Partnerships, WordWeaver edited a complex 80 page tender document for FACS funding to operate a specialist disability service
  • WordWeaver was contracted for 2 years to edit complex Infrastructure Australia progress reports provided bi-annually to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG)
  • Edited NSW, QLD & VIC staff training documents for the introduction of the Australian Consumer Law

Factsheets / Guidelines

  • Contracted by NSW Office of Environment & Heritage, Heritage Division to draft guidelines for local government delegations & authorisation
  • Re-drafted Energy Consumers Australia Funding Application Form & accompanying Factsheet
  • Re-drafted Energy Consumers Australia Funding Guidelines
  • Contracted by Michelle Dodd Consulting to prepare:
    1. A Service Charter for Clients with a Disability
    2. Person Centred Decision Making Support Guidelines
    3. Advocacy Resources Factsheet
  • Contracted by NSW Centre for Affordable Housing to develop a number of factsheets on affordable housing, targeting a range of stakeholders
  • Developed a range of factsheets for local councils on the requirements of the Local Government Act 1993

NGO constitution development and review

  • Catherine Weaver has experience in preparing a number of key, high level policy documents including:
  • Equal Employment Opportunity under the Local Government Act 1993
  • Promoting the participation of Aboriginal people in the local government sector in NSW
  • Draft NSW Youth Policy Statement for the NSW Cabinet Office
  • Draft MOU between NSW Health and Ageing, Disability and Homecare on hospital care of patients with disabilities
  • Response to the IPART review of fees charged by the Office of the Protective Commissioner
  • Personal Finances Policy for clients of Ageing, Disability and Homecare

Policy development / research and analysis of social policy issues

  • Catherine Weaver has experience in preparing a number of key, high level policy documents including:
  • Equal Employment Opportunity under the Local Government Act 1993
  • Promoting the participation of Aboriginal people in the local government sector in NSW
  • Draft NSW Youth Policy Statement for the NSW Cabinet Office
  • Draft MOU between NSW Health and Ageing, Disability and Homecare on hospital care of patients with disabilities
  • Response to the IPART review of fees charged by the Office of the Protective Commissioner
  • Personal Finances Policy for clients of Ageing, Disability and Homecare

Policies and procedures

  • Community Housing Corner Pty Ltd contracted WordWeaver Consultancy to prepare key documentation required for registration as a community housing provider. Documents drafted were:
    1. Tenant Information booklet
    2. Rent Management Policy
    3. Allocation, Eligibility and Termination Policy
    4. Fraud and Corruption Prevention PolicyCode of Conduct
    5. Code of Conduct
    6. Recruitment Policy
    7. Whistleblower Protection Policy
  • Carers Link Pty Ltd contracted WordWeaver to edit existing / create new policies & procedures to ensure compliance with NDIS Practice Standards and Aged Care Quality Standards
  • Advance Diversity Services – WordWeaver Consultancy was contracted to write an Operations Manual for the organisation’s Settlement and Community Services Program. User friendly documents were prepared for the guidance of staff on their rights and responsibilities in a workplace catering for refugees and migrants from emerging communities. Topics covered in the Manual were:
    1. Customer Feedback and complaints
    2. Media
    3. Human Resources Management
    4. Grant Writing
    5. Casework
    6. Community Development
    7. Work Health and Safety
  • Ngarra Family Services commissioned WordWeaver Consultancy to develop a comprehensive policy and procedures manual for their proposed Family Out-of- Homecare service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children needing bridging support in a welcoming environment prior to their placement in voluntary out-of-homecare.
  • St Vincent’s Curran Foundation contracted WordWeaver to develop 25 original policy documents reflecting the unique nature of their fundraising role. In addition, the consultancy adapted 12 existing policy documents of St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney / St Vincent’s Health Australia to the Foundation’s specific operational environment.
  • WordWeaver was contracted by Lives Lived Well QLD to:
    1. Review and re-draft existing policies and procedures for currency and compliance with best practice international standards and
    2. Develop new policies and procedures to address the organisation’s expanding role in providing drug and alcohol support services in Qld
  • Contracted by NSW Fair Trading to write two procedures manuals for staff on:
  • The Property Services Compensation Fund
  • The Property Services Statutory Interest Account
  • Contracted by South West Sydney Legal Centre to assist in the drafting of a policy and procedures manual to meet community legal centre accreditation standards.

Website text

  • Reviewed, researched & re-drafted the text for the NSW Centre for Affordable Housing’s website
  • Reviewed & re-drafted text for Grants section of Energy Consumers Australia website

Program and project evaluation

  • WordWeaver was contracted by Redfern Legal Centre and funded by City of Sydney Council to evaluate the effectiveness of the Millers Point Tenancy Support Service (MPTSS). Redfern Legal Centre’s MPTSS provided legal support to and advocacy for Millers Points tenants who were re-located by NSW FACS Housing to facilitate the sale of their Millers Point properties. A key element of the evaluation was to provide recommendations on how to most effectively support social housing tenants who may be impacted by future social housing re-location projects.
  • Conducted two program evaluations of the No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS®) in NSW. The first resulted in 71 community organisations which offered NILS® being funded for the first time by government to do so. The second evaluation resulted in a NSW Government commitment to continue funding the NILS® network and to provide additional funds to areas of high, unmet need.
  • As manager of NSW Fair Trading’s Funding Programs Branch (until 2006), Catherine Weaver was responsible for overseeing a number of internal reviews of grants programs and for ongoing monitoring of the accountability and performance of more than 100 community and industry organisations receiving grant funds

Report writing

  • Catherine Weaver has written a number of reports on complex issues including:
  • Report on the evaluation of the Millers Point Tenancy Support Service
  • 2016 Catherine was contracted by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to draft Volume 11 of the Commission’s final report – Children’s Residential Institutions pre 1990s
  • Report on the evaluation of NSW NILS®
  • Report on the funding of NSW NILS®
  • Licensing options for the commercial property sector
  • Regulation of friendly societies offering funeral benefit funds in the form of life policies

Speech writing

  • Speech writing clients include:
  • NRMA Insurance – speech for General Manager to launch a road safety research booklet
  • Various NSW State Ministers
  • John Turner MP representing the Parliament of NSW & addressing the League of California Cities, City Managers Conference, San Diego, California
  • Council Mayors

Writing successful community award nominations

  • Preparation of a nomination for an Indigenous Justice Award on behalf of the Tenants’ Union of NSW

Writing organisational histories

  • Direct Selling Association of Australia
  • NSW Ambulance Service – to mark the Service’s Centenary

Call WordWeaver Today

Contact us for a chat about your organisation’s professional writing needs

contact us