Regional Coordinator: Hazel Malone

In March 2020, Hazel joined the Service Integration Initiative team at Q Shelter in the position of Regional Care Coordinator for the Brisbane region. Hazel has over 30 years’ experience in Community Learning and Development. Breadth and depth of sector experience includes community engagement, community and sector capacity building, project and program management within Brisbane, across the state and overseas. Hazel has significant experience engaging and working with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sector and has also held roles in the Disability, Mental Health, Youth, Education and Culturally Diverse spaces including non-government, government and university sector roles.

Hazel is passionate about inclusive and collaborative practice from a social justice and community development framework. Informed by the Queensland Housing Strategy 2017-2027, and driven by Partnering for Impact and Partnering for Growth, the Queensland Service Integration Initiative aims to create better outcomes for people who are homeless or at the risk of homelessness by enhancing existing care coordination mechanisms, identifying and enabling sector capability building opportunities and encouraging innovation in transforming the housing and homelessness sector. Auspiced by a number of place-based organisations through funding provided by the Department of Housing and Public Works, there are Regional Care Coordinators located at nine locations across the state; Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay, Brisbane (x2), Redlands, Logan and Gold Coast.

The Brisbane region has several Care Coordination and Network meetings that will work together with the two Regional Care Coordinators.This collaboration will strengthen and enhance existing care coordination frameworks, ensuring that contemporary person/family centered approaches are utilised when coordinating multi-disciplinary responses for people with multiple and complex needs. The collaboration will focus on achieving person-centred outcomes that are place-based and designed to incorporate challenges and opportunities that are unique to the region.This initiative will help drive improved processes and practices responding to the needs of vulnerable people who are homeless or at the risk of homelessness.