About the IHH
The Indigenous Hospitality House is a Christian community house in Melbourne that offers rooms for Indigenous families who have come from out of town to support a family member in hospital. We also make space for non-Indigenous people to rethink Australian and Christian identity in light of our colonial history.
The running of the Indigenous Hospitality House is mainly carried out by two overlapping groups of people, the Residents and the 'BC' (Business Committee). A third group is the Visiting Volunteers and the fourth is the individuals and churches who donate money and goods. Also involved in the project are the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) and the Indigenous Liaison Workers, social workers and health workers from hospitals and health services who are registered with the IHH.
The residents of the IHH live on site, contribute at least two nights a week to the roster and other household duties (except by arrangement otherwise), attend monthly House meetings and the annual residents’ review weekend. Residents also make up the group who take on the Daily House Person role (see below) and can attend the Business Committee meetings. One resident is usually the IHH worker who does some administrative work for the House.
The Business Committee is made up of a combination of people who began the project, representation from the Church of All Nations (CAN) and residents. This Committee is responsible for the bigger picture and longer term aspects of the success of the IHH. This includes fund raising, contributing to the well-being of residents, approving any money to be spent or changes to the property, and so on.
CAN, or the Church of All Nations, is the Uniting Church in Carlton which owns the property the House is on.
Visiting Volunteers are individuals who have arranged with the residents to contribute to the IHH in some way. Usually, this means a regular night of cooking or helping (for example, fortnightly or monthly), or the Daytime Helper role. Visiting Volunteers may also be involved in fundraising, contributing to the newsletter, and other helpful activities.
Indigenous Liaison Workers at hospitals and health services that are registered with us are key partners in the project, and refer guests to stay at the IHH. In hospitals where there is no ILW position, referrals are normally taken from Social Workers. This referral process is in place to ensure that there is someone at the hospital with whom the IHH can liaise during a guest’s stay. It also provides a contact person if difficult circumstances arise or if the guests need assistance that the IHH cannot provide.
As part of its accountability process the IHH seeks to maintain ongoing communication with ILWs.
The Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress is the Aboriginal arm of the Uniting Church of Australia. The IHH is accountable to the UAICC through an ongoing communication process.
Originally, the participants in the project were motivated by, and acting in response to, their faith in Christ. Today, the project includes participants from different faiths, working together with a mutual philosophy and spiritual guidelines.
The IHH seeks to:
create a space for mutual contact, awareness and sharing
offer hospitality without domination
be based on a model of hospitality and not welfare
be accountable to the Indigenous community
A TASK-BASED COMMUNITY
The IHH is a community that exists not for its own sake, but for a common task: offering hospitality to guests.
This is the primary purpose of the IHH, and forms the basis for all decisions made in the house: will this affect our ability to offer hospitality?
PEACE OF THE HOUSE
Maintaining the ‘peace of the house’ is a key philosophy in determining how the house operates on a day-to-day basis. People at the house focus on maintaining a commitment to offering hospitality and creating a peaceful atmosphere in communal areas and working out issues of tension and conflict through respectful negotiation.
SUSTAINABILITY AND CONSISTENCY
The IHH has recognised the need to ensure its sustainability into the future and this often influences the policies adopted by the house (for example, not having guests in school holiday periods).
It has also been recognised that in order to maintain the unity and peace of the house, it is essential that residents act as a team and with consistency to ensure that residents and guests alike are clear about what the IHH offers.
