Our Community

Our Community is an Australian social entrepreneurship body set up to build capacity in Australia’s 600,000 community groups. It has published a series of manuals on such issues as board management and charitable fundraising, has since 2004 organised annual policy conferences for the Australian voluntary sector, and offers a library of thousands of online helpsheets on a range of not-for-profit topics. In addition to its role as a leading social enterprise in Australia, Our Community has also established GiveNow.com.au through its not-for-profit arm, the Our Community Foundation, allowing not-for-profit organisations throughout Australia to accept online donations at no cost to themselves.

The company was founded in 2000 by Denis Moriarty, its current Managing Director, who received a Centenary Medal in recognition for establishing Our Community. In the past, it had Rhonda Galbally AO as its CEO. In 2007, Our Community was named the winner of the "Cool Company" Social Capitalist Award, where the organisation was described as a "deeply noble enterprise." There are over 55,000 community groups involved with Our Community ranging from large organisations such as Oxfam Australia, to small ones such as Partners in Aid.

Neighborhood watch

A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood. In other words, neighborhood watch is a crime prevention scheme under which civilians agree together to keep an eye on one another's properties, patrol the street, and report suspicious incidents to law enforcement.

The aim of neighborhood watch includes educating residents of a community on security and safety and achieving safe and secure neighborhoods. However, when a criminal activity is suspected, members are encouraged to report to authorities, and not to intervene.

In the United States, neighborhood watch builds on the concept of a town watch from Colonial America.

Organization and history

A neighborhood watch may be organized as its own group or may simply be a function of a neighborhood association or other community association.

Neighborhood watches are not vigilante organizations. When suspecting criminal activities, members are encouraged to contact authorities and not to intervene.