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Rising interest rates. Mounting debt. Financial pressure. For many Australians, the cost of living is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. In this episode, Pietro sits down with Stuart Sampson, Head of Community and Services at Hope Economy, a national not-for-profit helping people respond to financial hardship with practical support and hope. In Part 1 of the conversation, you'll discover practical strategies for managing financial pressure, learn about the free services available to help those struggling with debt, and explore why Stuart believes we're facing not just a cost of living crisis—but a standard of living crisis. Find out more details at https://hopeeconomy.org.au/

In this episode, Pietro continues chatting with Geoff Whiddon and Luke Kaprilian,  financial advisors with Vision Wealth Strategies, as they share practical insights and guidance on navigating the current cost-of-living crisis. For more information on Vision Wealth Services, visit www.visionws.com.au

Rising mortgage interest rates and increasing fuel costs are just some of the unexpected pressures facing families across Australia right now. In this episode, Pietro sits down with two financial advisors - Geoff Whiddon, who brings over 30 years of experience, and Luke Kaprilian, who offers a fresh perspective - to share practical insights and guidance on navigating the current cost-of-living crisis. For more information on Vision Wealth Services, visit www.visionws.com.au

In this episode, host Pietro sits down with retirees Alan and Helen as part of our ongoing series exploring the impact of Australia’s cost-of-living crisis. Although they are self-funded retirees, Alan and Helen open up about how rising expenses and financial pressures have reshaped their expectations for retirement, offering honest insights into the realities many Australians are now facing.

In this episode, we continue our series looking at the impact of the cost of living crisis in Australia.  Our host Pietro chats with two single people: Nikki, a Masters student living in a share house in Sydney, and Grant, a man nearing retirement age and living alone in regional Australia.  While their life situation is very different, both Nikki and Grant share similar stories of the financial challenges they are currently experiencing.

In this episode, our host Pietro chats with Darren and Jenna, parents of three young children, to hear how this family are managing during the current cost of living crisis. Darren and Jenna share not only their experience, but also some tips which could help others navigate these challenging times.

In this episode we’re coming to you from Connect Global, a drug and alcohol rehabilitations centre. Unlike other centres, this one is about rebuilding the man and not just treating existing addictions. We would like to thank Ross Pene, Program Manager, and some of the men who are a part of the program for sharing from their heart in this episode. We encourage you to share this podcast across your network to spread the word about how men are released from the pain of addiction and incarceration to become role models for their families, friends and the community.

Everyone loves a 'best of' album because you get to hear all your favourite songs on one album. We, in the podcast world, love it too.  For us, it's an opportunity to reflect on the various guests and the wealth of knowledge, skill and love they have for others.  In this podcast, Pietro unpacks three episodes and provides an overview of some of the nuggets of gold that really stood out to him. Our guests come from a range of backgrounds, but what is always consistent, is their heart to help others. We hope this episode makes your heart sing and you feel encouraged to listen to the back catalogue. We may be biased, but we'd be telling porky pies if we said we never relistened to our podcasts. Not because we like the sound of our own voices, but because hearing from such amazing people encourages us. Community Conversations exists to help share stories and experiences of the ways people are making a difference in the world. As a podcast, we aim to help provide information to people who work in the community services sector about services and people that go over and above, or, do something a bit different.

In this episode of Community Conversations our Producer, Michael Smith, jumps in to provide some insight to the highlights from podcasts we recorded in 2020 which was the year we started the podcast.

In this episode of Community Conversations Pietro speaks with Robert Sams, the Executive Director and Volunteer Crisis Supporter for Lifeline Newcastle and Central Coast. Nearly everyone would have heard of Lifeline before, but there are some things that you definitely might not have known about the services they offer, how they are engaging with the community and the process for becoming a telephone crisis support volunteer. It will come as no surprise, on the back of drought, bushfires, floods and COVID-19 that calls to Lifeline are unprecedented and like most organisations/businesses, their revenue is down. That said, in the true spirit of Lifeline, they have just put on another 30 volunteers and as you will hear throughout the podcast, that is not a cheap exercise given the cost of training involved. We would encourage you to share this podcast to help raise awareness about the services offered and to consider how you or others might be able to get involved. Lifeline can be contacted on 13 11 14 or SMS 0477 13 11 14

Until recently Tanya Davies MP had a Facebook following of about 4000 people and in a very short space of time it has grown exponentially to 84,000. Is it divine favour or that she was willing to go against her own boss, the former Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her own party, the Liberal Party, to stand up for her constituents? Whichever it may be, her voice has been amplifying the thoughts and feelings of at least 80,000 people from her electorate of Mulgoa. When it comes to faith, there may not be a more diverse electorate than Mulgoa and it has been Tanya's faith driving her to serve people and be the difference. We hope you enjoy this episode that provides an insight to Tanya's heart and love for people.

NSW Member of Parliament, Alex Greenwich, has introduced a Bill to the NSW Parliament called the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill. This episode seeks to explore some of the issues with euthanasia and listeners will be challenged by the thoughts presented by our guests Bruce Robertson, Executive Pastor - HopeUC and Nikki Aben, NSW & ACT Coordinator - Australian Christian Lobby.   We encourage listeners to take the time to consider the many thoughts and questions raised and we are confident you will have more questions of your own at the end. This is a challenging topic and this podcast does not seek to be exhaustive in the content presented, we really just scratch the surface.  Unfortunately, like many Bills that are debated in parliament, many citizens are often unaware that a new law is being considered. However, after listening to this podcast we hope you will feel compelled to share your thoughts with your Local Member of Parliament.

It was our pleasure to host the Honourable Mark Latham, State Leader for Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party for the latest episode of Community Conversations with Pietro. In this episode, Mark speaks about his time away from politics and his re-entry back into the political arena, the turmoil of the Labor Party and the union movement, parental rights, religious freedom, vaccine passports and the top 3 priorities of the One Nation Party and much more. Community Conversations with Pietro is a podcast for those who have a heart for helping others and Mark Latham demonstrates his heart through his advocacy for everyday Australians and has done so for a long time across his personal and political life.

In this episode, we welcome back Lawyer, Mark Ramsland to continue the conversation about Covid-19 and the Law. We cover questions such as how public health orders can be repealed if the queen has the constitutional power to avert emergency use powers, does the national cabinet have any legal powers, the impacts of suspending parliament, what freedom of association and freedom to assemble means, how can we trust the judicial system, freedom of information and so much more.

In this episode of Community Conversations Pietro speaks with Mark Ramsland a lawyer from Newcastle, NSW Australia about the impacts of mandatory vaccinations, vaccine passports, employment and how the law is applied. There is a lot to learn and we've only scratched the surface. We look forward to unpacking a range of scenarios as they relate to the pandemic in future episodes.