Latest NNIC News

Flood Recovery – need help? Still struggling?  You are not alone. NNIC’s Recovery Support Service staff are here to help. Contact the service via email on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call or text 0488 144 647.

We Need You!! A number of our long serving MC members are retiring at the upcoming AGM (date yet to be set) so we are looking for some new people to join the team. Meetings are usually held on the last Wednesday of each month from 5.30pm. If you think you might be interested, please contact Nat on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and briefly explain why you are interested and what skills or experience you may be able to bring with you. A background in community services and/or small community-based organisations is extremely beneficial.

Nimbin Disaster Resilience Project This project, which was generously funded by the Northern Rivers Community Foundation (NRCF) is coming to an end in October. The funding has been invaluable in enabling us to revise and consult around the Nimbin Community Disaster Plan, purchase emergency evacuation equipment and supplies, shore up the Emergency radio network, and build the Community Care Team. Many thanks to NRCF and also to Virginia Waters, our Project Officer, who carried this project forward so expertly and competently.

NNIC Solar system to be upgraded! Thanks to funding provided by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), NNIC will soon be upgrading our solar array and installing battery storage to enable us to keep operations going at NNIC in the event of a power failure occurring, especially in a disaster situation. Thank you FRRR!

Prepare for Bushfire Season now is the time for us all to get our homes and properties ready for the upcoming Spring and Summer, by keeping gutters and house surrounds free of flammable debris, cleaning and reducing fuel loads on our land, securing water infrastructure and tanks, conserving water as much as possible and ensuring that fire trucks can access your property by clearing overhanging branches and anything that will obstruct their access.

For tips and templates on how to to prepare your Bushfire Plan see the RFS/Fire and Rescue website. Our Recovery Support Service team can also help you with this task if you need it (see above contact info).

Preparation is key to our resilience and we owe it to ourselves and to our fellow community members, especially our dedicated local Fire Brigade volunteers, to do everything we can to ensure all of our safety as we head into the warmer months.

NEW! Nimbin Neighbourhood Food Pantry NNIC’s Food Pantry is now up and running, thanks to Heidi and all the fabulous Food Relief volunteers, and also mega thanks to the Hemp Embassy which is generously subsidising the rent for the space. It is currently open every Wednesday for community members to purchase a range of groceries for very cheap prices. You can find the Food Pantry at garage in the carpark next to the Neighbourhood Centre. You can also find our Friday Soup Kitchen at the same place. Anyone interested in joining our Food Relief team can contact Nicole at NNIC This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

7 Sibley St and the adjacent basketball court area Unfortunately we lost the battle for the boundary adjustment between 7 Sibley Street and the adjacent basketball court area at the July meeting of Lismore City Council. The decision made by Council in 2020 to progress the boundary adjustment has now been overturned. This is very disappointing because it means we were unable to bring that area of land back into community ownership, but we will continue to negotiate with Council to try and find alternate solutions to the access issues at 7 Sibley Street so that the Project can progress. Council has indicated an interest in building on the basketball court site, with a permanent library for Nimbin and a Visitors Centre being two of the possible options under consideration. 164 people responded to our survey about the revised plans for 7 Sibley Street and the adjacent area of land. In that survey we floated the idea of a library being built there and there was some interest from the respondents (about 28%) in further exploring that idea. Overall though, according to those survey results, there was not a lot of appetite for building anything on the basketball court site at this stage.

For some time, the NAG (Nimbin Advisory Group) has recommended to Council that a Master Plan be developed for the whole of the village, including Peace Park, which includes the area of land involved in the now defunct boundary adjustment proposal. There is support for that idea in Council and it would provide the opportunity for the whole community to consider what we all want for our village into the future, as well as to involve new residents and our younger people in the ongoing community building process for which Nimbin is so highly regarded, and in relation to which we have a long and proud history.

NNIC looks forward to the ongoing negotiations with Council regarding 7 Sibley Street and also to any community consultations regarding a Master Plan for Nimbin, when/if they occur.

You can find the Summary of the Survey conducted in June 2023 in relation to this issue, plus our Report to the July meeting of Counncil, in the surveys section of this website, here.

Nimbin Integrated Services (NIS) is changing! Genevieve Beggs, our dedicated NIS Nurse Practitioner, is finally retiring after 16 years of service to the Nimbin community and over 40 years as a Nurse Practitioner. Genevieve was one of the first Nurse Practitioners accredited in Australia and we have been so lucky to have her for so many years. Her retirement is well deserved, but the NNIC team and the community will miss her greatly. Thanks for everything Gen.
Her retirement, together with the cessation in March of the funding provided to NNIC by Healthy North Coast to support NIS, means that the NIS model as we have known it for the past 16 years will be undergoing significant changes. A new model of service to meet community mental health and AOD (Alcohol and Other Drugs) support needs is being developed by the NNSW Local Health District in partnership with NNIC. Sadly, the Nurse Practitioner position will not be replaced, partly due to difficulties in recruiting NPs and partly due to funding constraints.

We are working together to try to ensure community needs can still be met despite the end of NIS as we have known it.

Membership renewals All NNIC and Tools Library memberships expired on 30^th June. Drop into NNIC to renew your memberships. Membership to NNIC is $5.50 per year (inc GST) and your membership is very valuable to us so if you haven’t ever joined before come on down! Cheapest membership in town! Tools Library membership is $22 per year (inc GST) and you must be a NNIC member to be a Tool Library member (i.e. total annual cost is $27.50). Excellent value when you consider the large range of tools and equipment you can borrow from the Library. To see the list of equipment goes to the Sibley St website – Tools and Equipment Library tab. www.7Sibley.org

Many Thanks to the Nimbin Headers! For their generous donation of the proceeds of their raffle for their Women’s Day held on the 28^th May in celebration of Female Football Week, to use for women in need in our community.

NSW Community Wellbeing Survey Congratulations Nimbinites! Once again, more people from Nimbin completed the state-wide survey than any other area. We have the Nimbin-specific results of the survey and will publish them on our website (About Nimbin < Surveys) once we have analysed them to determine if/how they may direct our services and activities.

Take Home Naloxone – Back in stock at NNIC and available FOR FREE (also available at the NSP and the Pharmacy), by appointment. Naloxone is a lifesaving drug which temporarily reverses the effects of an opiate overdose. Anyone who may become exposed to opiates, whether by prescription or otherwise, is at risk of accidental overdose. Naloxone buys valuable time for an ambulance to arrive. It is available for FREE at NNIC to people who are at risk of an opioid overdose or adverse reaction, their carers, friends and family members and any other people who may become first responders. Naloxone can be administered by injection or delivered through a nasal spray. To get some for your first aid kit, make an appointment with Nat or Nicole.

Nimbin Community-owned Cooling Plate the cooling plate is now available for hire to Nimbin community members. (The fee varies according to capacity to pay). The cooling plate is for use in the context of home deaths, and is placed under the deceased loved one in order to have more time to grieve, for family and friends to say their final farewells and to allow time to make the necessary arrangements. Contact Nat at NNIC for more info or if you think you may be needing the Cooling Plate in the near future.

May was the 50th Anniversary of the Aquarius Festival well done to all the organisers for an action-packed three weeks in May 2023, beginning with Mardi Grass and followed by 10 days of Aquarius festivities.

Fifty years ago, a group of students and young creative thinkers from around the country converged on the quietly fading village of Nimbin for the Aquarius Festival. The Festival changed the face of Nimbin and indeed the Northern Rivers region forever, as many of the participants and many more like them decided to make their home here, enriching the area with their ideas, art, music, interest in ‘alternate’ ways of living and youthful energy and optimism.

The following years of DIY community-based culture resulted in the development of strong community relationships, significant community ownership and control of many community assets in Nimbin and an overall commitment to self-sufficiency and sustainable and culturally-rich lifestyles that continues to this day.

The young people from the Aquarius Festival are now our community elders and the baton must inevitably pass to the new young people of our community, to bring their own fresh minds and ideas and energy to the awesome ongoing story of Nimbin.

At NNIC we are keen to support new people to get involved in the community and the multiple groups and activities going on – drop by and ask for Nat or Nicole or else email us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more info or to find out how.

Community Care Team (CCT) and Emergency Radio Network Go to the Disasters page on this website for more info plus an Expression of Interest form to join the CCT. We are still looking for CCT members in the following areas:

Upper Stoney Chute

Lower Stoney Chute

Blue Knob South

Blue Knob North

South Nimbin – (through to Boyles Rd)

Crofton Rd

Lower Tuntable Rd

Rose Rd

NNIC is OPEN 10am-4pm Mon-Friday at 71 Cullen St Nimbin (next to the park), 66891692

We can help with lots of support and info: e.g. food support (including dog/cat food/supplies), hot meals, frozen meals, drinking water, mental health support, assistance with mobile phones/devices, printing, copying, internet access and help with navigating the myriad of disaster relief payments and grants.

COVID-19: Mask-wearing inside especially in confined spaces is recommended. Good ventilation and hand hygiene practices remain crucial. If you need NNIC services and support but you currently have COVID OR are Feeling unwell, OR are Feeling nervous and wanting to maintain social isolation, then YOU CAN CALL us on 6689 1692 and we can arrange a telephone appointment for you so you do not have to come in personally.

MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT with qualified staff 3 days per week.

NEED ESSENTIAL ITEMS REPLACED? Lost or damaged items from the landlsides/floods? NNIC is registered with GIVIT so we can list your needs on GIVIT in order to try find matching donoros or either the items needed or cash to purchase them. Our RSS staff can assist with this.

CLEANING UP AFTER A DISASTER Red Cross resources HERE.

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS Red Cross HERE

Need CLOTHING? Nimbin CWA may be able to assist.

 For more info and assistance come into the Neighbourhood Centre.

For more helpline numbers see our Health page.

Roads across our entire local government area have had significant damage.Our crews are working hard to ensure our roads are safe, however, it will take time and we ask for the community’s patience.

FOR LOCAL ROADs INFORMATION try the My Roads Info website

or try Kyogle Coouncil website here

or Tweed Council website here

LOCAL BUS INFO

Northern Rivers Buslines for buses travelling between Nimbin and Lismore.

Gosels Bus Service for buses travelling between Nimbin and Murwillumbah.

Quinn’s Bus Services local school bus routes.

Check the relevant Bus Company's website for timetable updates.

WILDLIFE RESCUE SERVICES

WIRES 1300 094 737

NRWC 6628 1866

Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers 6672 4789

Friends of the Koala 6622 1233

Latest News 7 Sibley St - Nimbin's Sustainable Living Hub

7 Sibley Street - Nimbin's Sustainable Living Hub - what happening there?

A large variety of workshops happen to provide skills share opportunities and social connections between people.

The Nimbin Community Tools and Equipment Library is opebn to members for borrowing os useful things.

7 Sibley Street also operates as a satellite hub of NNIC, providing a soft entry point into our services and referrals into programs.

It functions as a key composting and recycling hub in the community.

It operates as a promotional hub for local producers to enhance our local economy and job opportunities.

See the Sibley St website for all the latest info and updates

Sustainability Plan Updates

Progress against the goals of the SNCP  can be found via the Sustainability tab above under each key Focus Area's own page.