A NARSA Initiative originally funded and supported by Aboriginal Hostels Limited The initial undertaking of the Mobile Office resource was that all student boarding facilities in Australia would receive a face-to-face visit for the purpose of establishing a support network, particularly for staff.

In 2000 and 2001 the NARSA office staff travelled extensively by road throughout Tasmania, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, an ongoing journey of approx 28,500km over a period of 6 months. More than 70 hostels and 12 associated organisations were visited during this time, leading to an increase in NARSA membership as staff recognised the need for the support provided by the resultant networking.

At the conclusion of this highly successful journey, thanks to the invaluable support of AHL, the first Student Accommodation Guide was published and made available to all boarding facilities.

Today the NARSA office staff continues to travel to various regions of Australia at the request of, and funded by, individual boarding facilities for the purpose of assisting staff in the facilitation of Duty of Care, a Nationally accredited Training Course for management, staff and supervisors in residential colleges and rural student hostels.

Over a period of time it has become obvious that staff in student boarding facilities are recognising that, in order for their position to be recognised, they must achieve some formal accreditation. Although quite a large number of staff have completed the Duty of Care course, because of the high turnover of staff there will always be the need for ongoing training.

Annual training is therefore considered to be a high priority.

NARSA Training Forums have become very popular among residential supervisors and hostel 'parents'. However, these annual events are mostly limited to the larger facilities that have sufficient financial status to support staff attendance. Unfortunately, in many of the smaller rural hostels, particularly small community-based facilities, financial constraints prevent staff from attending these forums. As a result they depend on a yearly visit from the Mobile Office for their professional development.

The NARSA office staff has also, from time to time, been called on to work with Management and staff in writing or updating policies and procedures. In some cases this has involved a visit to the organisation concerned.