Community services

Report

Inquiry into community safety, support services and job opportunities in the Northern Territory

The Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs has published this report on its inquiry into community safety, support services and job opportunities in the Northern Territory. The report makes several recommendations to the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments in the wake...
Report

'Can't afford to live': The impact of the rising cost of living on Victorians and Tasmanians on low incomes

This report provides evidence that the rising cost of living is deepening financial, housing and food insecurity, and impacting mental and physical health, while also increasing social isolation.
Report

Blueprint for a better future: paving the way for youth justice reform in Western Australia

This document outlines an evidence-based, alternative vision for a more effective and connected youth justice system in Western Australia. The report articulates a whole-of-system approach that responds to the underlying causes of offending to reduce crime, ensures the wellbeing of children and young people, and...
Strategy

State commissioning strategy for community services: implementation plan 2022-2024

This document outlines the strategic role commissioning will play in transforming the delivery of community services in Western Australia.
Conference proceedings

City governance and structure: SOAC 2021 conference track and abstracts

Dominant modes of decision-making regarding city form and function are not easily disrupted. Assumptions about the cultures of city life, the motives of powerful actors in shaping cities and city futures are embedded in socio-political discourses and may seem largely immutable. However, cities do change...
Conference proceedings

City social and housing: SOAC 2021 conference track and abstracts

This track provides papers that address housing affordability; urban sprawl and associated housing and social infrastructure needs across cities and regions; homelessness, housing system reform, and the futures of homeownership; social and cultural diversity and its implications for housing and social/care infrastructures; and transformative models...
Conference paper

Climate justice in practice: addressing social inequity and climate resilience through place-based capacity building with community service organisations and local governments

This paper outlines a place-based approach to enabling climate adaptation and resilience across community service organisations (CSOs) and local governments in Melbourne particularly in areas experiencing socio-ecological disadvantage.
Report

Counting the costs: sustainable funding for the ACT community services sector

This report informs development of more sustainable models of resourcing for the community services sector in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Report

Meeting demand in the shadow of the Delta outbreak: community sector experiences

This report provides evidence from the Australian Community Sector Survey (ACSS) 2021, conducted in September 2021. It is part of a series of studies that seek to give voice to the collective issues and priorities affecting the community sector, and to reflect the rich diversity...
Report

Service innovation deep dive: summary report

Acknowledging the significant impact of COVID-19 on community services, researchers sought to understand the ways in which organisations in the aged care, disability and emergency relief sectors had innovated during COVID-19.
Report

Treasured lives - phase two: the policy and service environment

One group of older Australians vulnerable to not being able to age well at home with independence and dignity are those living with hoarding and/or challenges maintaining a healthy home. This report focuses on the experiences and needs of Tasmanian service providers and statutory agencies...
Report

Pulse of the for-purpose sector - final report: wave 2

Launched in May of 2020, the 'Pulse' initiative is an Australian first in measuring the attitudes and operating conditions of the for-purpose sector. This Wave 2 report reveals significant challenges remain for the 'for-purpose' sector, as nearly 80% of service providers report struggling to meet...
Literature review

Community resilience, wellbeing and recovery: evaluating current knowledge of the role of community assets

This document reviews the state of current knowledge on the role of community assets in supporting community resilience, recovery and wellbeing, focusing on disaster recovery and resilience building processes. It forms part of the 'Community resilience, wellbeing and recovery project'.
Report

Understanding preparedness and recovery

Emergency recovery goes beyond survival. It is a complex process with potentially long-lasting impacts on people’s lives. Within research, policy and practice, there is a widespread assumption that preparing for a disaster has a positive impact on recovery. This report examines the emergency experiences of...
Report

New housing supply, population growth and access to social infrastructure

This research tests the usefulness of new datasets to inform the forward planning of social and community infrastructure in rapidly growing areas of Australian cities. It focusses on greenfield areas of Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth to demonstrate data sources and methods that can be replicated...
Evaluation

A review of the evidence on developing and supporting policy and practice networks

‘Networks’ and ‘networking’ are widely used (and often under-defined) concepts. This rapid review takes a more focused look at networks - specifically those that support policy and practice development, from the point of view of charitable organisations that may want to foster them as a...
Report

VicHealth Local Government Partnership: young people leading healthier communities

VicHealth is working with Victorian councils to set our kids up for their best possible future - by creating communities where children and young people can grow up active, connected and healthy.
Report

Meeting community needs in difficult times: experiences of Australia’s community sector

This report examines how Australia’s community services sector is addressing high levels of need in the community during early 2021, a period in which Australian communities sought to recover from the crises of 2020.
Video

Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI) Practice Elements video

One of the Centre for Evidence and Implementation's (CEI’s) core approaches to making evidence more 'implementable' is by using practice elements as the building blocks for intervention and program design. This video unpacks the practice elements approach.
Report

Action to empower: why Australia needs more co-operative and mutual enterprises in health, community, and social services

This report is a call to action to demonstrate how targeted policy measures focused on enabling different forms of ownership, can increase diversity and choice in social services in Australia with positive outcomes for the quality and productivity of those services.
Report

Pulse of the for-purpose sector - final report: wave 1

This first report of a national research program has been released to explore the unprecedented events of 2019-2020 created by the bushfires and the global pandemic, and their associated challenges on Australia’s health, economic and social systems.
Report

Moving the conversation forward

This report provides a review of how the community services sector has been positioned by major governing bodies – such as the Productivity Commission, Royal Commissions and Senate Inquiries – to provide insight how the sector is being understood and approached by government(s). In particular...
Report

COVID-19 and Communities Listening Project: a shared response

This report considers how organisations and communities across the United Kingdom adapted and responded to the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Report

The value of people power

Whether we call it formal or informal volunteering, giving, social action, mutual aid, or simply people helping people, the power of connecting and helping each other makes a huge contribution to society. This report includes an economic analysis of the value of people power and...
Report

Australia's community sector and COVID-19: supporting communities through crisis

This report provides insight into the status of Australia’s community sector during July 2020, a period in which the sector grappled with the significant health, social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and rapid changes in policy and service delivery.