Indicators of community strength in Victoria

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Indicators of community strength in Victoria

• Jeanette Pope
• Strategic Policy and Research

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Community strength

• Strong, healthy communities have
• economic/natural/human/social capital assets
• knowledge within the community that allows for
  the sustainable use of assets
• the ability to collectively organise in order to
  work through issues, determine priorities and
  make best use of resources
• local institutions providing governance
  structures through which collective action can be
  organised

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Monitoring community strength

• Department for Victorian Communities indicators
  of community strength at the local government
  area level project
• Local projects
• VicHealth Community Wellbeing Indicators Project

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Indicators of community strength at the local
government area level project

• Project focuses on only part of the definition of
  community strength
• economic/natural/human/social capital assets
• knowledge within the community that allows for
  the sustainable use of assets
• the ability to collectively organise in order to
  work through issues, determine priorities and
  make best use of resources
• local institutions providing governance
  structures through which collective action can be
  organised

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Indicators of community strength

• Community attitudes
• Feeling safe walking down street alone after dark
• Feeling valued by society
• Feeling there are opportunities to have a say on
  the issues that are important
• Feeling multiculturalism makes life in area
  better
• Liking the community you live in

• Participation
• Attendance at a community event
• Participation in sport and recreational
  activities
• Volunteering
• Being a member of an organised group such as a
  sports, church, community or professional group
• Group having taken local action
• Being the member of a group that has taken local
  action in the last 12 months
• Parental participation in schools
• Participation in decision making boards and
  committees

• Ability to get help when needed
• Ability to get help from friends, family and
  neighbours
• Ability to raise 2000 in two days in an
  emergency

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Time trends
(DVC Indicators of community strength report 2004)
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Community prevention planning
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LGA level information volunteering
Rural/regional
Rural city
Metropolitan
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LGA level information multiculturalism
Rural/regional
Rural city
Metropolitan
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• Introductory report available now
• LGA level report available by end of year
• www.dvc.vic.gov.au

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Local projects

• Indicator sets, in which some of the DVC
  indicators are embedded, that have a focus on the
  whole definition of community strength

• economic/natural/human/social capital assets
• knowledge within the community that allows for
  the sustainable use of assets
• the ability to collectively organise in order
  to work through issues, determine priorities and
  make best use of resources
• - local institutions providing governance
  structures through which collective action can be
  organised

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Local projects

• Whitehorse Community Health Centre
• Adapted VPHS to create local area data on
  cardiovascular risk factors and community
  strength
• Created partnership of local stakeholders to
  work on joint interventions
• Many local government indicator projects such as
  those created in
• City of Geelong - G21 alliance
• City of Port Phillip - Sustainable Community
  Progress Indicators
• City of Moreland - Profiling Moreland.

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The Outer Eastern Regional Sustainability
Indicators Project

• Swinburne University of Technology - Centre for
  Regional Development
• City of Knox
• City of Maroondah
• Shire of Yarra Ranges

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Project aims

• To create a set of Quality of life/community
  health indicators
• to measure the communitys progress towards a
  sustainable, healthy community
• to report back to stakeholders on the issues they
  have identified as important, thereby engaging
  communities

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Framework council visions

• An active, healthy community a strong vibrant
  community whose members are healthy, have a sense
  of well-being, who are connected to others and
  have access to a range of services
• A culturally rich community an inclusive
  community that celebrates cultural diversity and
  allows for all people to participate in rich
  community life
• A learning community a community committed to
  lifelong learning
• An accessible community a community which has
  effective efficient access and safety
• A community that protects and enhances the
  environment a community which values
  environmental sustainability
• A well designed and well built community an
  effectively planned community which has a mix of
  recreational, residential, industrial and natural
  environments
• A prosperous community a healthy economy

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Creating indicators
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Creating indicators
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Creating indicators
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Reporting back to the community

• A website and report available soon that outline
• Indicator definition
• Data sources
• Progress and targets
• What can be done
• References (websites etc)

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VicHealth Community Wellbeing Indicators
Project
A project to coordinate local government
indicators across Victoria
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Purpose

• To consolidate existing activity in the
  development and use of community wellbeing
  indicators
• To support the capacity of local governments and
  their communities to plan, advocate, set
  priorities for and monitor health and wellbeing
  at the local level

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Anticipated outcomes

• A common framework for indicators
• A common core set and a process for identifying
  locality specific indicators
• Participation by local governments
• Increased capacity at the local level to select
  and use indicators for planning, priority
  setting, advocacy and citizen engagement
• Infrastructure at state and local level to
  maintain a program of community wellbeing
  indicators
• The capacity to routinely report on core measures
  of well-being at local government level

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Partners

• To be lead by Victorian local governments and
  local government organisations, with support from
  key state and national bodies
• Developmental phases to be funded by VicHealth
  with additional support from the Department of
  Human Services (Public Health)
• Anticipated that long term operation of the
  program will be supported through funding and
  in-kind support from a range of partners,
  including the VicHealth Centre for the Promotion
  of Mental Health and Social Wellbeing

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Current developments

• Tenders for the project currently being
  considered by VicHealth Board
• Stakeholders to be advised of successful tenderer
  early November 2004
• Wide involvement encouraged
• Contact Kim Webster kwebster_at_vichealth.vic.gov.au
  or 9667 1344 for further information