Indicator Inbox - ISSUE 1 - Summer 2011

Welcome to the Community Indicators Victoria (CIV) Indicator Inbox

We are excited to launch the very first edition of the CIV Indicator Inbox. The new revamped CIV Newsletter. The Indicator Inbox will be a seasonal newsletter that will arrive in your inbox every season. The Indicator Inbox will aim to bring you up to date information on what is happening in relation to Community Wellbeing Indicators in Victoria, keep you abreast with news on the national front and also tap into the international happenings in wellbeing indicators. We will show case from time to time indicator projects, provide editorials on community wellbeing efforts and resource you to access information and resources that may support your work. We are always keen to receive feedback so please send an email and tell us what you think or let us know if you have an indicator project or story that you would like to share. Happy Reading!

Community Indicators Victoria News

The CIV team has started the year on sure footing in the knowledge that the service has been funded for the next five years, thanks to VicHealth. VicHealth has been a tireless supporter of CIV. It was the original funder of the two year Victorian Community Indicators Project (2004 – 06) and provided the core funding for CIV from 2006 – 11. Following a review of the funding to the McCaughey Centre in late 2010, VicHealth restated its commitment to ensuring that Victorian communities have access to community wellbeing data and committed funds for the next five years.

Victorian Floods

The CIV team would like to extend their sympathies to all the communities across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland affected by floods. Our thoughts are with you and we are inspired by your courage and determination throughout your recovery.

VicHealth Indicator Survey 2011

We are also pleased to announce that the VicHealth Indicators Survey will begin fieldwork in 2011. The Victorian survey is sponsored by VicHealth and involves a partnership between both VicHealth and CIV. The new Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) survey will collect time series data for the CIV indicators that were first populated in the 2007 CIV Survey. It is anticipated that final ethics approval and piloting of the survey will be completed by the end of February and fieldwork will begin in March, however, flooding in regional areas may delay data collection in some regional areas. New indicator data are expected to be made available via the CIV website in the latter half of 2011 but will be dependent on the time taken to collect the survey data. More details will be provided in the next CIV Indicator Inbox newsletter.

Data Releases

Sustainability Victoria has released Household Waste Generation and Household Waste Recycling (2008-09).

The Department of Health has provided a selection of data from the Victorian Population Health Survey (2008) but CIV is waiting on comprehensive LGA based data from the data custodian. We anticipate that these data will be available by March 2011.

CIV is currently negotiating with the TAC in order to make Motor Vehicle Fatalities data available for each LGA and anticipate that these data will be made available in the coming weeks.

CIV is working with partners on data availability to develop a data source for the indicator of Access to Areas of Open Space. Dr Melanie Davern is seeking assistance from interested parties with access to data sources and can be contacted on mdavern@unimelb.edu.au.

Training Opportunities


Results Based Accountability 101: April 2011

Date: 8 April 2011
Time: 8.30 am for a 9 am Start Finish 4.00 pm
Venue: Graduate House – Melbourne University on Leicester Street.
Cost: $375.00

This will be a facilitated workshop run by Louisa McKay and Athena Williams. Mark Friedman the founder of Results Based Accountability describes RBA as "starting with the end and working backwards, step by step to the means". RBA is all about plain language, partnerships, moving from talk to action and using data to measure whether or not we are really making a difference.

Please note numbers will be strictly limited to 30 participants. Registration will close 31 March 2011.

Contact Athena on 9035 8279 or email athenaw@unimelb.edu.au for more information.

Working with Indicators – the basics

This will be a new workshop facilitated by CIV that will introduce participants to using Indicators in their work. The workshop will be of benefit to participants who may be new to using Indicators or wish to expand their knowledge on the basics. Areas that are likely to be covered in the workshop are;

  • Understanding how Indicators work
  • Identifying a purpose and vision for indicators relevant to setting
  • Indicators and social justice
  • Using indicators to develop action, and
  • Measuring change in a community setting.

More information will come in relation to this new workshop next month.

This workshop is will open for registration in late April. If you are interested in knowing more or would like to register your interest please email Athena at athenaw@unimelb.edu.au

Local Heroes

A place to recognise outstanding work in the Indicator space in Victoria

A Victory for the Results Based Accountability (RBA) /Measuring Outcomes Results Framework (MORF) in Victoria

Inner East Community Health Services (IECHS) and Melbourne Citymission (MCM) won an award for the RBA/MORF work at the Inaugural 2010 Victorian Community Sector Awards for "New Approaches to Managing Administrative / Compliance Tasks".

The Award was established to recognise the achievements of not-for-profit community organisations - to highlight new approaches community organisations take to improve their work. MCM and IECHS had put in a joint submission on our MORF/RBA work and were one of the 12 shortlisted finalists. On 22 September 2010 at the Think Innovation 2010 Summit (organised by the Office for the Community Sector), the Victorian Minister for Community Development, the Honourable Lily D'Ambrosio presented MCM & IECHS with the award. Out of a field of 34 submissions, IECHS & MCM won one of the four Awards for Innovation.

If you are part of, or know of a project using Indicators in Victoria that you believe others would benefit in knowing about please send information through to Athena.

Networking Opportunities


The 3rd Victorian RBA Community of Practice/Network 'Morning Tea'

Date : Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Time : 9.30am - 11.00am
Venue : Melbourne Citymission, 19 King St, Melbourne Vic 3000 (Level 4)

All welcome. Joining us at this meeting is Justin Miklas from the Results Leadership Group (USA). Justin will facilitate a brief demonstration of the Results Scorecard and answer your questions remotely from America. Also presenting is Anthony Bernardi from Inner East Community Health Services (IECHS) who will share IECHS' baseline data and their use of the Results Scorecard.

For more information please contact Elaine Hendrick at Melbourne City Mission Tel: 03 8625 4468

Australian Community Indicators Network (ACIN)

Sue West, with Mike Salvaris, CIV Reference Committee member, and Geoff Woolcock, Griffith University, has led the establishment of a national community indicators network. The Australian Community Indicators Network (ACIN) aims to assist people using or developing community indicators to share ideas and information, and to foster collaboration. It aims to support a national dialogue across community indicator policy, research and practice.

An interim website has been established for ACIN members and membership is free. Members can view and contribute to:

  • An online forum
  • Events calendar
  • Reports and publications data base and
  • Web links to interesting community indicator projects and initiatives.

In addition, the network’s Steering Committee will organize a series of national teleconferences in 2011 to enable members to meet and hear examples of promising practice emerging in Australia. With network partners, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the ACIN will be official launched at the upcoming conference Census- Beyond the Count (see below for details).

To learn more about the Australian Community Indicators Network Click Here

The Australian National Development Index

Progress continues on the development of the Australian National Development Index (ANDI). The Allen Consulting Group have been working with the Index’s steering committee in developing a business model for the project and this is expected to be finalized and delivered to all 40 member organizations within the next 4-6 weeks. An ANDI community summit is also being planned later in the year in Tasmania and will involve key project partners and representatives from the community, academia, government and non-government organizations.

International happenings


International Society for Quality of Life Studies, Thailand.

The 10th international conference for the International Society for Quality of Life Studies was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 8-11 of December 2010. Dr Melanie Davern presented a paper based on the CIV Survey data at the conference entitled “Do you need to be engaged to be happy: the relationship between citizen engagement and Subjective Wellbeing”. Melanie also attended a workshop on Community Indicator Projects at the conference where theoretical perspectives on indicator projects were discussed and a related reference by Professor Joe Sirgy (Virginia Polytechnic Institute& State University) is listed in the papers of interest section of this newsletter.

Promoting social cohesion at the European level concepts and indicators at the service of action.

Sue West was invited to speak at a European conference on “Promoting social cohesion at the European level: concepts and indicators at the service of action”. The conference was jointly organised in partnership with the Council of Europe and the Walloon region (Belgium) within the framework of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union and of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. The conference was held in Charleroi, Belgium in October 2010 and attracted policy makers, practitioners and researchers. Sue’s paper was titled: “The role of community indicators in community planning: Lessons from Victoria, Australia”.

There is a better way to measure happiness.

Media attention about how to measure a states happiness beyond the GPD gained momentum late last year and continues to occupy the media as the new year begins. Governments in France and Canada have been discussing Quality of Life Measures for some time. While in the UK promoting happiness and wellbeing is being seen as a legitimate and important goal for government. David Cameron, identifies gauging peoples wellbeing as one of the ‘central political issues of our time’ (www.bbs.co.uk.)

Looking at measures beyond the GDP is not new. There is an increasing body of work that has been and is being undertaken around the subject. Such as the European Commissions work ‘GDP and beyond’ project. www.beyond-gdp.eu As well as the OECD’s global project on ‘measuring the progress of societies. www.oecd.org

In 2009 French President Sarkozy commissioned a piece of work on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress often referred to as the Stiglitz report or commission. This piece of work ‘highlighted that both committing certain types of crime and buying petrol can lead to an increase in the GDP but not lead to an increase in welfare, exemplifying why the GPD is not a measure of progress’. (Thomas 2010). Thomas continues to suggest that leading commentators and politicians are rethinking the emphasis on economic growth. As highlighted in the Stiglitz commission the focus needs to widen for more complete measures of societal wellbeing, including quality of life and sustainability ( p29).

References:

  • www.bbs.co.uk. 15 November 2010 UK Politics.
  • Thomas J, Evans J (2010). ‘There is more to life than GDP but how do we measure it’, Economic and Labour Market Review V4, N9, p 29-36, September 2010.

Resources that may be of interest in this subject are:

  • Stilglitz Commission: www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/documnets/rapport_anglais.pdf
  • www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/article.asp?ID=2578
  • www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/article.asp?id=2572

Up and coming Conferences


Census - Beyond the Count

Dates: 2-4 March 2011
Location: Melbourne VIC

A showcase event that explores the issues that matter to all Australians. We will look beyond the count and reveal what a difference the Census makes.

This conference program features a wide variety of presentations showing how ABS Census data is used.

www.abs.gov.au/beyondthecount

Community Indicators Consortium (CiC) USA 2011 eConference

A Knowledge Exchange - From Data to Impact…

11-15 April 2011

The Community Indicators Consortium (USA) is an active learning network and community of practice among persons and organizations interested or engaged in the field of community indicators and their application. CIC’s mission is to:

  • Advance the art and science of indicators;
  • Facilitate the exchange of knowledge about the effective use of indicators;
  • Encourage the development of effective indicators; and,
  • Foster informed civic and media discourse about local, regional, national, and global priorities.

CIC’s eConference offers participants the opportunity to increase and share knowledge, participate in online discussions and develop networks without the expense and effort of traveling away from work or home. Registrants receive access to a virtual conference website with live streaming video, panel sessions, webinars, a lounge, and the ability to chat with other attendees visit vendor booths and network with colleagues in a virtual “expo hall.” This innovative technological platform offers most of the features of a live conference, and information can be experienced or shared with whole teams because the cost of travel is eliminated.

For more information please visit www.cic2011econference.com

Papers of Interest

D Zachery, S Brutschy, S West, T Keenan, A Stevens (2010) Connecting Data to Action: How the Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project Contributes to Better Outcomes for Youth, Applied Research in Quality of Life Vol 5 Issue 4 pp 287-308

Cox, D, Frere M, West, S and Wiseman, J (2010) Developing and using local community wellbeing indicators: Learning from the experience of Community Indicators Victoria. Australian Journal of Social Issues Vol 45 Issue 1, pp 71 – 78

Sirgy, M. J. Theoretical Perspectives Guiding QOL Indicator Projects. Social Indicators Research doi: 10.1007/s11205-010-9692-6 (published online 10 August 2010).

Reports of Interest


Measuring Our Progress

In November 2010, the Prime Minister asked the Office for national Statistics to initiate a debate on national wellbeing and to start to measure it. If this is done well, the result will make a real difference to people’s lives. See the new economics foundation (nef) report to look at what is needed. www.neweconomics.org/publications/measuring-our-progress

Thank you

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