Central Queensland Indicators of Community Wellbeing

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Institute for Sustainable Regional Development
Value Adding to Regional Planning Processes -
Community Wellbeing Presentation by Lindsay
Greer and David Kraatz
Regional Social Impacts of Economic Growth Forum
August 2007
In partnership with CQANM
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Presentation outline

• Key challenges for regional Queensland
• Concerns with regional data
• Framework for community wellbeing
• Existing studies
• Central Queensland case study
• Regional planning processes
• Conclusion

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Objective

• To offer an explanation and a rationale for the
  inclusion of a set of social and community
  indicators of wellbeing into contemporary
  regional planning processes
• To develop a sustainable model for a set of
  community wellbeing indicators that is clearly
  linked to government policy and draws on local
  experience, knowledge and concerns

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Why?

• Currently in a period of sustained growth
• Growth is not uniform
• Will not last forever
• We need the best available evidence to inform
• Decision making
• Citizen engagement
• Community planning

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Key Challenges

• Increasing globalisation of markets
• Increasing competition between regions
• Growing corporatisation (off-shore decision
  making)
• Rapid technology change
• Population changes
• Changes in regional age compositions

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More challenges

• Skills shortage
• Increased worker mobility
• Increased career expectations/mobility
• Infrastructure bottlenecks
• Environment and heritage issues
• Community wellbeing issues
• Economy/tourism issues
• Governance issues

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Problems with existing regional data

• Lack of consistent data
• Irregularity of updated datasets
• Limited resources to update data
• Difficulties accessing data
• Multiple/conflicting data sets being used
• Difficulty doing regional comparisons
• Lack of small area data
• Cost
• Lack of social indicators

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Framework for community wellbeing project

• Data collection and dissemination that is
• Regionally based and relevant
• Regularly updated
• Economic to produce
• Easily understood
• Consistent
• Able to measure change
• Included social data as well as economic,
  environmental governance

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Framework for community wellbeing

• Four fundamental resources (capitals)
• Natural capital natural resources, ecosystems
  and aesthetic features
• Produced economic capital manufactured or
  harvested goods and services
• Human capital skills and knowledge
• Social and institutional capital OECD
  definition networks, together with shared norms,
  values and understandings which facilitate
  cooperation within or among groups

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Social capital

• Social capital is seen as a resource that draws
  on and feeds back into the other three resources
• They all contribute to a wide range of wellbeing
  outcomes
• Attributes social participation (networks,
  bonds and bridges)
• Qualities (strength) such as trust, altruism and
  reciprocity

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Social capital

• Productivity Commission report (2003)
• Communities with good SC tend to be more hired,
  housed, healthy and happy
• However, PC concludes there is a limited
  understanding of SC and how different policies
  interact with it, and measurement is difficult
• Can public policy increase existing stocks of
  social capital?

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Community Wellbeing

• Measuring wellbeing is a critical role for
  Government
• Vital for knowing how the community is faring
• Must involve a set of indicators that are
  statistically robust and reliable, and accurate
• Must be relatively easy to use and interpret
• Assist policy development processes to respond to
  complex challenges confronting legislators and
  citizens.

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Measuring Wellbeing

• No single measure of wellbeing that satisfies all
  parties all the time
• Select to inform particular issues of interest
• Some indicators are fundamental to wellbeing
  (e.g. health status, inequality measures,
  unemployment rates)
• Wellbeing indicators influenced by the concerns
  of contemporary culture
• Focus on conditions that can be influenced by
  policy and intervention

(ABS, 2001 6)
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The State of Play

• Who is doing what
• South Australia based on Oregon Shine Project
  and closely integrated to six main objectives of
  SA strategic plan (top down approach)
• Tasmania Together 2020 - twenty year Social,
  Environmental and Economic Plan. Closer community
  consultation than SA
• Victorian Community Indicators (VCI) a Vic
  Health funded project broad partnership btw
  State Govt and Communities (79 LGAs)

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The State of Play

• Who is doing what cont
• Canada Newfoundland Labrador Community
  Accounts joint citizen government project
• OECD Long term project Global Project on
  Measuring the Progress of Societies
• Queensland Currently have the Healthy
  communities project
• Dept of Communities - keep in-house profiles on
  wellbeing

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A Case Study Approach

• Partnership Approach
• CQANM
• Emerald Shire Council
• Institute for Sustainable Regional Development
  Central Queensland University
• Emerald as the area under study
• conducted concurrently with their regular
  customer satisfaction survey

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Project Drivers

• Two key drivers behind this project
• The need to adequately inform local government
  strategic planning requirements identified gap
  in data collection
• Existing LGA data collection could be value added

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Framework for the model

• Integrated, strategic and sustainable approach
• Driven by bottom up demand from communities,
  local govt and regional officers
• Able to also inform state planners and policy
  top down

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Sustaining the Process
Allows for qualitative review by community/
expert panel Data collection piggy backs on
existing survey
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Top down approach Policy
areas/social dimensions that constitute the six
domains
Social
Environmental
Economic
Domains Wealth Affordability Safety Public
Health Personal Health Fitness Diversity
Learning Community Governance Environment
Infrastructure
Cultural
Governance
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Bottom up approach indicator sources that
constitute the six domains
Existing Data Sets
LGA Questions
Regional Issues
Domains Wealth Affordability Safety Public
Health Personal Health Fitness Diversity
Learning Community Governance Environment
Infrastructure
Community Issues
Demographic Data
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Indicator Framework

• The indicators have been divided into a framework
  of domains that correspond with a set of policy
  areas and concerns.
• Wealth Affordability
• Safety Public Health
• Personal Health Fitness
• Diversity Learning
• Community Governance
• Environment Infrastructure

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Key Features of the 6x6 Domain Framework

• Incorporates TBL (economic, social environment)
• Objective/ subjective mix of indicators within
  each domain
• Use of multiple indicators for some indicator
  headings
• Utilisation of existing data where possible

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Key Features of the 6x6 Domain Framework

• Utilisation of Local Government community survey
• Three tiered survey instrument structure (local
  government, community wellbeing and regional
  issue sections)
• Allows for critique review of indicators

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Six Domain Model (6 x 6)
Wealth Affordability Safety Public Health Personal Health Fitness
Average Cost of Renting Public Health Services Adult Overweight
Housing availability Crime Against Persons Adult Physical Activity
Housing Activity (Prices Trend) Crime Against Property Alcohol Consumption
Personal Income Other Offences General Health Status
Economic Stress Perceptions of safety crime Satisfaction with life
Income support Victim of crime Work-life balance
Diversity Learning Community Governance Environment Infrastructure
Age Distribution Citizen engagement Parks and Gardens
Education Level Community Governance Community and Recreation
Population Density Community Connectedness Roads and Infrastructure
Population Growth Personal Connectedness Local Development
Local Arts Cultural Activities Community Trust Environmental Issues
Diversity Community Participation Transport
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Selected Results Housing Activity
Source OESR, DNR
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Selected Results
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Selected Results General Health Status
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Selected ResultsCitizen engagement
Source Web sites
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Selected Results Community Participation
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Selected Results Environment and Infrastructure
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Radar diagram - Community Wellbeing for Emerald,
Calliope and Rockhampton.
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Summary of recoded mean scores for trust and
influence community wellbeing variables within
the sample area.
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Number of organisations that residents are
involved in which are (a) locally based or (b)
outside the local area
(B)
(A)
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Croc found in Fitzroy river then mauled by three
savage dogs
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Legislative Framework - IPA / IDAS Review

• Recommendations on Regional Planning practices
  and processes may include things like
• Enhanced State planning instruments statutory
  regional plans, State planning policies
  standard planning scheme provisions
• Legislate to ensure State instruments take
  precedence over local planning instruments where
  conflict occurs
• Regional plans should be the pre-eminent
  instrument

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CQANM Project Aims

• Providing strategies designed to improve the
  quality of life for communities, particularly
  regarding access to facilities and services,
  infrastructure provision and sustainable
  environmental practices.
• Providing governments with a regional focus on
  fundamental strategic planning issues.

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CQANM Project Aims

• Providing a decision making framework which
  ensures complementary actions by the Australian,
  State and local governments and the private and
  community sectors to create desirable long term
  growth and development objectives and avoid
  duplication and inefficient use of resources.
• Forming the basis of a comprehensive regional
  framework to be implemented through local
  government strategic plans and providing guidance
  for State and local government planning and
  development decisions.
• Positioning the region to maximise competitive
  advantage and future sustainability.

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Planning Project Responses to Bowen Basin Mining
Boom

• Sustainable Futures Framework for Queensland
  Mining Towns
• FTE Population Survey 2006 (PIFU)
• Central Queensland Community Wellbeing Indicators
  (Pilot Study Emerald Shire)

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Conclusion

• The model can value add by
• Encouraging a compatible minimum standard for
  regional community surveys
• Benchmarking a set of indicators that can be
  aligned to regional policy and planning

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Conclusion

• The model can value add by cont
• Measuring regional performance across a broad
  range of indicators that encompass the TBL
• Encouraging further in-depth examination of areas
  identified as significant

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How to get it to work?

• Experience of other projects indicates that
  success requires
• A partnership approach
• Strong regional support
• Stakeholders must see clear benefits that relate
  directly to their planning mechanisms

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How to get it to work?

• Experience of other projects indicates that
  success requires
• It must support evidence based informed
  decision making
• Equally important it should advance community
  engagement and better inform citizens