Measuring Social Progress'

1
Measuring Social Progress.

• Tony Keenan
• Chief Executive Officer
• Hanover Welfare Services

2
Federal Labor Social Policy

• Social Inclusion
• Evidence Based Solutions
• New Federalism - Specific Purpose
• Payments reduced and reformed
• Outcomes and Targets
• Human Rights Sleeper

3
What is Social Inclusion?

• Still contested
• 'Social inclusion is the process by which efforts
  are made to ensure that everyone, regardless of
  their experiences and circumstances, can achieve
  their potential in life. To achieve inclusion
  income and employment are necessary but not
  sufficient. An inclusive society is also
  characterised by a striving for reduced
  inequality, a balance between individuals rights
  and duties and increased social cohesion'
• Centre for Social and Economic Inclusion UK

4
Social Inclusion Approaches

• Has economic and social inclusion central to
  approaches and the necessary supports to achieve
• In a modern economy this means education and
  training is a vital component
• Sees services and programs client focussed and
  outcomes focussed
• Placed based initiatives
• Various services and programs work together to
  achieve the one global aim of inclusion
• Flexible and disproportionate resourcing

5
Social Inclusion Changes the Focus

• Social inclusion approaches have to be concerned
  with outcomes, whereas many of our current
  approaches are simply concerned about service
  delivery and throughputs.
• Interventions will need to be based on individual
  circumstances and cannot be a one size fits all
• By its nature it will require services,
  programs, laws and department to join up
• While the global aim is inclusion, the
  interventions and foci will vary according to the
  individual

6
Current Approaches

• Current Program Responses are concerned with
  throughputs e.g. X episodes of support provided -
  not effectiveness
• Current responses are disjointed and sometimes
  work against each other
• Not concerned about change often parking
  problems

7
Homelessness as an example

• 100,000 on any given night across Australia.
• 14 are sleeping rough (primary homelessness)
• Indigenous Australians comprise 16 of those
  accessing homelessness services, 69 in rural
  services and 88 in remote.
• Children accompanied by their parents are the
  single biggest groups accessing homelessness
  services (56,800)

8
Homelessness as an example

• Of all children living in Australia now - one in
  fifty will access a homeless assistance service.
• There are now more women than men in the
  homelessness service system
• In Victorian alone there are over 35,000 people
  on the public housing waiting list
• Rental vacancies are at a record low in Melbourne
  and other cities

9
What are our current services?

• SAAP
• Housing
• Legal
• Mental health
• Centrelink
• Employment
• Education and Training
• Drug and Alcohol

10
What are our current measures?

• Throughput and episodes of support
• No measure of quality
• No measure of effectiveness
• No measure of human rights

11
Current Approach in Practice

• Sandy, Shari Ben
• Escaped a violent partner Werribee, couch surfed
  at sisters in Moorabbin, rough sleeping in car,
  came to Hanover
• One week in a motel in Oakleigh, into our crisis
  accommodation at South Melbourne for four months
• Transitional housing for 12 months in Kensington
• Permanent found in Frankston

12
Current Approach in Practice

• No linking with schools
• Significantly contributed to risk of children
  underachieving or not attending school
• No linking with legal system
• No linking with employment, childcare etc

13
Importance of Outcome Measures Targets

• Holds governments to accounts
• Strengthens resourcing debates
• Forces coordination and joining up
• Need to be durable and sustainable over time
• If the measures are right, can deliver real
  change

14
Ten outcome measures for Homelessness

• Halve homelessness by 2020 eliminate rough
  sleeping by 2020
• Increase the total stock of public and social
  housing to X of total housing
• A reduction of X of homicides resulting from
  domestic violence
• An increase in child clients of homelessness
  services attending four year old kindergarten

15
Ten outcome measures for Homelessness

• Reduce the gap in life expectancy between
  indigenous and non indigenous Australians by X
  years.
• An improvement over time in the performance of
  child clients of homelessness services in Year
  3,5,7 9 Literacy and Numeracy tests
• A positive improvement in the Australian Early
  Development Index (AEDI) for the 20 collection
  areas with the highest number of child clients
  receiving homelessness support services.

16
Ten outcome measures for Homelessness

• An increase in the number of young clients of
  homelessness services who complete Year 12 or
  equivalent
• An increase in the number of clients of
  homelessness services entering and maintaining
  paid employment or further education and training
  
• A decrease in the number of young people entering
  the homelessness service system when they leave
  state care