Appendices
- Appendix A: Snapshot questionnaire
- Appendix B: Overview of fieldwork sites
- Appendix C: Interview schedules
Appendix A: Snapshot questionnaire
Appendix B: Overview of fieldwork sites
The following site descriptions include basic geographical and demographic information including employment, level of relative disadvantage, an overview of the FPs, key CfC initiatives and service providers' perception of the level of day-to-day coordination and the effectiveness of partnerships.
These descriptions are based on data from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing, 2005 small area employment figures published by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and Community Strategic Plans provided by the FPs in 2006. For most indicators, 2001 Census data were the most current available at the time of writing. It is likely that some of the demographic indicators will have changed since 2001 but in general, these data should offer a reasonably accurate reflection the current characteristics of each site.
Site descriptions also include preliminary summary results of services' day-to-day coordination and effective partnerships. This is based on data from the Service Coordination Study. For the detailed analysis of these results, see the Operational Level Coordination in Section 4.3 Results.
Further
Bendigo
The Bendigo CfC site is located within the Greater City of Bendigo, a regional city in Victoria. The site covers six suburbs and has a population of 35 000, about a third of Greater Bendigo. In 2001, there were 2963 children in the CfC site aged 0-5 years. This equated to 8.4% of the population, which was slightly higher than in Australia as a whole (7.6%). Ninety per cent of Bendigo residents were born in Australia, and 0.7% identified as Indigenous, slightly more than the state average (0.5%).
Only three of the 39 Collection Districts (CD) in the Bendigo CfC area had SEIFA scores above the mean of 1000. Several CDs had low rankings, reflecting a relatively high level of disadvantage, with the lowest at 599.
Unemployment rates were slightly higher than in metropolitan Melbourne. While most families with young children in the CfC site had at least one parent in employment, many are relatively poor. In 2001, 35% of children in the Bendigo CfC area lived in families with gross incomes of less than $500 per week.
Bendigo is in the second CfC wave. The CfC Executive is formed by a partnership between the Facilitating Partner (St Luke's Anglicare) and two other agencies - Bendigo Community Health Service and the City of Greater Bendigo.
Among other initiatives, CfC supports schools to become community hubs, joins with two large state-funded programs to try and make Bendigo a more child-friendly city, and reaches out to the growing numbers of Aboriginal residents in the site.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Bendigo site seem to have a relatively low level of day-to-day coordination and moderately effective partnerships.
Cairns
The Cairns CfC site is located in the City of Cairns, a regional city on the North Queensland coast. In June 2005, 39 500 people lived in the Cairns CfC site, almost a quarter of the population of the City of Cairns. The CfC site encompasses Cairns' southern growth corridor as well as Yarrabah Shire and some rural areas up to 75 kilometres to the south and east of the city. Some areas are experiencing rapid population growth. Several areas of the site are inaccessible and physically isolated. The lack of adequate public transport together with the area's large transient population makes service delivery challenging.
In 2001, the Cairns CfC site was home to a relatively high proportion of children aged 0-5. They made up 10.4% of the population, compared with 8.2% in Queensland and 7.6% in Australia as a whole. One-fifth of those children were of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Several suburban areas had young populations with high proportions of children younger than fifteen years. Yarrabah, for example, had a median age of 20 years.
Most mothers of young children in the CfC site spoke English as a first language. At less than five per cent, the site's level of unemployment is lower than average and significantly lower than in surrounding areas like Cairns City, where unemployment was 13% in 2005.
However, many families had low incomes. In 2001, one-fifth of children aged 0-5 were living in families earning less than $500 per week. More than eight per cent of households in the Cairns CfC site had no motor vehicle.
Several CDs within the CfC site had SEIFA scores below the mean of 1000 and thus reflect a relatively high level of disadvantage in the area. Scores went as low as 872.
The Cairns site was in the third CfC wave. Mission Australia is the Facilitating Partner. Activities carried out under CfC include parenting and family support programs, early learning and literacy programs, child nutrition, social and communication skills, and community events.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Cairns site have a moderate level of day-to-day coordination and moderately effective partnerships.
Frankston North
Frankston is a seaside town on the outskirts of Melbourne with areas of high socio-economic disadvantage. The Frankston North CfC site includes the suburbs Frankston North, Carrum Downs and Karingal. It is mostly residential, but contains large retail and light industrial areas. Of the 110 000 people living in the site in 2001, 8.3% were children aged 0-5 (Australia 7.6%). Most residents speak English as the main language. Lack of social connections and support for parents, lack of local facilities, poor take-up of ante- and post-natal care, and poor access to public transport are key issues in the site.
The CfC site encompasses a wide socio-economic spectrum, ranging from relatively advantaged to fairly disadvantaged. While parts of Carrum Downs had SEIFA scores above the mean of 1000, the score in the suburb Frankston North was as low as 812. Furthermore, 38% of children aged 0-5 in Frankston North lived in low income families with gross weekly incomes of $500 or less, compared to 20% of children in the CfC site as a whole.
Frankston North is in the second CfC wave. Anglicare is the Facilitating Partner. In addition to the CCC, Anglicare has established locality groups in the three suburbs of the site. These groups give local service agencies and community members - who for the most part did not want to join the CCC - the opportunity to work together and provide input into CfC. The FP also participates in a local early years network that was established previously under the state-funded Best Start initiative. This network provides policy direction for several early years services and programs operating in the community, including CfC.
The main CfC initiatives are: setting up networks of local service agencies and community members in the three suburbs of the CfC site, establishing local venues where activities are offered to children and families, improving ante- and post-natal support, providing school transition programs, and offering professional development support for service providers.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Frankston North site seem to have a moderate level of day-to-day coordination and highly effective partnerships.
Inala/Ipswich
The Inala-Ipswich CfC site is located on the south-western outskirts of Brisbane, and is split between two local government areas and two Regional Districts. It encompasses the localities of Inala, Durack, Richlands, Carole Park, Wacol, Gailes and Goodna, an area fragmented by motorways and industrial thoroughfares. Several suburbs are isolated from one another, contributing to uneven provision of services across the site.
In 2001, of the 63 000 people living in the CfC site 10.3% were children aged 0-5. Three years later, this proportion had declined to 8.7%, despite an increase in the overall number of residents. There is a high level of cultural diversity in the area, with the most significant populations being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Vietnamese and Pacific Islanders. Only 58% of young children in the site had mothers who spoke English as a first language.
The site has a high level of relative disadvantage. While all CDs in the area had SEIFA scores below the mean of 1000 in 2001, scores were particularly low in Carole Park (658), Inala (718) and Gailes (789).
Despite high employment rates among parents of young children in Inala-Ipswich, many families had low incomes. In 2001, almost one-third of children aged 0-5 lived in families with gross weekly incomes under $500. An even higher proportion of Indigenous children (42.5%) lived in low-income families. Almost one-third of children aged 0-5 lived in lone parent families, and of all the households in the site, 17% did not own motor vehicles.
According to the Community Strategic Plan prepared by the FP, almost half the housing in parts of Inala and Carole Park, and 20% of housing in other areas of the site, is public housing (compared to 4.1% in Brisbane and 3.5% in Queensland).
Inala was in the second wave of CfC funding. Mission Australia is the Facilitating Partner. There is broad representation on the CCC and members can access information and provide feedback via the communication network, as people's ability to attend meetings varies during the year.
The CfC initiative includes the Regional Early Years Network and Child/Parent Friendly Map project, a regional reading campaign Let's Read, an Active Children Campaign, Integrated Parent Education Initiative, Community Gardens, the Community Nutrition Initiative and the Social Skills Resource Initiative. There were also three new projects in the EOI stage: the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Early Years Project and Early Childhood Partnership project and the Building Bridges Project.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Inala-Ipswich site seem to have a moderate level of day-to-day coordination and highly effective partnerships.
Launceston
The Launceston CfC site incorporates Launceston, the second-largest city in Tasmania, and extends up the Tamar Valley to George Town on the island's North Coast. Remote public housing estates with low resident mobility, high unemployment, poor public transport and a seasonal labour market in the north are key issues for the site.
Between 2001 and 2004, the proportion of young children in the area rose from 7.1% to 9.2% of the population. Few residents are from non-English speaking backgrounds.
In 2001, the site had a relatively high level of disadvantage. Most CDs in the site had SEIFA scores between 800 and 985. In Ravenswood, SEIFA scores were as low as 557.
Areas within the CfC site have mixed unemployment rates, ranging from 3.8 to 8.3 per cent. Across the site, 44% of children aged 0-5 live in families where the gross weekly income is less than $500. Economic and social problems are particularly pronounced in Ravenswood, where 58% of young children live in low-income families and half the children live in lone parent families.
In 2001, 14.5% of households in the entire CfC area had no vehicle. However, access to vehicles was not evenly spread throughout the site. All households in Dilston reported having a car, while almost a quarter of households in Invermay and Mayfield had none.
Launceston is in the second CfC wave. Anglicare Tasmania is the Facilitating Partner. Initiatives include parent support groups, mobile kinder gym, pre-natal support for very young mothers, playgroups, the development of social hubs where CfC and other services are provided, the development and strengthening of an early childhood interagency, and specific supports to parents in remote areas, parents with a disability and parents with children with autism.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Launceston site seem to have a very high level of day-to-day coordination and very highly effective partnerships. Due to the very small number of respondents for this site, data from this area should be interpreted with caution.
Miller
The Miller CfC site is a primarily residential area located in Liverpool, a rapid growth area in Sydney's south-western suburbs. The site is comprised of four localities: Cartwright, Green Valley, Miller and Sadleir. Much development took place in the 1960s as part of the Green Valley public housing area.
In the decade to 2001, Liverpool's population grew more than anywhere else in NSW. Rapid population growth is predicted to continue as the area has a high birth rate and attracts large numbers of migrants. Liverpool is one of Sydney's most culturally diverse areas, and 14% of young children in the CfC site have mothers who do not speak English well.
Of the 20 000 people living in the CfC site in 2001, just under 11% were children aged 0-5, compared to 7.6% across Australia. Almost a quarter of young children in the site lived in low-income families. Fourteen per cent of households did not have a motor vehicle. This figure was much higher in certain parts of the site, with 25% of households in Miller and 29% in Cartwright. According to the FP, public transport in the area is also inadequate.
One Collection District in the site - in Green Valley - had a SEIFA score above the mean of 1000. Other parts of the site and parts of Miller had SEIFA scores as low as 556.
Miller is in the first CfC wave. Mission Australia is the Facilitating Partner, and the CCC is the major and only permanent committee of CfC.
Main CfC initiatives are child and family centres on school grounds offering parenting support, playgroups and other services; a speech therapist visiting playgroups and homes to access hard-to-reach families and provide preventative services; and mobile playgroups.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Miller site seem to have a moderate level of day-to-day coordination and highly effective partnerships. Due to the very small number of respondents for this site, data from this area should be interpreted with caution.
Mirrabooka
The Mirrabooka CfC site is also known as the Northern Metropolitan Region of Perth, covering the suburbs of Girrawheen and Koondoola, and parts of Balga and Mirrabooka. The site is split between Stirling and Wanneroo, two local government areas that historically have not taken a joint approach to community development. This has resulted in uneven and often inadequate service provision across the site. The FP identified a lack of culturally sensitive services, low awareness of currently available services and inadequate parenting skills as key issues in the site.
In 2001, there were 30 000 people living in the site, 10% of whom were children aged 0-5. The site also has sizable Indigenous and CALD populations.
None of the Collection Districts in the site had SEIFA rankings above the mean of 1000 in 2001. Disadvantage was highest in parts of Girrawheen, with a SEIFA score of 775.
In 2001, 44% of children aged 0-5 lived in families whose gross weekly income was less than $500. The proportion was even higher in Girrawheen, where almost half of young children lived in low-income families. Girrawheen also had the highest proportion of children living in families with at least one parent unemployed (19%), and of children living in lone parent families (37%).
In 2004-05, just over a quarter of children in the area scored below the Australian Early Development Index cut off in one or more life domain, and were thus classified as vulnerable.
Mirrabooka is in the first CfC wave. The Smith Family is the Facilitating Partner. A broad range of key stakeholders are represented on the CCC. The main committee has recently split into two groups covering both the strategic and operational implementation of the CfC.
The main CfC interventions include: Peer Led Breastfeeding, the Community Parks Program, Literacy Links, Pathways Supported Playgroups, Teen Parenting, Families and Schools Together and the Community Activity fund.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Mirrabooka site seem to have a moderate level of day-to-day coordination and highly effective partnerships.
Palmerston/Tiwi Islands
This CfC site is comprised of two very different locations. Palmerston is a settlement 25 kilometres from Darwin with a population of 21 000. Sixteen per cent of these are members of the defence force and their families, and the city has a transient population. In recent years, Palmerston has undergone rapid population growth, which is still continuing. However, adequate infrastructure for the new population has not been provided. According to the Community Strategic Plan, there is a severe shortage of medical services in the area, with access to antenatal services a particular problem.
The Tiwi Islands - Bathurst and Melville Island - are situated 80 kilometres northwest of Darwin in the Timor Sea. They had a total population of 2243 in 2001, and their four communities - Nguiu, Milikapiti, Pirlangimpi and Rangku - are predominantly Indigenous. Travel to the islands and between their communities is time-consuming and expensive. This remoteness and inaccessibility has meant that many people do not have access to mainstream services.
The population of young children in the site more than doubled in the ten years to 2001, when they made up 14% of the total population. Just under a quarter of all young children were Indigenous. The proportion of migrants varied from a very low 1.25% in the Tiwi Islands to 25% in the Palmerston suburb of Gray. All mothers of young children could speak English.
Social and economic indicators differ markedly between the two parts of the CfC site. While Palmerston had very low unemployment rates - between 1.2% and 4% in 2005 - the unemployment rate in the Tiwi Islands was 16.3%. Poverty was distributed in the same way. In 2001, one-fifth of young children in the entire CfC site lived in families with gross weekly incomes of $500 or less, but 59% of young children on the Tiwi Islands. SEIFA scores are lowest on the islands, with 657 and 678.
Palmerston was in the second CfC wave. The Red Cross is the Facilitating Partner. In addition to the CfC Committee, the site has set up a Tiwi Islands service-provider network. Main projects under CfC are the development of ante and post natal support networks, parenting programs, a future parents program, development of information packs for new parents, and connecting families to services.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Palmerston-Tiwi Islands site seem to have a high level of day-to-day coordination and highly effective partnerships. Due to the very small number of respondents for this site, data from this area should be interpreted with caution.
Salisbury
The Salisbury CfC site is located in the eastern part of the City of Salisbury, 25 kilometres north of Adelaide. The site is almost entirely residential, apart from a small industrial area in Pooraka, and includes the suburbs of Ingle Farm, Para Hills, Para Hills West, Pooraka, and Salisbury East. The FP identified insufficient childcare services as a key issue for the site. Inadequate public transport and lack of knowledge of currently available services were considered barriers to service access.
There were 54,000 people living in the site in 2001. In recent years the proportion of young children had declined to 7.3% in 2004, which was slightly below the national average of 7.6%. While one-third of the residents were born outside Australia, most could speak English.
There was a fairly low level of relative disadvantage in the area, with one-fifth of the Collection Districts (CD) in the site achieved SEIFA scores above the mean in 2001. There were, however, some pockets of relative disadvantage in Para Hills West and Ingle Farm with SEIFA scores below 830.
In 2001, 18% of all children aged 0-5 in the site lived in lone parent households, but 40% of Indigenous children lived with a lone parent. Just under a quarter of young children lived in families with gross weekly incomes of $500 or less, but 36% of Indigenous children. Geographically, low-income families were fairly evenly distributed, making up between 21% of families in Para Hills West and 29% in Pooraka and Para Hills. In 2005, unemployment rates across the site ranged from 4.8% to 5.8%.
Salisbury is in the second CfC wave. The Salvation Army is the Facilitating Partner. At the time of visiting, some CfC projects were already in place and others were being implemented. Projects include a Family Zone Hub which incorporates CfC and other early childhood services in one site, parent support groups, mobile supported playgroups targeting specific groups and issues (e.g. Vietnamese community and literacy, Sudanese community and trauma), home visiting service, mobile crèche and a community play area project with local council. An early childhood literacy program was under development.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Salisbury site seem to have a moderate level of day-to-day coordination and moderately effective partnerships.
Shellharbour
Shellharbour City is a large, rapidly growing area on the NSW coast, about 100 km south of Sydney. It includes the suburbs of Albion Park, Albion Park Rail, Balarang, Blackbutt, Calderwood, Croom, Dunmore, Flinders, Oak Flats, Shell Cove, Shellharbour City Centre, Shellharbour Square, Tongarra, Tullimbar and Yellow Rock. The Princes Highway cuts through the middle of the city, and large-scale development is taking place on both sides of the road. The population currently exceeds 60 000 and is projected to grow to 75 000 by 2010. Key issues in the site are affordable healthcare and childcare, access to support and assessment services, and public transport.
Although the number of children in the area has been growing steadily for more than fifteen years, this has been outstripped by growth in the general population. Children aged five and under were estimated to make up 8.8% of the residents in 2004. Most people in the site, including mothers of children aged 0-5, speak English as a first language.
In 2001, the SEIFA score for Shellharbour was slightly below the mean at 954, indicating a slight relative disadvantage. Although the unemployment rate in the site fell from 8.1% in September 2004 to 6.4% a year later, it remained higher than the national average of 5.1%. In 2001, 19% of children 0-5 lived in families with gross weekly incomes of less than $500. Of all families with young children in the site, 18% were lone parent families.
Shellharbour is in the third CfC wave. Barnardos is the Facilitating Partner. At this early stage in the initiative the CCC gives direction to the planning process and consists of a broad range of key local stakeholders. A main focus of CfC in this site is providing accessible information to families. The proposed CfC initiatives include: a website, the Learning and Development Project, Players in the Midst, a Breastfeeding program, the Breakfast Program, Talking Realities and a Children's Festival.
Preliminary analysis of the snapshot survey indicates that early years services in the Shellharbour site seem to have a moderate level of day-to-day coordination and highly effective partnerships.
Appendix C: Interview schedules
Interview schedule - general
- What is your role here / what type of work do you do?
- What do you think are the highest priority needs for children aged 0-5 and their families in this site?
- How effectively are those needs being met at the moment by different agencies?
- What kind of involvement do you have with Communities for Children?
- What does Communities for Children do in this site?
- What impact do you think Communities for Children is having here?
- In what ways is Communities for Children working well in this site?
- service provision
- service coordination
- integration with other government programs
- What do you think is helping Communities for Children to work well?
- What aspects of Communities for Children do you think are not working as well as they could?
- service provision
- service coordination
- integration with other government programs
- What are the major barriers for CfC to be working more effectively?
- What is the likely longer-term impact of CfC on this site?
- If you could change one thing about CfC, what would it be?
- Any other comments?
Interview schedule - STOs
- What is the role of an STO? What kind of involvement do you have with the Communities for Children programs in your state?
- Are you aware of anything that Communities for Children is doing, or plans to do in these areas?
- What impact do you think Communities for Children is having? / In what ways is Communities for Children working well?
- service provision
- service coordination
- integration with other government programs
- What do you think is helping Communities for Children to work well?
- internal
- external
- What aspects of Communities for Children do you think are not working as well as they could?
- service provision
- service coordination
- integration with other government programs
- Are you aware of any barriers to Communities for Children working well in this area? What are some of these barriers?
- What is the likely longer-term impact of CfC on this site? Impact across the state?
- If you could change one thing about CfC, what would it be?
- Any other comments?