Are you looking for evidence to inform your service development or practice, but don’t know where to start? Look no further because we have a selection of reports that will spark your interest. Our reports may or may not relate to the current work of the human service plan, but they are always relevant, often beyond the Waterloo community.
We pride ourselves in providing you with informative and engaging research that helps you make informed decisions. And if you happen to have any additional reports that you’d like to share with us, please don’t hesitate to email us. Together, we can create a robust and collaborative community of service providers.
Assessing tenant health amid social housing redevelopment: lessons from a pilot project
Our latest report, “Assessing Tenant Health Amid Social Housing Redevelopment: Lessons from a Pilot Project,” which took place in Waterloo investigates the critical intersection between public health and urban planning. This comprehensive study aims to provide valuable insights for public health officials and urban planners at the forefront of social housing redevelopment initiatives. By examining the health outcomes of tenants during a pilot project, the report highlights the challenges and opportunities in promoting well-being amid urban transformations. The findings are a vital resource for local policymakers and practitioners dedicated to creating healthier, more sustainable communities through thoughtful redevelopment strategies.
Source: Christopher M Standen, Erica McIntyre, Hazel Easthope, Jennifer Green, Fiona Haigh
Published 6 December 2023. https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp3342337
Citation: Standen CM, McIntyre E, Easthope H, Green J, Haigh F. Assessing tenant health amid social housing redevelopment: lessons from a pilot project. Public Health Res Pract. 2023;33(4):e3342337.
Helping Clients Fill in Forms Report
During 2020 NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) partnered with the Reading Writing Hotline to better understand the role of local community organisations in assisting people with literacy challenges to fill in the forms required to access Government services. The survey of 70 organisations highlights that forms have increased in number and complexity and moved online. Many NGOs are now playing the role of ‘literacy mediator’, helping clients understand instructions, navigate technology and apply for assistance – but this role is not formally recognised or funded. The research also finds that established government guidelines to ensure content and materials are easy to understand are not consistently applied, causing barriers for people needing to access support and additional work for local NGOs. The report recommends government agencies adhere to the guidelines, provide telephone assistance for those who are struggling and that money saved from moving application processes online be reinvested in community organisations providing frontline literacy support.
You can access the Helping Clients Fill in Forms Report here:
The High Cost of Doing Business – administrative and management overload in smaller NGOs
Non-government organisations (NGOs) that do the heavy lifting during times of crisis need adequate resourcing to cover the growing administrative load they carry – that’s the reality.
NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) commissioned ASK Insight to the study. The Study explored the administrative burdens faced by five case study organisations. It has highlighted significant inefficiencies in the current system, with each organisation dealing with a disparate set of funding, accountability, and administrative arrangements. Individual funder obligations appear to operate independently, with no awareness of, or regard for, the requirements of other funders.
The report puts forward practical, common-sense steps – identified in collaboration with our participant organisations – that funding bodies can take to lessen the administrative and management overload and support the sustainable provision of essential services.
You can read the The High Cost of Doing Business – administrative and management overload in smaller NGOs Report below:
Building a Healthy and Resilient Waterloo
On the 27th and 28th September 2017, a two-day forum was held by Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) in collaboration with Counterpoint Community Services, Inner Sydney Voice and REDWatch, to identify ways to improve the health and wellbeing of the residents of Waterloo now, and into the future.
This is the report issued by SLHD on that forum.
Waterloo Healthy Living Program Evaluation
One of the Groundswell NGO’s requests to SLHD in May 2017 was for a a Waterloo Health Worker. In September 2017 Dr Terresa Anderson announced at the Health Forum SLHD would “fund a new “Healthy Living Link Worker” especially for Waterloo to assist people in finding services, healthcare, and support and in developing and empowering the community”.
Waterloo Healthy Living Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) has been working with the Waterloo community to address these health concerns. The Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity (CPHCE) at the University of NSW was engaged by SLHD in 2020 to review the Waterloo Healthy Living Link Worker (WHLLW) role, to assess the extent to which the program has achieved the expectations of the community and SLHD and to propose options or recommendations for the future of the role and similar programs across SLHD
Below is the November 2020 is the Waterloo Healthy Living Program Evaluation:
Redfern Waterloo Baseline Survey 2011
This is a copy of the Redfern Waterloo baseline survey (promoted as the Redfern Waterloo Community Survey) which was undertaken by Sweeney Research, a market research company, on behalf of Housing NSW in 2010 about how tenants felt about their community and what was important to them. The rationale of the survey was to establish base line data before any development started to be able to assess any post development changes.
Australian Bureau of Statistics Data
The City of Sydney website has access to a range of ABS data that can give some data about the city and its suburbs. At the larger level Waterloo gets grouped with Zetland or with the Redfern Village. You can access the City of Sydney Demographics at https://profile.id.com.au/sydney under the community profile tab.
Under the Social Atlas tab you can drill down to finer grain Statistical Area (SA1) data which gives a much clearer picture of the make up of public housing estates against the Census questions. Some care needs to be taken in interpreting the data as some SA1 districts include a mix of public and private housing so they do not give a accurate picture of social housing makeup. There are however some SA1 districts that just include public housing in Waterloo, Redfern and Surry Hills that provide some public housing only data. For the 2021 Census public housing only Statistical Areas in Waterloo are SA1’s 11703164703 and 11703164718.
Social Housing Data
Over time the make up of those coming into social housing changes. Most of the allocations into inner city public housing like Waterloo are coming from the Priority list.
You can see the size of the General and Priority lists on DCJ’s Expected Waiting Times website – Waterloo is part of area CS01 Inner City.
DCJ also prepare an annual NSW Social Housing Assistance Commissioning Data Report. The Appendix to this report is a spreadsheet which provides finer grain wait list regional data. Waterloo is part of the South Eastern District – Inner City. The latest version of this data on the website is the 2021/2022 Appendix.
Land and Housing Corporation have not yet prepared a Local Area Analysis for the the City of Sydney.
