Better Data

Better Data Overview

It is critical for the Collective Impact work to be data informed and the Better Data Working Group plays a significant role in bringing the data together that tells the story of the Belconnen community. The work includes engaging the community in identifying what wellbeing means for them and their children so that data can be collected to support this alongside other known indicators of Wellbeing. This also includes working with the Community Services Directorate to integrate relevant indicators and data from the ACT Wellbeing dashboard. This data is being used to create a Belconnen Child & Family Community Profile. 

The Village program requires high quality data to inform its choices about where to act for system change and to be able to track those changes over time. The Village will identify existing data including data sources, data availability, data definitions, concept definitions and performance indicators to assist in this process. The purpose of this project is to ensure that Village has the data that it needs to set direction, to identify change over time in children in the Belconnen area, and to identify new areas for action as change occurs. In order for this data collection to be effective, Village will both identify existing data sets and work to support government and non-government service providers in the Belconnen area.

Better Data Working Group

Scope

This project will involve mapping of children and families in the Belconnen area, their demographics, strengths and vulnerabilities, as well as data that demonstrates where the Village should focus its efforts over time.

Impact

  1. In the short term this project will engage with community to identify what wellbeing means to them for the children of Belconnen
  2. In the medium term this project will provide a living profile of children and families in the Belconnen area that will inform better service delivery and supports for children and families in Belconnen
  3. In the long term this project will support improved outcomes for children and families in Belconnen through evidence based and targeted systems initiatives

Objectives

The Village better data project will help to:

  1. better understand needs and how to meet these needs of families in the community
  2. design objectives that are more achievable and measurable
  3. monitor progress toward objectives more effectively and efficiently
  4. increase the Village’s productivity and effectiveness,
  5. provide background data for evaluation of Village’s work, and
  6. provide this data to the whole community to inform and potentially catalyse action from grassroots up

Better Data Progress

The Better Data Working Group delivered a series of five Workshops throughout June, July and August 2022 to determine high level indicators of wellbeing for children. In 2023, as part of the Road Shows, conversations will be held with community residents to discuss the community profile. The Community Profile will be a valuable tool to tailor our priorities and to further engagement with the community. This will both inform residents about how the community is faring and open up more conversation to understand what the data is telling us and the story behind the data.

By drawing on the Working Group’s knowledge and expertise, the process has become more rigorous, efficient, and insightful in terms of how the community profile can be connected to ACT government dashboards.

  • Led by Community Service Development, two workshops were held with members to unpack the top workshop themes to see how to best bring together information for our community profile to meet the needs identified from the workshops
  • Collaborated with SEER Data Analytics on the different functions of the platform to help understand what the community profile may look like and how we would consider using it with partners and other stakeholders.
  • Weekly Meeting of Task Force of Data Experts are being held
  • Finalizing indicators and data availability

Better Data Working Group Members

Better Data Workshops

Village has conducted a series of community workshops to help us understand our Belconnen community better. The first series of workshops, in partnership with the AEDC team, has focused on the most recent AEDC data (2021). This data tells us that more children in the ACT, particularly Belconnen, are experiencing high levels of developmental vulnerability. Village is committed to exploring this in more depth and working across the Belconnen community to facilitate a collaborative response where there is opportunity to have impact.

Read the workshops report here