Check-up for city’s vital signs

CONSIDERED a pulse-check of social issues across Ballarat, the Vital Signs 2022 report was launched last week.

A project of the Ballarat Foundation in partnership with Seer Data and Analytics, the Vital Signs project looked at local 2021 Census results, and more, to identify key problems and needs throughout the community.

An online Vital Signs data platform is now live, and Ballarat Foundation CEO Andrew Eales said the aim is to drive better outcomes in the areas of health, family violence, unemployment, housing affordability, homelessness, wages, alleged offending, community safety, and even volunteering.

“The platform is a living, breathing snapshot of our community, and it contains more than 100 insights,” he said.

“The insights are based on areas targeted by Vital Signs studies across the country. Our vision for the platform is for it to be a space where community organisations can add their own data, creating a deeper, richer understanding of need in our community.

“In turn, these organisations will reap the benefits of access to an evidence base on which they can tell their stories, which will see a greater success in obtaining funds in areas where out community needs increased support.

“Where new issues emerge, we can respond, and track what’s happening year-to-year, month-to-month.

“The potential of this project in a collaborative sense, where we can enable those around us to prosper, is immense.”

Some issues reported include that an estimated 10.7 per cent of children between age two and 17 are obese in Ballarat, and the number of people volunteering locally has dropped by thousands of people since 2016.

Mr Eales said this problem will come into sharper focus as volunteers are needed for the regional Victorian 2026 Commonwealth Games, and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

He emphasised that the organisation does not want to critique any welfare agencies or services, and what they have, or haven’t done.

Now the problems have been identified, Mr Eales said the next step will be to form an action group to address the social inequalities as soon as possible.

“Collaborating together and creating a united response, we can turn the dial on some of these numbers,” he said.

“We’ve got such a passionate and great community sector… keen to be part of the solution, and we can’t wait to see where those conversations go.”