Study into community safety reveals disconnect

RESEARCH into community safety by the Surf Coast Shire has revealed a disconnect between what its residents believe to be the biggest risks and what the biggest risks actually are.

The shire’s 2017-2021 Council Plan includes a strategic objective to improve community safety, so the council’s Community Health and Development Unit undertook research to understand the issues and needs in order to inform a local response.

According to the report presented to councillors at their December 11 meeting, the top three perceived safety issues for residents on the Surf Coast are (in order): bushfire safety; road and pathway safety; and crime/police (though responses on this were almost exclusively from people in Torquay).

However, the leading causes of actual harm and injury for Surf Coast residents are falls in the home and road and pathway safety.

The report notes the shire is considered one of the most high risk areas for bushfires in Australia, but CSIRO statistics show that there were 302 fatalities in Victoria in the 20th century (or three per year) due to bushfires and an average of 83 homes destroyed by bushfire across Australia each year, so “this life and property loss rate indicates the probability of harm as a result of a bushfire is in fact relatively low for Victorians”.

Despite the perception of safety concerns due to crime, Crime Statistics Agency data shows that the Surf Coast Shire’s criminal incidents rate has steadily declined over the last decade and in the 2017/18 financial year was the sixth lowest out of all 79 Victorian local government areas.

However, safety on roads and pathways is both a perceived risk and an actual risk, with 1,089 admissions to hospitals from Surf Coast residents between 2015 and 2017 and transport-related injuries the second most common cause.

Over this three-year period, the most common cause of injury for Surf Coast residents was falls, with close to 400 people hospitalised.

The report notes the shire has a “No Falls” program that supports older residents to prevent falls in the home via exercise and strength training, but this program is presently only offered in Winchelsea.