Monday 12 August 2019

Neighbourhood Houses Victoria has released one of its largest pieces of research, the Connecting a Diverse Victoria report.

In late 2017, houses were asked to distribute a voluntary survey to its participants to gather data about who they are and why they come to their neighbourhood house. To ensure maximum accessibility, the survey was provided both online and in hard copy, and was translated into 53 community languages.

The response rate was incredible - 99% of funded houses took part with a total of 46,458 participants completing the survey (47,752 when we include non-funded houses), covering 97% of Victorian postcodes.

Included in the report is key state-wide demographical information regarding gender, age, disability, primary language spoken at home, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation, as well the reasons and benefits identified for visiting a neighbourhood house. 

The last time this survey was conducted was in 2013. This new report draws comparisons between the 2013 and 2017 data to demonstrate how things have changed over five years.

"Data is gold, and we’ve certainly hit the jackpot here. This report will be incredibly useful to staff when writing funding applications, advocacy agendas, and for promotional purposes," Neighbourhood Houses Victoria CEO Nicole Battle said.

"A survey of this magnitude is a massive undertaking so I want to acknowledge the incredible work of our Research team, David Perry and Elizabeth Richards, for the wonderful job they’ve done in analysing and capturing the results in this detailed report. We are so lucky at NHVic to have such passionate and thorough researchers!"

View the Connecting a Diverse Victoria.