Social inclusion
Social inclusion focuses on investing in disadvantaged people and their communities to bring them into the mainstream economy and society. It involves building the personal capacities and material resources of individuals, families and communities. The Brotherhood’s research focus is on developing a distinctively Australian understanding of social inclusion. This takes into account the history of welfare in this country and is underpinned not by static, income-based measures but by new, dynamic, multidimensional measures of people’s participation.
To assist this research, the Research and Policy Centre has hosted a wide-ranging social inclusion workshop program.
Some of our research projects address specific areas of exclusion, such as dental health, transport and housing.
Towards an Australian understanding of social inclusion
Paper
Paul Smyth 2010, In or out? Building an inclusive nation, The Australian Collaboration and the Brotherhood of St Laurence (PDF file, 1.1 MB)
Symposium on care and social inclusion
In October 2010 we hosted a Care, social inclusion and citizenship symposium with papers by Australian and international contributors.
Measuring poverty and social exclusion
Contact: Michael Horn mhorn@nullbsl.org.au
This project, in partnership with the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne, uses a multi-dimensional approach to estimate the extent of social disadvantage and exclusion in Australia through the development of a measure that can be reported annually, to show the trend of social disadvantage over time.
The findings and the project bulletin are published on the Social exclusion monitor section of our website.
Working papers
Rosanna Scutella, Roger Wilkins and Michael Horn 2009, Measuring poverty and social exclusion in Australia: a proposed multidimensional framework for identifying socio-economic disadvantage Melbourne Institute Working Paper No.4/09 (PDF file, 494 KB)
Rosanna Scutella, Roger Wilkins and Weiping Kostenko 2009, Estimates of poverty and social exclusion in Australia: a multi-dimensional approach Melbourne Institute Working Paper No.26/09 (PDF file, 1.2 MB)
Social Barometer
The concept of poverty, or deprivation, has always been recognised as complex. In the past, however, since many other elements were harder to measure, people’s incomes were often the rather narrow focus of poverty measurement. In recent years, the problems of this income focus have become more apparent. Governments are moving away from talking about income poverty and focusing instead on broader issues of disadvantage through frameworks of either social exclusion or capability deprivation.
In its Social Barometer, the Brotherhood of St Laurence has set out to more accurately reflect disadvantage in Australia, explicitly recognising its multiple dimensions. Indicators include life expectancy and other physical and mental health–related outcomes, literacy and educational attainment, social relations, access to services, employment opportunities, housing and economic resources. Successive stages of this research have highlighted the situation of children, young people aged 12–24 years, people of working age and older people (in preparation).
Reports
Rosanna Scutella and Paul Smyth 2005, The Brotherhood’s Social Barometer: monitoring children’s chances (PDF file, 184 KB)
Brotherhood of St Laurence 2005, The Brotherhood’s Social Barometer: children’s chances (PDF file, 131 KB) 5-page overview
Martina Boese and Rosanna Scutella 2006, The Brotherhood's Social Barometer: challenges facing Australian youth (PDF file, 200 KB) and 4-page summary (PDF file, 130 KB)
Brotherhood of St Laurence 2007, The Brotherhood's Social Barometer: the working years (PDF file, 214 KB) and 4-page summary (PDF file, 163 KB)
Helen Kimberley and Bonnie Simons 2009, The Brotherhood's Social Barometer: the second fifty years (PDF file, 666 KB)
Dental health and social inclusion
The Brotherhood’s Dental Treatment Trial, operating from 2007 to 2009, took a practical approach to social inclusion. Given lengthy waiting periods for public dental services in the region, the trial enabled unemployed Personal Support Programme clients of the Brotherhood in Frankston to receive treatment. The evaluation involved pre and post-treatment surveys to examine the impact of timely dental care on personal wellbeing, and social and economic participation. It also included case studies, reviews of research and government dental health policy, and recommendations.
In 2011 the Brotherhood commissioned further research on the economic burden of poor dental health and options for reforming the dental health system to provide more accessible care for disadvantaged Australians.
Reports
Bronwyn Richardson and Jeff Richardson 2011, End the decay: the cost of poor dental health and what should be done about it (PDF file, 836 KB)
Sharon Bond 2010, Public dental care and the Teeth First trial: a history of decay (PDF file, 493 KB)