Thinking of the Children
Welfare reform requires smart investment
by Matthew Cox
In Australia, about one in five children struggle in their journey from childhood, through adolescence and on to adulthood.
Children who don’t do well before the age of eight are far more likely to grow into teenagers who have low self-regard and life hopes, and then on to adults who are underemployed or marginalised. And when they have children of their own, the cycle very often repeats.
Australia’s approach to social investment has done little to impact this systemic inequality. We have a fragmented investment system that mitigates the symptoms of disadvantage, rather than a comprehensive national strategy for childhood development the addresses its causes. If this is Plan A, it has failed.
We need a Plan B, an integrated set of human potential programs that systematically support the growth of our children. These need to take shape in the context of the particular community they are relevant to — a particular place that is also invested in. In Logan, we are building Plan B.
Logan Together — a strategic, whole-of-population approach to social investment — is using a promising organising methodology called ‘collective impact’ to marshal all the resources across the government and non-government sectors, and the community into a common framework for action. This framework outlines a plan to get kids born well, and then performing well at critical developmental stages at ages one, three, five and eight.
A child’s earliest years are the most crucial for determining life success. Through an understanding of human development and what is important at each stage of life, and using data to determine target areas, Logan Together is aiming to improve the wellbeing of kids in the Logan area. To do this, it is engaging the healthcare system, the early childhood education system, the school system, the social services system, the non-government sector, all three levels of government and, vitally, leadership from the community itself. Parents and carers are involved in developing the initiative and have an equal voice in setting strategies and guiding actions.
This is a universal approach, which means it targets every one of Logan’s 45,000 kids under eight. No matter what their life circumstances. When you only pay attention to some kids, or wait for problems to hit before you provide support, you are back to Plan A.
Because the kids-not-growing-up-well problem is so far-reaching in its consequences, it’s hard to put a figure on the costs. Currently, under Plan A, it’s probably more than 25% of all public expenditure — that is, more than $150 billion annually, or almost 10% of GDP. This problem drives the cost of things like welfare, mental health, homelessness, youth development, family support, domestic violence, police and justice systems, prisons, public hospital admissions, job services and social cohesion.
As Logan Together develops, it has the potential to save significant amounts of public money, and help tens of thousands of people find their own voice and live better lives. New, innovative social investment approaches have been proven to work; New Zealand, for example, has saved $12 billion in welfare payments, with outcome-focused initiatives helping to improve the lives of its more disadvantaged recipients. The recent announcement of the Australian Priority Investment Approach, bolstered by the $96 million Try, Test and Learn Fund, is a promising first step in adopting an Australian approach to supporting outcome-focused and, importantly, community-led projects. Logan Together is one such project, and it is not alone: there is a national network of communities doing the same thing, in the same way.
We know Plan B is a big ask; it’s a slow and complex process. But as a community, we know what to do. We know what makes for healthy development and a healthy place to live. We have clear goals and a robust measuring system to track the wellbeing of Logan’s kids, so that we can be sure we are moving in the right direction. It’s exciting, because it’s a credible plan for change and when kids grow up well, everyone wins.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MATTHEW COX
Matthew Cox is the Director of Logan Together, a whole of community campaign to grow kids up well hosted by Griffith University.
