SURVEY AIM
The main objectives of this ER Survey are to:
Examine the underlying reasons people seek ER
Explore the contributing factors to people in the
City of Whittlesea not being able to meet their
basic needs
Provide a comparative piece of research that
explores how these factors change over time
Overall, the results and survey are utilised to facilitate
improved service delivery and program development
for WCC. Furthermore, the report will aid in advocating
to local, state and federal levels of government around
future social policy issues, the evolving challenges and
issues of the community, and further resource needs
for the local for ER sector.
SURVEY DESIGN
Introductio n
This survey was conducted to understand community need
in the context of financial hardship and vulnerability. It is
the fourth in a series of reports that explore changes in
demand for ER and looks at the broader impacts of
particular issues facing our community. The survey has been
repeated every 4 years since 2002, with minimal changes to
survey questions to allow a comparative analysis of the
changing needs for community members accessing ER in
Whittlesea. More specifically, the survey questions are
designed to assess the impact of the following issues:
housing affordability and accessibility, interruptions to
Centrelink payments, drug and alcohol use, problem
gambling, and family violence.
Specific questions are included in the survey from time to
time to explore current issues that may potentially impact
on people accessing our services (for example, 2010
featured questions around the Global Financial Crisis). In
2014 new questions were introduced to explore whether
clients had access to what would be considered by many the
essentials of every day life and asked to indicate whether
they had the item, couldn’t afford it, or didn’t want it. These
questions included topics such as access to dental
healthcare, savings for an emergen