Dubbo Regional Council’s social justice committee has met with industry experts to guide a policy on intergenerational change.
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The committee is comprised of mayor Ben Shields, councillors Vicki Etheridge, David Grant, Anne Jones, Stephen Lawrence and John Ryan, and relevant council staff.
The overall goal is to tackle social problems in the community. It will look at the establishment of a drug court, residential rehabilitation centre, a youth Koori court and justice reinvestment initiatives.
Cr Shields, who was elected committee chair, said the committee was formulating a draft policy document detailing how council could lead the way in addressing entrenched social problems.
Councillors and council staff have been meeting with with non-government stakeholders as well as reviewing successful community impact programs such as Burnie Works in Tasmania, Justice Reinvestment and the Family Investment model, Cr Shields said.
A draft policy will be considered at council’s February meeting.
It will consider endorsement of the collective impact model as the means to empower the community to determine its own priorities and objectives, Cr Shields said.
“During this process we will continue to listen and learn from industry experts, practitioners and government agencies about social change,” he said.
“For example at Wednesday’s meeting we watched a presentation from two representatives from Lives Lived Well about drug and alcohol issues and programs offered in NSW and Queensland.
“As a collective, we understand that creating sustainable intergenerational change is a long term process and can take upwards of 10 to 15 years, however I would like to acknowledge councillor Stephen Lawrence for bringing the issue of social change to council and we will continue to support him in championing this cause.”
The Burnie Works collaborative impact model uses five principals: a common agenda, shared measurement systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication and backbone support organisations.
The program is chaired by business and community leaders to ensure the public can influence and drive sustainable outcomes. Council’s role is generally to provide support to those people.
