Earlier this year, Banksia Gardens Community Services invited members of the community to tell share their experiences and stories from the pandemic as part of Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) research, culminating in the published report ‘Voices of Victoria: Listening tour 2022’.
Excerpt from the executive summary
The VCOSS Listening Tour had a simple mission: to engage people in a setting where they felt comfortable and empowered to talk about issues that affect them, and then to listen.
We were conscious not to be prescriptive; not to steer people to the issues we thought they should care about. We wanted to learn about people’s lived experiences and aspirations on their own terms.
What has emerged from this genuine community-led approach is a textured understanding of Victorians’ fears and hopes as they emerge from the worst of the COVID pandemic. The process has also provided valuable insights into the kinds of assistance people most want and need, to help them lead a good life now and into the future.
This report details the feedback we received from 12 diverse communities across the state. We have analysed the contributions of the more than 200 people consulted face-to-face and online and grouped their views thematically according to geographic location, cohort and age.
Further info on the report
The report was published on VCOSS’ website, with further video presentations and copies of the report in both PDF and Word version.
To access these resources, visit https://vcoss.org.au/health-and-wellbeing/2022/09/voices-of-victoria/
