New Research & Advocacy Tool Launching at ACOSS Conference
29 March 2012 at 9:11 am
A searchable directory of over 500 reports and submissions relating to social need in Australia, created by the National Pro Bono Resource Centre in collaboration with the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), is being unveiled in Sydney today.
The Social Needs Advocacy tool is being launched at the ACOSS National Conference in Sydney today where hundreds of welfare sector experts have gathered. This year’s theme is Sharing the Wealth of the Lucky Country.
ACOSS says the conference is the premier national event for policy-makers, researchers and those engaged in social services and advocacy.
Developers say socialneeds.net.au provides an easily navigable and searchable directory of key reports and submissions concerning social needs in Australia since 2007 , with an emphasis on those released in the last 4 years. Each of over 500 reports and submissions can be directly accessed through the directory by clicking on the report or submission name.
Relevant reports can be identified by text or tag search and be sorted by name, author, date, description or tag. The directory also contains a brief description of the organisations that have authored the reports — and a link to their home page.
ACOSS says the inspiration for socialneeds.net.au arose from a desire to provide pro bono legal service providers with a research tool that could assist them in reviewing and developing their programs, and prioritising limited resources to meet unmet legal need.
However, it says the directory will be useful for anyone researching or seeking to address unmet social need in Australia, and provides advocates with a tool to help produce evidence-based reports and submissions.
ACOSS says the purpose of socialneeds.net.au is not to equate social need with legal need, but to provide a broader perspective to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalised people in Australia.
For reports that deal specifically with unmet legal need see the Just Search facility of the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW.
The directory will be updated as often as resources permit but at least annually.The tool can be found at www.socialneeds.net.au.
Pro Bono Australia News is covering the ACOSS Conference live. You can follow the Twitter conversation using #ACOSSconf for all the up-to-date info!
