Mapping government responses to COVID-19 using the Australian Social Progress Index

The Centre for Social Impact's Australian Social Progress Index (ASPI) is a tool that gives an insight into how well a society is able to attend to the basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunities for the people that live in our community.

Using publicly available data, it shows how Australian States and Territories compare - relative to one another - on access to basic education, shelter, personal safety, and inclusiveness. The tool is intended to help identify pain points within each jurisdiction, in order for overall progress to improve.

Unlike other measures of progress, the Social Progress Index is completely independent of economic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product or employment rates. Instead, it is interested in social outcomes, such as the proportion of children aged 4-5 enrolled in preschool, the standardised death rate due to cancers, and how satisfied people feel about their connection to their community.

The Centre for Social Impact believes that measuring social progress alongside economic progress will lead to truly inclusive development.

During the week of 12-16 October we'll be running daily impact2020 webinars to delve into the ASPI results for each State and Territory of Australia (see order of individual webinars below), with an emphasis on mapping our Federal, State and Territory Government's policy responses to addressing social vulnerabilities during COVID-19.

We'll also introduce, for the first time, an indication of how each
jurisdiction is faring in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) using the ASPI as a proxy measure.

Daily ASPI webinars:

• Monday 12 October: Victoria
• Tuesday 13 October: South Australia/Tasmania
• Wednesday 14 October: Western Australia/Northern Territory
• Thursday 15 October: Queensland
• Friday 16 October: New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory

** You will need to register for each webinar you would like to attend. **

Presenters:

• Dr Megan Weier: Research Fellow & ASPI Lead Researcher, Centre for Social Impact UNSW
• Isabella Saunders: Research Assistant, Centre for Social Impact UNSW
  
  

Please note: All of the daily webinars will commence at 11:30am (AEDT) and registrations will close an hour before.

The webinars will also be recorded and made available shortly afterwards. Please register to receive the first release of the recordings.

This impact2020 webinar is a free event presented by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI).

About impact2020

These are unprecedented times and the upheaval to our society requires an extraordinary response from our leaders, our thinkers and our do-ers.

Our first series of impact2020 - presented by the Centre for Social Impact - offered free daily webinars for the Australian for-purpose sector during April, May and June 2020, covering a range of topic areas with CSI's innovative researchers, educators and thought leaders.

We covered the breadth and complexity of social impact and we brought our diverse Australian for-purpose sector together.

We're now continuing with a second impact2020 series with monthly webinars, in partnership with our network. We invite you to join, learn and affect change with us.

Sign up for more info as we progressively announce our program and presenters.