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Your community, services and facilities

Strategic objective

Community services and facilities are high quality, inclusive and meet a variety of needs now and into the future.

Key figures

  • $39.6 million net operating cost
  • 102 groups received Council community grants
  • 2.38 million library items borrowed.

Achievements

Active Ageing Hub

Project overview

Council launched the Over 55s section of the website at the Boroondara Seniors Festival on 9 October 2018. The tool allows website users to search from over 600 health and wellbeing activities, events and services for older adults in Boroondara by filtering to their specific interests under categories including: 

  • creative
  • exercise
  • learning
  • social
  • outings
  • at home.

Users are also able to filter by location to find activities most convenient to them in their local area.

Extensive community consultation was undertaken to inform the concept design through focus groups and surveys. We engaged residents over the age of 55 and their adult children, as well as community and health practitioners to test and advise on the product’s features and usability. 

In addition, Council committed to undertake an extensive engagement strategy with a principle of flexible outreach. Since the launch, Council has delivered over 20 engagement activities at various locations across the municipality to promote the website and help people with low digital literacy.

Project aims

The Over 55s section of the website is part of the overarching Add Life campaign, which encourages older adults to stay healthy and happy in Boroondara. Developed in line with the Creating an Age Friendly Boroondara Strategy, the project set out to motivate and empower over 55s to engage in health and wellbeing opportunities in their local area. 

The tool also focuses on educating older adults about the importance of health and wellbeing by providing access to trusted health information via the Better Health Channel.

Project outcomes

The project has been well received by the community. Below are some key outcomes to date:

  • We now have over 80 external activity providers promoted with over 600 activities and events listed at any given time.
  • The most popular search category is ‘exercise’ and the top search terms are walking, yoga and cycling.
  • Since the launch we have seen a 169% increase in page views to our content for older people and increased traffic to external activity provider websites by 609%.
  • While a formal impact study is yet to be completed, early signs are positive with new members at Neighbourhood Houses reporting they had heard about their activity via the Over 55s section of the website.
  • Boroondara Age Support Workers report that it is now easier to provide their clients with relevant, up-to-date information that best suits their unique needs.

For more information, see Over 55s.

Summary of other achievements

  • Officially opened the Greythorn Community Hub containing Trentwood at the Hub (a new neighbourhood house), Greythorn Library Lounge, Greythorn Early Childhood Centre, Greythorn Maternal and Child Health Centre, and community support and wellbeing services provided by Access Health and Community.
  • Launched the new ‘Add Life to Your Years’ section of the website, designed to promote active ageing and provide health and wellbeing information for older people in our community to suit their individual needs. 
  • Special community event held at the Greythorn Community Hub to commemorate the centenary of Armistice Day in collaboration with the Balwyn North RSL. 
  • Provided over 70,000 hours of care to eligible elderly residents, enabling them to live at home independently under the Commonwealth Home Support Programme.
  • Celebrated 20 years of the Boroondara Literary Awards in partnership with the Rotary Club of Balwyn. 
  • Launched the new library ‘What's on’ brochure.
  • ‘Book a Court’ technology was installed at a number of tennis clubs across Boroondara to provide improved casual access to tennis facilities for the community.
  • Conducted a pilot Pet Expo attracting more than 1,500 attendees who expressed support for a Pet Expo in the future. Fifteen stall holders provided a range of pet accessories and information for the benefit of pet owners and future pet owners.
  • Completed the first stage of consultation for the Kew Recreation Centre, engaging with 1,500 community members. Council sought initial ideas and preferences on what is most important to the community and consolidated feedback to help develop a concept design for the new Centre.

Attendance at Youth Services programs and services

Bar graph. 2014-15: 3,661; 2015-16: 3,512; 2016-17: 4,285; 2017-18: 4,664; 2018-19: 4,990

Number of vaccinations administered

Bar graph. 2013-14: 32,985; 2014-15: 28,606; 2015-16: 28,849; 2016-17: 30,549; 2017-18: 25,254

Challenges

  • Council worked with SalvoCare Eastern to respond to an increasing number of reports of homelessness, which are becoming more complex. The lack of viable social housing options in Boroondara has compounded this issue.
  • Ongoing challenges continue to present in the retention and recruitment of school crossing supervisors as a result of the retirement of what is predominantly an ageing workforce within our school crossing staff and the difficulty to attract new crossing staff.