Fairfield Conversations 2021

As part of Fairfield Conversations 2021 we updated the community on who we spoke with and what they said. This ran for four weeks.   Below are the reports on what we heard from whom.

Week 1

This covers the period up to 8 May 2021.

We have consulted 76 people from 4 networks and by survey.

The conversations have been with:

• Fairfield Liverpool LGBTQI Inclusive Network (FLLIN)
• Domestic and Family Violence Network (DAFV)
• South Western Sydney Ageing Forum (SWSAF)
• Child and Family Service Providers (CAFS)

Through the consultation we have identified:

The main issues that clients are presenting with are:

• Financial hardship/poverty
• Little awareness of services, unable to navigate systems
• Lack of affordable housing and housing options
• Social isolation
• Domestic and Family Violence
• Lack of acceptance and stigma

Challenges in providing services are:

• Client fears of being out in the community (during COVID-19 pandemic) making it hard to access services and activities
• Provision of services for diverse cultures from one service point
• Stigma often associated with accessing services  
• Multiple barriers to access services for clients
• Challenges in regard to providing services in language, including lack of interpreters
• Client’s lack of knowledge around what services are available
• Cultural considerations in working with clients – e.g., resources required for bilingual staff, client distrust of Government
• Being able to provide a safe space to vulnerable communities
• Inadequate facilities to provide services in
• Lack of adequate funding for service provision and lack of other services to refer to
• Language and health barriers of clients
• Need for bilingual workers
• Need to access translators but minimal funding

Changes that are required to better support clients are:

• Advocacy and information/capacity building for funding bodies on Fairfield demographics
• Affordable childcare
• Investment in cultural programs such as public art
• More affordable activities, donation of pool passes for example
• Need for collaboration, training and approach amongst service providers
• One stop shop with all services
• Relationships with funding bodies that leads to sufficient funding for service provision, transparency in decisions, funding for more early intervention services
• Strengthening of relationships within the community for improved referral pathways
• Support for smaller emerging CALD organisations
• Technology knowledge 

COVID-19

We discussed the impact of COVID-19 in both our survey and conversations. Some of the findings include:

• Digital divide in vulnerable communities had a big impact. Services had to teach people how to use their phone. There were not enough devices for children to do what they needed nor enough individuals access to the internet. Many people only use their phones to make phone calls.
• Important to work with community leaders 
• Need more outreach services to take the service to the community
• Online services are leaving more vulnerable groups behind
• Taught us to think outside the box
• Upside is that clients are now more tech savvy
• Hybrid models are working but there is power in seeing peoples’ faces

Week 2

This covers the period up to 15 May 2021.

We consulted 65 people this week from 3 networks and survey. 

The conversations this week (8 – 15 May) have been with:

• Community of Practice to address Gambling Harm in Fairfield
• Fairfield Youth Workers Network
• Community Drug Action Team

Through the consultation we have identified:

The main issues that clients are presenting with are:

• Lack of affordable housing options
• Financial hardship/poverty
• Domestic and Family Violence
• Stigma 
• Mental health concerns with young people
• Disengaged youth
• Impact of domestic and family violence and or financial hardship on young people
• Gambling at harmful levels
• Ineligibility for Centrelink services
• Visa concerns

Challenges in providing services are:

• Lack of awareness of services
• Provision of services for diverse cultures from one service point
• Stigma often associated with accessing services  
• Multiple barriers to access services for clients
• Challenges in regard to providing services in language, including lack of interpreters
• Being able to provide a safe space to vulnerable communities
• Inadequate facilities to provide services in
• Lack of adequate funding for service provision and lack of other services to refer to
• Need for bilingual workers
• Need to access translators but minimal funding
• Knowing who the key stakeholders are
• Cost of living
• Accessing people who need services but don’t know about them

Changes that are required to better support clients are:

• Advocacy to funding bodies to outline the increased needs in Fairfield
• Relationship building with funding bodies
• Investment in cultural programs such as public art for young people
• More affordable activities i.e. subsidised/free access to facilities and programs
• Need for collaboration amongst service providers
• One stop shop with all services
• Increased understanding and use of technology
• Working directly with community leaders

COVID-19

• We discussed the impact of COVID-19 in both our survey and conversations. Some of the findings include:

• Need more outreach services to take the service to the community
• Online services are leaving more vulnerable groups behind
• Need to develop Hybrid models combating digital fatigue
• Digital divide in vulnerable communities  

Week 3

This covers the period up to 22 May 2021.

We have consulted 64 people in the past week from 3 network conversations and the survey.

The conversations in Week 3 (17 – 22 May) were with:

• Mayors Crime Prevention Reference Group
• Fairfield Liverpool Homeless Interagency
• Fairfield Engaging Families of Aboriginal Heritage
• Fairfield Migrant Interagency

Consultations this week have continued to reflect previous concerns including a lack of affordable housing, challenges in providing services in diverse communities due to language barriers and other considerations, stigma around accessing services and the great extent of disadvantage in the community.

Some of the suggestions around what changes could be made to assist the community included:

• Welcoming and safe places for the community to attend and use including outdoor space
• Leadership by Council around collaboration and advocacy
• More collaboration amongst service providers
• More funding in the area for emergency relief services including food provision
• COVID-19 presented initial challenges around adapting services to an online environment and the needing to resume face to face. There is still hesitation from many clients regarding resuming face to face services. Multilingual messaging programs are required to convey accurate health information and improve vaccination rates across different communities.

Week 4

This covers the period up to 29 May 2021.

Over the course of four weeks we have consulted with 246 people through direct consultation or through surveys. For all those who have participated we thank you very much.

• This week we held a conversation with Disability Service Providers.  It gave us good insight into issues facing the sector and the challenges in providing support to people with disability – especially those who are ineligible for NDIS.
• Over the coming weeks we will be analysing the data collected during May and developing a summary of findings that will be widely available. The findings will presented at the Fairfield Conversations Summit on 23 June.

Download the Fairfield Conversations News Sheet here(PDF, 580KB)

Fairfield Conversations Summit was held on 23 June.

Download the Summit Findings here.(PDF, 954KB)  

Download Fairfield Conversations 2021.(PDF, 954KB)  

Download the Action Plan.(PDF, 357KB)