A pathway to reliable and reproducible Specialist Homelessness Services Workforce data

Driven by the urgent need to address significant gaps and inconsistencies in information on the Specialist Homelessness Services workforce, the project drew on existing literature, historical evidence and sector consultations to design a system of workforce data capable of providing an ongoing source of information for workforce development and planning.

Sponsored by the Council to Homeless Persons, the project also explored existing workforce data collection approaches and introduced an innovative and comprehensive approach to data collection and analysis for the sector with two key sources of workforce information:

• Data linkage using the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) to link existing government data sets with relevant State Government data
  
• Supplement gaps with surveys and other data sources as the new approach is prototyped, tested, and refined

Designed to enable more rigorous and proactive workforce planning across all parts of the social service sector, the Common Workforce Data Project comprised:

• A review of existing workforce data and wider literature
• Consultations with the sector and workforce planning bodies in Australia and abroad,
• A discussion paper synthesising findings outlining options for workforce data systems for the SHS sector,
• Design and development of a workforce data set for key workforce development and planning needs that is capable of comparisons with other sectors
• The development of a workforce survey tool,
• The establishment of a MADIP project with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to test and pilot a longitudinal workforce data set for the SHS workforce,
• A survey of the SHS workforce (August - September 2022)
• A final report with a roadmap for the new system (see link to full report).

The final report was endorsed in January 2023 and work on the first data linkage results is nearing completion (expected October-November 2023).