Bega Valley Data Collective strategy meeting 2023. Photo: Supplied.
The Bega Valley Data Collective (BVDC) has launched its first major project under its flagship initiative Living Well in the Bega Valley. The project evolved from the first Measuring What Matters survey.
BVDC’s mission is to empower the community to have more say on decisions that affect their wellbeing, with data being the evidence base.
A group of volunteers formed the collective after the Black Summer bushfires and COVID amid a sense that money coming into the Bega Valley was not being spent or allocated in the right way and that the community was not being given the autonomy to make its own decisions.
BVDC founder and treasurer Tim Whitaker said the first survey asked if people wanted to be involved in the decision-making process and if they wanted data as the evidence base for making decisions.
“The overwhelming response to both questions was yes,” he said. “So, with this survey we are asking more questions about what is important to them to live well and what needs to happen to generate change.”
The Living Well survey explores 16 areas to understand what good living means to people such as access to services, housing, connection to community, economic security, connection to nature, feeling purposeful, and having a voice.
The survey is part of the Living Well by Measuring What Matters project, which is funded by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR).
BVDC is spreading the word about the survey and the Living Well initiative through community engagement events around the valley.
Measuring What Matters workshop 2024. Photo: Tara Chiu, Daisy Hill Photography.
After the survey closes towards the end of the year and the data is collected, BVDC will create a data dashboard as well as hold workshops and meetings to discuss the findings with the community to see where they want to go from there. “It is community-led,” Mr Whitaker said.
Around the world there is a shift from making decisions based on economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) to prioritising happiness or wellbeing in policymaking.
“We are part of that and trying to do this at a local level,” he said.
He cited the World Happiness Report which ranks 136 countries by happiness based on data from Gallup World Poll.
Finland was rated the world’s happiest country. New Zealand was ranked in 11th position and Australia 15th.
Economic powerhouses the US, the UK, Japan and China ranked 23rd, 29th, 61st and 65th respectively.
Measuring What Matters is what the Federal Government calls its wellbeing framework. “There is a lot of work being done but it is a top-down approach, and no consideration is given to what the community needs and wants.”
“Community has to be involved. It can’t be done with a top-down approach,” Mr Whitaker said. “So, wellbeing frameworks are recognised, but there is no mechanism for community-driven input to happen.”
Bega Valley Data Collective AGM 2025. Photo: Supplied.
He said BVDC’s first survey showed a high degree of dissatisfaction about the way decisions were being made by all levels of government.
BVDC will make its findings from the second survey available to the public and all levels of government.
“Hopefully they can use it to make decisions and decide how resources are allocated,” Mr Whitaker said. “We hope council will use the community response as part of its community strategic plans.”
BVDC is trying to give the community a voice by bringing people together and generating data so there is evidence of what people really want. The community can then advocate for change and make things happen.
“Sometimes it is the loudest voice that gets attention,” Mr Whitaker said. “People want to tell their stories and have a voice. The survey brings that all together as one, but with a multitude of stories and gives a sense of the priorities.”
BVDC also has three-year funding from the Paul Ramsay Foundation. The foundation’s main mission is to identify and shift the conditions that cause disadvantage in communities.
Mr Whitaker said it was difficult for the community to bring about change with things like the valley’s disadvantaged access to specialist healthcare “but there are a lot of things we can do at a local level if the community is empowered, and they have the evidence base to do that”.
