 Dale Renner & Russ Wood are excited to announce that Gemma Tovey will be joining Latitude Network from September 2019.
Most recently, Gemma was Strategy & Growth Manager at Melbourne City Mission’s Hester Hornbrook Academy. Prior to this role Gemma managed Melbourne City Mission’s Social Enterprise portfolio where she founded and subsequently managed MCM’s ‘CQ Cultural Consulting’ business, among other achievements. Gemma has qualifications in Law and and is a graduate of Leadership Victoria’s Williamson Community Leadership Program and of the Australian Institute of Management’s Project Management program. Gemma brings an incredible commitment and passion along with a unique set of skills and experience to Latitude Network as we work with like-minded organisations to understand and interpret the future world of outcomes-driven social and community services delivery. Like Latitude Network’s two founders, Gemma is passionate about redesigning systems to improve the delivery of services that support disadvantaged communities. From day one, Gemma will be involved with:
Gemma can be reached on: e: gemma@latitude.network Welcome Gemma!  South AustraliaThe South Australian Government opened its second round of Social Impact Investments, with a focus on better outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care, and after leaving guardianship. This follows South Australia's first social impact investment in the Aspire homelessness program delivered by The Hutt St Centre. Interestingly, the Commonwealth Government is providing $5m as partner with the South Australian Treasury Department, as an early foray into learning and engaging in the social impact investment space. Latitude Network is assisting with the preparation and development of an application focusing on improved outcomes from the residential care context. New South WalesThe NSW Office of Social Impact Investment (OSII) is reviewing proposals from three organisations focusing on Indigenous employment and empowerment. Latitude Network was been supporting one Indigenous organisation through the 'co-development phase' where OSII collaborated with the social organisation to advise and develop a proposal together. The intent is to support organisations to prepare robust proposals that are more likely to meet Treasury's requirements and be successful through what can sometimes be an arduous 'Joint Development Phase' of financial and contract negotiations to conclude a social benefit (impact) bond legal agreement. VictoriaThe Victorian Treasury is a long way through negotiations with two organisations in the 'Joint Development Phase' for its next round of social impact bond investments. This round focuses on primary and secondary school aged children who have become disengaged from school and have a variety of other complexities in their lives. Latitude Network is supporting Melbourne City Mission and the Hester Hornbrook Academy in the negotiations.
 Yesterday’s release by Infrastructure Australia of its annual Infrastructure Audit is a timely reminder of how important capital spending is to our social, community and health sectors.
It is also a reminder of how ineffective our social infrastructure currently is in addressing some of the growing and increasingly complex health and social challenges facing our communities. The report notes that it is the challenge of operating within ‘sector-based structures’ and the ‘lack of integration’ that stops us from effectively addressing these challenges through our infrastructure investments. Indeed, it can often make things worse as a result of getting differing levels and types of services depending on where people live (p.394). Perhaps the most critical statement in this section of the report, however, is the following: “…challenges remain, however, in overcoming sector-based planning, funding and governance structures which limit the incentives for different infrastructure sectors to work together to improve benefits to communities.” (p. 394) The take-out here is that the success of an infrastructure investment should not be measured by the quality or scale of the build itself but the extent to which it delivers solutions to complex and enduring social and health challenges. To do that, it requires a process that breaks down silos and creates incentives for different parts of the infrastructure system to work together with outcomes at the centre. Latitude Network’s work with Brimbank City Council in Victoria as well as Logan City council in Qld has delivered a process which puts the social and health focus at the core of the investment, including the identification of outcomes, service delivery approaches, cross-sector partners and governance structures. The planning, design, construction as well as the operations can then proceed, confident that we are arming this piece of infrastructure with the tools it will need to truly have an impact.  We were pleased to see two key funding initiatives in last night’s Federal Coalition budget related to outcomes-based funding – the announcement of a social impact investing Taskforce and nearly $15M for payment-by-outcomes investments over the coming four years.
 The challenge
It is a common problem in local and state government that a new piece of infrastructure is commissioned, but it fails to make a lasting impact on the social and health needs of the community. Our client, Brimbank City Council in Melbourne's West, had identified a range of population health and social measures that are worse than the average for greater Melbourne, yet investments over the years had not closed those gaps. In addition, a sports and recreation centre in St Albans needed to be redeveloped. The insight was that this large infrastructure project could be developed in a way that addressed the health needs of the community. The approach The project involves engaging with organisations to co-locate on the site, but also to sign up to common agreements and collaborative approaches to addressing community needs. Specific social and health outcomes (including in early childhood development and physical activity and health) were agreed, and a management system put in place to ensure reporting and accountability of those goals. The program has three pillars - Council-led social innovation, and aligning council programs and activities around common social outcomes A novel approach that attaches outcomes goals to an infrastructure project and to tenant contracts Building a community collaboration using the principles of collective impact The outcome The project is still in development, but is pointing to a better way to make buildings work for the community and become more active, measured parts of system change. We will update this page as progress is made and goals achieved. Combining an infrastructure project and a collaborative project to address population-level challenges is a new an exciting direction for local government. Typically these processes are managed separately, and while a building may have some impact goals up front, they can easily be forgotten in the commercial pressure to deliver a project in a timely and cost-effective way. Latitude's role is to help design the systems, governance and approach for the project, and to help Council navigate their way through the complexities of analysis, managing, resourcing and stakeholder management. We believe this higher standard of outcomes-based infrastructure points to a future of improved impact and effectiveness. If you would like to keep up to date with the project as in progresses, subscribe to our newsletter or get in touch. |
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