Projects

This applied research initiative will test a place-based approach to the interconnected challenges of rural workforce shortages, sustained youth unemployment and declining efficacy of existing agricultural training programs.

How do people on lower incomes in regional, peri-urban and urban locations experience and respond to financial challenges?

What are the drivers and impacts of financial stress for low-income people and what are the policy implications?

How has becoming or being a parent affected the economic security of participants in this longitudinal study?

How would people with disability, their partners, parents and allies like to influence services?

What drives economic insecurity among women in regional areas and what changes to policies and systems would make a difference to their futures?

This research aims to understand the stories told about Seymour and how these stories create or limit opportunities for women living there.

Exploring people’s experiences of providing and receiving disability support services via digital platforms

This study focuses on a BSL initiative to increase participation in mainstream employment for people with disability.

Learning how HIPPY can best support early childhood education in Indigenous Australian communities

This research is part of a coherent, multi-sectoral response to youth unemployment.

How easy is it for Australians with disability aged 18–64 years who are not receiving NDIS funding to find and use the services and support they need to participate in the community?

Understanding patterns of financial wellbeing is a key to protecting Australians against financial distress in times of crisis.

The Critical Interim Support (CIS) program was devised to provide immediate case management services to vulnerable and socially isolated older people in Melbourne. Our evaluation examines how it can address a significant gap in the aged care system.

Developing a pathway for young people into aged care and disability support

How prevalent is poverty and financial stress in Australian children and families, and what has been the impact of COVID-19?

A research project providing new insights into enabling young people to pursue their employment goals, place based responses to youth unemployment, and collaborative ways of working

A research project evaluating three new Education First Youth Foyers in Victoria

The Brotherhood advocates for energy efficiency policy and program development, which assists low income households.

An ongoing project exploring how income support could be made adequate and fair the adequacy and targeting of income support

Life Chances is a unique longitudinal study that examines how family income, social class, ethnicity and gender affect the lives of individuals.

This national longitudinal study examines the outcomes for over 600 children and families who took part in HIPPY between 2016 and 2018.

This developmental evaluation interrogates the lived experience of HIPPY tutors to understand how the program operates, and the impact on tutors during their period of employment.

What are some keys to helping young people to gain planning and independent living skills?

How can ‘real-time’ data help us to understand the financial dimension of housing insecurity

How can public and private sector organisations use their purchasing power to create positive social impact?

How are low and moderate income Australian households coping with financial uncertainty?

To tackle inequality we need to understand how issues like payment conditions and tax policies are connected and can trap single mothers in poverty.

This project aims to lower energy bills by representing consumers in the setting of electricity network costs.

Stepping Stones offers training, mentoring and support to help women from refugee and migrant backgrounds expand their business skills and increase their participation in business and the community.

Do charitable providers have to choose between the money and the mission, or can we balance both?

In partnership with La Trobe University, the Brotherhood conducted research into local employment issues for refugees in the City of Hume.

How common are late receipt of Newstart Allowance and volatile payment amounts?

This project identified ways to enable a fair transition to clean affordable energy in Australia.

A project giving young people the freedom to take photographs that represent their experiences of education or employment

Funded by the John T Reid Charitable Trusts, this project aimed to support small community service organisations to adapt to changes in the human services sector and continue to contribute to their local communities.

This research examined the role of private registered training organisations in delivering training to young people who have left school early.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence contributed to two research projects designed to support improved care for older people with dementia and their carers.

Australia faces a pressing need for quality flexible learning programs to cater for the increasing number of young people who are disengaging from schooling at an early age.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence worked with Monash Sustainability Institute and other project partners to assess the effectiveness of the Home Energy Efficiency Upgrade Program (HEEUP).

The Brotherhood has developed a community education and support project for young people based at the High Street Centre in Frankston.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence, CHOICE and the Energy Efficiency Council all have the goal of improving the affordability of energy services.

Workshop hosted by the Brotherhood and ACOSS, on 14 November 2012

This research focuses on pathways and outcomes for mature-age people whose non-participation or under-participation in paid work is not their own choice.

As climate change measures are expected to increase energy costs, the Brotherhood is keen to address the significant barriers to energy efficiency faced by households with low incomes, including limited funds and often poor quality housing.

A workshop hosted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Monash Sustainability Institute, 7 April 2014

This study investigated the impact of energy audits and retrofits for households that took part in the Warm Home Cool Home (WHCH) and Concession Assist (CA) programs in the City of Moreland in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

The retail electricity market is failing Victorians, according to a new report, A critique of the Victorian retail electricity market.

This four-year study, supported by an Australian Research Council Linkage grant, aimed to identify the factors that assist people who have been unemployed to retain jobs and build career paths.

Social inclusion is central to the Brotherhood’s approach to tackling poverty. It is the basis of all our work, the design of our services and the research we conduct.

Saver Plus is a matched savings program designed by the Brotherhood and ANZ to assist families with low incomes to develop a savings habit and to build assets.

The Brotherhood was commissioned by the Consumer Action Law Centre to undertake a study of the experiences of people faced with court orders related to unpaid debts.

Cross-cultural understanding is vital for the effective provision of financial information.

The Brotherhood’s Line of Sight strategy aims to test innovative approaches to employment services for disadvantaged job seekers.

An important research focus for the Brotherhood has been providing evidence to support a new approach to employment assistance, to better address the multilayered barriers which people face to gaining employment.

This research used the life transitions approach to explore how economically and socially disadvantaged groups deal with financial needs related to the move from school to work, being unemployed, becoming a parent, and retirement and ageing.

Fire, theft, accidents and other damage to property and vehicles can all have severe and long-lasting financial and emotional impact for low-income Australians, who can ill afford to repair or replace their car or household items.

The complex, interrelated systems of taxation and income support directly affect the capacity of Australians to live rewarding and productive lives.

The Brotherhood was commissioned by the First Nations Foundation to evaluate the expansion phase of a financial literacy program which had been piloted with Aboriginal people in Shepparton.

Funded by the Consumer Credit Fund, this study is the evaluation component of the Financial Health Services Pilot Project.

The Brotherhood, in partnership with Monash University, received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to evaluate the national roll-out of the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY).

A smaller study of longer established Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) sites was undertaken with support from the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

This study examined the factors that affect the recruitment or retention of families in the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY). From 50 sites at the time of the study the program has expanded to be delivered by 60 providers at 100 sites across Australia.

The Brotherhood has collaborated with the Melbourne Business School, through its Asia Pacific Social Impact Leadership Centre, in a study of employer engagement initiatives involving disadvantaged jobseekers.

The PACTS program, which helps parents to support their children's decision making and choices about career pathways and relevant training, was developed by the Brotherhood in 2003.

The Children’s Voices project involved consulting children about the enhancement of Rotary Park, a playground near the centre of Broadmeadows.

The Youth Collaboration Trial (YCT) operated during 2013 and 2014 in Frankston, Craigieburn and the western suburbs of Melbourne as a model of service integration designed to ensure that young people aged 15–24 would be prepared for, and able to sustain, employment.

What makes neighbourhoods child-friendly places to live, learn and play?

The Brotherhood of St Laurence has led a consortium developing a Centre of Excellence at Sumner House, our residential aged care facility in Fitzroy.

The Brotherhood has joined the Australian Industry Group, CHOICE and the Energy Efficiency Council to seek decisive reforms to fix the electricity system and ease the burden on households and businesses.

This study examines mature aged people's lived experience, pathways and outcomes of involuntary non-participation or underparticipation in paid work.

The first stage of this research developed a framework for identifying capabilities and enhancing social inclusion of older Australians.

This action research project tracked the development of the Brotherhood of St Laurence pilot program, Caring for Carers.

‘Knowhow’ is the term used in this study to refer to the knowledge and skills needed to engage successfully in the complex social and economic environment of the 21st century.

As Australia's population ages, there is a need to broaden our understanding of the rights and contributions of older adults, in order to develop relevant policies and services.

This study explores the relationship between poverty and children’s chronic stress, and the mediating role of parenting and family environments.

A study of the Banksia Younger Onset Dementia Support Group, a pilot program to support people with younger onset dementia in the Frankston area of outer Melbourne.

Information technology provides ever-expanding opportunities to communicate, gather information, conduct personal business, access service, and enjoy entertainment and hobbies.

Australia's older workers on low incomes tend to have poorer health, but they are being expected to work longer.

Existing policy responses to workforce age discrimination tend to focus on the role of employers in providing opportunities for jobseekers aged over 45. By contrast this research project focuses on employment services and how their staff might work more effectively with mature-age jobseekers.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence is working to ensure energy efficient target schemes, which obligate energy retailers to reduce emissions, are fair and equitable.