SAcommunity Data Analytics Team

Photo: Volunteers Stathis Avramis and Volunteer/Intern Hang Zhang

SAcommunity Data Analytics Team: South Australia Community Service Data Analysis for Local Councils

Need real world experience?
Want to practice or apply your current skills or education?
Have experience and want to stay current while giving back to community?
Looking for like-minded connections?
Volunteering in a not-for-profit might help - try ours!

Interested in using data to explore the charity and not-for-profit service sector in South Australia?

Interested in helping Connecting Up from Infoxchange present SAcommunity data analytics reports on local needs for government councils?

Join our Data Analytics Team to undertake a project using Power BI to present statistics on services and service searches from SAcommunity a free, online community information directory for South Australia >>here https://sacommunity.org/statistics


Skills Required: Interest in and knowledge of Data Analysis, interest in or knowledge of the community sector, good information literacy and digital literacy skills.

Remote/onsite: Onsite is best, however the project can be undertaken remotely as needed.

Example: An example of a student's vocational placement experience can be found >>here: Renu, Hang, Julia, Jesslyn and Ziqi 

What is the project?
Community Information records and reflects life, with community services and service demand impacted by and emulated in the changes in social conditions, economic development, demographics and cultural diversity of the population they serve. Government, councils, and public libraries rely on community service information to understand local community needs and to have an awareness of the locally based services that exist to assist them in serving their population effectively. 

There are 68 councils across South Australia, and we are providing reports for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 calendar and financial years to indicate changes reflected in service demand from the impact of Covid and current needs. An awareness of and assessment of these social needs and available service providers by and with council bodies, enable informed decision-making on the equitable distribution and sharing of community resources and assets, strategic partnerships and networks, resulting in improved support and outcomes for the whole community. 

There are a lot of important services with demand increases in SA, so we could do with some help!

Who are we working with?
Community services are on the front line of supporting vulnerable people and all community members, with accessible, accurate community information key to strengthening engagement with local government associations and in helping to build resilient and connected communities.

Consequently, SAcommunity is used by a range of stakeholders in government, councils, libraries and service providers for referrals, communication, consultation, and research. To form strong networks, Connecting Up Inc. is committed to Open Data with SAcommunity datasets available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, with exports provided in Data.SA for innovative re-use in competitions such as GovHack and with APIs to the Public Library Service ‘One Card’ catalogue network.




Why are we doing this?
Presenting council-based analytic summaries on community services and information demands, provides an indication of social and demographic needs of a council. Visually displaying a population’s story over time, with search categories ranging from health and welfare such as housing, food assistance, mental health services to recreational, social and activity groups that encourage social participation and help reduce isolation. Information that can be used to enable informed decision-making regarding service gaps, equitable distribution and sharing of community grants, resources, and assets resulting in improved support and outcomes for the whole community.

In the process of analysis, we are also using this Analytics Project as an opportunity to examine, evaluate and clean the data, checking Power BI reports against database records for accuracy based on indexing and consistency and updating as necessary. Activities arising in advance of Connecting Up’s SAcommunity community service directory data importation into Infoxchange’s Service Seeker www.infoxchange.org, an Australian directory of health and welfare services and our parent body. Combining directories into a single platform allows for use in joint service products such as Ask Izzy https://askizzy.org.au and big-data insights into national service demands.

How are we doing it?
Volunteers and Interns, as part of the Data Analytics Team, select a council and utilise data exports from the SAcommunity database and Google Analytics, prepare the data in Excel file with given formulas, then import, present and summarise this data using Power BI and Canva on the SAcommunity website >>here https://sacommunity.org/statistics attributed to the creator. The summary covers the community services operating in the council area, the service types or categories, the number of service records, and website visits to service information records, indicating services available in the area and demand from users.

What is the outcome?
Maintaining and presenting community information service data in an accurate, accessible, and understandable way assists government, councils, and public libraries to understand local community needs. To have an awareness of the locally based services that exist to assist them in serving their population effectively and involve local services in designing, shaping and delivering programs, grants and wellbeing strategies.

Benefits for Volunteers and Students?
Volunteers and Students become part of the Data Analytics Team, working on a database that is well-known across the government and community sector. Reports are attributed and report writers able to link to all their published work in the SAcommunity Statistics webpage that they can add to their resumes or LinkedIn profiles.

Students receive opportunities for training in an established volunteer and student placement program, (including free access to Connecting Up’s Digital learning platform with webinars for the NFP sector such as: Data, reporting, business intelligence and outcomes to enhance services ; Data driven decision making: Interpreting organisation data to drive and deliver high performance and Gain a clear understanding of your organisation's data and impact using Power BI. 

Students also have access to the volunteer/placement mentor program with volunteers and students able to meet with Connecting Up or Infoxchange staff for an in-person or one-to-one conversation online.

Finally, Volunteers and Students can undertake their placement within a recognised tech-based, not-for-profit organisation that brings about positive social change.

About Us
Established in 1981, SAcommunity is a free, online community information service supported by the Government of South Australia at Connecting Up.

Find out more on our Volunteers, Interns and Placement Program >>here https://sacommunity.org/volunteers