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Children and Families 

Many people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds were not eligible for JobSeeker and JobKeeper (which were available during the Covid pandemic). The Brotherhood's community support teams worked to connect people in need with local relief services. Comparing the six month periods of March to August 2019 and 2020, referrals increased from six to 331.

The HIPPY Bushfire Trauma Package was developed to assist children and families experiencing trauma from bushfires, and later on, Covid. The Package delivered digital advice and strategies to the HIPPY communities across Australia (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

Community developments (and partnerships)

The Brotherhood partnered with DHHS, St Vincent's Hospital and Launch Housing to create bridging housing solutions for people who were at risk of Covid and experiencing homelessness.

The Brotherhood worked with employment partners, for example GROW Greater Shepparton, to provide employment opportunities in regional Victoria for people affected by Covid. In July 2020 the Brotherhood joined the ACOSS Raise the Rate campaign to permanently raise the rate of Jobseeker (formerly Newstart).

Housing Connect is a service of the Department of Communities Tasmania. It helps low income Tasmanians to find or maintain appropriate housing. The Brotherhood was commissioned to redesign the scheme to help address homelessness in Tasmania and also to provide supported youth accommodation there.

The National Youth Employment Body, founded and enabled by the Brotherhood, continued to harness community support in Victoria and three other states for young people to gain work in growth industries including manufacturing, aged and disability care and hospitality.

The Better Futures Practice Framework has been developed by the Brotherhood working with the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) since 2016. Ongoing practice development continued in collaboration with service providers and young people.

The Brotherhood's Stepping Stones to Small Business program continued its work despite the Covid pandemic (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

Employment and Training

Massive job losses were caused by the first wave of Covid. However, the Brotherhood's Work and Learning Centres achieved 507 job placements. This was 40% up from the previous year. Results were particularly strong in rural areas. As a result of the Covid pandemic,

there was a switch to online delivery of training. This led to the creation of new training manuals and adapted procedures. The Brotherhood continued its work in social procurement in the employment sector. Social procurement aims to motivate employers to hire a broader range of jobseekers. Since the Victorian government announced its social procurement framework in 2018, the Brotherhood and its Given the Chance program have played an increasing role. A social policy researcher from the Brotherhood was awarded the Victorian Parliamentary Library Fellowship. This is a research position which aims to advance parliamentary knowledge on an issue of public importance, in this case social procurement (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

Fundraising & resources

The Brotherhood's Covid-19 Crisis Appeal, which ran for April to June 2020, was its most successful appeal ever. It raised more than $1.8 million to support programs for people affected by the pandemic. Other appeals continued to operate. The Brotherhood became a provider in the Working for Victoria program, which the Victorian government funded to provide employment for a six month period to people who became unemployed because of the Covid pandemic. This enabled the Brotherhood to meet extra demand on its range of services.

Schneider Electric and ANZ donated 110 reconditioned laptops to the Brotherhood for use in its various community programs (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

Material & financial support

In response to the Covid pandemic, the Brotherhood's Saver Plus program moved all its appointments and workshops online. Between March and September 2020 the program matched over $520,000 towards laptops and tablets. From April 2020, over 2,000 participants in the program no longer had the capacity to save. They were given the opportunity to withdraw their funds and matched savings. Of those participants who did withdraw, 97% elected to stay in the program and save in the future (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

Neighbourhood change

Older people

The BSL Aged Care Clifton Hill residence opened in March 2020. It is a new state-of-the-art building. 70 residents from Sambell Lodge and Sumner House relocated to the 114 bed residence just before the first Covid lockdown (BSL 2020 Annual Report). 

Organisational aspects

The Board of the Brotherhood completed a governance review with the aim of ensuring that its governance is fit for purpose.

The Brotherhood continued its work in being one of the deliverers and researching the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). It used a person-centred approach to policy development (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

People with disabilities

The Brotherhood made a joint submission (with Baptcare) to the Commonwealth Government's Review of the NDIS Act. The submission highlighted a person-centred approach to improve the NDIS as it evolves (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

Refugees and settlement

The Brotherhood supported Red Cross to deliver the Extreme Hardship Support Program to offer emergency relief to people who could not access income support. The Brotherhood's Given the Chance program team worked with other agencies to share translated resources and educate people on workplace rights. 65 participants who had previously been in the program, but had subsequently lost their jobs, returned to the program.

The Brotherhood jointly lobbied, with the Refugee Council of Australia, for the No Child Left Behind campaign (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

Research and policy

In July the Brotherhood's Research and Policy Centre (RPC) joined the ACOSS Raise the Rate campaign to permanently raise the rate of Jobseeker (formerly Newstart). RPC developed and published a series of briefs highlighting how various groups of Australians are affected and proposed policy responses. RPC's Youth and Employment Teams researched and explained how employment outcomes for young people could be improved during the Covid outbreak. As part of their Utility response, the Victorian Government adapted RPC's Energy Broker pilot program. The Brotherhood and two partners commenced the Energy Assistance and Broker program in October 2020. It will run until October 2021.

As part of International Women's Day 2020, publicity was given to Connie Benn, and her work in developing community programs and research at the Brotherhood.

In May and June, RPC collaborated with the Brotherhood's Community Programs division to understand the experiences during Covid of participants in our programs (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

Young people

The Brotherhood continued to work with the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services to develop the Better Futures Service and the Better Futures Practice Framework (BSL 2020 Annual Report).

Publications 

Bond, S., & Keys, D. (2020). Finding that spark : : what works to achieve effective employment services for young people? Fitzroy, Vic.: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Bowman, D., Banks, M., Whiteford, P., de Silva, A., Anantharam, N., Csereklyei, Z., & Mallett, S. (2020). Everyone counts: uncovering patterns of Newstart Allowance. Fitzroy, Vic.: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Bowman, D., & Wickramasinghe, S. (2020). Trampolines not traps: enabling economic security for single mothers and their children. Fitzroy, Vic.: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Brown, J. T. (2020). Economic dignity and financial capabilities: connecting principles and concepts. Fitzroy, Vic.: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Brown, J. T., & Bowman, D. (2020). Economic security and dignity: a financial wellbeing framework. Fitzroy, Vic.: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Connolly, J., & Chaitowitz, R. (2020). Transforming employment aspirations: results of the HIPPY Tutors Study. Fitzroy, Vic. :: Brotherhood of St. Laurence.

Connolly, J., & Mallett, S. (2020). Changing children's trajectories: results of the HIPPY Longitudinal Study. Fitzroy, Vic. :: Brotherhood of St. Laurence.

Mills, A., Finnis, J., Ng, S., Grutzner, K., & Raman, B. (2020). Hidden in plain sight: the impact of the COVID-19 response on mature-age low-income people in Australia. Fitzroy, Vic.: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Mupanemunda, M. (2020). Councils as employers of choice : : how hiring and procurement decisions can create employment for people with disability. Fitzroy, Vic.: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Mupanemunda, M. (2020). Purchasing with purpose: tools to develop an organisational strategy for social procurement. Fitzroy, Vic.: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Porter, E., Curry, M., & Bowman, D. (2020). All in it together? : : financial wellbeing before COVID-19. Fitzroy, Vic.: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

Wickramasinghe, S., & Mupanemunda, M. (2020). Stepping up for business: insights from a pilot program for migrant and refugee women. Fitzroy, Vic :: Brotherhood of St Laurence.