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INTRODUCTIONWelcome to the 2009 Health and Wellbeing (HWB) Community Profile for the G21 region. It has been prepared in conjunction with members of the G21 Health & Wellbeing Pillar in order to provide an accessible and current document for anyone involved in planning, implementing or providing services in the region.Like many of these documents, it is challenging to keep it as relevant and accurate as possible - many have contributed to the development of this profile and it is acknowledged that it is not exhaustive but it seeks to provide sufficient up to date data for users to refer to in their work. Building a data profile does not occur in isolation and G21 has in particular worked with the Department of Human Services (DHS) to identify and organise this information. A community demographic profile is the first stage in developing the evidence base for the G21 region. This will be followed by a regional human services profile during 2010 which together will inform planning of health and community services in the next few years. G21 is the alliance of a range of independent organisations with a shared vision for the Geelong region. The alliance includes the municipalities of Colac Otway, Golden Plains, Greater Geelong, Queenscliffe and Surf Coast, along with the Victorian government and more than 150 community and business organisations committed to securing a bright and sustainable future for the region. 
Who is the G21 Health and Wellbeing Pillar?The Health and Wellbeing Pillar is one of eight pillars through which G21 collaborates its planning and development of priorities and projects for the G21 region.The strategic direction of the Health and Wellbeing Pillar is to 'strengthen our communities', focusing on six strategic directions. These are:
What does the 2009 HWB Community Profile cover?It provides demographic information about our residents in the five constituent local government areas and a snapshot in time of
What will the Profile be used for?It provides a baseline of health and wellbeing evidence, developed to assist
broader planning processes, identify emerging needs, supporting the selection of
implementation strategies and the review of their effectiveness in strengthening
our communities.
Who will use this Profile?The Profile has been developed with individuals, teams and organisations in mind who work in the health and community services field, and who plan, design and implement strategies and interventions within their communities. It is hoped that those with a general interest in the health and wellbeing of our communities will also find it of value.
How was the Profile developed?It was developed in association with a range of member agencies, interested service providers and representatives who assisted in identifying relevant statistics, data sets and community consultations considered relevant and informative. The working groups each consisted of eleven members from a range of agencies/ professional backgrounds and local government areas that were selected as a representative sample of agency members from the G21 region (Appendix B). One group reviewed demographics and statistics, whilst a second group reviewed existing community consultations. The groups reviewed the data and categorised it according to the 'Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare' (AIHW) framework and cross reference the data
according to the state-wide health promotion priorities and social determinants of
health. A further refinement identified approximately 80 of the 250 data sources to develop
the data sets for inclusion in the document. What exactly is the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Framework?The AIHW framework includes three main categories being health status, the Figure 1 *Identifies sub-categories not covered in this Profile
What are the limitations?Not all AIHW framework categories identified in Figure 1 are covered in the Profile; however available data sources provided detailed information that supports the social determinants of health and health status categories, but not health system performance. As mentioned, this is future work. How will the Health and Wellbeing Pillar build on the Community Profile?In acknowledging the limitations as already discussed, the Profile is only one of three pieces of work which have been commissioned to inform and direct the G21 Health and Wellbeing Pillar.Two other pieces of work will follow: Township Health and Wellbeing Data and Data Identifying Service System Performance as identified in the AIHW framework.
Guide to interpreting and understanding the tables and data
A legend is provided at the bottom of each table where shading occurs to denote whether the shading represents either a higher or a lower value in the grouping (of postcode areas, SLAs or LGAs within G21). In general the shading highlights a point of interest and/or a priority issue relating to the data source. Much of the data in this Profile is presented at Statistical Local Area (SLA) level. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and some agencies provide information at SLA level. A LGA is typically made up of one or more SLAs. The G21 region is made up of 16 SLAs, as set out in the map opposite. A glossary at the end of the Profile provides definitions to most health related terms. The 2009 Community Health & Wellbeing Profile represents a significant effort amongst planners and service providers to work together.The Pillar welcomes any feedback on how to build on and improve the Health and Wellbeing Community Profile in the future, with a planned review to occur in 2012.
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