Transport Connections Evaluation Report - TDSA

ABCD
Department of Human Services
Transport Connections Program
Government
July 2006
• After undertaking these steps, the lead agencies can award the project the funding applied
for, ask for further information or ask for refinements to be made to the application itself.
Throughout the application process, appropriate levels of support should be provided by the lead
agencies, particularly in relation to:
• advice regarding what is required in the application
• examples of successful applications
• guidance on structures, partnerships, and activities that could be undertaken in a local
project catchment.
This assistance should be provided evenly across all areas to ensure those communities, or
catchments, which are without appropriate resource levels, are not disadvantaged further.
Recommendation 6: That DVC, and the other lead agencies undertake a two-stage
application process to better understand the communities in which assistance is being sought.
The lead agencies should also offer and provide support throughout the application process
to ensure local communities, or catchments, are not further disadvantaged.
5.6 Project catchment size
The catchment area of the local projects varies across the program, from pilot projects focussing
on single communities to pilot projects spanning multiple Local Government Areas (LGAs).
Observations from the evaluation process include:
• The success of the projects is not wholly dependant on the catchment size – projects can be
successful where they are located in a single community, for example, Valley to City
Efficiently, in a single LGA such as Bass Coast TCP, or multiple LGAs such as Let’s GET
Connected.
• Where projects span multiple shires, the focus of a coordinator can be diluted by the
number of communities, or distance required to travel in that catchment.
• Where a coordinator is auspiced by more than one agency across multiple shires, the
duplication of work can decrease the effectiveness of that project. Examples include
different reporting formats and timelines or different strategies and vision of each shire.
If projects are to operate across multiple LGAs, some thought needs to be given to the
following:
• Two coordinators in one project can enhance the effectiveness if the project spans multiple
areas. For instance, each coordinator can focus on a certain community/s, or cohort in a
community, the coordinators can ensure alignment across multiple areas (such as planning
and strategy documents undertaken in a coordinated manner), and both coordinators can
bring expertise from a range of areas (for example, communication, planning and
facilitation).
• Should a project wish to span multiple areas with one coordinator, greater support may be
required from the regional and statewide representatives to assist the coordinator in
meeting their objectives, and planning their work program.
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