When responding to complex social challenges, we’ve seen the benefits of placing people (not systems) at the centre of the solutions we create. People Powered Responses go beyond co-design and beyond co-creation techniques.
What are People Powered Responses?
Imagine a world where people help people, where helpful help is available from your neighbour and community, where you can get support that’s tailored to your needs and life context.
Imagine a world where community services, people, institutions, government and commissioners all engaged with each other; equally, equitably and without bias, racism or prejudice.
A world where strengths are recognised, power is distributed, and we walk alongside each other towards thriving. A world where each person can give and get support they need, tailored to what they want before crisis hits – which can catalyse healing and regeneration.
People Powered Responses seek to create a world where people and communities have the tools and capacity to support each other, scaffolded by social work and community development practice, theory and practitioners.
Our expertise
We have over 10 years’ experience delivering social innovation, and helping organisations and practitioners to deliver social innovations at scale.
We know that by investing in people and lived experience that trauma can be healed and communities can work towards a new future of joint healing and regeneration.
We understand that people feel like the system isn’t available with the kinds of support they want and need to avert crisis
We’re told that communities don’t feel heard, or that they have an opportunity to inform and participate in their future regeneration.
We hear that practitioners feel alone, stressed, disillusioned with ever increasing caseloads and the churn of the system – leading to burn out.
We understand that organisations see the challenges that need addressing, but that policy and commissioning has limited flexibility to enable them to respond in the way people and communities want and need.
We witness institutions losing connection to people and community, with middle management growing increasing the distance between the institution and community and people
We know that commissioning and policy groups invested $195.7 billion in 2019/20 in Australian social services. They want a different future, they know that their resources are finite, and are finding it difficult to respond to the complexities of living in the 21st century.
We see that governments want to create opportunities to build a new democracy and social contract post pandemic, but are finding it difficult to connect to people and community with authenticity.
Over the last decade, we’ve seen how developing new responses that combine community development and social work practice and lived experience can result in responses that aim to support people where they are, change their trajectory, and enable them to thrive
Listen: On the Paul Ramsey Foundation podcast, TACSI's Family by Family lead Danielle talks about new ways to break cycles of disadvantage
Listen: On the Paul Ramsey Foundation podcast, TACSI's Family by Family lead Danielle talks about new ways to break cycles of disadvantage
Designed with families for families, Family by Family is a program designed by The Australian Centre for Social Innovation and currently being delivered by Uniting Care in South Australia and scaling across Australia.
Watch as Sharing Families and Seeking Families talk about the impact that Family by Family has had on their lives.
Interested in exploring what People Powered responses could look like and what we've learnt over the last few years?
Our Lived Experience, Co-design and Co-production guide will help you structure Lived Experience into your organisation, service or system.
Interested in exploring what People Powered responses could look like and what we've learnt over the last few years?
Our Lived Experience, Co-design and Co-production guide will help you structure Lived Experience into your organisation, service or system.
Our commitment to First Nations First
People Powered Responses place self determination at the core of our way of working. Environments and interactions are spiritually, socially, culturally and emotionally safe, trauma informed and responsive, as well as physically safe for people; where there is no assault, challenge or denial of their identity, of who they are and what they need.
Where possible, we serve people through those who are part of, or in tune with their culture. We have co-designed models created and delivered in ways that support unique cultural experiences.