Please find a number of research reports and documents pertaining to this topic area below.  If you know of another report or document you think should be housed in our research library please contact the BGK LLEN.

Title: Informing policy with evidence – successes, failures and surprises
Author: Cathy Humphreys et. al
Source: Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY)
Release Date: 2010
Description: Policy and practice are inexorably interwoven, but the strategies through which evidence is brokered or translated to inform either policy or practice are different. This paper discusses the issues involved in informing policy with evidence. Case study extracts illustrate how the right evidence, the right people and the right time has contributed to a range of policy initiatives in Australia.
Report download: Informing policy with evidence – successes, failures and surprises

Title: Skilled Volunteers - A guide for community organisations
Source: Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS)
Release Date: March 2009
Description: This guide is designed to assist community organisations access skilled volunteers. It includes case study entries from ten Victorian skilled volunteer providers: Ballarat Cares, Good Company, Leadership Ballarat and Western Region, Leadership Victoria, Melbourne Cares, Oxfam Skill Share, Pro Bono Australia, Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH), Volunteering Australia and Volunteering Victoria. Each entry outlines the type of support available, examples of assistance provided to community organisations and who to contact for further information.
Report Download: Skilled Volunteers - A guide for community organisations

Title: Indicators of Community Strength: a framework and evidence
Source: Department of Planning and Community Development 
Date: 2006
Description: This report provides a theoretical framework for the community strength indicators selected by the Department of Victorian Communities. It also reviews the international evidence about the outcomes of networks and participation for communities and summarises what we know from the Victorian findings to date.
Report Download: Indicators of Community Strength: a framework and evidence