Case study: Mission Australia

Mission Australia team COVID-19 pivot

The situation

The impact of COVID-19 for communities living in public housing has resulted in a food and pharmaceutical crisis and a retraction of support services. For organisations like Mission Australia that have been able to remain active on the ground, the need for new communication channels has been critical. Mission Australia asked our students to find a quick way to reach public housing tenants so that their immediate needs could be identified along with a supportive touch point that helped counter amplified experiences of isolation. Mission Australia also wanted to be able to extend support by dedicating staff to make phone calls where levels of distress were high and action was needed. To fulfil this, recruited staff needed some scaffolding resources to make phone calls. Our students responded by developing phone call scripts. 

The students' response

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mission Australia asked us to draft a script to guide employee interactions with tenants and design a neighbourhood check-in flyer. These initiatives aimed to create a feedback loop on Mission Australia Housing (MAH) tenants’ well-being, assess their immediate needs during this isolation period and help foster stronger relationships between the tenant community.

By developing the script as a group and adapting it in response to feedback from our Mission Australia contacts, we were able to create a resource that assesses the needs of tenants and helps identify those in vulnerable positions. In doing so, we have helped to create a long-term resource that can be applied to a range of future situations.

On 28 March, the Mission Australia team posted out the check-in flyers to all tenants’ mailboxes and on their Instagram page to create a community campaign around neighbourhood day. These flyers are available to be downloaded by the public on the Mission Australia website to promote a sense of connectivity to your neighbours even through physical isolation and distancing. 

- IIP team, Jennifer (BCII and Comms), Rebecca (BCII and Design), Kyra (BCII and Business).

The result

From day one, UTS BCII students have hit the ground running with Mission Australia. After participating in a full day induction, students took the initiative and started creating valuable resources in response to COVID-19: 

  • Neighbourly check-in card and tenant scripts
  • Provided a reflective service to develop more concise and appropriate messaging
  • Drafted a spread sheet to collect, collate and later synthesize the data

Through our engagement with the students, we were able to evaluate and adjust the intervention model to be more universal by reducing barriers and risk; and Mission Australia launched it.

- Kyle Wiebe, Community Development Officer, Mission Australia

Examples of the student team's work

Student project for Mission Australia
Student project for Mission Australia

 

The IIP student team were incredibly agile in scanning the situation, working through confronting challenges, assimilating some of the core principals used in health communication and marrying them with their tacit understanding of creative practices and methods. The resulting work was picked up by Mission Australia and both initiatives were immediately put into action. The added benefit is that these resources can be used across a range of contexts into the future too.

– Barbara Doran, IIP tutor

 

 

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.