One of the documents submitted at the discussion was Melissa Sweet’s: Understanding Miller (Inside Story) about locational disadvantage and the enormous impact on the lives of residents in many Australian suburbs. It describes an experiment in Sydney’s postcode area 2168 (Miller) yielding results.
Mayor Thomas Menino (of Boston) said: “Geographic location is one of the most significant factors determining an individual’s health.”
Simply increasing services to places will not have the optimal impact Elizabeth Harris (local project worker for 2168) says unless the locals are genuinely involved in setting priorities.
She believes moves to expand the reach of income management for welfare recipients has the potential to exacerbate rather than ameliorate disadvantage (a big issue in 2168 less so here). “It’s very hard for people not to feel worn down by always being portrayed as not pulling their weight not caring for their kids not having drivenot having resilience.”
What Miller has demonstrated is that groups like housing helath police and council can work together on something over a long period of time and invest in it in a way that can have outcomes.
They started with police. It brought home yet again the value of having the Ferny Grove Police Station located locally and the value of the work the local police do.