Safe Community programme outline, Designation April 23rd 2010.

Country: Australia
Number of inhabitants: 10,000 (estimated)
Programme started year: 2006
International Safe Communities Network Membership: 2010
Full application available: www.safecommunties.org.nz/sc/sl

For further information contact:
Name: Kathy Stevens
Institution: Community Liaison Manager, Springfield Lakes
Address: Springfield Lakes Boulevard
Springfield Lakes
City: Queensland 4300
Country: Australia
Phone (country code included): +61 7 32802222   Fax: 61 7 3280 2286
E-mail: springfieldlakescc@gmail.com
Info address for community as a whole www.springfieldlakes.com

The programme covers the following safety promotion activities:

For the age group:                                             

• Children 0-14 years:
  Injury prevention for children 0-5 years raising awareness of child safety issues around the family home and in the wider community through the provision of critical safety information on a range of injuries and preventative strategies (e.g. slips, burns, bites, motor vehicle safety, conducting a home safety audit).
  Prevention of childhood abuse and neglect for children 0 – 8 years and their families – a project funded by the Department of Communities and delivered to the Springfield Lakes community by NAPCAN with the support of Delfin Lend Lease.
  ‘Kids First Aid’ provides preventative and critical response information for carers of children about the 10 most common childhood injuries. 
  Safety of children around construction sites is an activity initiated by Delfin Lend Lease staff, and delivered through local schools, in response to children taking shortcuts through construction sites.
  The ‘School Walking Bus’ established to relieve traffic congestion around schools, provide safe travel to school by encouraging primary students to walk with supervised groups, enhance students’ road safety awareness and encourage physical activity.
  ‘Safety of children around construction sites’ information sessions to prevent children taking shortcuts through construction sites.
  ‘Keep Watch Day’ raises the awareness of parents and carers about the need to supervise children in and around water.
  Bike Education Course
• Youth 15-24 years:
  The ‘Child Safety Handbook’ provides advice and tips on protecting children from injury and harm in a wide range of circumstances.
  ‘School to Work’ Program providing Year 11 and 12 students with real experience in the building and construction industry including completion of site safety induction and safe hand and power tool training.
• Adults 25-64 years:
  Springfield Lakes Community Open Day showcases, provides access to and information about the diverse range of community organisations within the Greater Springfield area that promote and support community safety and injury prevention (e.g. Queensland Ambulance Service, Queensland Police Service, Queensland Fire & Rescue Service, Queensland Health, NAPCAN, church and other community support services).
  Spring Lake Neighbourhood Watch group promoting safety in the home and in public spaces.
  ‘Safety Week’ program of activities providing the community with access to information about Emergency Services, Bike Safety, Kids First Aid, Sun Safety, Water Safety, Home and Car Safety, and other injury prevention and community safety issues.
• Older Adults 65+ years:
  Springfield Women’s Group provides regular opportunities for women aged over 50 years to discuss issues of health and wellbeing including driver awareness and personal safety.

For the following environments:

• Home:
  ‘Becoming a Bush Fire Prepared Community’ targets residents who live near environmental corridors and provides information through a multifaceted program including guest speakers from the Queensland Fire & Rescue Service at Resident Welcome Nights, articles in the Community Update, letter box drops and information sessions held in parks for residents living near the environmental corridor.
  The ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ program improves communication between the local community and police, and provides regular information and assistance with property security and other crime prevention and community safety issues.
• Traffic:
  The ‘School Walking Bus’ was established to relieve traffic congestion around schools, provide safe travel to school by encouraging primary students to walk with supervised groups, enhance students’ road safety awareness and encourage physical activity.
  Springfield Lakes 'Road Watch' Project is a proactive community road safety initiative aimed at encouraging safe driving habits within the community and the reporting of irresponsible driving behaviour to Police.
• Occupational:
  The ‘Safe Work Week’ community event promotes workplace safety and provides information to all working community members about how they can enhance safety in their workplace and reduce injury.
  ‘School to Work’ Program providing Year 11 and 12 students with real experience in the building and construction industry including completion of site safety induction and safe hand and power tool training.
  ‘Safety of children around construction sites’ information sessions to prevent children taking shortcuts through construction sites.
• School:
  Programs about safety in the school environment have predominantly been focused on road safety traveling to and from school – Walking School Bus
• Sports:
  The ‘School Walking Bus’ established to relieve traffic congestion around schools, provide safe travel to school by encouraging primary students to walk with supervised groups, enhance students’ road safety awareness and encourage physical activity.
   ‘Keep Watch Day’ raises the awareness of parents and carers about the need to supervise children in and around water.
• Leisure:
  Keep Watch Day raises the awareness of parents and carers about the need to supervise children in and around water.

Violence prevention (intentional injuries):

• Springfield Women’s Group provides self-defense classes for women over 50 years.
• Springfield Karate Club works particularly with children to build self confidence, fitness and protective behaviours.
• Neighbourhood Watch – ‘Friends, Families and Neighbours’ was established to improve communication and information sharing between Neighbourhood Watch, local police and a growing culturally diverse community at Springfield Lakes.

Programmes aiming at “High risk-groups”:

• The Springfield Lakes community undertakes a range of programmes that support the needs of high-risk groups in particular children, young people and workers on construction sites. Details of many of these programmes have been provided in the previous sections of this community profile.
• The Springfield Lakes community also has a specific program that aims to engage community members with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Springfield Lakes ‘Neighbourhood Watch – Friends, Families and Neighbours’ was recently established to improve communication and information sharing between Neighbourhood Watch, local police and a growing culturally diverse community.

Surveillance of injuries:   

• The Springfield Lakes community has developed and delivers a range of activities that promote safety and prevent injuries to vulnerable groups in the communities including teenagers and young adults at risk; older people, children; women; people participating in sports and recreation settings; people at risk for injuries from natural disasters; and people living or working near high risk environments.
• The community draws on available indicative data from its partner agencies to inform the development of injury prevention and community safety strategies. These datasets include:
  -    Workplace injuries recorded on the Delfin Lend Lease Safety Dashboard;
  -    Incidents reported by residents and recorded on the Delfin Lend Lease Saleforce database;
  -    Emergency Department data collected by the Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit (QISU) on child injuries and road traffic incidents;
  -    Queensland Department of Main Roads and Transport data on road traffic incidents; and
  -    Queensland Injury Prevention data on falls by seniors.
• Child Injuries: QISU data indicates that unintentional injuries (including drownings, falls, poisonings, scalds and slow driveway rollovers) are the leading cause of death in Queensland children up to four years of age. Due the high proportion of children within Delfin Master planned communities, QISU data related to child injury has informed many of the proactive strategies developed within its Queensland communities. Some of the major injury prevention issues highlighted by QISU data include:
  - Drowning remains the single leading cause of death from all causes for Queensland toddlers aged 1-4 years and the leading cause of injury death nationally for children aged under 5 years. The majority of immersion injuries in children under 5 years of age were related to swimming pools, half occurred in domestic swimming pools.
  - The Queensland Poisons Information Centre answers up to 40 calls per day from parents/ caregivers seeking advice after a child under the age of 5 years accessed a potential poison. It is estimated that more than 1000 toddlers present to Queensland emergency departments annually following a medicinal poisoning (3 toddlers per day).
  - Unintentional injury occurs frequently in the home. The bathroom is a common site of injury (at least 3,700 per year in Queensland). Children and older people are most at risk of bathroom injury; over 40% of bathroom injuries occur to young children aged less than 5 years.
  - In Queensland, burns account for 4% of all injury presentations for children under 5 years of age. More than 50% of these injuries were due to scalds.
  - Between 1998 and the end of 2004 there were 1,884 children under the age of 5 years who presented to a QISU participating Emergency Department for treatment of a non-medicinal poisoning. Non-medicinal poisonings account for 62% of poisonings in children less than 5 years. A quarter of poisonings in this age group are due to common household cleaners.
• Road Traffic injuries: QISU data highlighted the following injury prevention issues in relation to traffic incidents:
  - In Queensland in 2003, the road fatality rate for 17-20 year olds was two-and-a-half times the fatality rate for the entire Queensland population. From 1998 to 2005, 3,978 people aged 16 to 21 years presented to a QISU participating Emergency Department following an injury on the road.
  - On average, 13 children die each year as passengers in motor vehicles on Queensland roads.
  - There are approx 6,000 Emergency Department presentations and almost 10 deaths each year from bicycle related injury in Queensland. Bicycle injuries make up a third of all transport related injuries presenting to hospital Emergency Departments. Nearly 75% of all bicycle related Emergency Department presentations were in children aged under 15 years.
  - An Australia wide review found 40% of all cyclists killed were unhelmeted and 76% of 15 to 19 year olds killed were unhelmeted.
  - Every year around 30 pedestrians under 15 years are killed on Australian roads. On Queensland roads alone, on average, 7 children are killed each year. Children under the age of 5 were most likely to be injured in a driveway or car park while children between 5 and 9 years were more likely to be injured on a roadway.
  - Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads data indicated that during 2008, 141 fatalities (or 43.0%) were drivers, 78 fatalities (or 23.8%) were passengers, 72 fatalities (or 22.0%) were motorcyclists, 30 fatalities (or 9.1%) were pedestrians and seven fatalities (or 2.1%) were bicyclists.
• Seniors injury - falls: In a recent report, research commissioned by the Queensland Injury Prevention Council found that while deaths from injury have declined, hospitalisation for many injuries has increased over the last decade, particularly falls-related injuries in older people. As the Queensland population continues to age the problem of falls in older persons is of increasing concern. QISU data, from participating hospitals, indicates that for the period 1998 to 2003, 5,640 persons aged 65 years and over presented to an Emergency Department in Queensland as the result of a fall. This comprises almost 60% of all presentations at this age. While the Springfield Lakes community has a lower than average population aged over 65 years, injury prevention strategies target those who will make up the older population in the next 20 years. A wide range of recreational options are provided within the community to encourage people in the 45 to 64 age group to keep or adopt an active lifestyle now. Regular exercise at a younger age will ensure that as the population ages injuries are prevented and, if they do occur, recuperation is easier and quicker.
• Improving data collection:There is currently a good level of indicative data upon which the Springfield Lakes community draws, and can continue to draw, for the development of relevant injury prevention and community safety strategies. There is, however, a lack of data specific to the local community. There is no hospital within the Springfield Lakes community. Springfield Lakes residents requiring emergency hospital treatment can access several Brisbane based hospitals or the Ipswich hospital. This presents some challenges for accurate injury data collection specific to presentations from Springfield Lakes. It is anticipated that the collaborative relationship developed between the Springfield Lakes Community and QISU will provide an opportunity for future discussions about developing the capacity for local data collection. 

Publications: (Scientific)

• Building Sustainable Social Capital in New Communities – Report to the Industry Partner, The University of Queensland and Delfin, 2007
• Springfield Lakes Water Safety Consortium – including the Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit, Queensland Safe Communities Support Centre, Ipswich City Council and Spring Lake Neighbourhood Watch – is undertaking a project funded by the Queensland Injury Prevention Council aimed at measuring community attitudes to swimming pool safety. The project is scheduled to publish its findings in mid 2010. 

Produced information material, pamphlets:

Some examples of materials produced within the Springfield Lakes community that have a significant injury prevention and community safety focus include:

• Residents’ Welcome Kit
• Community Updates featuring topics such as safe driving, safe handling and storage of poisons, preventing furniture crush, internet safety, Neighbourhood Watch, Christmas gift safety accessories, bicycle security, home safety audit, bushfire preparedness, holiday safety tips.
•  ‘In the Safety Spotlight’ Newsletter Child Safety Kit
• Child Safety Handbook jointly sponsored by Delfin Lend Lease and Queensland Police providing advice and tips on protecting children from injury and harm in a wide range of circumstances.

International commitments:

The Springfield Lakes community benefits at all stages of its development from the active participation of master planned community staff in Safe Community conferences and forums:

• 2008 International Safe Communities Conference, Christchurch
• 2008 Young people, crime and community safety: engagement and early intervention, Melbourne
• 2007 ‘The Essential Role of Industry in Promoting Safer Communities: Child-resistant packaging and preventing child poisoning’  forum facilitated by the Queensland Safe Communities Support Centre, Brisbane
• 2006 ‘Building Blocks’, Queensland Safe Communities Conference, Townsville
• 2005  Inaugural Queensland Safe Communities Conference, Brisbane
• 2004 Creating Child Friendly Cities Symposium, Brisbane

Staff 

Number: One
Position: Full-time community liaison position
Organization: Springfield Lakes Master Planned Community
Specific intersectoral leadership groups: Greater Springfield Community Inc. comprising representatives of (Local government, State government agencies, Local businesses, Community groups, Services clubs, Not for profit organisations, Churches)