Attachment F - Survey results
Key
Location
The overall results, and the networked centres results, show that a majority of centres (38% and 44% respectively) are located in outer regional areas. However, the stand-alone centres results show that the majority of centres (38%) are located in inner regional areas.
Population
The results indicate that the majority of OACs (34% stand-alone and 38% networked) are located in areas with populations between 1,000 and 9,999 (this is reflected in the overall results as 36%). This data appears to indicate that OACs may be more sustainable in areas with populations between 1,000 and 9,000, rather than in areas under 1,000 or over 9,000. Areas with populations of fewer than 1,000 may not have enough people in the community to utilise OACs, and areas with populations over 9,000 may have access to a broader range of ICT services and facilities i.e. TAFE.
User groups
The results from both the stand-alone and networked centres show that seniors are the most common demographic that use the centres, followed closely by youth. The results also show that those who are least likely to use the centres are people from non-English speaking backgrounds, followed by the disabled.
State or regional networks
A majority of networked centres (76%) are part of state networks, rather than regional networks. These results appear to indicate that state networked centres may be more sustainable than regionally networked centres.
Number of years in operation
A majority of OACs (39%) have been operational for more than five years. The networked centres results also show that a majority of centres (46%) have been operational for more than five years. However, the stand-alone centres results show that the majority of centres (38%) have only been operational for less than three years. These results suggest that the sustainability of the stand-alone centres is not as robust as those that are networked.
Hours of operation
Both the stand-alone and the networked centres results show that a majority of centres (38% and 35% respectively) are open between 30 and 40 hours per week (this is reflected in the overall results as 36%).
Collocation
A majority of centres (62%) are collocated and mostly collocated with community centres. The stand-alone centres results show that a majority of these centres (52%) are not collocated. For those that are collocated, they are mostly collocated with community centres. The networked centres results indicate that a majority of these centres (72%) are collocated, mostly with schools, followed by community centres. The large number of Victorian OACs that are collocated with schools may have affected the networked centres results.
Collocation is an alternative solution for OACs to reduce costs and increase their visibility to potential users. Both of these factors may assist the sustainability of OACs.
Number of computers
The results show that a majority of centres (42%) have one to five computers. The stand-alone centres results also indicate that a majority of centres (52%) have one to five computers. The networked centres results show that an equal majority of centres (36%) have either one to five computers or six to ten computers. The majority of OACs have remained small organisations, with only one to five computers. This data may indicate that remaining small, and within budget, may be a success factor for sustainability.
Internet access
The results from both the stand-alone and networked centres show that the majority of OACs (69% and 73% respectively) charge a fee for Internet access (this is reflected in the overall results as 71%). Revenue generated by charging a fee for Internet access may contribute to income and thus sustainability.
Funding
A majority of the centres receive funding from only one source, which is government funding. However, the second largest majority of centres receive funding from commercial operations, which is equalled with centres that do not receive any funding at all. The data indicates that although a majority of stand-alone centres do not receive any funding, many do receive government funding. The networked centres results show that most of the centres receive funding from only one source, which is government funding.
These results may indicate that networked OACs may be remaining sustainable because most of them are accessing government funding, and that stand-alone centres may not be remaining sustainable because most of them are not receiving any funding.
Paid staff
The majority of OACs (56% stand-alone and 35% networked) hire only one paid staff member (this is reflected in the overall results as 41%). However, the networked centres results are closely followed by 34% of centres that hire more than five paid staff members.
The majority of centres employ paid staff. However, as the majority only employ one staff member it is crucial that this employee is a ‘champion’ for the sustainability of the centre. Centres that only employ one staff member (especially the stand-alone centres that do not have a central support unit) will also be affected by the level of skills, experience, education and training, and entrepreneurship of the employee to manage centres efficiently and effectively. It is essential that they be innovative and pro-active.
Volunteers
The the majority of centres (62% stand-alone and 71% networked) utilise volunteer assistance (this is reflected in the overall results as 67%). The results from both the stand-alone and networked centres also indicate that the majority of centres (42% and 52% respectively) have more than five volunteers (this is reflected in the overall results as 48%).
Volunteer hours
The majority of volunteers (22%) assist the centres between one and five hours per week. The networked centres results also show that the majority of volunteers (30%) assist the centres between one and five hours per week. However, the stand-alone centres results indicate that a majority of volunteers (28%) assist the centres between ten and twenty hours per week. Thus stand-alone centres rely on volunteer assistance more than networked centres.
Training
The majority of OACs (65% standalone and 92% networked) provide training (this is reflected in the overall results as 81%). The results from both the stand-alone and networked centres (63% and 67% respectively) also show that the majority of OACs receive subsidies for the provision of training (this is reflected in the overall results as 66%). The results from both the stand-alone and networked centres (41% and 61% respectively) also indicate that the majority of training is provided for both free and for a fee (this is reflected in the overall results as 54%). Income generated through the provision of training and receipt of subsidies for training may contribute to the sustainability of OACs.
Business services
The results from both the stand-alone and networked centres show that the majority of OACs (85% and 61% respectively) offer less than 10 business services (this is reflected in the overall results as 71%). These results indicate that, although OACs often provide some business services, they do not generally provide a large or competitive range of business services. However, it is recognised that it may not be appropriate for government funded OACs to enter into direct competition with other private sector businesses that offer these services.
Government services
The majority of OACs (69% stand-alone and 56% networked) are not government service delivery agents (this is reflected in the overall results as 61%). These results indicate that OACs may not be accessing the fee-for-service for delivery of government services.
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