Our Research Projects
By teaming up with universities and research groups, Anglicare WA studies important issues like housing stress, family violence, mental health, and poverty.
These research projects help shine a light on the struggles many Western Australians face and guide the services Anglicare WA provides.
For example, our Rental Affordability Snapshot shows how hard it is for low-income families to find a safe and affordable place to live.
Through this work, Anglicare WA aims to create lasting change and build a fairer, more supportive society for everyone.
Leading the Way
Anglicare WA is dedicated to driving positive outcomes for individuals, families, and communities across Western Australia.
Our vision is to create a just and fair society where everyone can thrive. This commitment is reflected in our partnerships with academics and research institutes, which enable us to engage in high-quality research that informs our service delivery and contributes to policy solutions.
By collaborating with leading researchers and institutions, we ensure that our services are informed by the latest evidence and best practices. This research helps us to develop innovative solutions and contribute to policy changes that address the root causes of disadvantage.
.png?language=en)
The Recovery Framework
We aim to align our practice, service delivery, and overall organisational culture with the principles of recovery. This Framework applies to and guides all staff, volunteers, students, leaders, and the Board in how to embed recovery-oriented practices through all the work we do.
The Anglicare WA Recovery Framework is a comprehensive guide designed to embed recovery-oriented practices across all levels of the organisation. It aligns with the National Framework for Recovery-Oriented Mental Health Services and is informed by both research and practical experience.
What is the Recovery Framework for?
- Language and Culture of Hope and Optimism: We create spaces where people feel seen, valued, important, welcome, and safe to access our services.
- Holistic and Person-Centred: We always place the person at the centre of the support they are offered. We consider the whole person and their context and understand that a person and their identity go beyond their psychosocial context and any challenges they may be experiencing.
- Responsive to Diversity: Our services are inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from immigrant and refugee backgrounds, people of all gender identities, sexualities, ages, cultures, and spiritualities, and people of all diversity.
- Support Personal Recovery through Self-Determination and Autonomy: We are clear about our role in offering evidence-based support. We believe people have the capacity to recover, reclaim, and transform their lives and trust they are capable of autonomy and self-determination.
- Focusing on Strengths and Working Collaboratively Alongside People: We believe in people’s strengths and resilience and support this by working collaboratively and alongside them, and in building their community of care.
Workforce Development: Anglicare WA is committed to building the skills and capacity of its workforce to deliver recovery-oriented and trauma-informed services. This includes ongoing training and professional development, informed by the latest research and best practices.
Lived Experience Workforces: The organisation values and grows its lived experience workforces, recognizing the unique insights and contributions of individuals with personal experience of recovery. This practice is supported by research showing the positive impact of peer support and lived experience roles in mental health services.
Community Partnerships and Advocacy: Anglicare WA partners with communities and advocates for social inclusion and the social determinants of health. This approach is informed by research on the importance of community engagement and advocacy in addressing structural issues that impact mental health and wellbeing.
Person-Centred and Holistic Approach: Anglicare WA places individuals at the centre of their care, considering their whole context and identity beyond any diagnosis or challenges. This practice is informed by research that shows the effectiveness of holistic, person-centred care in promoting recovery.
Language and Culture of Hope and Optimism: The framework fosters a culture of hope and optimism, creating spaces where people feel valued and safe. This practice is based on research indicating that positive environments and supportive relationships are crucial for recovery.
Responsive to Diversity: Services are inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of all individuals, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, immigrants, and people of all gender identities and sexualities. This inclusivity is supported by research showing that culturally sensitive and inclusive practices improve outcomes for diverse populations.
Support for Self-Determination and Autonomy: Anglicare WA supports individuals in making their own decisions and steering their recovery journey. This practice is grounded in research that highlights the importance of autonomy and self-determination in recovery.
Strengths-Based and Collaborative: The framework emphasizes working collaboratively with individuals, focusing on their strengths and resilience. Research supports this approach, showing that recognizing and building on strengths leads to better recovery outcomes.
- Foundations in Lived Experience: The concept of recovery-oriented practices originates from the consumer movement, which emphasized the need for hope and dignity in treating people with mental health issues. This movement highlighted the importance of involving people with lived experience in planning their own care.
- National Framework Alignment: The Recovery Framework at Anglicare WA aligns with the National Framework for Recovery-Oriented Mental Health Services, which includes practice domains and key capabilities. This alignment ensures that the practices are evidence-based and adhere to national standards.
- Trauma-Informed Practices: The framework incorporates trauma-informed principles, recognizing the impact of trauma on individuals and integrating this understanding into service delivery. This approach is supported by research on the effects of trauma and the importance of creating safe, supportive environments for recovery.
Young Women's Voices
Young Women's Voices (YWV) aims to document young women’s experiences of the youth justice ecosystem across Australia. The project will use an innovative ‘sensemaker’ methodology, involving young women in co-designing the study and interpreting the results.
Anglicare WA is partnering with Anglicare affiliates across the country and researchers from Queensland University of Technology and University of South Australia to improve service delivery for girls through Young Women’s Voices, a three-year project funded by the Australian Research Council. Young women’s contact with the justice system in Australia and internationally has shown significant increases in recent years, but the system is largely designed for young male offenders.
Young women are part of the project every step of the way, from inclusion on the steering group through to contributing to the data analysis. Their voices will help to identify strengths and weaknesses in the justice and human services systems as they experience them. The project aims to discover how the youth justice system, and human services such as child protection, mental health and education that have touchpoints with justice, could be improved to generate better outcomes for young women
.png?language=en)
Life Course Centre
The Life Course Centre is a national research centre investigating the ways in which deep and persistent disadvantage endures within families and across generations.
Anglicare WA is a partner in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (Life Course Centre) investigating the ways in which deep and persistent disadvantage endures within families and across generations. The Life Course Centre generates evidence-based research to develop new knowledge, technology, and practices to benefit those living in, or at risk of, disadvantage.
Bringing together a multi-disciplinary network of researchers and partners throughout Australia and internationally with a shared focus on addressing entrenched disadvantage, the Life Course Centre aims to:
- Identify the drivers of deep and persistent disadvantage
- Develop and trial new solutions in policy and practice
- Build capacity across academic, government, and non-government organisations
- Develop data and technical infrastructure and innovation
- De-stigmatize disadvantage
Gaining Insights to Support our WA Community
Joint Anglicare WA and WA Association for Mental Health Poverty and Mental Health: Reducing Systemic Harm to Improve Wellbeing which examines the link between mental health and poverty and proposes ways to achieve economic and social justice.
The WA Housing Future Fund Snapshot , the proposed WA Housing Future Fund model would set aside $1 billion of the state’s surplus in perpetuity, with annual returns on the fund forming a long-term funding pipeline for new social and affordable housing supply. We have this moment in time to think beyond the current government investments in social housing and create a long-term mechanism to ensure supply of social and affordable housing for the benefit of the Western Australian community well into the future.
2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot is this year's annual report which shows how the WA rental market is changing and the implications for Western Australians living on low incomes.
Anglicare Australia report examining what the labour market is like for those who lack qualifications, experience, or other employment barriers.
Joint Anglicare WA and Ngala paper which highlights the impact of poverty on child development and proposes policy and practice solutions. Reducing Poverty and Improving Child Development in WA - Snapshot
In 2018, 100 Families WA, a collaborative action research project made up of academics, community service organisations and people with lived experience, came together to better understand the issue of entrenched disadvantage as experienced by families living in Perth, Western Australia.
Over 2.5 years, 400 families took part in data collection (see graphic for details) shared their lived experience of living in long term disadvantage and in terms of the support they had/were receiving, what works, what doesn’t, and what could work.
100 Families WA welcomes the downloading and responsible use on all the resources found on this website. This includes all findings attained through the generous participation of families. Please be sure to reference 100 Families WA appropriately on any resources used.
100 Families WA resources are not to be used in any other way aside from those that have direct or indirect benefit to families who are experiencing disadvantage.
A UWA retrospective cohort study which uses police and health records to identify the mental health outcomes for children exposed to DFV in Western Australia.
