In January of 2022 we surveyed our membership to get a better understanding of what PVV can improve on.
Out of the 931 survey responses we received…
79.4% would find the support of someone who used to be in the job helpful
50.6% were not aware veterans and their partners are eligible for free counselling through Victoria Police
58.1% were not aware you can still access 24/7 crisis support through Police Wellbeing Services
62.8% engage with PVV through email, 30% through Facebook and remaining responders engage through our forums or LinkedIn
267 responders heard about us through social media, 239 were recommended by a friend, and remaining responders through social groups or search engines
Member satisfaction
51% overall are satisfied PVV is meeting the needs of veterans – with half of that figure very satisfied. 7% were dissatisfied while the balance are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
Below is how likely out of 10 our members would recommend our organisation to others.
An important observation – funding
Something important we noticed when reading the responses was how our members understand PVV’s funding.
Though the majority of our members are aware PVV relies on public donations, corporate funding, trusts and payroll subscriptions, there were a number of responses that believe PVV is funded by the government.
Though government funding is a goal for PVV, it’s not something we currently have access to. With government funding, we’ll be able to expand our team and improve our services; something our small team is working hard on.
When we asked our members which of the following organisations provide financial support to PVV, we were again surprised by the results:
Victoria Police is the only organisation to provide financial support to PVV through the use of office space and our social worker role. No other organisation listed offers support to PVV.
A few themes we noticed…
There were quite a few recurring themes we noticed when reading short-answer responses, which we’ve taken on board. For the 931 of you who responded, some common feedback we recieved included:
– Frustration regarding the Benefits account (ease of use, level of discount)
– Complaints toward Victoria Police culture
– Requiring PVV’s services beyond Victoria
– Financial support and advice
– Need for legal advice
Feedback
Every piece of feedback we recieve goes toward a better PVV.
It’s still early days for us, but we’re confident our organisation is heading in the right direction, in terms of the support and services we can offer. This feedback is important because it helps adjust that direction and build for a sustainable, relevant and successful organisation that supports all veterans and their families.
2 Comments
It would seem the survey was all about you and not the veterans.
You’re absolutely correct Lex. The intent of this particular survey was to understand our organisation better and how our veteran community engage with us. It’s extremely important for us to know how we are tracking with our veterans and identify opportunities to develop the organisation and benefit the veteran community.
It would appear whatever direction we take we receive constructive feedback and some not so constructive. But we’re happy with that. We’d prefer to know than fly blind.
No doubt there will be a survey in the future that is focussed on our veterans.