Premier Jay Weatherill will be guest of honour on Monday when he officially opens the Australian Centre for Community Services Research (ACCSR).

The centre, which is a part of the School of Social and Policy Studies, is a collaboration between Flinders University and AnglicareSA.

It focuses on research into social equity, social inclusion and social service, and will promote best practice in community services and service to vulnerable community members.

Flinders University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Barber, said ACCSR is an “excellent example of the Flinders-AnglicareSA partnership that has collaborated in the community and research space”.

AnglicareSA chief executive and ACCSR chairman The Reverend Peter Sandeman said the findings from the centre would have far-reaching impacts.

“It will benefit the whole community in ensuring all are able to contribute to and benefit from the economic and social development of our state,” The Reverend Sandeman said.

ACCSR Director, Dr Ian Goodwin-Smith, said it would deliver research and learning outcomes with a broad range of applications.

“ACCSR will contribute to Flinders’ community engagement activities and its community impact, whilst also contributing to the ongoing evolution of a culture of excellence within the community sector,” Dr Goodwin-Smith said.

Guests at the launch, at Flinders University, Victoria Square, will include The Reverend Peter Sandeman, CEO of AnglicareSA, which is the principle and founding partner of ACCSR, and Flinders University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Barber.

Speakers include Professor Daryle Rigney, Dean, Indigenous Strategy and Engagement, Flinders University; Mr Paul Madden, CEO, Wyatt Trust; Dr Lorna Hallahan, Senior Lecturer Chair, Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee at Flinders University, and the Reverend Dr Lynn Arnold, Deacon of St Peter’s Cathedral, Adelaide.

The centre, which is funded jointly by Flinders University, partner organisations and research grants and consultancies, is governed by a board of management and advised by a research advisory committee.

Its agenda is driven by and for community sector partners, on behalf of their clients and the communities within which they work.

The centre’s draft objectives are to produce research that:

• enables a voice for communities and a case for social change
• enables leadership in social service
• enables an understanding of the effects of social service interventions and the appropriateness of those services.