Cost benefit analysis of Logan House activity centre development – Lives Lived Well

Lives Lived Well (LLW) is a not-for-profit organisation, with over 40 years of experience working to assist people impacted by drugs, alcohol and mental health issues. LLW operates 36 centres across Queensland and seven centres across New South Wales that offer a number of support services, including (but not limited to) residential rehabilitation, inpatient detox and rehabilitation day programs.

LLW engaged HMA to undertake a cost benefit analysis to support a grant submission under the Building Better Regions Fund for a new activity centre at their Logan House site in Queensland. The proposed activity centre included new individual counselling rooms, group rooms, welcoming family spaces and designated hot desks for visiting agencies. The proposed project would allow Logan House to provide high-quality, evidence-based and holistic patient care to clients undertaking AOD rehabilitation while also assisting them with reintegration into the community and ongoing aftercare. As part of the analysis, HMA calculated the economic costs and benefits associated with services to be undertaken at the new activity centre including:

• family and community reconnection
• transport
• financial counselling
• justice and legal matters
• securing safe housing, and
• access to training and employment opportunities.

HMA’s analysis included:

• Calculation of a net present value (NPV) for the proposed activity centre to establish its viability as an investment. This required determining the costs and monetising societal benefits over a 20-year timeframe to understand the value of the service.
• Development of a benefit to cost ratio (BCR) to provide the expected return on investment (ROI) for the activity centre.

The project commenced in January 2022 and was completed in February 2022.