annual report · web viewtelehealth is also allowing some customers to optimise their ndis funds...
TRANSCRIPT
ANNUAL REPORT
2019/2020
CONTENTS
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR AND THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.................12
COVID-19 Pandemic response................................................................................13
STRATEGIC PLAN......................................................................................................16
2019/2020 YEAR IN REVIEW......................................................................................17
Yooralla’s response to COVID-19.............................................................................19
Yooralla timeline 2019/2020.......................................................................................24
SERVICES...................................................................................................................28
MARKETS....................................................................................................................42
REPUTATION..............................................................................................................45
TALENT....................................................................................................................... 50
FUNDRAISING AND PHILANTHROPY.......................................................................64
FINANCIALS................................................................................................................70
STATUTORY STATEMENTS......................................................................................75
Yooralla’s values are at the centre of everything we do for our customers, their families, and their support network.
At Yooralla we are:
Customer focused in our service, and creative in our solutions. Courageous in speaking up and determined in facing challenges. Authentic in our relationships, and honest in our conduct. Accountable in all our work, and responsible for our actions. Respectful of your choices and embracing of diversity. Passionate about our work and driven by our vision and values
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR AND THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
2020 has been a year when the Yooralla community has proven to be adaptable, resilient, innovative and responsive to a rapidly changing environment.
We are grateful to customers and their families for their input into and support of the decisions that were made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employees readily implemented all requirements while maintaining Yooralla’s commitment to quality and continuous improvement.
The changing times have demanded and received dedication in the face of adversity and for this, our gratitude knows no bounds.
Board Director update
During the year, two Board Directors resigned from the Yooralla Board:
Ms Barbara Alexander AO served on the Board for a period of six years, from April 2013. A long-standing supporter of disability rights, both personally and as a former Mayor of Benalla, she helped to found the Benalla Support Group for Children with Special Needs and held roles on school council, Ballandella (day service), the Benalla and District Hospital and local government. Barbara was President of the Victorian peak body representing families and children, the Association of Children with Disabilities and she also held roles on state and national advisory committees on disability. Barbara was a member of the Yooralla Finance and Infrastructure Committee and the Yooralla Service Delivery and Quality Committee
Dr Michael Walsh served on the Board for one and a half years, from February 2019. Michael was, most recently, Chief Executive Officer of Cabrini Health and had several years’ experience in health administration, public administration and clinical governance in Victoria, Western Australia, the UK and the Middle East. Michael chaired the Yooralla Quality and Service Delivery Committee and the Yooralla Community Participation Advisory Committee. Dr Walsh resigned to take up the position of Chief Executive Officer, John Hopkins Aramco Healthcare in Saudi Arabia.We thank Barbara and Michael for their valuable contributions.
4
Mr John Brown has been appointed to one of the casual vacancies on the Board. John is an experienced senior executive with over 25 years’ experience in the health and not-for-profit sector. John is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Australian Red Cross Lifeblood and prior to that he was the Chief Financial Officer of the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. John holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and is a CPA and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. John was a Board member of an inner Melbourne disability service up until 2019.
COVID-19 Pandemic response
The year has been one in which Yooralla has concentrated on minimising the risk of customers and staff becoming infected by the COVID-19 virus. This unfortunately necessitated the temporary suspension of some services.
A Pandemic Response Plan was developed, in March 2020, and implemented. A specific Outbreak Management Plan was also developed. Yooralla communicated with customers, families and employees on a regular basis. Feedback is being sought from both customers and employees about their impressions of the support that was provided.
As part of our initiatives to procure adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) we were very fortunate to receive the support of members in the community who volunteered to make gowns for the support workers. We are very grateful to:
Jane Ashmore Jill Baker Linda Buis Gayle Considine Annie Cooper Suzanne Dowling Juliette Edwards Linda Haller Anita Lynch Jenny Lyndon Rosie McLean Penny Paton Mayrenda Pool Lynne Ross Marguerite Russell Bev Scott
5
Kathie Simmonds Terry Spottiswood Friends of Perpetual – Joanne Taylor, Gary Douglas, Elizabeth Debono, Joanna
Kim, Hannah and Christopher Wong, Jackie Cooper.
Strategic plan
The term of Yooralla’s strategic plan, Smart Choices Agenda 2020, concludes at the end of the year. A process of consultation has commenced to identify the strategies for the future, including an analysis of the initiatives that were implemented as part of Yooralla’s response to the pandemic.
Disability Royal Commission
Yooralla made a submission to the Disability Royal Commission, focusing on the program of reform that had occurred since the incidents of abuse between 2011 and 2014.
Yooralla’s CEO was called to be a witness at the December 2019 hearing, the focus of which was the experience of living in a group home for people with disability.
Re-registration/re-certification audits
In July 2019, Yooralla received notification that its registration under the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) had been transferred to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. This interim measure was put into place until such time as Yooralla was able to successfully complete an audit under the newly established NDIS Practice Standards.
The audit was to be a three staged process: a self-assessment, a Stage 1 audit which would be a review of Yooralla’s policies and procedures and a Stage 2 audit where the implementation of all processes would be reviewed, against the NDIS Practice Standards.
Yooralla successfully completed the first two stages of the audit between February and June 2020. The third stage will occur in September 2020.
6
In December 2019, Yooralla’s Business Enterprises were successfully audited under the National Disability Standards.
Community engagement and consultation
Yooralla has, once more, appreciated the support it received from the members of the Yooralla Community Partnership Advisory Committee. Matters that were discussed during the year included:
Disability Royal Commission NDIS Practice Standards and registration requirements internet services in residential settings the use of wristbands and/or lanyards for customer outings plan and self-managed customers SDA Residency Agreements occupational violence policy and posters Restorative Justice project supported employment funding changes facilitated workshop regarding Yooralla’s COVID-19 responses Carers App research project.
Financial results
The result of the 2019/2020 year was a surplus of $3.9 million. Details are provided in the Annual Financial Report.
Expressions of gratitude
The Board wishes to thank all employees and volunteers for their exceptional dedication in a year of change and uncertainty.
7
STRATEGIC PLAN
Yooralla’s five-year Strategic Plan outlines Yooralla’s approach and strategic priorities from 2014 to 2020.
The plan was developed in 2014 to prepare Yooralla’s individualised and customer responsive services for the NDIS. It was reviewed and refreshed by the Board in 2017.
Yooralla’s new strategic plan will be published in the latter half of 2020.
Smart Choices Agenda 2020OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
ServicesYooralla will focus on improved service delivery based on evidence-based outcomes and people with disability will inform the development of new services. We will build digital solutions to create more inclusive customer experiences and ensure our services are efficient and sustainable.
Markets Yooralla will focus on growing services in new and existing markets. We will create partnerships to improve outcomes for customers and build our productivity in a more competitive market.
Access Yooralla will ensure customers can easily connect with and use Yooralla services. We will provide transparency and offer flexibility to move in and out of services. We will build one central point of access and provide outstanding customer service.
Reputation Yooralla will build its brand in the market and leverage our experience to influence community opinion, disability policy and decisions that support our vision. We will invest in research and development to build inclusive practices, improve equality and ensure human rights are upheld.
Talent Yooralla will build an engaged, customer focused and responsive workforce who are educated, skilled, inspired and who demonstrate our Yooralla values. We will focus on
8
attracting, developing and retaining the best people and invest in developing our future leaders.
9
2019/2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
Our Customers: We supported 2,969 customers which included:480 new customers 275 non-NDIS customers
Our Employees: Our workforce had 1,902 people including1,731 Employees171 Supported employees
15,046 training courses were completed by our employees including:11,181 course online3,228 courses face-to-face
Yooralla Catering:476 events catered until March 2020
Our Donors:$105,00 was raised by 900 donors for our positive behaviour support program.$253,000 was raised by 1,316 donors in support of our 2020–2023 Research Agenda.
NDIS Resources:1,962 Yooralla NDIS guides were downloaded by our community including:690 downloads of the guide on implementing your NDIS plan245 downloads of the guide for preparing for your next NDIS plan648 downloads of the guide to the NDIS for your child158 downloads of the guide to housing in the NDIS
133 one-on-one NDIS discussions were held with people with disability and their carers620 people attended the Yooralla 2019 Annual General Meeting and Big Day Out
10
Our Volunteers:Before COVID-19 8,993 volunteering hours were completed over 37 weeksThat’s 243 volunteering hours every week
Our Volunteers: Our services reached customers across 65 local government areas 749 customers used our Support Coordination services to live more independently 1,660 customers used our Allied Health services and specialist therapy supports 1 new Specialist Disability Accommodation site was established and
8 accommodation units were upgraded New online program Together@Yooralla was launched
11
Yooralla’s response to COVID-19
The Support Coordination service continued to experience strong year-on-year growth, supporting participants to understand and implement their National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) plans to successfully meet their NDIS goals.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been a significant challenge for Yooralla as it has been for all members across our community. Whilst Yooralla was well prepared and had robust structures in place to respond to and manage an emergency such as COVID-19, the impacts have been far reaching on our customers, their families and our staff.
Yooralla’s Executive team had been closely monitoring the global situation since the first official reports in early 2020, and Yooralla’s Emergency team was enacted in early February before the State of Emergency was declared in Victoria on 16 March 2020. Yooralla’s pre-existing Pandemic Response Action Plan was adjusted to respond to the specifics of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subsequently the Emergency team has executed a comprehensive response to the pandemic to safeguard our employees and customers, in line with Government advice and guidelines.
Yooralla’s focus through this time has been keeping our employees, customers and their families supported and informed on the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation and our response to it.
Daily meetings of the Executive Team to monitor the situation and adjust Yooralla’s Pandemic Response Action Plan accordingly.
Continuously reviewing, developing and implementing guidelines, policies and procedures across all services, to keep our community safe, while still delivering services where possible, given the Government guidelines.
Developing a COVID-19 Outbreak Management Plan in the event that any employee or customer became infected with COVID-19.
Developing a 24-Hour Management Response Plan to be enacted as soon as a positive case is confirmed.
Establishing clear isolation protocols.
12
Setting up, as a contingency measure, a COVID-19 isolation facility where customers who test positive but do not require hospitalisation could safely isolate until they recover. The house was set up with the necessary equipment, and a contingency staff roster in place.
Implementing DHHS’s guidance for COVID-19 planning in Yooralla’s Community Services sector.
Working with Austin Health’s statewide respiratory and spinal services regarding contingency planning for VASS. Austin Health provided precautionary COVID-19 test screening onsite at VASS, with no COVID-19 positive results recorded.
Temporarily closing some services where physical distancing could not be practiced, including Community Hubs, Recreation, Supported Employment within the Business Enterprises and opportunity shops. Residential services, Support Coordination and Kindergarten Inclusion continued to operate with appropriate COVID-19 safety arrangements.
Creating a central PPE supply unit at Footscray, from where supplies were distributed to all Yooralla locations as required.
In addition to the above, in accordance with the directions of the Victorian and Federal Governments, the following precautionary measures were put in place at all services:
Screening of all staff and visitors prior to entry. Minimising the number of visitors per customer and shortening visitation periods at
all services, in line with Government advice. Monitoring and recording customer temperatures twice daily. Staff temperature checks across all services and offices upon entry /
commencement of shift. Reducing the number of non-essential external workers attending the services. Reducing the number of respite beds available to limit the sharing of bathroom
facilities and promote appropriate physical distancing.
Other practical measures implemented, included:
Working from home arrangements where appropriate. Restrictions to visitor access in Residential Accommodation. Increased cleaning requirements for all services, particularly Residential
Accommodation. Provision of masks and PPE where appropriate. Engaging volunteers to make PPE for staff.
13
iPads distribution to residential and respite houses to enable video medical consultations.
Expanding Yooralla’s annual influenza vaccination program to include customers’ immediate vaccination families to better equip our community for the pandemic.
Online hand hygiene training for all employees.
Technological implications of Yooralla’s COVID-19 response
Last financial year was one of innovation and growth for the Community Services Division.
The transition of office staff to working from home arrangements meant:
Increased network bandwidth requirements. Increased software licencing requirements. Increased infrastructure capacity requirements. Increased security requirements.
This transition of working arrangements was achieved during the second half of March.
In addition, the impact of COVID-19 at residential sites meant new requirements for devices and internet access to facilitate online activity and communications.
Additional iPads were deployed at residential sites to facilitate telehealth, family contact and participation in activities such as
Together@Yooralla. Additional network capacity and phone data was provided to support this enhanced online access.
People and Culture
Induction is a critical component of Yooralla’s onboarding experience to ensure service quality is at the highest level possible, with safety of customers and staff at the forefront of how employees operate.
During the pandemic, the extensive face-to-face induction program shifted online. Online courses were created to match the face-to-face program, to ensure the same content was provided to new starters.
14
Yooralla supported employees to access the JobKeeper program, which has been of positive benefit to many employees across the organisation, while there has been a reduction in services due to the pandemic.
Yooralla has also increased access to its Employee Assistance Program in acknowledgement of the potential for increased anxiety within an environment impacted by the pandemic.
Allied Services and Wellbeing
In response to COVID-19 restrictions, Yooralla’s Allied Services and Wellbeing team shifted most of its face-to-face services to online delivery.
Therapists were upskilled in the use of telehealth and developed a range of resources to support this mode of service delivery.
Many customers have chosen to continue their services via telehealth and it is likely that these services will continue to be offered as an option in the future. Essential supports that are not able to be delivered via telehealth have continued to be offered as a face-to face service.
Yooralla volunteers use sewing skills to help minimise risk for customers and staff
Volunteers joined forces and utilised their sewing skills to tackle the global shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, sewing gowns for Yooralla employees.
Yooralla provided the volunteers with kits containing everything needed to make a gown. The washable, cloth gowns are used by Yooralla’s frontline workers at residential accommodation services, and when supporting customers at their own homes.
One of the volunteers, Anita Lynch, whose daughter has been supported by Yooralla for more than 40 years since she was a pre-schooler, said it was an easy decision for her to volunteer for the project.
15
Anita hopes that the gown-making initiative helped to ease anxiety for customers’ families, knowing that their family members will be better protected.
“I’m a practical sort of person and for me it was about doing positive, worthwhile things to help the situation. It was also my way of saying thank you to Yooralla for so many years of support,” she said.
Another volunteer, Marguerite Russell, has worked as a nurse looking after people with chronic illness, and having a brother with a disability, she said she understood the critical importance of PPE particularly during a pandemic.
“People with disability face increased risk, particularly those with underlying chronic health conditions and high support needs. PPE addresses two things: it protects staff, customers and their loved ones, and it also ensures continuity of service – if staff are protected, they can keep working and supporting customers,” she said.
Lynne Ross, whose sister has been a disability support worker for many years, said she was also delighted to volunteer, as Yooralla was a big part of her childhood.
Lynne makes gowns for Yooralla as part of her local sewing club.
“When I was a little girl, my sister and I used to make legacy buttons to help raise money for Yooralla. The disability sector has always been important to our family. We found a way to do our part to help in this crisis. It may be a small contribution, but it makes you feel great to be doing something to help,” she said.
Dr Sherene Devanesen, Chief Executive Officer of Yooralla, said the entire Yooralla community was “eternally grateful to all the wonderful volunteers” who were helping address such an important issue.
“Our frontline staff, due to the nature of the work they do, cannot observe physical distancing so the full PPE is important, particularly for customers who exhibit symptoms, while they’re waiting for the results of their COVID-19 test.
“This initiative has been about minimising the risk, and keeping our customer, staff and the community safe during the pandemic,” said Dr Devanesen.
16
Yooralla timeline 2019/2020
2019
July 1st - Yooralla launches Enhanced Healthy Eating Program July 30th - Customer service and leadership forum – what makes a service great
for customers July 31st - Sunshine office July 31st - Mitcham office opens July 1st - First RMIT undergraduate nursing student placement program rotation
completed at VASS August 21st - Yooralla wins two 2019 Victorian Disability Awards September 16th - Enhanced residential wireless capability at five pilot sites September 25th - Early Career Professionals Program commenced for new Allied
Health Professionals October 8th - eLearning system upgraded to SAP’s Litmos Learning Management
System October 12th - Members of the Global Tracheostomy Collaborative tour VASS and
attend a morning tea with residents November 25th - Annual General Meeting and Big Day Out December 2nd - Kronos Rostering system goes live at five pilot sites December 4th - Yooralla appears as witness at Disability Royal Commission December 9th - Yooralla successfully completes NSDS Surveillance Audit December 30th - Yooralla Catering nominated by Swinburne University as a
preferred social enterprise catering business
2020
January 10th - Residential customers safely evacuated from Wodonga due to nearby grassfire
January 20th - Wangaratta Community Hub and YMCA launch new All Ability Program
January 14th - Broadmeadows Community Hub opened February 12th - Yooralla’s 102nd Birthday February 20th - Yooralla commences re-registration process with NDIS March 2nd - Wattletree Grove residence formally opens March 2nd - Yooralla’s Emergency Management team invoked March 12th - First COVID-19 pandemic planning meeting
17
March 16th - State of Emergency declared March 18th - Community Hubs are temporarily closed March 20th - Yooralla’s Business Enterprises temporarily close March 23th - Allied Services and Wellbeing commenced providing telehealth
services March 24th - Central PPE supply unit established in Footscray April 1st - Visitor safety restrictions commence at Yooralla residences April 14th - Yooralla commences use of Health Passports among residents to
streamline communication of support needs when attending hospitals. April 15th - Together@Yooralla online social and learning program launched April 24th - Yooralla expands free influenza vaccines to include customers’
families May 4th - Yooralla volunteers join forces to make PPE for employees May 11th - Stage 1 NDIS Practice Standards Desktop Audit successfully
completed
Bringing the Yooralla community together despite social distancing challenges
During the COVID-19 pandemic Yooralla established Together@Yooralla, a new online program to bring customers together and support them to learn new skills, engage in fun activities and make social connections – without leaving their homes.
Customers can continue learning and interacting with others through a range of online programs including literacy skills, communication, music and dance, and resources that are accessed from home via smart phones, iPads and televisions through Chromecast.
Together@Yooralla has gone from strength-to-strength since its inception in mid-March and was extended to participants from all Community Hubs, after initially being established for Residential and Respite customers to ensure they remained connected with social and learning opportunities during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Yooralla has received positive feedback from customers and their families, not just about the social connection that Together@Yooralla provides, but also about the range of materials and the quality of the discussions at the sessions.
18
Esta, mother of Learning Hub student Ashley, said she’s noticed the program has helped her son get back into a new routine, which is helping him cope during a stressful time.
“He is still missing going to the library and his social groups, but going online and seeing fellow students has definitely helped Ashley and gives him a purpose to get organised in the morning ready for the first session,” she said.
Esta said she is also enjoyed getting an insight into Ashley’s classes. “It’s so rewarding for me to hear him participating in discussions and answering questions when he is asked,” she said.
Following the success of the program for Community Hubs, Together@Yooralla was expanded further to include an employment skills focus, so Supported Employees at Yooralla’s Business Enterprises could stay engaged online while our Business Enterprises are temporarily closed.
The sessions have already been a great success, with the feedback saying Supported Employees “had a great time” and were “over the moon to be able to see their friends again”.
Parents of Supported Employees were also pleased with the sessions, saying how happy they were that their children are connecting with their colleagues.
One customer also reported that, “the classes have been fun and I like learning in small groups as it is easier to understand.”
Elaine Krassas, Executive Director, Community Services, said Together@Yooralla “has helped prevent that sense of isolation that is caused by the restrictions of safeguarding against COVID-19. It has enabled learning to continue, which is integral to continuing the development of skills,” she said.
“Families have expressed how the program has been important in helping maintain routines and structures for participants. Some have had to learn how to use new technology and media. As a result, many are now more confident in using technology on their own,” Ms Krassas said.
Ms Krassas said the program is also supporting some customers to develop their social skills. “It has been observed by both customer families and Yooralla staff, that some
19
customers who were quiet and who would tend not to answer questions at face-to-face sessions are more willing to speak and engage verbally online,” she said.
“Those who have enjoyed the programs offered at our Learning Hubs have also become open to new possibilities for learning,” Ms Krassas said.
The future of the Together@Yooralla program will be shaped by feedback from participants, but Yooralla envisages that the program will remain as a pathway for customers to achieve their goals in a community setting (alongside attendance at day and face-to-face programs) post-COVID-19. This gives people with disability more choice over how they learn, interact, socialise, develop skills and enjoy themselves.
20
SERVICES
Yooralla will focus on improved service delivery based on evidence-based outcomes and people with disability will inform the development of new services. We will build digital solutions to create more inclusive customer experiences and ensure our services are efficient and sustainable.
Community Services
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic causing disruptions to Community Services, the Division remained focused on Yooralla’s strategic priorities, celebrating many achievements in the 2019/20 financial year.
The Support Coordination Service continued to experience strong year-on-year growth, supporting participants to understand and implement their NDIS plans to successfully meet their NDIS goals. At the end of 2019, the team had supported 675 NDIS participants – an increase of almost 20% from the same period in the previous year. Enhanced communication materials, including Easy English translations, were facilitated by the team to ensure that participants were supported to understand all funded support options and the benefits of choosing a registered provider.
Yooralla’s Kindergarten Inclusion Support (KIS) program, which is funded by the Department of Education and Training (DET), also continued to experience strong growth across the South Eastern Metropolitan Region with applications for support approved by DET Regional Advisory Group panels exceeding targets. This resulted in Yooralla attracting non-recurrent funding. It is expected that the number of customers the program supports will well exceed that of the previous year. The KIS program supports the inclusion of children with disability, or with complex medical needs, into four-year old-community kindergarten programs.
Committed to continuously revising and evolving its services to ensure they reflect the needs of our customers, over the 2019/20 financial year, the Division made a few changes to its service offerings.
21
In February 2020, Yooralla’s Community Engagement and Intake teams were merged to form ‘Yooralla Connect’. This new team was established as a central function to streamline the customer journey into and across Yooralla, to further improve the customer experience.
In March 2020, Yooralla also established an Innovation team to develop online programs that could be offered to residential customers as an additional support in lieu of attending Community Hubs (day services) that were temporarily closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Together@Yooralla commenced, offering online social chat sessions, with hard copy activity packs also made available. After two weeks of demonstrated success, the program was rolled out as a trial to Learning Hub and Leongatha Community Hub customers, with a program-based timetable to keep customers engaged during the temporary closure.
Together@Yooralla was then extended to all Community Hubs and offered to support Community Inclusion customers. In Yooralla Business Enterprises an online and workbook program was launched called Stayconnected@Work when services were temporarily suspended.
In January 2020, Yooralla opened a new Community Hub in Broadmeadows. Feedback from customers and families has been positive, with all stating that a Community Hub was greatly needed in the area. Several students from Broadmeadows Special Development School have already registered to commence the Hub’s programs when they graduate from school in 2021.
Yooralla’s Footscray Business Enterprise, one of Yooralla’s four Business Enterprises, had another robust year. The enterprise secured two new contracts in 2019, creating new work and learning opportunities for our supported employees. One contract was with a Melbourne-based organic leaf tea company, Love Tea, and the other with the Centre of Adult Education to support its Australia-wide Book Club.
These new partnerships provided our supported employees with the opportunity to gain warehouse experience; learn new systems, processes and machinery; and to broaden their production line experience, working in a clean room facility, which was installed at the enterprise last year. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) accreditation is now held by Yooralla for clean room activity.
22
In December 2019, Yooralla Catering, which is also part of Yooralla’s Footscray Business Enterprise, was nominated by Swinburne University as one of its preferred social enterprise catering businesses. This means that Yooralla Catering is able to serve all departments across all University campuses. Yooralla Catering was also nominated as the preferred caterer for all large events for the university’s Hawthorn campus.
During 2019, Yooralla also launched a new, custom designed 12-week Equal@Work course on a fee-for-service basis, to provide support and training to Transport Accident Commission’s clients, many of whom have acquired brain injuries.
Equal@Work is a tailored learning and mentoring program that supports people with disability to develop employment skills and access paid employment. Yooralla’s Equal@Work program was recognised by two prestigious awards in 2019: The Victorian Disability Awards and the Victorian Learn Local Awards. The program was a finalist in both awards.
In January 2020, after months of planning, Yooralla’s Wangaratta Community Hub, in partnership with the YMCA, launched a new All Ability Program for our customers. Facilitated by a personal trainer from the YMCA and Yooralla staff, the program focuses on the health and wellbeing of customers, as well as increasing their social interaction and access to mainstream community programs. Feedback from customers and their families has been extremely positive.
We are also immensely proud of the Inclusion Support Program team who, during last summer’s bushfire crisis, promptly responded and stepped in to support children’s services across the fire-stricken Gippsland region. The team supported early childhood services to access additional funding to support inclusion at this challenging time. This funding provided practical support for the services to better support families most severely affected by the bushfires. Yooralla delivers the Inclusion Support Program, which is funded by the Commonwealth, as a part of the Victorian Inclusion Agency, led by Community Child Care and delivered in partnership with KU Children’s Services.
23
A Great British adventure for Aidan
“HER CALMNESS AND SUPPORT HELPED US THROUGH SOME DIFFICULT SITUATIONS AT THE AIRPORTS. HAVING ANOTHER ADULT TO SHARE CONVERSATION WITH, SHARE CARING AND COOKING DUTIES REALLY MADE THE TRIP A LOT MORE ENJOYABLE FROM MY POINT OF VIEW.”
Aidan, who attends Yooralla’s Mansfield Community Hub, set off on an overseas adventure in September 2019, when he headed to the United Kingdom with his mother Dawn and his regular support worker Jenny.
While a big part of the trip was to visit family and friends in the Yorkshire area, Aidan and the team at the Hub also brainstormed some other activities he might like to do on his travels, with one activity being the clear winner.
“Aidan absolutely loves trains; steam trains in particular. One of the most memorable days on the trip was when we caught a steam train from Huddersfield to York, where we visited the National Railway Museum.
“There was a cabinet full of little trains that Aidan loved, he stood there for at least half an hour, with the biggest smile on his face,” said Jenny.
Having the support of Jenny both before and throughout the trip relieved some of the pressures of overseas travel.
“It started off as an offhand remark, my coming on the trip with Dawn and Aidan, but I was so happy I was able to travel with them and help things run smoothly,” said Jenny.
Dawn, Aidan’s mum, agreed that she “couldn’t have done the trip without Jenny’s support in the end.”
“Her calmness and support helped us through some difficult situations at the airports. Having another adult to share conversation with, share caring and cooking duties really made the trip a lot more enjoyable from my point of view,” said Dawn.
24
The team at Mansfield Community Hub supported Aidan in the lead up to his trip, particularly through the use of social stories.
“We used social stories to familiarise Aidan with some aspects of the trip that would be new to him, like the inside of an aeroplane and some of the accommodation we would be staying in.”
“Also, to get him used to the idea that I would be travelling with them, he is used to seeing me at the Hub but not so much me with a suitcase at the airport with them!” Jenny said, laughing.
During the trip, Aidan and Dawn were able to try new things with Jenny’s support, such as exploring the caves in Buxton.
“Aidan loved the caves, we were a bit nervous about how he would go, but he really stuck at it. The tour was actually run by people on the autism spectrum,” said Jenny.
Having the support also meant that Aidan and Jenny could set off on adventures on their own, exploring the idyllic surrounds and rolling green hills of the local English countryside, including the farm shops.
“We became regular customers at the Bolster Moor farm shop, we were there pretty much every second day buying groceries – including lollies and cakes,” said Jenny.
The support also meant that Dawn was “able to get some ‘me’ time – going for a walk or run in the morning on the Yorkshire moors.”
“I was also able to go out for dinner with my extended family without having to worry about Aidan,” Dawn said.
The trip was deemed a success by all, with Aidan and Jenny frequently looking back on photos they took of their adventures.
“Aidan always seems really interested in the photos and always points out all the trains and viaducts we saw,” said Jenny.
25
Despite the “30 hours of travelling and two changes in accommodation, Aidan excelled himself throughout the whole trip,” said Dawn.
“I would certainly take Aidan back home [to the UK] again but not without support…often you need a second pair of hands while you deal with booking tickets, making arrangements and the like,” said Dawn.
Many airports are introducing new measures to make travelling easier for those who need additional support or understanding.
Jenny agrees that “it is important that people see travelling as a possibility for people with disability” so they can have their own overseas adventures, just like Aidan. Josh, who attends Yooralla’s Benalla Community Hub, said his favourite part about the zoo was seeing the lions up close.
“It was amazing, hearing them roar. We also got to pat the rhino. He was huge!” he said.
After a long day of touring the zoo and meeting and patting various animals, including snakes and a tortoise, the group was shown to their huts after enjoying a buffet style dinner. The next morning, the customers were taken to a large enclosure next to a pond, where four huge hippos were enjoying their breakfast, all within about two metres of the excited group.
Josh, who attends Yooralla’s Wangaratta Community Hub, said that he would remember the adventure forever.
“This was a once in a lifetime experience and I really had such a great time with all my friends,” he said.
Yooralla partnered with The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Victoria (the Award) in 2018 to create more opportunities for Yooralla’s young customers. The Award is a youth development program designed to empower young Australians aged 14 to 24 to explore their full potential.
The Award is comprised of three levels. Each level is progressively more challenging and has four sections: Service, Physical Recreation, Skills and the Adventurous Journey.
26
The aim of the Adventurous Journey is to provide participants with the opportunity to learn more about the wider environment and develop their self-confidence, teamwork and health.
Residential and Respite Services
Emergency planning and management, and keeping our customers safe, took centre stage for the Residential and Respite Support Services (RRSS) Division with this year’s bushfire crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.
In December 2019, residents from Yooralla’s Balfours Road home in Lucknow were safely evacuated in response to the nearby East Gippsland bushfires. Due to the worsening weather and fire conditions in East Gippsland on 30 December 2019, Yooralla enacted the emergency evacuation of customers from the residence.
The majority of the customers were accommodated in a rented property in Bairnsdale and supported by their usual team of support workers. Others chose to stay at their respective family’s homes, located in safe areas away from the bushfires. The evacuation proceeded smoothly as staff were well prepared and familiar with Yooralla’s Emergency Bushfire Response Plan.
Over this time, the RRSS team regularly checked on the wellbeing of the customers staying at their family homes. Additional contingency plans were also put in place, in the event that subsequent evacuation from Bairnsdale would also be required. Following completion of the necessary property checks, including the fire service and sprinkler systems, the customers safely returned to their Yooralla home on 28 January 2020. There was no fire damage to the building.
Another evacuation took place in January 2020. In response to a nearby grassfire that was expanding rapidly, on the evening of Friday 10 January, residents from Yooralla’s Thorneycroft Avenue home in Wodonga were safely evacuated.
Yooralla’s emergency contingency accommodation in Benalla was utilised for the evacuation. Additional support workers from across our Benalla-based services were quickly arranged, including extra active overnight staff. The customers enjoyed the weekend in Benalla and returned home on Tuesday 14 January, after the Wodonga grassfire was declared under control.
27
In the 2019/20 financial year, Yooralla also entered into Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Residency Agreements with more than 100 customers living at Yooralla-owned properties. This followed the legislative amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) to include SDA.
Another focal point for the RRSS team this year has been evaluating its services to ensure they continue to meet customer expectations, while remaining sustainable under the NDIS. As a result, there was a change to the number of Short Term Accommodation (STA) and Respite services. The Cowan Street and Acacia Street services closed in November 2019 and February 2020 respectively. Employees and customers were supported to transition to other Yooralla STA and Respite services.
Committed to a culture of continuous learning and improvement, the Division also worked collaboratively this year to review its services with the aim to ensure they are closely aligned with what our customers need and want, both now and in the future.
In July 2019, the RRSS team held a forum with customers to better understand what, in their view, makes a service great. The forum found that proactive, committed staff who provide support to customers to access, and be part of, the community, was the key to a great service. Hearing the voices of customers and their carers and families was a key theme in the discussions.
A leadership discussion panel was another highlight of the forum with a Group Manager, Service Managers and Lead Supports sharing their experience and perspectives on leadership. Questions to the panel from the audience were based on leadership articles that all attendees were asked to read prior to attending the forum. Evaluation feedback received from participants was very positive in relation to the relevance of the topics covered.
An enhanced handover framework has been developed and implemented in residential and respite services to support the exchange of key customer information at each staff shift changes.
28
Enhanced Healthy Eating Program
Following the successful Enhanced Healthy Eating Program pilot in November and December 2019 a decision was made to roll out the program to all residential staff, customers and families. The program adapted by Yooralla’s Allied Health team included several recommendations for areas for improvement from the evaluation of the pilot program. These recommendations included:
Understanding of disability and the considerations around safe and enjoyable food options.
The positive impact of healthy eating on quality of life. Healthy food options and menu planning whilst maintaining choice and control. Waste minimisation. Sustainability - growing fruit and vegetables.
Eleven Yooralla Allied Health staff delivered 48 sessions over the month of June with the final session delivered on July 29, 2020.
The program has been received favourably by customers, their families and staff.
New home for Yooralla customers constructed in Benalla
In March 2020, Yooralla held a celebratory opening ceremony to officially mark the completion of a new purpose-built, accessible home for people with disability in Benalla.
Yooralla worked in partnership with BeyondHousing to construct the new home, one of the first of its kind in the Ovens Murray region. BeyondHousing built the home and Yooralla provides the disability supports to the residents.
Named Wattletree Grove after its Benalla location, the home was built to meet the NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation standards, designed to provide people living with disability with greater independence.
29
Dr Sherene Devanesen, Chief Executive Officer of Yooralla, said that it was important for Yooralla to ensure the residents were involved in the decision-making process from the very beginning, as it would be their home.
“The customers provided input on design, layout, colour scheme and amenities for their home,” she said.
The progressive building design includes six personalised rooms, spacious shared living spaces, tailored outdoor areas, and individualised technological supports in two independent living townhouses. Consideration was given to environmental and financial sustainability of the property through solar power systems, low-water gardens, water tanks and passive solar design.
The residents of the new property, all Yooralla customers, moved to the new home from another Yooralla residential site in Benalla.
Dr Devanesen said the project would not have been possible without the support of Central Access Limited (CAL), a community-based organisation that provided accommodation, employment and community activities for people with disability. CAL merged with Yooralla in 2011.
“It was a momentous decision by the CAL Board to gift Yooralla the land at Wattletree Grove, where the new home was built. The Board also donated capital funds towards the project,” she said.
Dr Devanesen said that given the significance of the project to the organisation, Yooralla was thrilled to have former CAL Board members Gwen Turner, Marg Attley, Barbara Alexander and Tony Smith, former CAL Board Chairman, attend the launch.
“As outgoing Yooralla Board Director, Barbara deserves a special note for her invaluable contribution to the organisation for the past six-and-a-half years. I would also like to acknowledge the late Bill Hill, former CAL Board Chairman and Yooralla Board member, who played a pivotal role in this project,” said Dr Devanesen.
The opening event featured the planting of a Wattle tree to commemorate the partnership and the placement of a time capsule containing specially chosen belongings of each of the six residents..
30
Allied Services and Wellbeing
The 2019/20 financial year was a time of innovation and new projects for the Allied Services and Wellbeing (ASW) Division.
The Division continued to focus on providing services for children, families and adults based on evidence-based, Person-Centred Practice, building on customers’ strengths, improving wellbeing and self-efficacy. Practitioners continued to link customers to community services, promoting choice, opportunity and social inclusion.
Yooralla has a long history of participating in the ASW clinical placement network and providing support to undergraduate ASW students. In 2019, Yooralla established a program aimed to identify, support and employ talented Early Career Professionals (ECPs), who are committed to working in the disability sector.
The program was developed to:
provide a supportive and structured work environment maintain the provision of high level of quality services to customers promote Yooralla as an employer of choice, and maintain and enhance a skilled workforce that believes in Yooralla’s mission and
values, which are that of empowering customers through choice and control.
In early 2020, 16 ECPs were employed to join the new program including:
Occupational Therapists Speech Pathologists Positive Behaviour Support Practitioners, and a Physiotherapist.
These new staff members have joined our existing teams and have become highly valued members of the ASW Division. Based on the success of the program, a new intake of ECPs will commence in 2021.
Yooralla has employed a Director of Positive Behaviour Support to build on the provision of this support to our customers. The ECP program has enabled the recruitment of
31
provisional Psychologists to work as Behaviour Support Practitioners under the supervision of the Director of Positive Behaviour Support.
Another new development for the ASW team is the widespread use of Telehealth, where it is safe and clinically appropriate to deliver services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions as an alternative to face-to-face services. Therapists have upskilled in the use of Telehealth and have developed a range of resources to support this mode of service delivery. These services will continue to be offered as an option in the future. Many customers have chosen to receive services via Telehealth. Essential supports that are not able to be delivered via Telehealth have continued to be offered as a face-to face service.
32
Telehealth“IN THE LAST THREE TO FOUR MONTHS, MAX HAS COME SO FAR AND ONLINE SERVICE DELIVERY HAS REALLY SUITED HIM. IT HAS REMOVED SOME BARRIERS TO SERVICE.”
Yooralla embraced new and innovative ways to continue servicing our customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of which was Telehealth – where technology is used to deliver health services to customers remotely.
Yooralla’s Allied Services and Wellbeing team have been utilising Telehealth to provide therapy services to Yooralla customers who could no longer be seen face-to-face, due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
Jennifer Carlisle, Yooralla Speech Pathologist, normally sees customers in their home, childcare, kinder or school environment but has been using Zoom to deliver her sessions, finding new and innovative ways to engage with customers.
Jennifer quickly adapted her strategies to suit the new Telehealth arrangements, by “finding materials online, like storybooks being read aloud on YouTube and developing matching resources to work with the particular story.”
Despite the change in circumstances, Jennifer has seen some of her customers “make significant progress over the last months.”
Max is one such customer, who “has made such remarkable progress, that I am sure is due to the increased frequency of his sessions.”
“With Telehealth, we can now fit his sessions in before school as we don’t need to factor in travel time,” said Jennifer.
This has allowed Max to receive two, half-hour sessions a week where he is fully engaged with Jennifer, rather than one, hour-long session once a week, after school hours when he is tired.
“In the last three to four months, Max has come so far and online service delivery has really suited him. It has removed some barriers to service.”
33
Telehealth “has worked really well for Max and I think has contributed to a significant increase in his literacy skills. Not having to travel is also a benefit and has meant less time off school,” said Belinda, Max’s mum.
“The impact [of Telehealth] has been huge. Having two focused sessions in a week has meant the level of repetition has increased and he has managed to hold onto some of the learnings. It is a much better structure for Max,” said Belinda.
Telehealth is also allowing some customers to optimise their NDIS funds for their therapy services, as they are no longer using their funds to pay for a therapist’s travel time.
While therapists do rely on face-to-face interactions with customers, there may be room to incorporate Telehealth into standard practice post the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Some customers may want to continue the Telehealth arrangements for a portion of their sessions and see each other in person to complete face-to-face activities.”
“It could be a great mix, and it would allow some families to become more involved as well. Some of the parents of children I usually would see at school are enjoying being part of their child’s online session.”
“Also in situations where another member of the household is ill, we could use telehealth to see our client. This would mean therapists aren’t exposed to illness and the customer doesn’t miss out on their appointment,” said Jennifer.
The Telehealth arrangements have provided structure and normality for some customers during COVID-19, with families “pleased to have ongoing service”.
“Everyone is doing their best in difficult circumstances. Customers are making progress and developing and parents feel supported. My clients seem happy and engaged,” said Jennifer.
34
MARKETS
Yooralla will focus on growing services in new and existing markets. We will create partnerships to improve outcomes for customers and build our productivity in a more competitive market.
Yooralla’s Community Partnership Advisory Committee (YCPAC) update
In the 2019/20 financial year, Yooralla’s Community Partnership Advisory Committee (YCPAC) met regularly to review various strategic and operational matters.
YCPAC, a cooperative endeavour, underpinned by mutual respect and equality, is a Board Advisory Committee composed of customers, family members and carers, who provide feedback and advice to the Board on a range of matters.
YCPAC provides an opportunity for constructive dialogue with Yooralla customers when the organisation is designing and implementing change. The input of YCPAC members strengthens decision making at Yooralla through regular two-way communication.
This year the YCPAC members were:
Mr John Barnett Ms Bronwyn Fuller Dr Charmaine Hall Mr Peter Johnstone Ms Susanne Jones Ms Michelle McFarlane Ms Nancy Sadka Mr Sean Walsh Mr Martin Wood Mrs Lynette Zanchetta
35
Dr Michael Walsh, Committee Chair Yooralla Board Ms Jennifer Williams, AM Yooralla Board Dr Sherene Devanesen Yooralla, and Ms Elaine Krassas, Convener Yooralla.
Yooralla welcomed Ms Bronwyn Fuller and Mr Martin Wood as new YCPAC members during the year.
Yooralla would like to thank Dr Michael Walsh, Chair of YCPAC since March 2019, who retired from his position on the Board of Yooralla after 16 months of service, for his invaluable contributions and commitment.
Please refer to the Chair and Chief Executive Officer message for more information about YCPAC’s key activities and achievements for the year.
Yooralla would like to thank all members for their invaluable contributions.
Yooralla’s workforce management system
Yooralla’s new workforce management system, Kronos, continues to be progressively rolled out across Residential and Respite Support Services and Community Services.
Despite some disruptions caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, Kronos has been deployed to all 62 residential and respite services, 14 community hubs and four community inclusion regions. It is being used to roster and time record over 1,100 employees.
The solution enhances rostering efficiency, simplifies time recording and provides greater visibility of rostering outcomes.
36
Yooralla’s customer management system
Yooralla continues to invest in our Customer Management System (CMS) based on Salesforce technology.
This system supports administrative activities such as billing, required under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and helps Yooralla manage customer service agreements and customer details.
Improvements to CMS during 2019/20 included productivity enhancements for staff managing Community Hub sessions and residential beds and streamlining of service agreement management procedures.
Yooralla also deployed several real-time data analytics dashboards, using CMS data, to help inform operational management activities.
Yooralla’s CMS focus has now moved towards design and deployment of customer portals presenting CMS data.
37
REPUTATION
Yooralla will build its brand in the market and leverage our experience to influence community opinion, disability policy and decisions that support our vision. We will invest in research and development to build inclusive practices, improve equality and ensure human rights are upheld.
Research update
Research Agenda 2017–2020
Yooralla’s Research Agenda 2017–2020 took into account our strategic objectives and organisational risks and put priority on selected gaps in knowledge. Recognising our limited capacity to produce world-class research on our own, we approached university academics with expertise in specific areas to consider working in partnership on four themes:
Improving access to disability services and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Meeting the healthcare needs of people with intellectual disability Improving the psychosocial wellbeing of families and carers; and Piloting an Australian customised employment model to hasten the transition to
work for people with disability.
Yooralla’s research partnership with academics from Swinburne University around improving access to disability services and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has resulted in two manuscripts being accepted for publication - A protocol for a systematic literature review: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement with disability services and A systematic literature review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement with disability services.
The 2019–2020 outputs of these research projects are described below. The themes applied to the instigation of projects during the term of the research agenda, so multi-year projects may continue into the timeframe of the next research agenda (2020–2023).
38
Cardio-metabolic risks in adults with intellectual disability
Yooralla is sponsoring a scholarship at Swinburne University for PhD candidate Dr Clara Zwack. Academic supervision is provided by Associate Professor Elisabeth Lambert (Principal Supervisor), Professor Rachael McDonald (Co-supervisor) and Dr Ainura Tursunalieva (Associate Supervisor).
The overarching aim of this research is to understand whether people with intellectual disability (ID) aged 18 to 45 years are more pre-disposed to display early signs of cardio-metabolic disease compared to the general population; and to identify whether their environment may contribute to increased cardio-metabolic risk.
Investigators collected clinical data through non-invasive cardiovascular and metabolic assessments, blood sample analysis and delivery of questionnaires relating to lifestyle and wellbeing. There were 45 participants with ID and 37 controls and the median age for both groups was 34.5 years old.
Initial findings indicated that the ID cohort display increased prevalence of overweight and obesity, indicators of autonomic dysfunction, increased levels of perceived stress, reduced community integration and poorer diets compared to their age-matched counterparts. All of these are known factors that contribute to cardio-metabolic disease risk.
The candidate presented initial findings at an international conference, Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Risk Estimated by Sudomotor Function in Young Adults with Intellectual Disability, which was held in Brisbane between 24 and 27 November 2019.
The two abstracts below were accepted for presentation at international conferences that were unable to go ahead because of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions:
The Joint Meeting of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and International Society of Hypertension (ISH), which was to be held in Glasgow, UK, 30 May–1 June 2020.
The International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD) Health Special Interest Research Group (SIRG) Conference, which was to be held in Toronto, Canada, 16–17 June 2020.
39
The Pursuit of Wellbeing study
This National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) / Yooralla Partnership study, which addresses the research theme of improving the psychosocial wellbeing of families and carers, was co-developed by a team of academics, clinicians and disability service professionals.
The intervention that was evaluated comprised Yooralla-developed training materials, which were delivered as six full-day professional development sessions to key workers and their managers at six Children’s Services Hubs during 2017 and 2018.
For key workers, confidence to communicate with parents of children with disability about their own wellbeing showed a statistically significant increase from pre to post intervention. There was also an improvement in confidence scores across the parental mental health knowledge domain.
There were statistically significant increases for key workers’ and managers’ perceptions of supervisory support, particularly when asked ‘My supervisor strongly considers my goals and values’ and ‘Help is available from my supervisor when I have a problem’.
Results from this study contributed to a submission made to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Planning Inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS on 6 September 2019.
40
Living the Good Life project, La Trobe University
Yooralla has taken part in the longitudinal Embedding Active Support and Practice Leadership study since it began in 2009. In 2019, five Yooralla accommodation services took part along with 60 other accommodation services from another nine disability service providers across Australia.
As the study progressed, the original aim of improving the delivery of active support further developed to incorporate additional research questions about the culture in services and its relationship to the quality of support and outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities.
The Group Home Culture Scale (GHCS) measures staff perceptions of organisational culture in supported accommodation services. The GHCS has seven dimensions or subscales. The mean score for Yooralla services were above the sample mean for five of the seven GHCS subscales.
For Effective Team Leadership, which measures the extent the frontline supervisor engages in leadership practices that transmit and embed the culture, Yooralla’s score was 13% higher than the mean of the other participating organsiations.
The study found that Yooralla staff more often have: a positive perception of organisational support and priorities; greater alignment between staff members’ shared values and the organisation’s espoused values; and a relative absence of divisions within the staff team that have a detrimental influence on team dynamics.
41
Research and publications completedPirrottina, V. (Respite customer and VASS Steering Committee member) (July 2019) Changing Places, Darebin City Council.
Skinner, K., Robson K., Vien K. (2019) Interprofessional Education: A unique approach to addressing the challenges of student assessment. Journal of Interprofessional Care (in press).
Trounson, J.S., Gibbs, J., Kostrz, K., McDonald, R., Peters, A. (in press). A protocol for a systematic literature review: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement with disability services. Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues.
Trounson, J.S., Gibbs, J., Kostrz, K., McDonald, R., Peters, A. (in press). A systematic literature review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement with Disability Services. Submitted to Disability and Society with agreement to publish subject to editorial acceptance of revisions.
Vassos, M., Nankervis, K., Chan, J. (2019) Clinical Governance Climate within Disability Service Organisations from the Perspective of Allied Health Professionals. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities; 16: 67-77.
Young, K., Vien, K. (November 2019) What does the wound tell us? Oceania Seating Symposium. Melbourne.
Zwack, C., McDonald, R., Eikelis N., Lambert G., Lambert E. (November 2019) Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy Risk Estimated by Sudomotor Function in Young Adults with Intellectual Disability, 15th Asian-Pacific Congress of Hypertension in Brisbane.
42
TALENT
Yooralla will build an engaged, customer focused and responsive workforce who are educated, skilled, inspired and who demonstrate our Yooralla values. We will focus on attracting, developing and retaining the best people and invest in developing our future leaders.
Workforce update
Yooralla’s People and Culture Division is responsible for the delivery of a wide range of people services including workforce planning; recruitment and employment; employee relations; occupational health and safety; and learning and development.
Recruitment and Employment
Yooralla’s recruitment and employment processes are continually revised to ensure they allow for an effective and objective approach to all activities undertaken.
In the 2019/20 financial year, the People and Culture team continued to focus on attracting candidates who have the appropriate skills and experience, and exhibit behaviours consistent with Yooralla’s values.
During the year, Yooralla has undertaken a formal review of recruitment practices to ensure the organisation has the appropriate processes in place to attract the right talent in a competitive environment and to ensure that successful candidates have a positive onboarding experience.
43
Learning and Development
Yooralla invests in a number of initiatives to give our employees the skills and experience to deliver our services.
Committed to a culture of continuous improvement, each year we identify areas for learning and development to enhance our service delivery.
This year, learning opportunities for our employees included:
face-to-face training e-Learning modules support for formal study short courses attendance at conferences, and on-the-job coaching.
A key activity this year has been the upgrade of Yooralla’s eLearning system to SAP’s Litmos Learning Management System. The new eLearning system is highly sophisticated and is known for its simplicity.
Additional training this year to support customer health included the development of new high intensity training courses:
Complex Bowel Care Enteral Feeding and Management Urinary Catheter Management Complex Wound Management Ventilator Management, and Tracheostomy Management.
44
In the 2019/20 financial year, mandatory training focused on ensuring that all employees across the organisation completed the following:
NDIS Quality, Safety and You Online Module Safeguarding Human Rights and Code of Conduct Fire Safety Program Cybersecurity – General Awareness Hand Hygiene Standard Theory Module, and Effective Complaints Management.
Occupational Health and Safety
Yooralla is committed to providing a safe environment for employees, customers and visitors. We are continuously improving our performance in workplace safety.
Yooralla engaged the services of Emergency Planning and Exercise Services Australia (EPESA) to deliver emergency management exercises in the lead up to the summer bushfire season. The exercise management model, adopted by the EPESA, highlighted the phases required to design, plan, conduct and evaluate an effective emergency response to a variety of circumstances.
Yooralla was able to utilise the preparation undertaken to respond effectively to the summer bushfire State of Emergency that directly impacted a number of our services in regional Victoria.
45
2019 Yooralla Excellence Awards
Values Award
Individual winners
Annette Brown Bruno Colosimo Carmen Doeve David Zarb Emma Baxter Eva Schuch Gary Butterfield Graeme Brennan Jenni Morris-Cosgriff Kedhar Muskula Kelly Gentle Lucy Canon Mardi Obucina Meaghan Springett Melanie McGuigan Meredith McCrossin Nardine Earl Nick Veljanoski Niki Grivas Paul Bird Peter Johnstone Rita Trotta Rui Li Sally-Ann Horvath Sandra Knight Sandy Roberton Sharon Rivas Suzanne Poulier Tamara Walker Vanessa Sampson
46
Team winners
The St Albans Community Hub team
Ade Ishola Arlene Lee Ben Toth Chau Nguyen Emma Watts Micheal Aderibigbe Nicole Bonello Rui Li Sharon Rivas Thuy Tran Vanessa Sampson
The Payroll team
Anita Chandra Marian Dingley Darrel Moroz Scott Muscat Teresa Belvedere
The Intake team
Aziah Larry Declan Connor Joanna Turner Kristy Bird Megan Ball Natasha Stilianos
47
The KISS Specialist Consultancy team
Andrea Doherty Sue Brear
The Wangaratta Community Hub team
Anne Cirak Brenton Daw Bridie Sheather Ebony Hales Jackson Hourigan Judy Pollard Louise Gottschling Lowana Handley Michelle De La Rue Patricia Impink Sophie-Anne Smith Stacy Wilson Susan Vozlic Tamara Walker Tania Miller Valerie Hanley Wendy Trotter
48
Customer Human Rights and Outcomes Award
Individual winners
Valerie Hanley Vilma Svab
Highly commended
Rachel Caimotto Sharon Rivas Vanessa Sampsons Team winner The Outer South / Gippsland team Gail McNally Helen -Anne Kennedy Hilma Gould Jasmin Ong Mardi Obucina Raelene Vaessen Geritz Tinei Marembo
Highly commended
The Powley Parade team
Paula Burns Ademola Awotunde Bhavin Kunjadia Chidinma Egbudom David Zarb Faye Maxey Gurshad Bains Jessica Coward Leonie Hawkless
49
Nnamdi Aneze Ranjit Chhetry Rodney Dobson Roshin Puthenpurackal Stanley Elege Umme Aeyman
Operational Goals Award
Individual winner
Nick Veljanoski Cassie Kenyon
Highly commended
Andrew Callaway
Team winner
The Support Coordination and Case Management team
Amy Sciberras Caroline Nowak Donna Smith Fion Tang Franziska-Maria Sethi Geb Bauch Georgie Bower Helen Foley Kylie Hadfield Lynden Moore Mary Rawson Melanie McGuigan Mia Kokkas Michelle Rohan Michelle Williamson Mira Wannis
50
Nancy Romero Olivia Yelland Saga Arthursson Sep McAuliffe Shannon Skews Syama Majumdar Tasha Hunt Ursula Nesci Virginia Hornbuckle Yorka Salinas
Highly commended
The NDIS Claims Project team: Melissa Pool, Matthew Warren, Deborah Carson, Amy Huang
The CMS Project team: Matthew Warren, Sue Morris, Michelle Townsend, Robert Maling
The Allied Services and Wellbeing, Outer South team
Alice Ritchie Aurellia Bion Chris Vallas Emily Allan Jessica Buttigieg Kate Neilson Katy Binstead Revathi Sabapathi Tina McCarthy Vikki Edlich Virginia Cheng William Kang
51
The Accounts Receivable team
Andrea Sebire Banit Tyagi Heejin Kim Ivy Huang Kim Murphy Leo Gu Rosemary Fernando Syed Shah
The Outer East Region (RRSS) team
Francis Rovers Andrew D’Cruz Brenda Ditz Ezekiel Mutwiri Jenny Watson June Godfree Karen Chatwin Ruth Crespin
Leadership Award
Individual winner
Melissa Cofre
Highly commended
Michelle Smith Michelle Williamson Stephanie O’Brien
52
Board Members
Jennifer Williams, AM, Chair
Jennifer is the current Board Chair of Yooralla. She is also Chair of Northern Health and is a Board member of the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, Barwon Health, the Australian Medical Research Future Fund and InfoXchange. Prior to being a non-Executive Director, Jennifer was Chief Executive of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Chief Executive of Alfred Health and Chief Executive of Austin Health and a Council member of La Trobe University. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Economics, a Master of Science and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of her service to public health in the 2017 Australia Day Honours list.
Sandra Beanham
Sandra is a senior marketing and business consultant with over 30 years’ experience working with some of Australia’s most well-known organisations in a variety of industry sectors. These sectors include fast moving consumer goods, cultural destinations, business to business, government and not-for-profit organisations. She has considerable experience working within the disability sector, a strong background in governance and 20 years’ experience on a variety of councils and boards. Sandra is a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute.
53
Claire Keating
Claire Keating is a non-executive director and independent consultant. She is a chartered accountant and was a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) from 2002 to January 2016. Claire has over 25 years’ experience as consultant and internal and external auditor, specialising in superannuation and funds management. She is a former member elected director of PwC Superannuation Fund and has held a number of management roles with PwC, including leader of the Melbourne Financial Services Assurance Practice and National Investment Management Assurance sector leader. Claire is a director of State Super NSW, Victorian Managed Insurance Authority, Australian Super and Charter Hall Direct Property Management Limited and a board member of the Judicial Commission of Victoria.
Julie Fahley
Julie has over 30 years’ experience in the management of large scale transformation programs and the implementation of new operating models, the re-design of organisational structures, the re-engineering of processes and the deployment of new systems. Julie has fulfilled many roles and leadership positions including KPMG partner, consultant, a software vendor and a Chief Information Officer. Her extensive experience has given Julie a unique perspective on the challenges, risks and opportunities of delivering major programs across multiple industry sectors and corporations. Julie has an unwavering focus on achieving the agreed program outcomes. Having retired from KPMG partnership, Julie’s current Board portfolio includes Seek, IRESS, Datacom, CenITex, HPV and Partners Life. Julie has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Mathematics) and is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants in Australia.
54
Dr Jane Tracy
Jane is a medical practitioner who has worked for 30 years with people with disability, their families and support staff. She has worked for most of this time with the Centre for Developmental Disability Health, Monash Health. Jane has worked as a clinician, researcher, and medical educator and has developed a particular interest on the training of medical students and the professional development of medical, nursing and allied health practitioners in relation to the healthcare of people with developmental disability. Jane works in partnership with people with disability, and those who support them, in the design and implementation of educational activities to ensure their voice is heard by health professionals. She has also worked with disability staff in a range of projects designed to further develop their practice in supporting people to achieve and maintain optimal health and function. Jane has an adult son with disability and so has both a professional and personal understanding of, and commitment to, the field.
Michael Vanderheide
After 8 years serving as Chief Executive of Cenitex, the Victorian Government’s shared services provider of ICT services, Michael Vanderheide is now leading a major IT-based transformation for RMIT University. Michael’s professional experience is a mix of public and private sectors, with organisations including Qantas and ActewAGL, in executive roles in the fields of IT and Human Resources. He joined the ACT Government’s Chief Minister’s Department in December 1998 as a Director of what was then called the Office of Information Technology and Multimedia and later, he established and led the ACT Shared Services organisation. Michael has a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration and served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra. He has extensive experience in driving significant organisation-wide transformation initiatives.
John Brown
John is an experienced senior executive with over 25 years’ experience in the health and not-for profit sector. John is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Australian Red Cross Lifeblood and prior to that was the Chief Financial Officer of the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. John holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and is a CPA and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. John is a member of
55
the Alfred Hospital Whole Time Medical Staff Trust and has experience in the disability sector as a Board member of an inner Melbourne disability service up until 2019.
John joined the Yooralla Board
on 14 April 2020.
Board Committees
Service Delivery and Quality Committee Finance, Infrastructure and Investment Committee Audit and Risk Committee Nominations and Remuneration Committee
Board Advisory Committee
Yooralla’s Community Partnerships and Advisory Committee
Yooralla would like to acknowledge the following Board Members who departed during 2019-20 and thank them for their service:
Ms Barbara Alexander AO - Departed 30 November 2019.
Dr Michael Walsh - Departed 9 June 2020.
56
FUNDRAISING AND PHILANTHROPY
Our gratitude to our community of supporters for donations and philanthropic gifts
Throughout its history of over a hundred years, Yooralla has had a community of supporters whose donations and philanthropic gifts help sustain us and extend our capabilities to help people with a disability. We acknowledge our individual donors who contribute monthly or annually and entrust us with the best use of their donations for our greatest needs, as well as trusts and foundations whose regular distributions or one-off grants are critical for our various projects and programs. We are grateful that, through their support, we have been able to complete, among others, the following projects during this reporting period. Clifford Ward Trust
Early diagnosis of autism for young children from financially disadvantaged families
A grant from the Collier Charitable Fund and Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation enabled a number of families to access early diagnosis of autism, with support from Yooralla’s clinical team. A number of families have since informed Yooralla that this project has had a profound impact on their lives. It has helped them to understand their children’s developmental delays and other confusing behaviours. They have been able to access resources such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) specific teaching strategies in the classroom that can positively alter a child’s lifelong outcomes. Other family members and friends, advised of the diagnosis, have become more understanding and supportive.
Yooralla staff reported that, following assessment and diagnosis, communication with families became easier because a shared language framework helped to understand ASD behaviours and developmental delays. Working with the paediatrician and allied health workers, families were then able to develop strategies to more effectively manage this disability.
With additional support from the Victorian Government’s Disability Donations Trust and a philanthropist who wishes to remain anonymous, Yooralla invested in the development of
57
best practice assessment and diagnostic methodologies to enhance our service response.
At a glance…
The SPLASHES Program
The Loftus-Hills Fund, a charitable fund account of Lord Mayor’s Charitable Fund, contributed funding for this inclusive aquatic program. Open to children from six months to six years who have a range of developmental needs and diagnoses such as Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome and chromosomal abnormalities, the group program focused on building confidence, safety and familiarisation within the pool environment and developing pre-swimming skills through activities and songs.
Connecting Yooralla’s Customers to the World
The Samuel Nissen Charitable Foundation and The Diana Browne Trust contributed funding that enabled us to install WIFI connectivity for five residential pilot sites.
Transforming Yooralla’s Business Enterprise at Footscray
Yooralla has focused on a strategic transformational plan to increase revenue streams, increase employee numbers and hours, create higher levels of worker satisfaction and achieve ongoing sustainability within a three-year timeframe. As part of this work, Yooralla engaged the consultancy service Axial to perform a comprehensive diagnostic of the Enterprise in 2018/19. A generous grant from Collier Charitable Trust in 2019/20 assisted in the completion of a costing analysis of new pricing models, an assessment of state-of-the-art warehouse facilities to inform our approach and some skill-building initiatives to support our Pathway to Employment stream. This grant enabled Yooralla to undertake the critical first step in its business transformation process towards more efficient operations.
58
We would like to acknowledge and thank the following who have generously provided financial support to Yooralla in the 2019-2020 financial year:
Trust & Foundations
Ivy Jean Anderson Charitable Trust, managed by Equity Trustees William Angliss (VIC) Charitable Fund Estate of Lindsay James Baldy Barr Family Foundation The Frank Broadhurst Memorial Charitable Fund, managed by Equity Trustees Jean Chambers Foundation Catherine Gray Trust Clifford Ward Trust Fund Collier Charitable Fund The Alfred Noel Curphey Bequest Trust The Datt Family Foundation Dimmick Charitable Trust Estate of Charles Keith Edwards The David Taylor Galt Charitable Trust managed by Equity Trustees The Grant Bequest George Frederick Hodgkinson Roche Bequest, managed by Equity Trustees The Peter Isaacson Foundation S.T.A.F. - Ronald Frank Jackson Donation The Dr David and Jennifer Komesaroff Endowment Fund Katherine Farnsworth Legh-Cavendish Trust Estate of Mary Elizabeth Lloyd managed by Equity Trustees Loftus Hills Fund and Meg and Frank Sims Fund, Charitable Fund Accounts of
Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation The Ruth Louvain Pryce Trust Centenary Foundation – The James Francis Mearns Foundation John Murphy Charitable Trust Pethard Tarax Charitable Trust Estate of the Late Arthur Leonard Raper The Jean I Roberts Trust, managed by Equity Trustees The Russell Foundation
59
Frederick Shepherd Trust Estate of the late Margaret Jean Sutton Ward-Ambler Foundation Yorke Family Foundation
Special Trust Funds
Katherine Bourke Trust Fund Hampton Trust Fund Hemmingway Trust Fund Hilltops Trust Fund
Bequests
Estate of Henry William Brown Estate of Daryl Giles Howard Estate of Joyce Winifred Kelly Estate of Kathleen Clare Kruizinga Trust Estate of George Findon Miller Estate of Graham Kinross Morris Estate of Gertrude Kellaway Sheath
Key Supporters
Rob Albon Rita Andre Ian Bainbridge Norma Beaconsfield Mr Neville Castles Greg Shalit and Miriam Faine Mr Douglas Farch Miss Catherine Gray Wayne Gregg Peter Hansen Linda Herd Pat Howell
60
Campbell Johnston Barry and Barbara Jones Dr Harshal Nandurkar Winifred Peart John Ralph AC and Barbara Ralph Belinda Roper Jenny Scovell John Shalit Mrs June Smith Robert and Beverly Squire Jean Williamson
61
Key Management Personnel
Dr Sherene DevanesenChief Executive OfficerMBBS, DipObs, RACOG, FRACMA, FCHSM, FIML, FHKCCM, GAICD
Rod CarracherChief PractitionerMRN, EMPA, GAICD
Bruce RyanChief Information OfficerBSc
Elaine KrassasExecutive Director, Community ServicesMBA BA (Joint Hons), FCPFA (UK), FCHSM, FIML, GAICD
Leanne TurnerExecutive Director, Residential and Respite Support ServicesBHealthSci, PostGradDip (Health Administration), MBA, GAICD
Janice BrownChief Financial Officer and Company SecretaryBEc, CA, AGIA ACIS (CS)
David ThorsenExecutive Director, People & CultureBBus (double major), GradDip (Labour Law)
Yooralla would like to acknowledge the following members of the Executive team who departed during 2019-20 and thank them for their service:Narayan Prasad - Chief Financial Officer. Departed January 2020.Michelle Holian - Executive Director, People and Culture and Company Secretary. Departed February 2020.
62
FINANCIALS
FY2020 year has been a challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting the operating results, mainly in the last four months of the financial year.
The underlying result from the operating activities was a deficit of $5.6M due to lower than expected revenue.
However, Yooralla has reported an overall surplus of $3.9M for the year ended 30 June 2020. Profit from the sale of properties and the JobKeeper subsidy offset by realised/unrealised losses on investments were the main contributors to the overall result.
ANALYSIS OF TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME $M
2016
2017 2018
2019 2020
Bequests 8.75 0.9 0.2 0.8 0.2
Sale of property 20.34 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.3
Gain/(losses) on financial investments 1.43 3.4 2.3 1.3 -3.4
Operations 1.33 -0.3 -1.7 0.0 4.7
63
2016
2017 2018
2019 2020
Total Comprehensive Income 26.33 4.0 0.8 2.2 3.9
REVENUE
Yooralla’s revenue from operating activities has grown by around 10.2% in 2019/20 to $123.0M, including the $10.5m JobKeeper subsidy.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Yooralla’s operating revenue, mainly in the Community Services and Allied Services & Wellbeing divisions, from reduced service delivery and the temporary closure of some services from late March 2020.
Revenue from operating activities $M
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Government sources 86.99
87.39
77.65
38.29
24.46
NDIS 0.0
2.65
17.74
62.15
88.54
Other revenue 10.75
12.91
13.14
11.16
10.01
64
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Total revenue from operating activities
97.74
102.95
108.53
111.60
123.01
65
Revenue by Service type
Service type %
Residential and Respite Services 58%
Allied Services and Wellbeing 6%
Community Services 24%
Others 12%
66
EXPENSES
Total Operating expenses were $122.7M which was an increase of 4.9% from the previous year. Labour costs comprise of 83% of the total costs. A key focus during the year was to continue to improve labour utilisation and labour costs. Management has put in place a number of measures to manage labour and overhead costs, whilst continuing to focus on providing quality services and investing in the business.
To reduce the risks to the health, safety and wellbeing of customers and staff during the pandemic, additional expenses for PPE and cleaning supplies were incurred in FY2020.
Breakdown of Expenditure
Expenditure %
Employee and agency costs 83%
Discretionary expenditure for carers and customers 1%
Motor vehicle expenses 1%
IT, telecommunications and postage 3%
Rent, insurance, utilities 2%
Repairs and maintenance 1%
Other 9%
67
Expenditure %
NET ASSETS
The Net Assets of Yooralla have increased by $3.9M to $92.5M, despite the negative impact the pandemic had on the global investment market and hence Yooralla’s investment portfolio.
Yooralla is in a sound financial position to operate and continue to provide quality services and support to Yooralla customers and the community despite these unprecedented times.
Yooralla’s net assets
By year $
June 2016 81.8M
June 2017 85.8M
June 2018 86.5M
June 2019 88.6M
68
By year $
June 2020 92.5M
69
STATUTORY STATEMENTS
Carers Recognition Act 2012
The Carers Recognition Act 2012 (Vic) promotes the values and role of people in care relationships. Yooralla understands the different needs of persons in care relationships, and that care relationships bring benefits to customers, their carers and the community. Yooralla is committed to a model of service delivery that involves carers in the development of our services. Yooralla’s support services are developed in partnership with people with disability and their carers. Yooralla’s policies recognise the importance of respecting and taking into account a person’s care relations and help to ensure that carers are also at the centre of practice and service delivery.
Freedom of Information Act 1982
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) provides a right of access to information held by Yooralla. All freedom of information (FOI) applications received by Yooralla were processed in accordance with the provisions of the FOI Act. Yooralla provides an annual report on FOI applications to the Freedom of Information Commissioner.
The majority of applications to Yooralla under FOI are requests by customers for access to their own personal records with a small number of applications from third parties. For the 12 months ending 30 June 2020, Yooralla received two formal FOI applications under the FOI Act. Of the requests received by Yooralla, access was granted in full for these applications. No applications were referred to the Freedom of Information Commissioner or the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for review. Yooralla’s FOI Officer for the 2019-2020 year was Dr Sherene Devanesen (Principal Officer).
70
Making a Freedom of Information request
Access to documents may be obtained through written request to Yooralla’s Freedom of Information Manager, as detailed in section 17 of the FOI Act. In summary, the requirements for making a request are:
the application should be made in writing. the application should identify as clearly as possible which document is being
requested. the application should be accompanied by the appropriate application fee. The fee
may be waived in certain circumstances.
Further information about accessing information is available on the Yooralla website www.yooralla.com.au and FOI access request forms are available by contacting Yooralla. Requests for documents in possession of Yooralla should be addressed to:
Freedom of Information Officer
PO Box 238, Collins Street West VIC 8007
Email: [email protected]
Access charges may also apply once documents have been processed and a decision on access is made, for example photocopying and search and retrieval charges. For further information on FOI visit www.foi.vic.gov.au.
71
OUR MISSION
To provide quality, sustainable and flexible services that uphold human rights and create opportunities, empowering individuals to live the life they choose.
OUR VISION
A world where people with disability are equal citizens.
Published by Yooralla© Yooralla 2020
Whilst reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, neither Yooralla or the Yooralla Board of Directors accept liability for any loss or damage arising directly or indirectly by the statements or opinions expressed, nor from reliance on this information.
Apart from any use permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 no part of this document may be reproduced without permission from Yooralla.
October 2020.
Yooralla is a charitable organisation registered with the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission (ACNC) and is a Company Limited by Guarantee.
ABN: 14 005 304 432
Yooralla
Level 14, 595 Collins StreetMelbourne, Victoria 3000Phone: 03 9666 4500TTY: 03 9916 5899Fax: 03 9916 1175Email: [email protected]
72