Welcome
A message from our Board Chair
This year has been one of significant renewal for UnitingSA. As Board Chair, it has been deeply rewarding to see the way in which our organisation has evolved. With a new Chief Executive Officer, several additions to our Executive team, the launch of our Strategic Plan 2021-2024, and the endorsement of our Reconciliation Action Plan, great momentum has developed.
The pace of change has been underpinned by our vision – for a compassionate, respectful and just community in which all people participate and flourish. By keeping this vision at the heart of our work, we have been able to develop in a way that prioritises good outcomes for those we support.
Affordable housing and homelessness continued to be among the most pressing issues for our community. UnitingSA Housing made significant advancements, becoming both a Tier 1 community housing provider and a registered Specialist Disability Accommodation provider. These achievements will allow us to continue to grow and diversify our housing responses across South Australia.
It was our first year delivering services as part of the Adelaide North West Homelessness Alliance, of which UnitingSA is the lead agency. The Alliance – a collaboration with seven other providers – is a new way of working to support people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. We are excited by the direction of the Alliance and are confident we will continue to develop innovative housing to meet the needs of those we support.
Mental health and disability support were also areas of focus and we continued to see the dual need for NDIS services and community mental health programs. We have been expanding our NDIS offerings in metropolitan and regional areas and look forward to continued growth in this space. We also acknowledge the critical role of our mental health teams in providing psychosocial supports for people whose needs cannot be met under the NDIS, and advocate for ongoing investment in these programs.
Aged care is another key area of our work. We remained focused on investing in our services to support people along the continuum, from Retirement Living through to Residential Aged Care. We opened a new 37-bed wing at Westminster Village Aged Care in Grange, increasing the home’s capacity to 101 residents. Among those to move into the new wing were residents from Regency Green Aged Care, which we closed in May. All Regency Green staff and residents were supported to transition to alternate UnitingSA Aged Care homes. Plans are underway to repurpose the site to accommodate vulnerable groups in our community.
At the Board level we farewelled Gloria Parker, who was a valued member since 2011. Gloria’s expertise in governance has been an asset to our organisation and on behalf of UnitingSA, I thank her for her service. In Gloria’s place we welcomed Dr Melanie Tan, who brings a wealth of experience from her background as a lawyer and medical practitioner. We look forward to Melanie’s contribution to the Board and as a member of our new Great Client Experience Committee.
Finally, on behalf of the Board, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of every member of the UnitingSA team throughout the year. Once again, COVID-19 placed additional challenges upon our work, and the agility and dedication shown by our workforce to maintain quality service delivery was incredible.
I would also like to extend a huge thank you to our funders, community partners and above all, the communities we work within and support. We are privileged to be able to walk alongside you. Together, we can.
Gael Fraser
UnitingSA Board Chair
Jenny Hall
UnitingSA CEO
A message from our CEO
My first year as CEO of UnitingSA has been incredibly fulfilling, as I have learned about the diversity of our services and worked closely with the team to build upon our community impact. What has been evident since day one in my role is that the greatest asset of UnitingSA is our people.
From our frontline workers through to our leaders, all team members live and breathe our organisational values of respect, courage, compassion and integrity.
I feel fortunate to be leading such an inspirational team and am thankful for their support and tireless efforts as we strive to achieve positive outcomes for communities across South Australia.
This year, we started working on a transformational initiative for our organisation – the Great Client Experience. At its heart, it means elevating the voices of those we support, listening deeply and reflecting their experiences in the development of our services and continuous improvement processes. Client outcomes are our reason for being and while we are doing well, there is always room for improvement. By embedding the Great Client Experience approach in everything we do, we can enhance our culture, quality and performance. Our new Great Client Experience Committee at Board level demonstrates the importance we are placing on this work. I am excited by what lies ahead as we continue to roll out this approach across the organisation.
Working together with our community and like-minded organisations is incredibly important in supporting us to respond to our community’s needs. We know that by partnering with others, we can achieve greater outcomes than by going it alone. One of the collaborations I am particularly proud of this year is our Ferryden Park Community Housing development, which opened in September. The housing solution provides much-needed accommodation for women aged 55 and over experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It has been made possible thanks to a partnership with the local Gospel Mission, who gifted the land, and the SA Housing Authority, who provided a $1 million grant. The housing is having a significant impact and is a wonderful demonstration of what can be achieved when government and community organisations work together to address an identified area of need.
We look forward to continuing to collaborate with others across the sector to develop innovative responses that truly address the barriers to affordable housing faced by so many. There is also significant opportunity to collaborate and innovate across other areas of our work, including aged care, mental health, child development, disability support, education and employment. We will continue to identify opportunities to forge meaningful and impactful partnerships for the benefit of the communities we serve.
As I look towards the next 12 months, I am excited to build on the momentum of my first year at UnitingSA. I am passionate about our team’s role in walking alongside communities in need across South Australia, and I believe our services are as important today as they were when we began in 1919.
I would like to thank our Board of Directors for their support and insight, my Executive Team colleagues for collaborating so effectively throughout the year, and the entire UnitingSA team across metropolitan and regional South Australia for putting the needs of those we support front and centre every day.
I am in awe of the impact UnitingSA collectively has in the lives of South Australia’s most vulnerable and have deep gratitude for every member of our team.