UnitingSA Annual Report 2023-24
Our impact
We helped over 12,000 South Australians in 2023-24.
UnitingSA is an organisation grounded in a simple, powerful idea: Together, we can.
This year, the Board of Directors had the privilege of visiting teams on the ground to see first-hand the services we deliver.
In September, we toured services in Adelaide’s North and West. Later in May, we travelled to Whyalla to celebrate the official opening of our new home of Community Services. Located in Moran Street, the site now accommodates UnitingSA’s Mental Health, NDIS and Wesley Social Enterprises (WSE) for the region.
At our heart, UnitingSA is all about people.
To our employees and volunteers. Thank you. I continue to be in awe of the life-changing care and service provided by our teams and the amazing work you do to support the communities we serve.
To our donors, funders and community partners. We can’t do it without you. You have enabled us to respond with compassion to the needs of our community. Thank you for your generosity.
Finally, to the communities we work with. We are privileged to be able to walk alongside you.
Together, we can – and will – continue to make a positive difference to the lives of South Australians.
Gael Fraser
UnitingSA Board Chair
For 105 years, we’ve been at the heart of our community
The 2023-24 year presented many challenges including a cost-of-living crisis and a chronic housing shortage.
The compounding pressure on South Australians has seen our services in high demand. We have continued to respond at both a grassroots and national level.
Partnerships, such as the Adelaide North West Homelessness Alliance, enable us to have a real impact in supporting people facing homelessness in our local communities.
At the same time, we worked at a federal level, partnering with UnitingCare Australia agencies across the country, to advocate for long-overdue aged care reform.
We also contributed to the release of the Child Social Exclusion Report, a collaboration between the UnitingCare Australia network and the University of Canberra.
The report found 880,000 Australian children under the age of 15 are socially, educationally and economically isolated. South Australian children ranked among the top three most excluded in the nation.
In April, we celebrated 105 years of serving the community. While many things have changed since our organisation was formed 1919, we’re still driven by a determination to make a difference to the lives of our clients and community each and every day.
I am so proud of our staff and volunteers and the life-changing work we do together.
Jenny Hall
Chief Executive Officer
Combating the cost-of-living crisis
As South Australians felt the weight of a cost-of-living crisis, UnitingSA responded in practical ways.
With the cost of essentials like utilities and everyday groceries rising faster than wages, many South Australians have been struggling to make ends meet.
During 2023/24, UnitingSA helped over 2000 people with emergency assistance, with many of those people seeking help for the very first time.
We noted that the face of those seeking assistance is changing, with a greater proportion of families and older women seeking help. This was also mirrored in our housing services, with women over 55 becoming the fastest growing demographic of Australians facing homelessness in the nation.
We saw a 16% increase in No Interest Loans with 1,755 loans issued to the value of $2.7 million. These loans are vital in enabling people to cover the cost of essential items such as household goods, car expenses and medical bills.
The impact of the cost-of-living pressures was felt across all our community services. We know that vulnerable members of our community, including those on lower incomes and those who rely on income support, often carry the heaviest burden.
Through our broad range of programs and community services, we were able to help bring hope in many ways.
Our impact through Community Services
Hope for a family in need
Christine is just one of a growing number of vulnerable South Australians facing the impossible task of meeting the rising cost of living, as she struggles to raise six children following the tragic loss of her husband.
Fortunately for Christine, UnitingSA was able to help by negotiating payment of an enormous energy bill on compassionate grounds, taking away the extra financial strain from the family’s already stretched budget.
“I was so happy, I was crying,” Christine said.
Building homes to tackle SA’s housing shortage
In a climate of sky-rocketing house prices and rental property shortages, UnitingSA has invested in building more community and social housing.
Our focus is on creating sustainable, vibrant and connected spaces for all people and providing compassionate tenancy management.
In September, we completed five new townhouses in Kidman Park. Illustrating just how much demand there is for affordable housing, the Housing team received over 550 enquiries for the five townhouses.
In December, we announced our largest housing project in UnitingSA’s 105-year history, with 70 new homes to be built at Uniting on Second in Bowden.
In January, construction of a 40-dwelling housing complex began in Prospect. Uniting on Devonport will include a mix of affordable and social housing, along with Specialist Disability Accommodation apartments. The site will welcome its first residents in late 2024.
UnitingSA’s Community Housing portfolio now includes over 700 properties managed or under construction across the metropolitan area, as well as a small number in regional SA.
While our focus is on helping people find permanent homes, we also continue to support people who require emergency housing.
A new share house model is being piloted by UnitingSA’s Homelessness Services and the Adelaide North West Homelessness Alliance (ANWHA). Named Hamilton House, the project has been made possible thanks to local couple, Kay and Lindsay, who have made the property available for this use.
Our impact through Property & Housing
Home provides a fresh start
When Hawraa’s landlord abruptly decided not to extend her lease, her family was thrown into Adelaide’s competitive rental market.
With little time and a limited budget, Hawraa struggled to find a property.
Eventually, she successfully applied for a UnitingSA affordable rental property and her family moved into one of our newest homes.
“I have a young family and securing a home here in Adelaide has been literally one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to do,” Hawraa said.
“It makes me really happy that, because of organisations like UnitingSA, there will be more families like mine able to find a home.”
Expanding our mental health services
We believe everyone, no matter where they live, should have equal access to mental health services. In 2023, we’ve been able to action that commitment, expanding the reach of our services in regional South Australia.
Thanks to our successful bid for funding as part of the SA Health Mental Health Services tender, we established new services in Renmark, Port Pirie, Murray Bridge and across the Barossa-Hills-Fleurieu region. We also expanded our existing services in Whyalla and Kadina.
Our Mental Health Services team have also worked closely with the Central Adelaide Local Health Network and the Royal Adelaide Hospital as part of a pilot project with SA Health.
The Brief Psychosocial Support Service will enable UnitingSA, and organisations like ours, to provide support services to people who are discharge-ready who have presented to the Emergency Department with situational distress such as homelessness, financial crisis, substance use, or safety issues.
There is more to be done with UnitingSA seeing an increase in people living with complex mental health needs accessing our services, along with others who are reaching out for support for the first time.
New home for community services
In May, we celebrated the official opening of our new home for Community Services in Whyalla.
Located in Moran Street, the new headquarters accommodates UnitingSA’s trio of co-located services including Mental Health, NDIS and Wesley Social Enterprises (WSE).
The office will not only provide an improved location for our teams but will also support the growth of these services in the region.
Advocacy for aged care reform
With the number of Australians aged over 85 set to triple in the next four decades – UnitingSA joined the call for significant aged care reform.
In September, UnitingSA joined CEOs and leaders from across the country to look at ways to futureproof Australia’s aged care industry in the light of the release of the Federal Government’s 2023 Intergenerational Report.
The Report forecasts the number of Australians aged over 85 will triple, and those aged over 65 will double, in the next four decades.
UnitingSA added our voice to a submission to Australia’s Aged Care Taskforce and we will continue to advocate for appropriate and sustainable funding, as well as ensuring fair and equitable access to high quality aged care for all who need it.
UnitingSA is part of the UnitingCare Australia network – the largest aged care provider in Australia. During the year we supported over 1,500 South Australians through residential care, retirement living, home and transitional care.
Our impact through Aged Care
The Things We Love
In a first for UnitingSA, residents from all five of our Aged Care homes collaborated to create an exhibition as part of the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival.
Residents were invited to showcase their artistic talents by creating pieces of art around the theme ‘The Things We Love’.
The exhibition, which featured 24 artworks, was launched at UnitingSA Wesley House in August and then toured each of our residential aged care sites.
The SALA exhibition is just one example of how our communities support older people to live lives with purpose, dignity and joy.
Our commitment to Reconciliation
We continued to deliver services and engage in advocacy activities which support the wellbeing and aspirations of First Nations communities.
In 2023, UnitingSA worked with our First Nations stakeholders to advocate for a Voice to Parliament, which has now become a reality in our South Australia.
We also actively supported the national Yes campaign seeking constitutional recognition and a National Voice. Following the disappointing outcome of the Federal Referendum in October 2023, we paused the development of our next Reconciliation Action Plan out of respect for our Aboriginal employees.
Later in the year, we engaged KWY Aboriginal Corporation to partner with us to develop a cultural learning strategy that will help us continue our reconciliation journey.
In February 2024, we joined in the Walk for Awareness event in partnership with the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and other local organisations to mark the anniversary of the National apology to the Stolen Generation.
We continued to demonstrate our commitment to First Nations inclusion and equality throughout the year by actively engaging in events such as Close The Gap Day, Reconciliation Week and the Rec in the West event.
Every donation makes a difference
Whether it is food to help families who are doing it tough … toys for children at Christmas … or cash to support our emergency relief services … every donation counts.
In 2023, our Winter Appeal raised more than $11,000 and over 1,000 non-perishable items were donated to help us “pack the pantry”.
Our Christmas Appeal raised a further $50,000 to support our Emergency Relief services. We also received more than 4,300 in-kind donations of Christmas gifts and non-perishable food items to help our clients put a meal on the table during the festive season.
Partnership brings hope
Since 2021, staff at Kennett Builders have collectively donated more than 1500 Christmas gifts for our clients of all ages.
As the saying goes … from little things big things grow. After chatting with CEO, Jenny Hall, and learning more about our services, they decided to embark on an even more ambitious project.
Our 24-Hour House, which provides emergency accommodation for young people who are experiencing homelessness, desperately needed a bathroom renovation. The project struck a chord with the Kennett brothers as they are fathers of teenagers.
They got straight to work – engaging contractors and suppliers – and undertook the $90,000 bathroom upgrade free of charge.
Thank you Kennett Builders. We love partnering with others to bring hope and positive change in our communities.
UnitingSA really is an organisation that puts people at its centre.
Throughout the year we continued to strengthen our great client experience approach, ensuring that our staff are committed to delivering a high-quality experience to each and every client.
In September 2023, we launched our Leadership Development Series – Growing & Thriving – to help our leaders to grow their knowledge and capabilities.
In January 2024, we officially opened our new Learning Hub at our Regency Green site. The hub provides a dedicated and accessible space for all UnitingSA employees to participate in education activities.
As part of our ongoing commitment to employee acknowledgement and appreciation, we also launched new ‘Appreciate You!’ and ‘Welcome to the Team!’ cards in early 2024.
These cards provide a simple way for staff to acknowledge the great work of a team member or send a message of welcome to someone joining UnitingSA.
Our People
Our impact through our People
Number of employees by service
Volunteers play a vital role at UnitingSA
During the year we called for volunteers to supervise learner drivers who don’t have parental or family support to help them get their licence.
Driving mentors make a vital difference – not only teaching participants a new skill but having a driver’s licence can also open doors to employment.
There are many opportunities across our aged care and community services for volunteers to make a difference.
2023-24 Financial Report
Despite these very challenging times, we have continued to provide support to vulnerable South Australians during the 2023-24 financial year.
UnitingSA acknowledges the Barngarla, Erawirung, Kaurna, Meintangk, Nharangga, and Ngarrindjeri peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we provide our services.