Woodville Alliance Annual Report 2020
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2020 Annual Report We are Woodville Alliance Woodville Alliance is a not-for-profit community organisation with major programs in disability, mental health, family and youth support, community development Our Values and early childhood education and care. Our head office is based in Fairfield East and we work Fairness and Social Justice across the surrounding local government areas of Fairfield, Canterbury Bankstown, Cumberland and Liverpool. Compassion and Empathy Empowerment Reconciliation - We respect and value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their cultural heritage. Cultural Diversity - We respect and value cultural diversity, including diversity in personal and religious values. Valuing and respecting our people - We value the work of both our staff and volunteers and support their right to fair working conditions and career development opportunities. Sustainability - We believe that social policy and programs should be responsible and sustainable with regard to environmental and economic impacts. Highest Quality and Innovation Where you will find us Contents Fairfield East Board Members 8 44-46 Mandarin Street Fairfield Who we are 9 East: Head Office and Disability Services (GeekAbility and What sets us apart EARTH Centre) 10 Message from our Chairperson 12 Message from our CEO 14 Carramar 130 Wattle Avenue Carramar: Community Initiatives 18 Woodville Alliance Community Hub - Strong Communities, Carramar Early Learning Centre 26 Strong Families (left) 7 Karella Avenue Carramar: Disability Services Woodville Alliance Early 30 Learning Centre (right) Organisational Structure 36 Auburn / Lidcombe Financial Results 37 Auburn Youth Centre: Woodville Alliance Community Initiatives - How you can help 38 Strong Minds. In Appreciation 39 CONTACT Liverpool Chester Hill Woodville Alliance 44 Mandarin Street East Fairfield NSW 2165 PO Box 468 Villawood NSW 2163 3:03, 13-15 Moore Street Phone: 02 9722 5200 Liverpool: Woodville Alliance Email: [email protected] Disability Services (left) www.woodville.org.au Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. E&OE. Chester Hill Community Centre: ABN 70 813 625 570 Woodville Alliance Disability Graphic design and printing provided by: Services (right) Planet Press www.planetpress.com.au Our Vision for people in Western Sydney Our vision is for a fairer, more just society and improved quality of life for people in Western Sydney. Woodville is mission driven for purpose Woodville Alliance will work in partnership with our communities to identify and build on the strengths and develop the resources, capacity and resilience of all members of our community. We will do this through the provision of information, direct services, research, advocacy and social action. Our Board Who we are 93 employees Who we serve Ken Bone Elizabeth Grinston Tony Calderan Paul Easton Chairperson Deputy Chair Director Director Children Young Families People with people disability Diverse communities 70.8% Hawkesbury Fairfield LGA contains the highest proportions and numbers of people who Hanna Ebeling Sandra Gamble David Hua Tim O’Halloran speak a language other than English at Blue Mountains Director Director Director Director home. Compared to Western Sydney region (43.6%), Cumberland LGA The Hills (65.6%) and Canterbury Bankstown Penrith LGA (60.2%)*. Blacktown Parrama a Low income Cumberland Faireld households Canterbury Bankstown Camden The median weekly gross household Liverpool income in Western Sydney is $1,600 per Campbelltown week. Fairfield has the lowest median Wollondilly weekly gross household income, $380 short of the regional median*. *Communities of Change Report (2016) WOODVILLE ALLIANCE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 9 What sets us apart Our priorities Involvement Resources Collaboration Our culture of 78% 81% 85% I am empowered to make There are clear My work unit receives Safety and well-being decision needed to do my processes for how work help and support from job well. is to be done. other work units. Involvement Health & “I felt very supported safety by management during COVID-19. My individual 91% 90% I am encouraged to give I know where to get help needs were considered feedback about things if I am feeling emotionally and I have not been put that concern me. unwell or unsafe. in any situations I was The table above expands on the matrix at a questions level, identifying the questions where performance was rated lowest in comparison to the relative importance of the issue. Key improvement areas, or areas of high-impact in which staff perceive not comfortable in. I feel performance could improve, have been identified. even more confident in management now.” Driving positive change during COVID-19. “I’m so proud to In May, we conducted a staff survey to gauge and monitor staff safety and well-being. We are pleased with the results each survey and continue to improve a strong culture. be working for an organisation who Well-being Progress really cares about 87% 93% people and the local Staff indicated they feel well at this Staff indicated they are satisfied with the community.” time. Well-being reflects the emotional organisation’s response to the situation. wellness of staff, their level of stress Progress reflects staff perception about and sense of safety. organisational performance and continuity. 10 WOODVILLE ALLIANCE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 Message from our Chairperson address risks. We specifically focused on our duty New Auditors of care to clients and our community and on work Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and based on health and safety for our staff. This included early best governance practice the Board changed both implementation of all the government recommended our long-term financial auditors and our quality safety measures for staff and clients who remained auditor. Our previous auditor, BDO, had provided in the workplace, moving all staff who were able excellent financial audit services for over 10 years to work from home and introducing flexible online and in response to our request had allocated a client services across all our teams. new audit partner for the previous three years. We At a time when the threat of a virus drives us to separate as a conducted a review and careful due diligence to community it is even more important to provide services that help Ensuring that Woodville Alliance select StewartBrown as our new financial auditors. is well equipped to survive and StewartBrown has undertaken our end of year bring us together. And that is the essence of Woodville Alliance. continue to provide important financial audit for the first time in 2020. Additionally, services in the new COVID-19 normal at the end of 2019 we farewelled our long-term ISO auditor, Peter Burton from BSI. BSI had worked with In May the Board spent time considering what Despite all the challenges Woodville Alliance Solvency us for almost 12 years and had been an important concluded this unprecedented year in a good factors should guide our continued operations in In March we developed six months of financial factor in giving us growing confidence in our quality position. We adopted a strong risk focus and all the new COVID-19 normal over the next one to forecasts which were updated fortnightly and system. We are in the process of appointing a new staff and clients have been kept safe, our clients and three years. In visioning our future, we considered modelled the worst, most likely, best-case and external ISO auditor. community have strongly returned to our services the major likely changes for our Western Sydney shut down scenarios. This flexible forecast tool and our financial position is sound. We have also community such as higher unemployment, increased I would like to thank my fellow directors who was considered more effective in a crisis than time spent visioning the future to support our poverty, increased mental health needs and ongoing each responded to this unprecedented crisis with a traditional 12-month budget, which we would planning and advocacy for the next few years. digital exclusion. We discussed the key implications thoughtfulness, courage and compassion. We had usually have developed in May. By the end of June, for our operations of these changes as being a likely a number of additional Board meetings all through In March the Board articulated the following we had maintained a strong financial position increased demand for services, a potential change the medium of Zoom, which necessitated developing governance priorities in response to COVID-19 and above our best-case scenario. Various Government in client expectations of our services including new communication skills and lots of patience! all Board meetings from March to June focused subsidies including JobKeeper and the withholding greater flexibility, staff expectations for more flexible around these: tax subsidy greatly supported our ongoing The staff at Woodville Alliance, as always, are at workplaces and the need for increased advocacy for the heart of what we do. Our staff were flexible and ● Solvency – how we ensure Woodville Alliance operations. Our end of financial year results newly emerging unmet local need in areas such as reports a healthy financial surplus. innovative and management was unfailingly positive remains solvent; mental health and food security. in the face of a frightening crisis. They all continued ● Keeping clients and staff safe; and By the end of June, we had responded to these to provide services both in person and online in a How we keep clients and staff safe issues with a range of measures