This is my ninth Annual Report since commencing as the CEO of Relationships Australia Tasmania and I am pleased to report that it has been another very successful year for us. Collectively we have achieved a lot, in collaboration with our partners in the community sector.
As a community-based secular organisation reliant primarily upon Government funding, we have 21 programs from 16 contracts, all with their own set of compliance and reporting requirements, which often makes our work complex. Despite this, our organisation has overseen some substantial change and progress over the past 12 months – some of it bedded down, some of it ongoing.
In the past year I am proud of our White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation, being the first not-for-profit organisation in Tasmania to achieve this credential. We continue to play an active leadership role in the promotion of White Ribbon across the state and ensure our workplace is continually engaged in the White Ribbon values and mission.
This past year we have had an increased awareness of and focus on risk and safety, because you cannot argue with the safety of our clients and their families as being critical to the work we do. In response to this we moved to electronic files in most of our programs, ensuring our client data is managed appropriately and securely. Along with the implementation of an e-file system, we also made the move to collecting universal screening information electronically.
In the past year RA Tas has commenced numerous accreditation processes, following through on our commitment to ensure our staff meet the practice and behaviour standards expected of our clients. Acquiring accreditation also means that we can continue to receive funding in these areas. The National Mental Health Standards and Child Safe Accreditation are two that we have prioritised. The Child Safe Accreditation is important because the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse insists that organisations working in this space have these systems in place, and we agree.
We have increased our media profile and actively engaged in advocacy to advance our agenda for Government funding, for services where we see gaps. I also like to think we played our small part in the major social change and success of Marriage Equality for Australians from the LGBTIQ community.
There are two indicators that I look forward to reviewing every six months – Staff Engagement and Client Satisfaction data. In both of these indicators, we do better than the industry benchmarks and continue to demonstrate that a client-focused organisation is aligned with strong staff engagement.
We have developed a marketing strategy to help position us into the future and have already started to plan a new strategic planning process, ensuring our continued success in the coming years.
In my team at the management level, there have been a number of changes – we farewelled Ruth Davidson and welcomed Mel Harback as Director Family Law Services. We farewelled Claire Jones and Craig Allen and welcomed Jo Cassidy and Marlene Horne as Manager Post Separation South and Manager Client Services, respectively. I would like to thank the Management and Leadership Group for their efforts and commitment over the past year.
I want to acknowledge and thank all the staff who have worked here over the last year. You all do an amazing job and we appreciate you every day.
I also want to thank our volunteer RA Tas Board who give their time and expertise with no financial return, but with a philanthropic return, where they also feel very proud of the difference our collective effort makes for our clients.
I want to acknowledge and thank all the staff who have worked here over the last year. You all do an amazing job and we appreciate you every day.
Special thanks to Mary Bent who is a fantastic President and a great mind and support to myself and the board. Also, to Michael Kelly our Chief Operating Officer, who so effortlessly steps up to support the organisation while I am travelling and particularly whilst taking personal and annual leave.
Enjoy your new look annual report and congratulations on another successful year.
Mat Rowell
Chief Executive Officer
Relationships Australia Tasmania