CEO’s Foreword
I’ve had the privilege of leading our organisation for a full financial year. I’m continually impressed with the abilities of our staff as they provide professional services, support and care for our clients and communities across Tasmania.
If I had to identify the most notable and consistent theme that runs throughout Relationships Australia Tasmania (RA Tas), time and again it would be that people matter. There is a clear commitment from all staff at RA Tas to make a difference in the lives of our clients.
We have achieved a great deal over the past 12 months in what has been a challenging time as we continue to live with the uncertainty of COVID-19. We established the New Normal project to consider how we respond to the changes brought about by COVID-19. The Project was shaped by client and staff input and considered modalities of service delivery, risk screening and flexibility for clients and staff.
One of the things that we have really focused on this year is making sure that people are able to understand our values and therefore what they can expect from us. To assist us with this, we developed a new Client Charter, which is now available at every RA Tas site. The Client Charter clearly outlines what our clients can expect from us and what we need from them to provide the best support and services with them. The Charter explains our clients’ rights, outlines our commitment to safeguarding children and young people and welcomes client feedback about any aspect of our service.
The Charter (link) explains our clients’ rights, outlines our commitment to safeguarding children and young people and welcomes client feedback about any aspect of our service.
We also redeveloped the RA Tas website. The new website provides easy access information in a variety of formats. The website is one of the key contact points for people who want to access our services and should reflect very clearly what we are about as an organisation. Our new website and ‘About Us’ brochure make it easier to find out about the services we provide, and this means that people will be better placed to make choices about how they want to shape their lives. We’ll continue to add video content and other online resources to make us a much more accessible organisation and in turn help to improve access to our services.
We have maintained a focus on making improvements to all aspects of our organisation to ensure that we are well placed to meet the current and future needs of our clients, staff, communities and our funders. As part of this work, we implemented a Quality Management System to provide an overarching framework to sit above the work we have been doing for our Safeguarding Children accreditation and accreditation against the National Standards for Mental Health Services. The Green Committee, have also been busy looking at ways for RA Tas to be more sustainable and reduce our impact on the environment. So far, we have had a look at our energy consumption, replaced fluorescent lighting with LEDs and implemented a standardised system for waste and recycling at each site.
We have maintained a focus on making improvements to all aspects of our organisation to ensure that we are well placed to meet the current and future needs of our clients, staff, communities and our funders.
To meet the needs of more Tasmanians, we have also added to our service delivery capacity. We partnered with the Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania in the delivery of the Family Advocacy and Support Service (FASS). This has allowed us to support people to address barriers, access support services and manage their safety while pursuing legal pathways. We were also successful in gaining funding for a Women’s Leadership program which we will be rolling out next year. The program will support women who have experienced adversity to address barriers to employment and community participation through individual counselling and group education. We have also continued to engage more broadly with communities. We expanded the reach of our suicide prevention program to work with local governments across Tasmania to develop Community Action Plans for Suicide Prevention and have partnered with two sporting clubs to pilot wellbeing programs. A highlight for the year was the SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY inaugural Shorts Day which was held on the shortest day of the year. Shorts Day was exceptionally well received a real credit to the team in bringing this innovative idea to fruition.
In last year’s Annual Report we highlighted the important work of the Relationships Australia Indigenous Network and the Walking Together Plan that had been developed. RA Tas has progressed this important work, establishing the Walking Together Committee to oversee the implementation of the Walking Together Plan. Key outcomes of this work have included the development of a First Nations acknowledgement and background information document, the delivery of NAIDOC week activities and the commissioning of artwork by local Aboriginal artists that are displayed at each site. These are an important part of our commitment to providing culturally appropriate and welcoming services and venues for Aboriginal clients and staff.
[the Relationships Australia Indigenous Network and the Walking Together Plan] are an important part of our commitment to providing culturally appropriate and welcoming services and venues for Aboriginal clients and staff.
I hope that you enjoy reading about the work of RA Tas in this year’s annual report.
In closing I wanted to thank all the staff at RA Tas who make a significant difference in the lives of so many Tasmanians every day through the work they do. Thank you also to the Leadership Group and the full management team for your ongoing work and commitment to what we are trying to achieve at RA Tas. I also wanted to thank the RA Tas Board for the contribution they make to our organisation and for the support they have given me as CEO.
I am looking forward to the next year and continuing to build the capacity of RA Tas to connect people and empower communities.
Dr. Michael Kelly