Intake Trial

Enhancing our clients’ experience

This year, RA Tas conducted a trial of a new centralised intake model across our post-separation services. The main objective of this trial was to provide our clients with support by adopting a trauma-informed approach to identify the services that would meet their needs, and to make our process more efficient.

Preparation for the trial took place in October 2022, and consisted of several meetings with our stakeholders including practitioners, managers, client service workers and IT on how we could bring this vision to life.

Like a triage model used in hospital emergency departments, this method has been adapted to suit the social service sector. Clients visit RA for an intake appointment where all relevant details are collected, and an intake officer assists them in finding a program that supports their needs. This means that the client only needs to tell their story once, minimising the risk of re-traumatisation.

After thorough consultation and training of the intake officers, the trial commenced in March 2023 and is currently active statewide.

The trial has allowed RA Tas to better understand the client’s needs and what adaptions can be made to enhance the client experience during the intake process.

The trial has allowed RA Tas to better understand the client’s needs and what adaptions can be made to enhance the client experience during the intake process. As part of the trial period, feedback has been received from all staff involved, which will now inform the future of the intake process. Overall, this process has shown the strength of RA Tas staff, who are willing to adapt to change quickly and ensure the values of our organisation continue to be at the forefront of mind when managing change and trialing new processes.

Clients provided the following feedback:

What I liked about my intake: all the info. I felt safe telling all my issues.

I got to give my details/issues at the intake so the practitioner has a better understanding.

I liked getting options for moving forward through various forms of counselling.