The end of the financial year is a time to reflect on outcomes, and what has been done over the previous twelve months. Each year I have conversations with people about the next year maybe being a little less challenging. But, in reality, that is never the case.
Once, we used to see the narrative that significant change occurred periodically. Those days are long gone, with significant changes occurring at pace throughout each year as we respond to many opportunities and challenges.
Of course, the reasons are often positive - new places, new systems, new services. In some cases, it’s about responding to developing new service models and implementing service improvements, as well as responding to financial challenges, such as the NDIS, inflation, wage increases, and inconsistent funding models.
Thinking ahead, last year we did a lot of work about how technology might help us with some of these changes, and make the changes we must make a little easier. We developed a digital transformation strategy, a digital roadmap, and established a digital transformation team.
Conscious that many people who access our supports may not wish a digital only approach, we have been considering what an evidence-based hybrid service model might look like, and how we might incorporate that in our usual practice framework. That also means we have increased our focus on digital citizenship, ensuring whoever wants to can access technology and know how to use it to get supports they want. This is also important given so many more services are now requiring digital skills and access.
As our Community Advisory Council has reflected, these digital skills must now be considered a human right. That’s a direct call to all of us to rethink the way we deliver supports. Knowing how important digital citizenship is, we have incorporated that into our new Social Citizenship Framework which will be launched shortly. Stay tuned for more information about that event.
I hope you enjoy this month’s Flourishing News.
Mark Orr AM
Chief Executive
