Chair and CEO Report
We welcome you to the 2021 Annual Report for BaptistCare.
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Welcome to BaptistCare’s 2021 Annual Report
In a year where life has been disrupted for every Australian, these challenges have been close to home for BaptistCare’s people, residents, clients, their families and those on the journey with us to see every individual living well.
The global health pandemic has resulted in genuine concerns for BaptistCare, including the health and safety of our workforce and those in our care, financial pressure associated with being prepared and ready to respond, and hurdles related to the vaccine rollout.
We also acknowledge the harrowing experiences many of our clients and tenants have and continue to face. This has included an affordable housing shortage, and the domestic and family violence crisis experienced by women and children in our communities.
Yet, in the face of these challenges, we saw the opportunity to refresh, rebuild and regrow.
This has involved embracing the disruption we saw around us while preparing and planning to continue delivering exceptional care and services to our customers.
The resilience, passion and patience of our staff and volunteers has been incredible this year. They have remained committed to our values as they upheld our customers’ and their families’ health, safety and wellbeing each and every day.
To our employees and volunteers, we say a very heartfelt thank you. We are indebted to our Directors, Executive Team, and Senior Leadership Group, to whom we extend deep gratitude. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to your teams and BaptistCare.
In February, we restructured our Executive Leadership Team, merging our Residential Services and Retirement Living streams, and our Community Services and
Community Housing streams, with the aim of delivering an enhanced continuum of care and integration of services.
A new Five Year Strategy was developed for BaptistCare, which provides us with a roadmap to achieve three clearly articulated objectives; delivering an authentic and loving customer experience, driving business excellence, and attracting great people to make a difference.
We have a clear roadmap that outlines these areas of focus, alongside outcomes and targets that will determine our success, and strategic areas where we will target our time, effort and money. We know the undertaking is vast, but we have committed employees and volunteers who will eagerly rise to the challenge and a gracious and loving God who lights our path. You can learn more about our Strategy on our website.
One particular area of focus is building a stronger sustainability framework on the pillars of Environment, Social and Governance factors, which saw BaptistCare launch a Human Rights Position Statement and our first Modern Slavery Statement.
These Statements reflect our commitment to promote and respect human rights and adhere to ethical policies that respect human rights and oppose exploitation.
Our Residential Services team also continued their agile response to COVID-19 throughout the year, ensuring the health and safety of those in our care. We strongly encouraged our residents and employees to take advantage of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 vaccination program. We’re pleased to share that 100%
of our Residential Services staff are now vaccinated, as are over 90% of our residents.
Ongoing lockdowns and outbreaks in various parts of NSW and the ACT continue to be challenging and have prompted the preventative closures of many of our homes to visitors at various times.
We also received approval for a Development Application to redevelop BaptistCare Caloola Centre in Wagga Wagga with a design that will feature home-like principles and meet stringent infection control benchmarks.
In the Retirement Living space, we completed stage two of the BaptistCare Maranoa Village development, with an additional 15 new units being added to an existing 40 units in the Northern Rivers. Construction and sales continued on our latest development in the ACT, Yarra Rossa. Final sales for the third stage of The Gracewood Community in Kellyville were also realised, marking the conclusion of this nine-year development.
The increasing focus on flexible Home Care Packages for the At Home division stimulated the growth of a new Well-Living® framework of Be Well, Think Well, Connect Well. The BaptistCare Well-Living® approach seeks to help clients live their best life at home by supporting every individual to improve their health and personal wellbeing.
The At Home division also secured $11 million of Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) funding for additional Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy services, expanding our Home Modifications and Maintenance services, and three dementia consultants.
Our Community Services team continued to come alongside people living below the poverty line or experiencing disadvantage, adapting and responding to need as the health and ensuing financial crisis impacts the communities we serve.
Two existing HopeStreet sites in Dubbo and Port Kembla were relocated to larger premises, while our Inner City team also opened a new Youth Centre in Sydney’s Woolloomooloo.
With an ongoing focus on housing and homelessness, further Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF) sites were successfully delivered in Five Dock and Elderslie for seniors and single-parent families.
At our organisation’s birthplace in Carlingford, we also turned the first sod with work commencing on a final 162 SAHF apartments, which will complete the 500 dwellings we are providing in partnership with the NSW Government.
Our vision for Carlingford extends beyond affordable housing and plans for future development of aged care and seniors living are underway. This preparation for the needs of our ageing population extends to our site at Macquarie Park where early consultation with residents, families and stakeholders has laid the ground for future aspirations that we look forward to exploring further in the new year.
Several significant and complex projects have also been undertaken across the year. They have included the strengthening of our governance framework, the refinancing of our borrowings for our SAHF developments, a number of major technology projects to enhance our services the strengthening of our sales and customer experience approach, and increasing our advocacy in key areas such as aged care, housing and for those living in poverty.
Financially, we were blessed to qualify for the JobKeeper allowance in 2020, and this has helped us to continue to support employees on reduced hours and maintain our financial sustainability. The year’s events have delivered their challenges, but our financial stewardship has us well-placed to continue to withstand the financial headwinds related to COVID-19.
We acknowledge and thank John Church, former Director, for more than 30 years of service and the significant contribution he has made in this time. John retired from the Board in November. Stuart Abbott also retired in September, and we thank him for his service and contribution to the Board.
Sadly, we grieved the loss of former Chief Executive Officers Ross Low and June Heinrich in the last year. Both of these incredible people will be missed, but we remain grateful for their leadership, legacies and the stewardship they imparted to BaptistCare.
And to Him we give our deepest thanks, for all this year has been, and for the genuine love and care we have been privileged to provide to so many.
Robert Dunn | Charles Moore Chief Executive Officer |
Our Year in Conversation
Listen to our Chair and CEO chat about the year, including the highlights, challenges, and our direction for the future.
