Chair and CEO Report 2023
We welcome you to the 2023 Annual Report for BaptistCare.
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Welcome to BaptistCare’s 2023 Annual Report
It is a pleasure to bring you the highlights of BaptistCare’s year.
This year has been transformative for BaptistCare, as we strengthened our foundations for a strong and thriving future to deliver care with purpose. We have realised strategic growth, invested in our technology and systems and continued our journey to be an employer of choice. The world around us continues to change at an unprecedented pace, and we are responding with purpose, energy and agility as we enter this new era.
In March, we announced the merger of BaptistCare NSW & ACT and Baptistcare WA, combining 125 years of experience delivering exceptional care and services and creating one of Australia’s largest for-purpose care providers. The merger, completed on 1 June, was a logical fit given our similar origins and values driven approach to person-directed care and service delivery. It positions us well to deliver more sustainable care in the aged care sector. Both organisations have worked closely to transition into one organisation, and this integration will continue into the 2023/24 financial year.
Funding for the aged care sector remains a challenge. However, we have seen constructive discussions with Government and in the community about how aged care can be funded sustainably. This gives us hope that decades of inattention and inadequate funding can be changed to position the sector as an attractive place to work, and a trustworthy sector for people to receive care as they age.
We are optimistic about a positive shift within the sector following increased wages for some of our aged care employees as a result of the Fair Work Commission’s Work Value Case for aged care workers. We hope that this will flow to all aged care workers who do important work and ensure the delivery of quality care across our services and attract more people to work in the sector.
A new brand campaign, People First, was launched this year to support building our workforce and declaring our commitment to our customers now and into the future. This strong and heartwarming campaign crystalises that people are at the heart of all we do and captures our values in action through the stories of our employees and customers.
We were proud to have been recognised by Diversity Council Australia as an inclusive employer, one of only 30 employers to be acknowledged for its achievements in 2022-2023. With employees coming from more than 69 different cultural backgrounds and speaking 56 languages, we are excited to recognise the diversity of our people while acknowledging the shared values that all employees live out.
We commenced our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) journey by launching our first Reflect RAP as part of National Reconciliation Week. Developed in collaboration with Reconciliation Australia, the Reflect RAP is a roadmap for building stronger relationships with First Nations Australians. Click to read our Reflect RAP.
BaptistCare has also considered our impact on the community, launching its first Social Return on Investment (SROI) report. The report shows that for every $1 BaptistCare invests in the people we care for, the positive return to individuals and society is more than two-fold and more than three-fold for our community services and social and affordable housing. You can learn more about our SROI report here.
We grew our residential and retirement living portfolio with a significant acquisition in March, securing three new sites in Prestons (South West Sydney), Menangle (South West Sydney) and Dubbo. Each site comprises an aged care home and a retirement community, complementing our existing presence in these regions. The three sites were owned and operated by Tulich Family Communities, with 251 residential aged care beds and 410 independent living units, and just over 240 employees providing care and services to 650 residents.
In WA, Aurum Catering (a subsidiary of Baptistcare WA) was acknowledged for the food and dining experience they deliver, with three homes ranked in the top ten residential aged care homes in WA. Awareness of the catering teams’ innovative approach to providing quality and flavoursome meals has spread, resulting in increased business over the year.
Throughout the year, occupancy in residential aged care continued to recover with NSW and ACT achieving 95% in June. In WA, we have seen exceptional results, with sites averaging greater than 97% throughout the year. This is an outstanding result given significant organisational changes, reputational challenges and new funding arrangements.
Our property development pipeline has remained strong, with development plans approved to construct an aged care home in Elderslie, South West Sydney, and expand the Angus Bristow Village on the same site.
Planning has also progressed for significant developments. In December, we submitted a concept proposal for redeveloping our Macquarie Park site as a mixed-use development, including seniors housing, student accommodation, build-to-rent and build-to-sell residential flat buildings, a school, retail and community land uses. The State Significant Development Application seeks concept approval for the entire site, with our staged construction plan taking place over four stages, commencing in 2025.
In February, we lodged a State Significant Development Application for the lower half of our Carlingford site in North West Sydney, with plans to build a co-located seniors, living village and residential aged care. The proposed development will include approximately 130 independent living units, 96 residential rooms in a state-of-the-art aged care home, a respite facility and a diverse range of facilities, services and outdoor spaces for residents and the community.
In March, we were awarded $3.5 million in funding through a Federal Government dementia grant to improve the use of respite to support people living with dementia at home. Over the next three years, BaptistCare at home will deliver around 120 Refresh Retreats across NSW and ACT, providing three-day, small group retreats for people living with dementia and their carers.
The Home Care team has continued to grow, with plans to expand our presence in the Ballina, Orange and Port Macquarie regions as well as several locations in Western Australia in the coming financial year.
Our Community Services team has continued supporting people living with diminished choices and disadvantage, amplified by the cost-of-living crisis coupled with increased interest rates.
The team has finessed their structure and services to ensure they are well-placed to deliver the best possible outcomes for our clients.
In May, we partnered with other agencies to advocate for increased systemic responses to scale up place-based community-led initiatives across Australia and improve well-being and equity in local communities. We hope for increased funding to enable us to respond appropriately within communities experiencing complex, entrenched and persistent disadvantage.
As Australia’s housing crisis has worsened, with the 2022 flooding events in the Northern Rivers only making matters worse, BaptistCare partnered with the NSW Government to deliver temporary pod housing on our land in Coraki. Our on-site team has been supporting up to 240 local residents as they seek to rebuild their lives.
We finished construction on our final 162 social and affordable homes in Carlingford in May as part of our partnership with the NSW Government to deliver 500 homes since 2017. This new community housing, BaptistCare Gimbawali Place, is providing vital housing to single-parent families and seniors. We continue to advocate at all levels of Government for investment in and opportunities for Community Housing providers like BaptistCare to deliver increased and urgently needed affordable housing.
The financial viability of the aged care sector continued to be under pressure during the year. Our operational result, excluding WA, was a $19 million deficit. Operational expenses associated with COVID-19, and Fair Work Commission’s Work Value Case oncosts have contributed to the result. The deficit also includes the internal funding of $8.9 million by BaptistCare towards our Community Services (HopeStreet) programs.
After accounting for the benefits of the merger between NSW, ACT and WA we recorded a surplus of $39 million primarily driven by the recognition of $270 million in asset values.
We are optimistic that after several decades of funding neglect by successive governments, the new Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) funding model will realise a positive ongoing impact. We welcome dialogue with the Aged Care Taskforce on further changes to the funding model that will allow the sector to return to a financially sustainable position.
We deeply thank our Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Teams for their expertise, guidance and wisdom over the year in steering our organisation.
To our employees, volunteers and partners, thank you for the tireless and generous care, compassion and skills you bring to your work every day. We warmly welcome new team members from acquired sites and in Western Australia, and we thank you for your incredible effort during this period of transition.
This year we have witnessed some wonderful achievements among significant changes and challenges while progressing towards our vision of seeing every individual live well. We give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the courage, steadfastness and wisdom we have needed on this journey and will continue to need.
“For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths. O Lord of the armies of heaven, blessed are those who trust in you.”
- Psalm 84: 11-12
| Robert Dunn Chair | Charles Moore Chief Executive Officer |