The Melbourne founded not-for-profit organisation, Care Connect Ltd. Group, has rapidly developed over the past 24 years to become one of Australia’s leading home care providers along the eastern seaboard.
Originating as West Care Linkages in 1992 through government funded programs managed by the Western Hospital in Footscray and subsequently auspiced by the Western Region Commission (WRC), which comprised nine municipal councils, Care Connect was established in 1994.
Care Connect specialises in providing ageing, disability, mental health and carer support for those who desire the independence of their home environment rather than being institutionalised or in nursing and retirement home living.
As its name suggests, the organisation is the connection between the individual and their specific needs. These range from organising medical appointments, help with housework, Meals on Wheels, through to lawn mowing and maintenance or other requirements and expectations that support a person’s independence.
Foundation director Fred Maddern, a former councillor of the City of Footscray for 24 years, mayor for two terms and a past Chief Executive of WRC, said it has been heart- warming to have supported thousands of Australians with homecare independence.
“Our growth has been astronomical,” he said.
“We have progressed from 1.5 employees and reduced funding of $300,000 to 340 employees and turnover of more than $51.5 million. Our expansion has been rapid within Victoria and then into South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales to service 12,000 clients with more than 105,600 client contacts.
“Care Connect has partnered with more than 80 organisations across our 15 offices, nationally.
“Our approach has been defined through a program of My Life, My Choice, My Way.
“We offer our clients choice, flexibility and control so that they can live their life the way that they want in their own way. It enables them to adapt to changing circumstances
so that they can remain connected to their home, family, friends and community.”
Since making its name known in eastern state cities, Care Connect has more recently expanded into Victoria’s Loddon Mallee region with community mental health services funded by the Victorian Department of Human Services. It has also increased its coverage into Queensland’s northern areas of Wide Bay and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and NSW’s Illawarra-Shoalhaven region.
Mr Maddern said that throughout the organisation’s two decades, Nexia Director of Financial Services and Business Advisory, Paul Clements, had been integral to its development.
“When I was at WRC we had approximate turnover in the tens of millions of dollars in 1992 and the Linkages program had $2 million turnover at the time to provide case management services for the aged, disabled and frail,” Mr Maddern said.
“However, we had a terrible time at that point whereby we alleged an internal accountant had committed fraud on the organisation. Paul was a partner at the then Clements, Dunne & Bell (now Nexia) and was appointed to undertake forensic accounting to identify if fraud had occurred.
“It was a frightful time. Paul subsequently proved the level of fraud with the Director of Public Prosecutions and the individual was successfully prosecuted. He also identified an obscure term in one of our insurance policies which enabled us to recover our funds and all costs related to the fraud.”
Paul continued to provide the services of accounting, tax and audits (the latter redirected to ensure independence) and advised the board as a member of the nance committee. In 2009-10 he was appointed to the board and recruitment committee to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer.
Along with support and advice on matters such as salary packaging, fringe benefits tax, financial accounting and reporting, risk management consulting, financial planning and process upgrades, Paul’s team also advised on IT systems and upgrades.
He assisted Care Connect to establish it as a public company limited by guarantee and for which it registered for PBI (public benevolent institution) and DGR (deductible gift recipient) status.
“We have had a 24-year professional relationship with Paul and while a lot has happened in that time we continue to make further advancements,” said Mr Maddern, who resigned his term as chairman in December 2014, but remains as a director.
“We now have an active website (www.careconnect.org.au) with 23 per cent growth in online traffic. We also utilise social media and have increased Twitter followers by 64 per cent.
“Over the journey we have won five industry awards nationally and locally for best servicing and quality servicing and have been a finalist in two others.
“Our CEO Paul Ostrowski and staff regularly attend conferences and have presented at up to nine of these about consumer care.”
Mr Maddern said there is potentially some uncertainty ahead for service providers after the Government has legislated for Home Care Packages to be delivered on a Consumer Directed Care (CDC) basis.
“From January 2017, the Department of Human Services will change the funding for rural and remote residential, home and flexible care providers,” Mr Maddern said.
“It will be an entirely new ball game. Clients will be allocated a sum of money in their Home Care Package budget and need to determine the types of services they will require.
“As an agency we are well poised to meet the changes and challenges.”
