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The CEO Report

Deb Tozer

CEO Report

 

It is my great pleasure to share with you our 25th year of operation at CareSouth. I have had the privilege of leading our strategic direction for the past six years.  It has been my most rewarding role especially being surrounded by so many people who care, beyond our expectations.

 

Fittingly our 25th year has been celebrated by some extraordinary achievements such as winning the Business of the Year in the Shoalhaven Business Awards, along with Employer of Choice and Excellence in Community Services.  We were the first Not-for-Profit to win this prestigious award.  We were also recognised in our Western Region with Pru McManus awarded Business Leader in the Deniliquin Business Awards.  We were also finalists in the Illawarra Business Awards in the Employer of Choice Category.

 

Sadly, after a quarter of a century leading the organisation we farewell our Chairman and founder Jim McEwan.  Jim has been a passionate advocate for CareSouth, those we support and our communities, and his legacy will reach far into the future.  Personally, Jim has been my greatest support and I thank him sincerely.

 

With every ending there is a new beginning and we have been fortunate to welcome our new Chairman John Dorahy in an exciting time for the organisation as we enter our second quarter of our first century.  John is highly regarded and has strong ties to the Illawarra, he is compassionate and a perfect replacement to take on the role of filling Jim’s large shoes.  Our Board as ever remain diligent, vibrant and truly committed to our vision and purpose.

 

Looking back on the last year it really has been a mammoth year for CareSouth with our retendering for Permanency Planning and Intensive Therapeutic Care in an environment of great change within the Out-of-Home Care sector. We also commenced the extensive auditing process led by the Office of the Children’s Guardian to achieve Re-Accreditation.

 

Disability services continued to experience change with our remaining regions coming on board for the NDIS and undergoing Third Party Verification. We are also in the process of Voluntary Out-of-Home Care, Safeguarding Children and White Ribbon Accreditation, all of these processes taking place whilst staff and volunteers continue ‘business as usual’ providing quality services to those we support.

 

This year we saw the introduction of our CareSouth Connect call centre which allows both staff, carers and the community to have a central contact point and 24 hour support.

 

We also launched our inaugural Emerging Leaders program to identify and develop future leadership talent.  The 12 month work-based learning program supported seven staff from across the organisation considering a career in management and leadership.

 

CareSouth continued our long tradition of advocacy in the sector by becoming founding members of the Children in Care Collective.  The Collective was formed to share information and work collaboratively and proactively on a range of issues for children and young people with complex needs living in Out-of-Home Care.

 

A huge thank you and acknowledgement of staff, carers and volunteers – they continue to amaze me every day – their resilience, energy and innovation applied in their work inspires and drives me to achieve better, to challenge the status quo.

 

Debra Tozer – CEO

Deb Tozer_108cropped

Chairman’s Report

 

It gives me great pleasure in writing this, my first Annual Report welcome as CareSouth Chairman.

 

This past year has been a steep learning curve for me since taking on the role of Chairman from CareSouth’s founder and long-serving Board Chairman Jim McEwan. It is a wonderful accolade that someone in Jim’s position, with his experience and expertise, would identify me to replace him as Chairman, especially in a year when we are celebrating our 25th anniversary.

 

It is an honour to step into this role at a time when we are reflecting on the highlights of the past quarter of a century and looking ahead to continue to create positive futures for children, young people, families and communities across NSW and more recently the ACT.

 

Since stepping into this role our organisational focus has been on meeting our accreditation and training requirements across our wide geographic footprint, including implementing our Safeguarding Children, Young People and People with Disability policy across the organisation.

 

I was honoured to be the first to sign CareSouth’s Safeguarding Children, Young People and People with Disability Commitment Statement. Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility at CareSouth, every day. The Board of Directors have supported and endorsed this Safeguarding Policy, to show our commitment at the highest level of the organisation. And more than 200 staff have undertaken the required training and pledged their commitment to the policy.

 

The Board also had the opportunity to participate in the Third Party Verification audit for our Disability Services, which we passed with flying colours, and more recently the Office of the Children’s Guardian audit for Out-of-Home Care Reaccreditation.

 

I would like to thank everyone across the organisation for the tremendous effort that has been put in preparing us for these audits. The audit undertaken by the OCG was very detailed, and it was a pleasure to participate in the assessment, seeing first-hand the depth of knowledge and passion of our staff.

 

In order to achieve best practice the Board has also set a target of 100% completion of mandatory training for all staff. Since implementing this benchmark we have already seen an increase in staff taking the opportunity to increase their knowledge. It is an important element of our drive to be the best at what we deliver.

 

I would like to thank everyone who has warmly welcomed me to the CareSouth team and I feel privileged to be a part of such a warm, vibrant organisation. On behalf of the Board I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our wonderful staff in creating positive futures for those with whom they work.

 

John Dorahy – Board Chairman

John Doherty 76

Former Chairman’s tribute

 

CareSouth founder and recently retired Chairman Jim McEwan has dedicated his life to helping children and young people. Jim’s vision – to create positive futures for all those with whom we work – has spent the past 25 years doing his best to make that happen and it underpins all the work we do here at CareSouth.

 

Jim has helped enhance the lives of thousands of children and young people across NSW and the ACT and CareSouth has always been in safe hands under Jim’s guidance as founder and Chairman. And it will remain so with our CEO and Board sharing the same visions and values.

 

CareSouth CEO Deb Tozer said Jim’s contribution and commitment to CareSouth over the past 25 years has helped the not-for-profit become a leader in the sector.

 

“Jim has been an incredible support to me and a great source of knowledge since my commencement with CareSouth. I now look forward to working with John in the role of Chairman,” said Deb.

 

Jim’s journey in building CareSouth from a handful of staff to a team of almost 300 began when he was asked to join a steering committee to help save Nowra’s only youth refuge. Jim’s unwavering vision to “give every kid a terrific life” led to him fostering a young person and setting up an Aunties & Uncles program in the Shoalhaven. This soon led to Jim establishing Shoalcare – now known as CareSouth – and we now have offices in the Illawarra, South Coast, Southern Tablelands, Western NSW and Deakin, ACT.

 

“I hate seeing kids’ (potential) being wasted,” said Jim. “I had a terrific life. I think every kid should have a terrific life. I thought maybe I could make some contribution. I knew I wasn’t a welfare worker but I was good at getting things going and keeping them going so that’s what I did. I think everybody wants to make a difference don’t they.

 

“The thing that always motivated me is the fact that we’re helping kids get a better life and not seeing their lives wasted.”

 

“The core values haven’t changed which was really doing the best for kids that we can possibly do, or for people with disabilities (as the organisation grew) so that hasn’t changed at all. It’s been a theme that’s existed from day one and still exists.

 

“Deb (Tozer our CEO) I would say is the one with the vision, I think I’m the one who did whatever had to be done to get us where we were going. Deb is the one who inspires and provides a vision for the organisation and will take us into the future.”

chairman

Our Awards

Shoalhaven

Business of the Year 2016, Employer of Choice and Excellence in Community Services winner

Deniliquin

Business Leader of the Year 2016

It has been an exciting time at CareSouth with the organisation winning several prestigious business awards in the 2016-2017 financial year.

 

In 2016 CareSouth was named the Shoalhaven Business of the Year at the Shoalhaven Business Awards. Along with the prestigious main award, we also won the Employer of Choice and Excellence in Community Service awards.

 

CareSouth CEO Deb Tozer said the awards were recognition of the importance CareSouth places on investing in our future – the vulnerable children and young people supported by our team of dedicated employees. “At CareSouth we work with people most in need,” said Ms Tozer. “Every day our committed staff arrive for work with a desire to help others. They are dedicated professionals from diverse backgrounds who have a unique skill set – from direct care workers to accountants and psychologists to IT specialists.”

 

In another significant win for CareSouth, Deniliquin Program Manager Pru McManus was named the Business Leader of the Year at the 2016 Deniliquin Business Awards. Pru is the driving force behind CareSouth’s Deniliquin team who have worked “tirelessly” over the past four years to develop and provide quality programs in the Western region.

 

“I was extremely proud to be named Business Leader of the Year at the Deniliquin Chamber Business awards,” said Pru. “Although it was presented as an individual award, it was really one for our whole Deniliquin team. And my recognition and appreciation goes to them for their dedication and passion for all that they do for the children, young people and families that they support. Without their commitment, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

 

“The range of awards we have received across our geographical footprint highlights the professionalism, innovation and quality work our not-for-profit organisation does in the community sector,” said Deb. “Each and every day our staff work towards creating a positive future for the children, young people, individuals, families and communities that they support. It is a privilege and an honour to lead such a compassionate, hardworking and inspiring team.”

The Board

To read their full profiles click here.

John Dorahy

Theo Boyle

Rebecca Keen

James Parrish

Nick Sims

Christine Cook

Peter Murphy

Jim McEwan

Our Footprint

 

Our reach is great through regional NSW throughout the southern and western regions. CareSouth offers services in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Southern Tablelands and far western NSW

The year in numbers

13000

lives impacted

282

brighter futures

1878692

kms travelled

316

foster carers

Organisation Structure

 

In 2017 we changed our structure to a regional model to best meet the needs of the communities we serve.

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