A. SUMMARY OF THE YEAR
2009 was another year of significant growth for Berry Street, predominantly because of our
involvement in the Victorian Bushfire Case Management Service (VBCMS). Many of our staff in
Hume, Gippsland and North & West regions were either directly impacted themselves or
through friends and family. The way they managed both their personal and professional lives
during this time was mostly inspiring. So too was the response of staff in our Central Office
who willingly and efficiently took on a significant additional workload, mostly without extra
resources.
It was also a year where, through the VBCMS and the Support Service for Forgotten Australians,
we moved into quite different areas of work. While both were the right decision, it has added
another layer of complexity which we need to manage.
When I review the summaries of the monthly reports I prepare for the Board, the recurring
theme is our drive to improve what we do – be that new systems like the Finance Management
System, taking advantage of the Out of Home Care Reform agenda, being assessed as a leading
Community Service Organisation (CSO) through registration and accreditation; introducing new
internal processes like our Professional Development and Assessment Program, or advocating
with Government, DHS and the community.
Despite the complexity of our work and the environment within which we operate, the risks
inherent in our client group, funding constraints, our high level of accountability, the multiple
stakeholders, risk averse governments and bureaucracies and a community that doesn‟t
understand the challenges of the work, most of the time we manage to get it „right‟.
This would not happen without the commitment, hard work, expertise, flexibility,
determination („We Never Give Up‟), knowledge, capacity to negotiate and work in partnership
and advocacy of our staff.
The Board also plays a critical governance role and Berry Street continues to be enriched by
the calibre and commitment of our Board of Directors.
The Board asked last year for my view of the 3 things where we did the best and the 3 areas
where we were disappointed.
Things we should be proud of:
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Our collective response to the Bushfires was magnificent and a testament to both our
staff‟s goodwill and an organisational capability which didn‟t exist a few years ago.
Preparing for and achieving accreditation/registration through 7 different processes.
Our Aboriginal Strategic Plan, which brings together our many commitments to continue
to work respectfully with Aboriginal children, young people, families, Aboriginal
Controlled Community Organisations and communities.
The calibre of the people of Berry Street, living our organisational Values (eg result of
our Employee Opinion Survey) and the continuing leadership role we play in the sector.
Things we could have done better:
Progress in achieving some of our Business Plan objectives was slower than we hoped, eg
Foundations for Practice, our Environmental Sustainability and Infrastructure Plans, Foster
Care recruitment, strategies for marketing and growing our independent income, client records
project and progressing our knowledge and advocacy agendas.
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