AUSTRALIA & ASIA volunteers . “ My first three months were fascinating . I needed to know what was happening so I spent a lot of time on the front line and visited almost every centre .” The point of contact between the client and the organisation is critical , he says : “ We had to focus back on that point of contact to find out what we needed to do better .”
A group of front line staff wrote a document that set out the current state of the organisation and how it might be changed . This was refined , placed before the board , and at a conference for 100 leaders within Vision Australia held at Geelong in 2014 launched as the Strategic Plan from 2014 to 2018 . “ I wanted our staff to look forward . At the Geelong conference I made a point of telling them I was drawing a line in the sand at that moment . From that point we did not look back .”
The Strategic Plan outlines Vision Australia ’ s New Way and was a collaboration involving our Board , a refreshed leadership team , staff and clients . Communication , fairness , flexibility , collaboration – and financial responsibility are among the principles it enshrines , and it identifies three strong core elements for service provision :
• Accessible information - Access to increasing amounts of information , faster , and in the client ’ s format of choice .
• Advocacy - Advocating for social reform , particularly the removal of barriers to participation in education and employment .
“ GROWING LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE ORGANISATION IS A KEY ELEMENT OF MY STRATEGY .”
– Ron Hooton , Chief Executive Officer
www . visionaustralia . org 135