CEO's report ADAWA Strategic Directions 2023-2028

Trevor Lovelle

As highlighted in the President’s Report, the ADAWA strategic plan was rolled out to members at the July ADAWA General Meeting, following final consideration by ADAWA’s Committees.

Entitled ADAWA Strategic Directions 2023 – 2028 the plan is the culmination of work commenced earlier this year by the ADAWA Council. It is a vital component of the change actions that underpin the organisation’s continuous improvement program, with the other two actions being the governance assessment process undertaken by Council, and the member survey, which were both completed late last year.

Core elements of the plan include focus of effort, desired results, the current operating environment, our identity, and importantly the strategic drivers that will enable the desired results to be achieved.

In essence, the plan identifies the key cohort for each of the three focus of effort areas for ADAWA, which are:

1. Our members – leveraging the principle that members should be our strongest advocates, the intention is to ensure members highly value what we offer and promote the interests of ADAWA.

2. Our stakeholders – the intention is to create a high profile ‘go to’ organisation that engages with and collaborates with all stakeholders.

3. Our organisation – we want to ensure ADAWA is a high performing, sustainable and well-governed organisation.

The desired results reflect vital qualitative and quantitative metrics for the membership, influence, and financial domains.

Strategic planning should consider the environment in which the organisation operates and accordingly the plan identifies a variety of assumptions in relation to key issues currently affecting the WA dental industry, and the consequent opportunities for the organisation. ADAWA’s identity comprises our ‘purpose’ and our ‘role’. In respect of our purpose, the plan describes that ADAWA: “exists so that oral health is advanced, and hence, the general health of the Western Australian Community because:

• Better, and happier, practitioners flourish

• Policy makers and regulators turn to us for credible and productive advice."

Our role succinctly describes ADAWA as “the peak member organisation in Western Australia acting as the voice of oral health”. The final element of the plan comprises the strategic enablers, which have been identified as education, advocacy, connecting, services, public awareness, and volunteers’ efforts.

These enablers not only frame the work that we do at ADAWA but importantly identify the benefits of membership.

The Council envisages that this plan will be frequently reviewed over the 5-year planning horizon to ensure it remains fit-for-purpose and enhances the member experience.