Annual Report 2021
Acknowledgement of country We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of lutruwita (Tasmania), the Aboriginal land on which we live and work. We acknowledge the palawa peoples, including the Tyerrenotepanner, Leterremairrener and Panninher clans in our North, and the muwinina in our South; and pay respect to elders past, present and emerging. We recognise the history of invasion and colonisation upon Aboriginal people includes forcible removal from their lands and their families. We acknowledge our role in the ongoing process of reconciliation and healing. We stand for a future that profoundly respects and acknowledges Aboriginal perspectives, culture, language and history; and a future that includes Aboriginal rights and justice.
Our Purpose is to create meaningful employment opportunities for people with a disability and from disadvantaged backgrounds. A Defining Year COVID-19 has completely redefined our understanding of Blueline’s Purpose and reshaped the identity of the organisation beyond an employer of people with a disability. Truly embracing what it means to employ people experiencing disadvantage requires acknowledgement of the shared history of marginalisation that unites our workforce. Blueline adopted a wholistic approach to staff wellbeing to ensure those most vulnerable have had stable and regular income throughout this pandemic. From migrant workers with refugee heritage to the white Tasmanians experiencing inter-generational hardship, all staff have maintained purpose in their lives and continued their journey of resilience. While acknowledging the short-term impacts of COVID-19, the strategic direction has been to focus on the long-term, continuing our steadfast prioritisation of the safety and security of our people, our customers, and our community into the future.
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Contents Our Purpose
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Joint Foreword by the Chair and CEO
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Our Leadership
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Our Operations
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Our People
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Tasmania’s Most Talented Laundry
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Our Employee Recognition Awards
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Our Social Calendar
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Our Training and Development
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Our Community Connections
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Our Community Partnerships
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Thanking our Partners and Supporters
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BlueLine Laundry is a registered Charity with a long and proud history of service to the people of Tasmania. Commencing operations in 1893 as BayView Laundry, the service was developed by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd to provide employment for disadvantaged women and girls.
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Joint Foreword from the Chair and CEO It is with great pleasure and pride to announce that 2020/21 was another fantastic year for Blueline Laundry, its staff, and supporters. Consistent with our aspirations to be the best community service organisation, Blueline evolved the breadth of its Purpose and truly embraced the mindset of diversity. We increased the organisation’s understanding of disadvantage across marginalised groups and enhanced our trauma-informed practices. Pleasingly, we increased our representation of staff from the culturally and linguistically diverse community to 35%, which is now equal to the number of staff working with a disability. The supporting programs that underpinned the evolution of our Purpose were recognised through winning the TasICT Award for Best Diversity & Inclusion Initiative in the Workplace. Although the year was marred by the impacts of COVID-19, Blueline continued to contribute to the community in so many ways. We drove over 367,000 kilometres to deliver 5,600 tonnes of clean linen, to over 500 customers across all regions of the state. We provided additional supports during COVID-19 and invested heavily in the safety systems to support our people, which resulted in a continued reduction in our injury frequency rates. We strengthened our sewing team to have the right resources to make alginate bags and other products demanded by primary health during the pandemic. Most importantly, we provided stable employment for 240 people living with a disability, and experiencing other forms of disadvantage. Our People remain at the heart of our organisation and it has been rewarding to see so many of our staff improve their skills and capacity to contribute more in the workplace. A number of staff successfully attained certificates in both production and disability skills courses, and some staff were promoted to higher-level roles within the organisation. We successfully transitioned degree-qualified production workers into supervisory and administration roles, where their tertiary education and life experiences are better served. In recognition of the need to have exemplar leadership, the senior management team undertook executive coaching to build their capacity toward a more strategic perspective, with a view to unlocking greater potential across the whole business. Perhaps one of Blueline’s most Annual Report 2021
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Joint Foreword from the Chair and CEO pleasing achievements within our expanded Purpose was seeing migrant staff attain sufficient Australian workforce experience to move on from Blueline to work within their chosen professional field. Our Partnerships continue to underpin our business and Blueline continued to partner with like-minded community organisations that share our vision for equality. Most notably, the partnership with CatholicCare’s SafeHaven Hub program has resulted in a number of successful job placements with Blueline, including laundry hand, sewing and maintenance roles. Blueline’s new partnerships included a contract with Hunters to manufacture and supply alginate bags, a medical-grade product used to hold contaminated linen. This has secured more jobs for disadvantaged Tasmanians. Throughout the period, Blueline reinforced the foundations of the business through maturing its Governance frameworks. The commitments within the Strategic Plan have progressed well, with a number of major initiatives now completed and several others nearing completion. The pillars of strategy, risk and compliance have all evolved to plan. Blueline received recertification and successfully passed our external audits including Quality (ISO9001), NDIS (Quality and Safeguarding), Financial and independent assurance assessment from the Launceston General Hospital. We have improved the way in which we provide a quality employee experience for all staff and adjusted our policies, procedures and language to be more accessible. Our thanks goes out to all the supporters of our business including our customers, who continue to allow us the privilege to service them. Thank you to all the Ministers and government agencies that have rallied behind us and celebrated our wins. Thank you to the Archdiocese of Hobart and our volunteer Board for their continued oversight and thank you to management and all staff for your tireless efforts in another successful year for Blueline Laundry. We have now successfully reset the foundations of the business and look forward to a prosperous future, together. Kathryn Westwood Chair of the Board
Michael Sylvester Chief Executive Officer Annual Report 2021
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Our Leadership
Blueline Laundry’s Senior Leadership Team, pictured left to right: Darrin Geard, Operations Manager Launceston; Sharon James, Finance & Business Services Manager; Michael O'Flaherty, Operations Manager Hobart; Michael Sylvester, CEO; Grant CokerWilliams, People, Quality and Systems Manager; Nerida Hornshaw, Marketing Manager.
The Blueline Laundry Board Chairperson Kathryn Westwood
Chris Ryan
Ron Ward
Jamie Lawrence
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Hayden Thorp
Ali Brennan
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Our Operations Blueline was well prepared with procedures and processes already achieving the highest standards of quality and hygiene, but COVID-19 saw our production routines ramped up to accommodate the highest levels of infection control at every stage of production. Blueline is the only Tasmanian laundry with ISO 9001 accreditation across all sites. We launder to hospital-grade Australian Standard 4146, using wash formulas from chemical partner Ecolab that eliminate all infectious viruses.
500+
367,500 kms
5,600 tonnes
40,700
7.5 million litres (or 3 Olympic pools) of water recycled
180,000
Alginate Bags produced
ISO9001
18,000
48 tonnes
customers across Tasmania
machine operating hours
Quality Assurance Accreditation
driven by our truck fleet
face masks purchased
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of clean linen delivered
of linen repurposed
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Our People We nurture a culture of equality, inclusion, and respect at Blueline Laundry. This year we improved communication with a regular state-wide staff newsletter and conducted our first staff feedback survey. The survey had 65% engagement and elicited feedback that was testament to the positive organisational support delivered throughout the pandemic.
240
employees across 2 sites
35%
working with a disability
65,700 hours
35%
19
23
of employment support
culturally and linguistically diverse
nationalities represented
native tongue languages
1,600+ years
65%
52%
of combined experience
staff engagement
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female identified
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Maninderjit Kaur, Masters in Computer Applications, Masters in Networking and Graduate Diploma in Management. Annual Report 2021
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Tasmania’s Most Talented Laundry With the belief that one of the key wastes in business is unused talent, the senior leadership team explored the depth and breadth of creativity within the existing workforce. We discovered that amongst the culturally diverse casual workers in Hobart, there were 25 staff with 31 Bachelor Degrees or higher. Blueline unearthed significant real-life commercial experience across the valuable fields of IT, business management, accounting, finance and stock control. Redeploying qualified workers into higher capacity positions meant that much needed projects and business opportunities could be insourced. The story was picked up by ABC Hobart in a news story video and online article that was the third most popular story on the ABC News website nationally on the day it was published. The Daily Mail also ran the story the following week. Blueline went on to win the TASICT Excellence Award for the 'Best Diversity & Inclusion Initiative’. The initiative redefined how Blueline resources its projects by embracing diversity to an extent never previously adopted by the business. With the benefits proven, this initiative is now embedded in the business, providing sustainable employment into the future.
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Customer Service Award recipient, delivery driver Wayne Sarich with his two daughters at the Launceston Staff Awards.
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Charles Mansfield Award recipient Andrew Alberry is presented with his certificate by CEO Michael Sylvester
Our Employee Recognition Awards In recognition of the long history that Blueline Laundry has in supporting those working with a disability, we celebrate our Annual Staff Awards on the International Day of People with Disability on 3 December. In 2020, Blueline Laundry expanded our Staff Recognition Categories to celebrate the full depth of diversity across all of our staff, ensuring all employees have equal opportunity to have their achievements recognised. Charles Mansfield Achievement Our flagship award since 2007, this award celebrates the achievements of a person or persons working with a disability, shown through their attitude to work, their dedication and willingness to learn. CEO Commendation This award acknowledges outstanding achievement and contribution by an individual across criteria personally selected by the CEO. Customer Service Excellence Award The winner of this award demonstrates an exceptional commitment to customer service, and goes above-and-beyond to look after their customers. Inclusion & Diversity Award This award acknowledges a champion who acts consistently in a manner that promotes workplace inclusion and respects diversity. Annual Report 2021
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Acceptance speech by Mitchell Samphier, winner of the Charles Mansfield Award in Launceston.
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Our 2020 Award Recipients Charles Mansfield Award Andrew Alberry Mitchell Samphier
Customer Service Award Geoff Silva Wayne Sarich
Charles Mansfield Commended James Brennan Rupert Grayston Natalie Dennis
CEO Award Ron DiFelice Joanna Hargraves
Inclusion and Diversity Award Sonyta Phan The Healthcare Dispatch Team Charmaine Ackroyd, Cheryl Edwards, Breanna Green and Samantha Lauder
Certificates of Commendation Charmaine Pullen Lisa Snyman Bernadette Gillies Ayele Bayou Tanya Anderson
The Annual Awards were celebrated with lunch events in Hobart and Launceston. These events were attended by VIP guests representing government, our partner organisations and other supporters, as all Blueline employees and family members. Our Launceston Awards made the front page of The Examiner and were featured on WIN NEWS.
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Harmony Day cultural dress in Hobart L-R Manu Kaur, Baljinder Kaur.
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Santa (Darrin Geard) and Elf (Hayden Hill) in Launceston
Our Social Calendar Social events are an important part of the essence of Blueline, growing social connectiveness that enhances our employee experience. Within the restrictions of COVID-19, we managed to celebrate the end of a very testing year with Christmas Barbeques in December 2020. All staff enjoyed a sausage (or three) in the sun, with Santa handing out gifts to all. The Easter Bunny delivered chocolates to all staff, with some lucky people winning big in our Easter raffle. Acknowledging the significant role that women have played since Blueline’s foundation, International Women’s Day saw the introduction of a program to supply free female sanitary products along with other enhanced staff hygiene amenities such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, deodorant and hand lotion. Harmony Day was a chance to celebrate the diversity of our workforce with a lunch of Sri Lankan hoppers and curry, which were a tasty treat that distracted from the rain pouring down in Hobart. It was such fun displaying the flags of the all cultures represented at Blueline that Launceston decided to keep them, and add to the display as our diversity expands.
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Induction to Disability Certifcate presentation to Aaron Bird, Team Leader North, from Lindy Crack, St Michaels. Annual Report 2021
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Cert 1 graduates in Hobart
Our Training and Development As part of our ongoing commitment to leadership in the disability employment sector, we conduct training and continuous professional development at every level in the organisation. This year saw us reach the highest ever number of employees who have attained at least one Qualification. The senior management team undertook executive coaching goal to build cross-department collaboration and communication, and manage change. With PeopleImprovers, 6 managers and supervisors studied the “Lean Leader Short Course” and one began “Certificate IV in Competitive Systems & Practices”. Our training partner St Michael’s graduated 11 supported workers in their “Certificate 1 in Warehousing Operations”, while 10 supervisors and leading hands completed “Induction to Disability”. We established a Support and Mentoring program in Launceston, where experienced leaders are dedicated to building the capacity of our NDIS participants. They in turn are developing new skills, and opening up more opportunities for other staff to learn and grow. Thanks to a successful Resilient Communities Grant from TasNetworks, we have built a new Learning Management System. This online learning platform is tailored to Blueline’s needs for more accessible safety training and inductions for new employees and contractors. Annual Report 2021
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MP Michael Ferguson visits with Pavel Anichkin
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Tour Group from St Brigids
Our Community Connections One way we connect with our community is through hosting tours at our Hobart and Launceston sites. We’ve hosted politicians at all levels of government, groups of school teachers and other community and charity organisations. We thank the following visitors: Federal Government • Eric Abetz, Senator for Tasmania. • Bridget Archer, Member for Bass, who went on to speak about Blueline in Parliament. State Parliament • Jeremy Rockliff, Deputy Premier, Minister for Disability Services. • Hon Elise Archer, Attorney-General, Minister for Corrections. • Michelle O'Byrne, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Tasmania. • Representatives of Sarah Courtney, Minister for Health and Women. • Jo Palmer, Member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council. • Michael Ferguson, Minister for State Growth. Local Council • Alderman Simon Behrakis - City of Hobart, Tasmania Australia School Teacher Groups from Dominic College and St Brigids. We welcome any of our friends and supporters to book a tour for yourself. Annual Report 2021
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Tour Group from Safe Haven Hub
Our Community Partnerships Blueline takes active steps to support our community through partnerships with aligned organisations and other charities. Safe Haven Hub is a division of CatholicCare Tasmania that is an employment, education, and training program supporting people from migrant, refugee, and asylum seeker backgrounds. We are proud to partner with Safe Haven Hub to create pathways to meaningful employment for groups of enthusiastic and talented people. Blueline proudly supports other Tasmanian charities through our laundry operations. We provide linen service to Ronald McDonald Children’s House to the value of $20K p.a. and St Giles valued at $5K p.a. We donated tablecloths for the Colony47 and Launceston City Community Christmas Dinner and the Corpus Christi’s Archie 100 Fundraiser Our Launceston team are particularly practised fundraisers. The team love to fundraise at work by participating in special days such as The Biggest Morning Tea for the Cancer Council, and Shorts Day for Speak Up Stay ChatTY. This year we have also made donations to the Northeast Animal Sanctuary and Just Cats. Annual Report 2021
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Thanking Our Partners and Supporters
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The Blueline Laundry Inc ABN: 77795370902 59-61 Creek Rd New Town TAS 7008 19 Hobart Road Kings Meadows TAS 7249 www.blueline-laundry.com @bluelinelaundry