For over 37 years, Lifestyle Assistance & Accommodation Service (LAAS) has delivered individualised disability support services and fought for the rights of people with disabilities, tearing down barriers so that everyone has the opportunity to participate in community and be a valued and contributing member of our society.
This Annual Report updates our Members and other stakeholders on significant developments at LAAS since our last AGM, which was held on 8 November 2022, and includes the Audited Financial Statements for the 2022/23 financial year. This continues to be a challenging period on many fronts, and yet we are happy to report that the team at LAAS have been able to make progress against the headwinds and achieve a number of significant milestones.
• Enhanced our quality systems and clinical
• Passed our NDIS Audit, satisfying the requirements for our ongoing registration
• Organised and participated in a wide range of activities and events
Navigated the challenges of the Riverland floods in Dec 2022/Jan 2023
Our clients are at the heart of everything LAAS does. Clients or their family members are encouraged to join our Board, and our strategic plan is all about creating more opportunities for people with disabilities to achieve their full potential.
Our Core Values
COLLABORATION
Together, we achieve more INNOVATION
We look forward for better ways INCLUSION
Everyone’s contribution matters FLEXIBILITY
We’re adaptable and resilient OPPORTUNITY
Our Vision
...is to see our clients better served by innovative and person-focused opportunites and services that support them to live independently and participate more richly in community.
Our Mission
...is to provide support and opportunities that enrich, empower and enable people with disabilities to be more indepdendent and achieve their full potential
A Word from our CEO
Philip Brookes LAAS CEO
It seems cliché to again point out that it’s been a challenging year, but once again that is accurate. Since the last AGM we have faced floods in the Riverland, the passing of a cherished client, changing circumstances for a number of clients that have not only imperiled their wellbeing but also left us in the middle of further funding shortfalls, an NDIS audit, continued workforce shortages, the unexpected closure of our Day Options building for 5 weeks, several waves of COVID through our community and workforce, and so much more.
However, in the midst of all these pressures I have seen our team shine and the quality of our services improve. I have been very privileged to have the opportunity to lead them and proud of the progress that LAAS has made for the benefit of our clients.
While there is always more to be done, and we continue to have a clear agenda for further improvements and progress, I would like to celebrate the progress made thus far and thank the LAAS team for each of their contributions - you are all amazing and your efforts are greatly appreciated.
Of particular note, Shelly Knight joined LAAS in November 2022, initially as Interim Quality & Compliance Manager and then appointed permanently, and guided us initially through our NDIS Audit and then through the development of more rigorous clinical support procedures and the implementation of Medisphere electronic medication administration software. Shelly is now Acting Service Delivery Manager and, with the support of her team, is significantly elevating our standards of client support.
Many, many more of our team also deserve individual thanks and I apologise for not identifying every one personally. Each support worker who treats our clients every day as a valued individual, and supports them with respect, dignity, good humour, and resilience needs to be lauded.
I would particularly like to acknowledge our office staff who frequently do so much more than their job description envisages - being On Call for days at a time, going out to cover emergency overnight shifts, responding to a crisis during their time off, and working together to ensure that LAAS staff and clients are always fully supported. We have also had the opportunity to build closer and more collaborative working relationships with other disability-focussed organisations in the Riverland, and it has been my pleasure to work closely with the CEOs and senior managers of Community Living Australia, Enhanced Lifestyles, and Community Bridging Services. We are continuing to build collaborative partnerships and contemplate ways in which we can all be more sustainable, innovative, and create opportunities for the benefit of people with disabilities in the Riverland and beyond.
We are currently exploring shared training opportunities for support workers, we have been able to share equipment to help other organisations with their training, and we have from time to time been able to provide staff to fill staff shortages for another provider. While these collaborations are currently only in their infancy, it is clear that viability under the NDIS requires us to rethink old paradigms and see other organisations not as competitors but as partners in our shared mission. It has been my priority to lead by example and demonstrate that we are sincere in building everyone up and working for mutual benefit, and to be deserving of the trust placed in us.
As these values have permeated our organisation, I have been delighted to see our team thinking collaboratively and inviting other organisations to participate with us in serendipitous opportunities and planned events.
In a world which can at times be full of bad news, it is my hope that LAAS can inspire a new paradigm and optimism for disability support in the Riverland.
Reluctantly, I must now also advise our Members that I have, with great sadness, tendered my resignation to the Board in order to relocate back to my hometown of Melbourne in order to support and spend more time with my family including aging parents, adult children, and grandchildren. This was a very difficult decision for myself, my wife, and younger children, and we will always hold dear our time at LAAS and in the Riverland.
Yours sincerely,
Philip Brookes CEO
9 November 2023
Chairperson’s Report
Pam Davis Chair of the Board
Lifestyle Assistance and Accommodation Services lnc (LAAS) has come to the end of yet another busy year for reporting to our members regarding our financial standing, Governance and Operations for the delivery of services to our valued clients, both long term and new . Holding our AGM is also an opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate another year of serving in the Riverland.
Our Primary focus, as always, has been our ongoing commitment to client support and service delivery. We strive for continuous improvement in all areas including the administration management. This is essential for the care of clients to improve support plans and the training of our staff to meet those needs. It is also essential our record management meets the compliance requirements of the NDIS quality standard. We thank Shelly Knight for her guidance and Management of many of these processes. Many of our members and families would be aware of the ongoing concerns of funding shortages for services delivered. It is an ongoing concern for not just our organisation but many others. The review process to change the funding amounts needed to cover changes in circumstances and care is a very long drawn out process under the NDIS. It is a client driven process so it is up to them as individuals or in our client’s cases, those who act on their behalf, to run the gauntlet of seeking further funding to meet their needs. We have been supporting the needs of all clients and covering funding shortages the best we can as the processes are followed. We thank Philip for his leadership during these trying times.
Sadly we lost some long time members of
our LAAS community during 2023. We all felt the passing of our client Danielle Tyler in February and will always miss that cheeky smile and giggle. One of LAAS’s founding family members, John Woodberry also passed away in October. Both John and Bette were long serving committee and Board Members over the years.
Sue Crispe, after nearly 17 years left our organisation in May and we thank her sincerely for her years of service to our clients and the LAAS community.
A big thank you to the team at LAAS from Operations to our Support Personnel. It’s quite often a juggling act to meet the needs of all and many step in at short notice to do so. Our Board meetings and record keeping run smoothly thanks to our efficient Board support person, Sharon Philp, we are so grateful to her for this. We are fortunate that distance isn’t always a barrier and with technology, many roles, training and record keeping are possible from near and far. However it is our client’s that are at the centre of all we do and it’s the personal support and assistance that matters the most. A very special thank you to our support workers.
I’d like to sincerely thank our current Board of Management for their continued dedication and commitment. As many would be aware, our governance is voluntary in time but is a commitment requiring a high level of skill along with that dedication. Our Board have continued, willingly, to attend extra meetings and upskill when needed. Thank you to our treasurer Gary Ooyendyk who gives many hours to the analysing of reports on the Board’s behalf and assists in future planning. Thank you to Karen Brown, our secretary who has also dedicated many hours
to ensure our compliance with the Consumer and Business Services and the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission.
Thank you to Rosey Sandow, our retired Deputy Chair, who had to stand down from her position on the Board recently in August. Rosey gave many hours of her time outside of Board meetings as part of the Executive and Risk Management committees. Last but not least, a sincere thank you to Sandy Mitchell and Cindy McDonald, our serving family members, alongside myself. They continue to support their family members, hold down jobs and yet still have made time to dedicate hours of their time to read reports and attend meetings. Their contribution, skill set and knowledge of NDIS from a family’s perspective is greatly appreciated.
There are four Board Member position being vacated this year after serving their 3 years as per our constitution. They are the 3 family member positions plus one associate. I’m grateful that Sandy and Cindy are willing to continue for another term as am I and we have nominated to do so. Rosey Sandow was our recently retired associate member whose 3 years has also completed. We are hopeful there may be another family or associate member willing to nominate or be appointed.
Our service has continued its association with Enhanced Lifestyles and works closely when the need arises. I have met with the chair, Trudy Gepp on several occasions and was fortunate to have toured their new head Office earlier this year and met many of their admin team. Trudy and I are looking forward to continuing that association and explore any opportunities that may arise.
Thank you to all who have been kind enough to make contact or meet with me
when invited. It’s always great to hear what others are feeling and share their first hand experiences.
Again ,as always, I would like to encourage our community to send in your feedback in any way you can. Pick up the phone, have a chat, fill in a form or send an email. We do listen. It is an important source we rely on to improve our services and enrich the lives of those we serve.
Kindest Regards
Pam Davis Chairperson
November 2023
What’s Been Happening at LAAS
Our Clients
It all starts with our clients, and we’re so proud of them!
In the past year they’ve persevered through flooding in the Riverland, COVID outbreaks, interruptions at Day Options, and a variety of personal challenges, and have participated in a variety of individual and group activities.
Memorable events, activities, and occasions included:
• Visiting Renmark Winter Glow
• Halloween activities at Day Options, joined by visitors from Riverland Special School
• Outings to the Banrock wetlands, bowling, Olivewood Historic Homestead and Museum
• Visiting the Riverland Field Days and Loxton Show
• Ongoing participation at the gym in Berri
• Celebrating birthdays together, including several notable milestones such as Luke’s 50th birthday, which was celebrated in style!
• Attending the RUOK Morning Tea in September
• Joining in the Loxton Historical Village 50th Anniversary celebrations, also in September
• Fishing at Lake Bonney
Supported Accommodation Services
The past year has been one of the most challenging years in LAAS’ history, as several clients’ circumstances changed and they needed to move home, often with funding shortfalls, and at the same time we lost Danielle Tyler, who passed away too young in February 2023.
Another long term client has chosen to move to another provider, however this has led to many valuable engagements between ourselves and the other provider, and as a result we have established a highly collaborative partnership from which we expect to see many mutual benefits flow.
We have also seen that, despite the challenging environment, our team have significantly enhanced our processes and standard of support services over the past year.
Our new electronic medication administration software provides greater accuracy, transparency, and responsiveness leading to reduced medication errors and enhanced safety for our clients.
Ongoing training and improvements to our clinical governance have improved the health and wellbeing outcomes for clients and established market-leading management of complex needs. While LAAS has always been known for working with clients who have complex needs and behaviour support requirements, we have seen further improvement in this regard.
At the present time, our biggest challenge beside funding is finding suitable housing for clients and to advertise further vacancies. We are aware of prospective clients who we
have the capability to support but are unable to find suitable housing for them. This is a priority area for us to find solutions to.
This year we have again been hard at work advocating for our clients, both through our CEO’s participation on the NDS SA State Committee and also our engagement with Support Coordinators, the NDIS, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. We have built stronger relationships with Support Coordinators, Behaviour Support Practitioners, Occupational Therapists, and others, and are seeing this translate to more proactive responses for our clients.
After the resignation of Sue Crispe (Manager - Accommodation Services) in May, Shelly Knight has supported the team as Acting Service Delivery Manager and has done an exceptional job in addressing some of the most complex and high-risk needs of our clients, and has developed the capability and morale of the Service Delivery team.
Day Options Program
During 2023 we’ve explored a range of new possibilities for the Day Options program and have been able to provide more activities involving movement and exercise.
Unfortunately a water leak over the kitchen led to a 5 week closure when asbestos was discovered in the hot water pipe insulation, and we elected to run entirely new pipes through the building and seal up the old pipes. During this time the team responded flexibly and used a combination of external venues, our Renmark building, and personalised alternative plans for some of our SIL clients.
Staff have continued to received training on positive behaviour support principles and
plans.
We are currently planning new activities to launch in 2024 that will be available for people to book in to as short programs, allowing clients to participate in specific activities for just a few hours at time if they so wish, providing an alternative to longer term Day Options commitments.
We are also keen to hear from anyone with a disability, or their family, with suggestions and request for activites that you would like to see us introduce.
NDIS
Although we had hoped to have progressed further by now, we remain hopeful that our clients’ battles to obtain adequate funding for their support needs will prevail and we are currently supporting families to have decisions rectified. In the meantime, we have been able to gain a temporary reprieve with some interim funding to assist while an AAT matter is being heard and proactive solutions to cover shortfalls while fighting for more permanent remedies.
LAAS is a registered provider with the NDIS and, in order to maintain our certification, we are periodically audited. An audit provides a great opportunity for scrutiny of our processes and services, and we use this feedback to help refine and improve our governance, management, and service delivery.
LAAS was audited in May 2023 and met the requirements for our ongoing registration. The auditors commended our support workers and management, and were pleased to see the personalised and dedicated attention that was provided to our clients.
Disability Royal Commission
We have continued to follow the progress of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability and identify lessons we can learn from the experiences of others.
On 29 September 2023 the Final Report from the Commission was published, containing 12 volumes, over 5500 pages, and 222 recommendations “on how to improve laws, policies, structures and practices to ensure a more inclusive and just society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation”.
The Federal and State Governments will take some time to consider how and which recommendations to implement, but we fully expect that major changes are coming our way. Entire chapters are devoted to housing and education, and the recommendations, if adopted, would shake up much of what we are all familiar with in terms of disability services in the Riverland.
LAAS Board Members 2022-23
Chairperson Secretary Treasurer
Pam Davis Karen Brown Gary Ooyendyk
Treasurer’s Report 2023
Dear Members,
How quickly the reporting season has rolled around again! It doesn’t seem that long ago that I presented the 2021/2022 audited financial statements.
We have embraced Xero as our new accounting software. Our auditors commented that the records supplied to them were of a high standard. Thank you to our staff for ensuring that our auditor’s job was made as easy as possible. We have also implemented several other systems to assist in ensuring our services meet NDIS quality requirements. This is an ongoing process.
Whilst we endeavoured to expand our service delivery in Renmark by leasing an open space building, we were met with unexpected upgrade costs to comply with current regulations. Unfortunately, as much as we tried, it was no longer feasible to proceed with an expansion into Renmark considering those additional costs.
Unfortunately, during the 2022/23 financial year we lost funding for two of our SIL clients, one passed away whilst the other transferred to another service provider. The full ramifications of this loss in funding won’t be felt until the end of the 2023/24 financial year. We have also had to say goodbye to several long serving employees. We hope that they are doing well in the endeavours they have pursued since leaving LAAS.
With the challenges experienced during the 2022/23 financial year, LAAS concluded the financial year with a deficit. Given the loss of funding this deficit was not unexpected. LAAS currently has funds available to offset that loss and the anticipated loss for the 2023/2024 financial year. Whilst it is never good to anticipate a loss, LAAS is endeavouring to expand in the provision of community support and day options services to offset the loss in SIL funding. Attracting new SIL clients will mitigate further losses, and we are actively supporting clients to contest NDIS funding decisions and have shortfalls remedied.
As stated in last year’s Treasuer’s Report, the NDIS continues to tighten their purse strings, and it is getting harder to get and maintain appropriate funding to best serve some our clients. We are, and will continue to, within our means, maintaining the level of services that our clients require. Unfortunately, in some instances, this requires LAAS to subsidise services. The alternative would be to withdraw services which is totally against what LAAS is committed to doing, which is to provide quality care in the NDIS space.
Hopefully, on a client-by-client basis we can demonstrate, and the NDIS will approve, our funding needs. If adequate funding can be provided, it will reduce the anticipated deficit budgeted for the 2023/2024 financial year.
It is anticipated that the Board will need to make some difficult decisions to ensure that the needs of our clients can be met well beyond the current (2023/2024) financial year.
I look forward to continuing to work with my fellow Board Members and our CEO in 2024.
Sincerely,
Gary Ooyendyk Treasurer
November 2023
Rosemary Sandow
Our mission at LAAS is to help all our client exercise choice and control in their lives.
Robbie’s* Successes
Helping our clients to develop the skills we frequently take for
