Why Foresters Financial?

2023 AFDA Scholarship Word

us forward. My passion is community and connection. I wouldn’t be in this role without the encouragement and support of so many in our Association and that is the community and connection I want every member to be a part of and benefit from.

The AFDA has many challenges ahead and thanks to our Funeral Data Hub we have an incredible source of information to focus on the needs of our members and our stakeholders. My forthcoming two years will be focussed on responding to these needs, particularly through education and training which was an overwhelming request coming from this data. Developing education and training opportunities can strengthen our membership on multiple levels.

Attracting good people to work in funeral care and retaining these key staff is an enormous challenge – offering Association branded and recognised professional development to every member of our teams reinforces the importance of what we do and how we need to do it. Career satisfaction comes when people feel valued and are invited on the journey. Education and training is key to this.

Seen through the media and public lens this investment in our people can also set us apart. And what better way to enhance our community and connection but to offer a membership-wide invitation to learn and grow together!

The pandemic emphasised the importance of the funeral and how coming together as we do is essential for our human ability to navigate grief. The role of the funeral director in facilitating this has been highlighted, with a greater understanding of the importance of our work.

AFDA has been building our membership (and it is still growing with the goal of having one National Association), we self-regulate in the absence of government regulation and we have actively participated in government inquiries encouraging transparency in the industry. We have done so much behind the scenes so that we are the Association of Choice when it comes to responding to media and working with government departments.

This is years and years of hard work and advocacy coming to fruition and we are now in a position to harness these strengths so that the general public can easily identify an AFDA Member and what that difference means. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making the AFDA community what it is today. It is this community that I am very proud to represent over the next two years.

I would like to acknowledge the Executive who will be working with me for the next two years. Asha Dooley as Senior Vice President, Deanne McLeod as the new Junior Vice President and James MacLeod as our National Treasurer. Thank you in advance to the National Council, our State Divisional Councils and the National Office team. I look forward to working with you all over the next two years.

And finally, I couldn’t take on this commitment without the full support of my family. As a fourth generation funeral director I am very proud to follow in the footsteps of my great-grandfather, my grandparents Jack and Carrie and my Dad, John Scott, himself a Past National President, Life Member and Life Councillor – such big shoes to fill!

So firstly to my Dad, whose encouragement and support means everything and I certainly wouldn’t be standing here without it! A huge thank you to all of my family – my husband Andrew and our children Sebastian and Isobel and my brother Daniel, with whom I work, and who will be leading our wonderful team at T J Scott & Son in my absence. Their support means taking on a role such as this is possible and I am very grateful for their encouragement to do so.

And to all our members – my promise to you is that I will give it my all and advocate the value of choosing an AFDA Member. I want our nation to know that AFDA Members are the best – experienced, educated and passionate professionals and that families are in safe and understanding hands when they choose us!

Let’s harness the great community we already have, build on the connection that makes us the strong force that we are collectively, and connect positively and powerfully with the public so that when it comes time to choose a funeral director their first question is "Are they a member of the AFDA?"

Warm Regards,