Our purpose is to 'partner with people to change lives for the better', but what goes into achieving that for the more than 23,000 people we support?
Released today, our Annual Report 2019 highlights the many achievements of both Life Without Barriers and the people we support. It details how we have been courageous, imaginative, respectful, responsive and committed to building relationships throughout the 2018/19 financial year.
Highlights for the 2018/19 year:
This year we opened Joblife as a joint venture with Angus Knight. In 2019 Joblife supported more than 350 people with disability into meaningful and ongoing employment or training.
We launched two MOCKINGBIRD FAMILY™ constellations to help our foster carers create connections with foster carers who live nearby.
We supported 6,098 people with disability through providing accommodation support, respite, support with community access or help to build independent living skills.
Image: Matt completing his barista training
We launched our Livesafe campaign which contributed to a 31% decrease in our Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate, meaning fewer staff being injured at work.
Alongside sector leaders, we launched the Alliance20 to champion a better NDIS .
Image: Chief Executive Claire Robbs at the Alliance20 launch at Parliament House
We welcomed 679 NDIS participants and over 1,200 staff to Life Without Barriers from the Victorian Government's transfer of disability services.
We launched our second Accessibility, Inclusion and Employment Plan, setting an ambitious target of 8% of all new Life Without Barriers' staff being people with disability by June 2020.
We supported 2,980 foster and kinship carers to care for 4,673 children and young people living in out-of-home-care.
We provided Home and Community Care services to 6,499 older Australians, allowing them to maintain their independence and stay in their own homes.
We supported numerous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and people with disability to return to Country or connect with their culture and heritage through cultural camps.
We helped establish the first self-advocacy group of NDIS participants supported by Life Without Barriers in Melbourne and we were thrilled with the overwhelming positive feedback from those who attended.
Image: NDIS participants at our first self-advocacy meeting.
Throughout 2018/19 we maintained our commitment to prudential financial stewardship with 90.2% of funding invested directly into the people we support, and a further 2.5% invested into new initiatives that ensure better outcomes for our clients and their families.
We believe that a society where everyone can participate is a stronger, more resilient, and more connected society.
As we move into 2020, we will continue to be guided by our purpose and values in all we do. We will continue to champion the rights of people with disability including increasing access to employment, we will continue to provide the best possible support for children in care and we will continue to partner with people to change lives for the better.
