Care Together e-news November 2024

E-newsletter

27 November 2024

If you missed receiving our November Care Together e-newsletter, don’t despair. You can catch up on all of our news below. Sign up at the bottom of the page to receive our next e-news.

From our Program Director

Welcome to the November 2024 edition of the Care Together newsletter.

Our November Social Care Community of Practice (CoP) meeting has been postponed to allow us to provide you with a more detailed update on our Shared Services project following the co-design workshop held earlier this month. You can read a brief summary of this workshop below. We’re excited to invite you to join us for our next meeting, now scheduled for Thursday, 27 February 2025. Be sure to register online to reserve your spot! Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to connecting with you in February.

The Care Together team is now working on ten projects across Australia. These projects explore the potential of the co-operative business model to develop sustainable business and service delivery plans where traditional approaches are falling short.

In October, co-op and mutual leaders gathered at the BCCM Leader’s Summit, with over 20 participating in the Better care in the bush Leaders’ Dialogue. This deep-dive discussion highlighted how co-ops and mutuals are shaping the future of care in remote, regional, and rural communities.

Earlier this month, the Care Together team hosted a Shared Services Workshop in Canberra. The event featured David Hammer and Katrina Kazda from the US-based Elevate Cooperative, alongside representatives from the care and co-operative sectors in regional, rural and remote Australia. Insights and next steps for the Care Together Shared Services Co-op project are outlined below.

Meanwhile, BCCM CEO Melina Morrison is currently in New Delhi, India, representing Australian care co-operative and mutuals at the International Cooperative Alliance conference. Melina is sharing the successes of the Care Together program and presenting case studies from Australian care co-operatives. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and Facebook for updates from India.

Gillian McFee
Program Director, Care Together

Shared Services Workshop

This month, the Care Together team hosted a Shared Services Workshop in Canberra, bringing together David Hammer and Katrina Kazda from the US-based Elevate Cooperative, alongside representatives from the care and co-operative sectors in regional, rural, and remote Australia.

The workshop focused on shared services co-operatives in both the US and Australia, with discussions exploring the challenges of delivering care in these areas and the potential benefits of a shared services approach.

Care Together Project Manager Michael Pilbrow provided his insights into the workshop.

To address these challenges, a carefully selected group of 15 participants was divided into three key cohorts:

Independent workers
Aged care consumers
Small rural towns

These groups reflect the unique care delivery issues faced in smaller communities where “smallness and distance” often create barriers. Participants worked in teams to identify the challenges, envision solutions and outline the potential structure of a shared services co-operative that could support their needs.

By the end of the 2.5-day workshop, a clear consensus emerged. Two priority services stood out as foundational to a shared services co-op:

Compliance support, particularly around registration and regulation for care providers.
Human resources services, including recruitment and staffing solutions.

In addition to these, eight other services were identified as important for future consideration. The vision that guided these discussions was compelling: a future where every community in Australia – large or small – can access the care services they need.

The workshop outcomes will form the basis for a shared services co-op concept, which will be further developed over the next seven months. The team will now focus on testing the concept, assessing financial viability and designing governance and operational frameworks.

The idea is to start small, with a select group of participants and a limited scope of services, to refine the model before expanding further. This shared services approach holds significant potential to transform care delivery in Australia’s regional, rural, and remote areas.

Thank you

We sincerely thank you for supporting the Care Together Program in 2024. May this holiday season bring joy to you and your loved ones.

Our offices will close on Friday, 20 December 2024 and reopen on Monday, 20 January 2025, and we greatly look forward to working with you in 2025.

Yours co-operatively,
Melina, Gillian and Michael