Annual Messages

FinAdmin, M. MGMTECO, MS. NATSECS, DUniv Flin, Hon. Litt.D UNE.

At the heart of SYC is a vision to see Australians experience independence, opportunity and personal wellbeing.

It is a challenge for any organisation to remain true to their core purpose for over 60 years. Even more so to pursue that original purpose whilst adapting to a changing environment and ensuring sustainability for the future. SYC has risen to that task, now delivering a vast range of services in four states across the areas of Home, Learning, Justice and Working.

I would like to commend the employees and the Board of SYC for another year of working together to deliver value across the community. The team has continued to show compassion and dedication in their daily actions and decisions of all sizes.

I also acknowledge the contributions of partners, donors and stakeholders who increase the reach and impact of the services SYC provides.

Whilst the future is unpredictable at best, the work of SYC gives me confidence no one in our community is forgotten.

B.Bus.(Marketing), FAICD, FAMI, CPM, CMgr, FIML

Many people who I talk to and meet are surprised by the size and scope of what SYC does. More than 70 locations throughout 4 states, supported by over 500 wonderful, caring and committed staff.

As I reflect on 2018/19 it still makes me so proud of the work of our SYC teams across so many areas. Every day they are helping people get jobs, preparing people to re-enter the workforce, providing support for young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, helping families experiencing mental health issues, providing a home to young people who would otherwise be unable to access accommodation and many more important services.

2018/19 was a challenging year in many ways as we grappled with the financial conundrum facing all not-for-profits throughout Australia. These challenges are always going to be present as funding is tight, yet the needs are ever increasing.

We continue to measure our success by the positive outcomes we achieve, whether it be getting someone a job or helping a young person find a safe place to live. Each outcome is a personal outcome and is so very important on an individual level. It’s not about the volume – it’s about helping people achieve their own goals.

We have continued to win new work across Australia. During the reporting period we expanded our Disability Employment Services, ParentsNext, Career Transition Assistance, the Sticking Together Project and our Accredited Training services. It is a very exciting time for us.

On a personal note I would like to thank our CEO, Paul Edginton for his outstanding leadership efforts and the Executive management team who support him. Paul was recently recognised as an Outstanding Social Entrepreneur in South Australia in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year program. His leadership and innovation are well recognised throughout South Australia and Australia.

Thank you to our employees who are so very passionate about their work, for your ongoing efforts in trying to make a difference in people’s lives and their commitment to our core Mission.

My thanks also to my fellow Board Members who provide me personally with great support, counsel, and wisdom in their various areas of expertise, ensuring SYC is well managed and meets the highest levels of good governance required of such a diverse and complex organisation.

Finally, a thank you to all our supporters who continue to assist us in achieving our Vision.

BA Communication, CDC Dip, FAICD

For every $1.00 invested by funders in 2018/19, SYC’s work will return $6.50 of economic value to Australian taxpayers over the next 20 years by alleviating disadvantage, reducing service use and increasing personal and Government income – and that’s before we even consider the positive contribution SYC has made in the individual lives of the people we exist to serve.

SYC seeks to offer people support to make life better, easier, safer and more rewarding. The people we work with as clients have many experiences in their life which may lead to, or have already led to, them experiencing disadvantage.

The number and complexity of the issues people experience means that they may need to encounter many services and service providers. Government systems of providing services, in Australia, is fragmented into issues-based focus areas such as employment, housing, education, training, health, justice, disability, support-payments, mental health. In amongst all these services are gaps that occur between them.

SYC describes these as “small gaps, but with deep holes”. SYC has steadily grown the capacity of our organisation to bridge as many gaps as we can.

In April 2019 SYC launched the Sticking Together Project into NSW, funded by a Social Impact Bond. This project was the culmination of many years of work combining our employment services experience, with our experience working with young people in education, housing and wellbeing support. It was evaluated by the Queensland University of Technology for its performance in Victoria, SA and Queensland and it achieves superior results in employment for the most disadvantaged young people.

This project has been a vanguard in SYC’s improved way of working together.

Indeed it is our Mission to empower the people we work with to create a life without disadvantage, to build sustainable independence and to experience personal wellbeing in all areas of their life.

In 2016 SYC’s Board and Executive contemplated the strategic future of the organisation. SYC had grown from being a small Adelaide-based charity to quite a large provider of multiple services around Australia. SYC had become a “large-small” organisation that risked being at its maximum capacity.

Our Board contemplated three questions: Should we contain our activities to fit with our operating capability? Should we shrink to reduce our risk? Or should we be ready to keep growing without risking it all?

Our Board chose the third option: to invest in building our systems and governance to have the capacity to meet growing demand for our services.

Since then, SYC has invested in upgrading our technology, our finance system, our governance systems and we are upgrading our HR systems. SYC invested to improve our capacity for data collection and insights and our ability to develop those insights into improvements in practice.

SYC is close to achieving our goal of becoming a “small-big” organisation – one with the systems to run the existing enterprises safely and successfully and with capacity to grow.

To that end, our focus in 2020 must be to “run a good business” with all the elements that implies. Good systems and processes, good technology, good safety, good outcomes for clients, great culture and great people working at SYC.

In 2022 we will see the biggest change in Employment Services since it began in 1999. To be ready for these changes SYC must be strong and agile – we need to have “built our management muscles” – and that’s what we’re going to do throughout 2020.

Our SYC – Towards New Horizons document sets out our vision and strategy for 2020 and beyond. You can see from this annual report, and in context of all the annual reports from 2016, that this is the Vision of an organisation ready to take a greater role in the world of human services.

It shows SYC is not just ready to deliver more services, we are ready to increase the positive impact we can have to remove or mitigate disadvantage in lives of the people we exist to serve.

SYC is ready to work more closely with our peers, partners and the community to reduce the “friction” that clients experience when services are disjointed – SYC is ready to work even better:

To be the most effective provider of services that foster wellbeing, independence and opportunity for all Australians.

I have the privilege of being the CEO of an organisation with talented and dedicated staff and the support of a professionally astute board. Together we have delivered another year of positive outcomes for tens of thousands of Australians. I am grateful for their support and the opportunity to continue to do the work I love.