Making the step from child to adult is arguably a more challenging time than any other point in your life. Balancing your own expectations, those of people around you, and navigating it all at a time when the support you had as a child slowly ekes away as your expected to stand on your own two feet, is daunting for many.
And demand for youth support services has surged in recent years in Australia. Escalating mental health and societal issues including homelessness, substance abuse and the unique needs of groups including Indigenous, migrant and LGBTQ+ youth have each compounded the need for more skilled and compassionate workers in the sector.
The vulnerability of the sector’s constituents ensures compliance reporting plays a pivotal role in the youth support sector, acting as a cornerstone of accountability and transparency between funding bodies and organisations. It’s because of the importance placed on adhering to these standards, and the time involved in doing so, that enabled Edmen Community Staffing Solutions to stand out from the crowd during a recent tender process for a place on a hotly contested youth services work recruitment panel.
Edmen CSS is unique among community services labour hire agencies as it operates its an inhouse compliance team, dedicated to ensuring its workers hold the right certifications and training to perform their vital work.
CLIENT PROBLEM, EDMEN SOLUTION
Compliance reporting ensures funding bodies gain insight on how allocated funds are utilised and whether programs are meeting their intended objectives. It provides a mechanism for monitoring performance, identifying potential risks, and making informed decisions about future funding allocations and ensures resources are effectively managed, providing young people with the support they need. Overall, it fosters a relationship of trust and responsibility, driving positive outcomes.
It’s also a labour intensive and time-consuming progress for funded bodies to scrutinise the suitability of workers it employs, let alone doing the same for casual and relief workers supplied by the labour hire agencies with whom they work.
Edmen CSS is unique among its peer providers in that it boasts an in-house compliance team. It’s the ability to relieve much of this administrative burden which enabled it to stand out among its peers during a recent tender process.
As General Manager Marlyn Soulakelles explains, the investment in a team, dedicated to ensuring all the agency’s workers are qualified, certified, and properly inducted, is a key reason it was added to the panel of providers of staff to a newly amalgamated entity. Marlyn says this capability was a key point of praise from the tender panel, who were particularly impressed with Edmen’s ability to capture and maintain comprehensive data.
“When presenting to the panel, their feedback was overwhelmingly positive.”
“Stringent compliance reporting to government is an essential part of youth care – we were the only agency who have an inhouse compliance team whose role is to ensure workers are qualified and have the right certifications and up-to-date inductions. They were very interested to hear how our team capture and maintain this data.”
EXPANDING SERVICE AND REACH
The tender is one of two recent notable successes for Edmen CSS, after it was also added to the panel for contract and temporary placements for a large government client and will deliver support services to approximately 700 clients with physical and intellectual disabilities.
As the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) continues to grow, so too does demand for skilled workers to support people with disabilities with a forecast 128,000 more workers are likely to be needed by June 2025 to fully meet demand 1.
Yet in Australia, the disability support sector finds itself in a fierce competition for workers with other care sectors, included aged, health and childcare. Growing demand stems from an ageing population increasing mental health services and the aforementioned expansion of the NDIS. Government policies and funding fluctuations further influence the landscape, impacting job availability and working conditions. Consequently, the care sectors must work collaboratively to enhance job attractiveness, training, and career progression to ensure a stable and skilled workforce.
Edmen CSS stood out in the tender process as it employs over 1900 support workers annually, making it one of Australia's largest dedicated providers of community service workers. Combining deep expertise in workforce management solutions and recruitment, Edmen CSS partners with service providers to grow efficiently and concentrate on their core mission of delivering quality services. Its blend of extensive coverage and specialised knowledge makes Edmen CSS a compelling choice for disability services seeking to optimise operations, bridge skill gaps and confidence.
THE OUTLOOK
Highly respected for it’s more than thirty-year history, Edmen CSS is current operating in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. These two recent commercial successes have seen Edmen CSS further cement its position as a national leader in community staffing solutions.
Expansion of its geographical and service footprint, coupled with the previously announced operational expansion to include permanent recruitment, the agency continues to evolve with the needs of clients and community.
If you would like to learn more about how Edmen Community staffing Solutions can support your organisation, email info@peoplein.com.au and one of the team will be in contact.
1 NDIS Review – Building a more responsive and supportive workforce (May 2023, Australian Government)