Two large successful tenders in the past month for PeopleIN’s Edmen Community Solutions business have further cemented the business as a national leader in the provision of disability and youth support services.

The first, with South Australia’s Department of Human Services, could net the business as much as $27 million, as General Manager Marlyn Soulakelles explains.

“We were selected on a panel of agencies to provide personal support to around 700 clients in Adelaide who have physical and or intellectual disabilities,” Marlyn said.

“The purpose of these services is to deliver personal care and support to allow individuals to live the most independent lives possible.

“During the tendering process we completed an industry participation plan in which we were asked to respond to potential hours, nominated by the Department, using our pricing guide to calculate the cost of delivery. The large client base means we’re confident the tender will generate significant income for the business.”

The second tender will see Edmen expand its services beyond its current footprint (in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia), growing its provision of youth care services into Victoria and Western Australia.

Lifestyle Solutions and Possibility are two operators which recently merged, bringing together 297 residential sites nationally. 

Marlyn says the new entity brought together agreements with 35 individual agencies, a situation their new leadership deemed unmanageable.

“They decided to put their required services out for tender and we were the only one to make their reduced panel from outside that existing group of agencies,” she said.

“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 our workers are qualified, have the right certifications and up-to-date inductions. They were very pleased to hear how our team capture and maintain data.

“They are also keen to see us hit the ground running and have been in contact about us providing services in Victoria where they don’t have existing relationships with many agencies. They have 67 sites in the State so we’re currently recruiting to build our worker base there.”

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