SDN Children's Services Inc. Annual Report 2010

Goal 2 Being known, recognised and
listened to as leaders in the sectors in which we
operate
Our achievements
• Our CEO was invited to present at several forums,
including on our integrated service model and inclusive
practices at a dinner at Government House in September
2009, which was hosted by the Governor-General and
organised by the Australian Research Alliance for Children
and Youth and the Department of Prime Minister and
Cabinet.
• Our CEO was invited to be a panellist at the Australian
Government Social Inclusion Conference in January 2010.
• SDN staff gave presentations at 21 sector conferences
and universities.
• Crossing Borders, SDN’s end of year seminar, was
attended by more than 70 staff, stakeholders and senior
government representatives.
• We have directly lobbied and been asked to brief
both federal and state government ministers on how
to achieve more affordable access to early childhood
education and care for disadvantaged children, and
higher standards of care.
• We provided government with advice on the
implementation of new early childhood quality standards
through membership of the NSW National Quality
Framework Reference Group.
• SDN Ultimo was one of 21 centres across Australia to
participate in the first trial testing the workability of the
new National Quality Standards.
• SDN was invited to help write and assess COAG’s The
Early Years Learning Framework.
A detailed list of the conferences, submissions, presentations,
debates and events to which SDN contributed are listed on
page 32.
Goal 3 Being an employer of choice
Our achievements
519 permanent and casual staff, including 10 Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander staff, chose to work for SDN in 2009–10,
in part due to the:
• 4219 internal hours of training and professional
development we provided
• 14 continuing education scholarships worth $14 500 we
awarded
• 600 hours of paid study leave we provided to 21 staff
members.
In October 2009 we contracted an external company to
conduct an Employee Survey. Our staff rated SDN highest on
the following three aspects:
• Our commitment to cultural diversity (our rating on this
element set a new benchmark for the 200 Australian
companies that Measured Insights surveys annually)
• Our reputation in the children’s services sector
• Knowing what is expected of them in their role
• Another important result was that 84% of our staff would
recommend SDN as an employer to others.
• In 2009–10 our staff turnover rate was 23.4% — lower
than our target of 24%
• In 2009–10 our staff retention rate was 81.67% — above
our target of 80%.
12 SDN Annual Report 2010