FWS Annual Report 2014/15

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
After a challenging period of adjustment and adaptation, 2014 -2015 has seen a
pleasing improvement in FWS’ performance.
Chairnan’s Report
This is my first annual report as Chairman of FWS,
since I was elected to replace Elizabeth Hemphill
who stepped down in March 2015, to pursue
her career interstate. My short stint at the helm
has reinforced my admiration for the staff and
management of FWS, and my conviction that FWS
makes an important and valuable contribution to
the social fabric of the areas of South Australia in
which we operate.
Over the last few years the Board has had to make
some difficult choices in order to get FWS on a
stable foundation. However, thanks to the efforts
of the CEO and all the staff and management, we
are confident that the organisation is now well
placed to meet the challenges and opportunities
that will arise with the roll out of the NDIS and
other changes foreshadowed for the disability
sector.
I am pleased to report that during the past year
we successfully completed the first phase of our
2015 – 2020 strategic planning. Investigation
among our stakeholders shows that Finding
Workable Solutions has a strong brand presence
and a very good reputation in the industry, and
indeed this has been recognised by several awards
and commendations. Over the coming year we
will build on this brand awareness and reputation,
and we are well into the stakeholder consultation
phase of strategic planning and focussed on
accelerating our priority initiatives.
The Finance Committee continues to improve
our financial reporting standards and to carefully
monitor our financial performance while the Risk
and Audit Committee have also worked hard
to transform our internal policies and practices
according to the highest legal and accreditation
standards.
As our operational performance substantially
improves, so does our capacity to support our
client base. We hope all who have interacted with
us are better placed to make their lives stronger
and in turn, contribute further to the community
and environment.
I would like to thank all of our Board members and
committed staff as well as Management for their
service and guiding our ongoing success.
Over the past year there have been some changes
at the board level, with Elizabeth Hemphill
and Danielle Jiranek leaving to pursue other
interests. We convey our thanks and best wishes
to them both. We were fortunate to recruit
new directors Mark Hordacre, Bob Warner and
David Williams. All new directors are carefully
chosen to enhance and complement the skills
and experience of the Board, and the increasing
effectiveness of the Board over the last few years
demonstrates the value of this approach. The
Board conducts regular assessments of Board
performance (including assessment of the Chair!)
and I am committed to continuing to improve
our governance standards, benchmarked against
National best practice guidelines.
David Saint
Chairman
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