Behind each of our community services are essential systems, assets and projects that keep them running smoothly and allow us to grow. Our information and technology systems, physical assets, and property, and enabling structures are the backbone of the Society.

The Support and Infrastructure pillar of our strategic plan calls on us to build and maintain the infrastructure needed to support and sustain a leading social service delivery agency.

• Building efficient and effective workplace systems, processes and structures that enable productivity and connection and support the provision of excellent social services.
• Implementing major technology projects to improve productivity, effectiveness, and quality.
• Effectively managing our property assets.

ENABLING SERVICES

In order to facilitate our work assisting people experiencing poverty and disadvantage, our enabling services play a pivotal role in realising the ‘One Society’ approach and many objectives of the Strategic Plan.

TECHNICAL SERVICES

During the 2021/22 financial year, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) team was busy rolling out hardware and software upgrades throughout the Society, including:

• 256 desktop and laptop computers
• 58 printers for retail and conferences
• Connected 45 sites to the NBN
• And migrated 725 phone numbers at 69 sites to a new provider

The ICT team continued the rollout of new point of sale software which is now installed at 225 shops and seven container deposit scheme sites.

The new CAMS customer relationship management (CRM) software, which was piloted at 20 conferences, has begun full rollout. The CAMS is a bespoke system to capture contact and assistance information, which could be used by all NSW conferences and provide them with a clearer holistic view of the people we assist. It has now replaced the multiple, disparate existing systems used previously.

The ICT team helped during the floods experienced throughout the 2021/22 financial year by setting up an emergency response system in the space of three days to help the people affected by the natural disaster. It enabled the Society to capture, review, and process applications as well as distribute the appropriate financial assistance. It was able to be used remotely and by those on the ground in the recovery centres, providing greater visibility to the program team of the demand from the community.

ICT implemented a new property management system and a new Enterprise resource planning system. It also enhanced the health service’s client information system and the fundraising system.

PROPERTY

The objective of our property team is to have safe, efficient, and effective buildings to support the Society’s good works. In the 2021/22 financial year, our property team commenced the implementation of a new Property Management System (PMS) to manage the thousands of works orders and maintenance requests delivered each year to keep our buildings operating 24/7 and 365 days a year. The PMS is now operational. We continue to support the services in renewing leases for the offices and shops we rent into the Society, and in the search for new shops to establish Vinnies Shops aligned to the retail growth strategy. An emphasis has been on seeking to satisfy accreditation and compliance requirements in the standard of our built environment for several accommodation facilities and homes. Our delivery of the environmental sustainability program continues with further installation of solar photovoltaic and LED lighting. The storms and floods of February 2022 required the property team to respond to significant damage to many of our properties to make safe, repair, and return to service. Thirty-three properties were affected across the State, with all but three now fully operational. Our property team is focused on delivering an exciting capital investment program to reshape our properties and to commence the journey to establish long-term life-cycle asset plans.

PROCUREMENT

The Society has invested in additional resources to increase the capacity of the procurement function. This is in acknowledgement of the contribution this function makes to ensuring an ongoing focus on value and cost effectiveness, efficiency, risk management, and ensuring supplier alignment with our mission and values. This has included the introduction of a contract management system to enable the Society to monitor and manage its existing supplier agreements more effectively.

Procurement continues to collaborate across the organisation to progressively review and select Society-wide preferred supplier arrangements, that provide financial savings and administrative efficiency through consolidation, without compromising on service delivery. We have also facilitated a number of generous in-kind donations from suppliers that wish to support our good works.

Procurement also plays a major role in the Society’s work in relation to the Modern Slavery Act and our Reconciliation Action Plan. We have now published our second Modern Slavery Statement, and we continue to reinforce our commitment to identify and eliminate the risk of modern slavery in our operations and supply chain through our ongoing activities. Our Supply Nation membership helps us identify opportunities for First Nations businesses to supply goods and services to the Society.