Articles and Insights
Sector Insights | Leadership Lens | Beyond Compliance
Embedding Compliance, Strengthening Culture
It’s hot and still when we arrive. The kind of heat that clings to the air and slows conversation. But inside the doors of this small Aboriginal community organisation, it’s a hive of activity. Phones ring, laughter carries across the open office, and the team move easily between caring for Elders, managing paperwork, and catching up with community members dropping by.
For the past 12 months, Social Sector Consulting has worked alongside this Aboriginal community organisation through the Service Development Assistance Panel (SDAP), a federally funded program that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care providers to strengthen their governance, systems, and service delivery.
Here was explore a case study on embedding compliance and strengthening culture. Together with this community organisation we have supported them to grow stronger while keeping cultural values at the centre.
Image taken in beautiful North Queensland.
Creating a Safeguarding Culture: Why Leadership and Governance Matter
The Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards (2025) place ‘consumer voice’ and ‘governance’ at the core of sector and service reform. The reviews of recent years (such as the NDIS Review and Aged Care Royal Commission) have told us a consistent story - compliance alone was never going to keep people safe. Safeguarding cannot be a document in a folder. It needs to be lived and visible every day. Culture doesn’t change with a new template or a ticked training record. In this article we discuss the questions that matter most, now - those that will separate compliance-driven organisations from those leading cultural change.
Lessons for Inclusive Employment Australia: What the NDIS taught us about getting reform right
Australia’s disability employment services will shift again as Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) replaces the Disability Employment Services (DES) model. It’s a step forward, but also a complex one as success will depend greatly on how well providers, leaders, and communities navigate both design and delivery. Here we explore five lessons that, in our experience, must be front and centre.
From tender to delivery - what now?
That moment when you find out you’ve won the contract is a rush. Pride, relief, excitement - all flooding in at once. And then, almost in the same breath, the weight of it lands, the importance of it feels very real and your thoughts turn quickly to - where do we begin? How will we do this? How will we get it done in time? And how will we get this right?
Reflecting on leadership: When change initiatives fail
Change can be complex. Not just the change itself but the speed and frequency of change, particularly in the disability and social sector (such as NIDS and aged care). When you overlay the fatigue, burnout and frustration with the constant pace of change, it is a recipe for things to go wrong. Read our top tips for fostering a positive change experience, and for making change stick.