Our 2022 Highlights

December 13th 2022

As the year draws to a close, we pause to take a look back on the incredible year that was 2022.

Here are our year’s highlights:

350,000+ hours of care

We continued to make an impact in the community, with 650+ Afea Carers and 80+ office staff providing more than 350,000 hours (and counting!) of support services across Sydney in 2022.

Industry awards and recognitions

In addition to the fantastic feedback we received from clients and carers, we also received accolades from the industry.

AFR Best Place to Work

For the second consecutive year, we have been recognised as one of Australia and New Zealand’s Best Places to Work.

The prestigious annual list, published by The Australian Financial Review BOSS Magazine, is based on a rigorous assessment process by Inventium, which identifies ten key factors that are critical to employees feeling motivated and engaged at work.

We are honoured to rank third on the Health list, from over 750 nominated organisations across Australia and New Zealand.

Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence

Afea is named Outstanding Employer of Choice at the 2022 Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence (WSABE), the most prestigious awards program in the Greater Sydney region.

CEO Gaurav Oberoi was also a finalist for Outstanding Business Leader.

As Gaurav said in his speech, “We operate to serve the community with our vision to be the most trusted care provider. That simply cannot be achieved unless we have the trust for it within the organisation to then flow out and care for each other as we care for the elderly and people with disability.”

Recognitions from atWork and Blacktown City Council

We were named by atWork Australia as a finalist for Best Diversity Employer at their Employer Awards. This event celebrates atWork’s inclusive and diverse employers.

In addition, the Blacktown City Council named us as one of the finalists for Organisation of the Year.

We’re proud to be recognised for our achievements and practices around compassionate leadership, diversity and inclusion.

Partnerships: Enliven, BlueCHP, Evolve Housing, allied health

New homes for NDIS participants

However, we didn’t rest on our laurels and instead continued to enhance our client offerings.

This year, we opened the doors to four new properties:

Penrith
Evoke SDA apartments in Blacktown, in partnership with Enliven Housing
The Henry SDA apartments in Penrith, also with Enliven
Jordan Springs, in partnership with BlueCHP and Evolve Housing

This is in addition to our existing properties in Oxley Park and St Clair, which provide Supported Independent Living to participants living with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities.

Spotlight on Allied Health

Many of our clients have multidisciplinary teams, with whom we work closely to provide the best support to the people in our care.

We find it fitting to celebrate Allied Health Professions Day (14 October) and Occupational Therapy Week (24-30 October) by putting the spotlight on our care partners in the allied health profession.

Care Squared
OT Mary Luong from Super Rehab

Taking our staff perks to the next level: Employment Hero for Carers and Leora AI

We rolled out Employment Hero to all of our support workers, giving them access to a powerful employment platform, health and wellness resources and exclusive discounts at major retailers!

In November, we partnered with Leora, a mental health platform blending artificial intelligence (AI) with human therapist support. As a virtual self-care coach, Leora serves as Afeans’ very own personal mental health champion, accessible anytime, anywhere.

All Afea staff and their immediate families can now enjoy the benefits of Leora, from 24/7 chats to booking a therapist for further support.

Celebrations: from National Carer Week to Afea Family Fun Day

As an incredibly diverse workforce serving multicultural families, Afea encourages celebrations of various cultural festivities. As we do every year, we celebrated Harmony Week and Diwali, the festival of lights.

As part of our Carers Week celebrations, we sent each Afea Carer a branded commemorative pin to show our appreciation and celebration of their service.

This year, we held our biggest event yet! Our inaugural Afea Family Fun Day on 3 December saw more than 450 guests troop to Sydney Zoo to celebrate the International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD).

Attendees were composed of Afea staff, support workers, family members and industry alliances. Our program honoured our Support Worker of the Year, Marilyn Stafford, and featured a performance from the award-winning all-abilities dance group Perform Ability. We also held a prize draw!

From the Heart: Giving back to our community

Afea introduced a social responsibility program called From the Heart, which encourages staff to give back to the community in ways beyond the scope of their jobs.

Our healthcare work has a positive impact on many lives, however, From the Heart empowers staff to contribute to causes they are personally passionate about.

We kicked off our initiative with the launch of our special Blood Donation Leave on World Blood Donor Day (14 June 2022), enabling staff to donate blood and plasma at their nearest donor centre.

For STEPtember, Team Afea took over 8 million steps together and raised $3,752! The funds raised were donated to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance to support vital cerebral palsy research and assist thousands of people in accessing therapy and support. Work that is certainly close to our heart!

Ahead of Christmas, we launched our Christmas food and gift drive for the Salvation Army. Donations of tinned foods, cleaning and hygiene items and special gifts from staff were packaged into hampers and dropped at our local Salvos to provide a feast to individuals and families in need, just in time for the festive season.

What’s Next for Afea?

We’re excited for 2023! Some developments in the pipeline: our full transition to the Salesforce ecosystem, more SIL/SDA homes and expanding our home and community care services to Victoria.