Yet another year draws to a close! We pause to take a look back on the incredible year that was 2023. Here are our 2023 highlights:
Care services in Sydney and Melbourne
We continued to make an impact in the community, with nearly 700 Afea Carers and 80 office staff providing support services across Sydney and Melbourne in 2023.
Here’s an interview with one of our clients! You can view more client stories and reviews here.
Industry awards and recognitions
AFR Best Place to Work
For the third 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 700 nominated organisations across Australia and New Zealand.
Australian HR Awards Employer of Choice
We’re raising the bar for Australian HR! We have been named Employer of Choice at the 2023 Australian HR Awards.
Afea also received recognition as Excellence Awardee in the Best Use of Technology category.
The annual Australian HR Awards is organised by Human Resources Director (HRD), Australia’s leading news and information resource for senior human resource professionals and top corporate decision-makers.
Going ‘Above and Beyond’
Our very own Jack Mhanna won the “Above and Beyond” award at the 2023 Sydney Disability Staff Recognition Awards, the most prestigious awards event in the disability sector.
The Above and Beyond category recognises an individual who has gone “above and beyond” what is expected in their normal range of responsibilities. Congratulations, Jack!
Inspiring Workplaces
We have been named one of Australasia’s Top 10 Inspiring Workplaces and one of the world’s Top 100 Inspiring Workplaces.
The Inspiring Workplaces Awards recognise and celebrate organisations that have created exceptional workplaces. The awards aim to honour those that have created a positive and inspiring work culture for their people.
Spring Square Bankstown with AccessAccom
We expanded our portfolio of properties to provide safe and supportive homes to more people with disability.
This year, we opened the doors to Spring Square Bankstown, in partnership with Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) provider AccessAccom. Spring Square is designed to be fully accessible, immersing residents in Bankstown’s lively, multicultural community.
Jordan Springs SDA with BlueCHP
We have four new SDA homes in Jordan Springs, in partnership with BlueCHP. Two houses (4BR) and two villas (2BR) are available to move in now, giving participants the option to live on their own, or to share the beautiful space with their partner or small family.
St Clair SIL Granny Flat
We also opened a newly built Supported Independent Living home in St Clair. Newly constructed in September 2023, this granny flat has bright and airy spaces with modern finishes, perfect for an NDIS participant with goals around living independently.
icare
We are now part of Insurance and Care NSW (icare)’s panel of attendant care providers in New South Wales! Following a robust evaluation, Afea was awarded a tender contract that enables us to provide care services to individuals eligible for icare’s Lifetime Schemes.
icare provides workers compensation insurance and care services to more than 329,000 public and private sector employers in NSW and their 3.2 million employees.
Technology Transition
We have fully transitioned from our custom-built system to the Salesforce ecosystem, with a platform directly linked to the NDIA portal.
This ensures transparency and accuracy of the services we provide to people with disability, and creates a holistic experience, from onboarding to communications and renewals.
Welcoming our new CEO
This year, we welcomed Hiyantha “Sam” Kariyawasam as Chief Executive Officer.
Sam has been with Afea since 2012, holding a variety of leadership roles, most recently that of Deputy CEO.
He succeeded Gaurav Oberoi, who will continue to serve Afea as one of our Executive Directors.
Taking Afeans on a HeartVenture
We introduced a unique and exciting program called HeartVenture, which goes beyond the ordinary to support our people’s individual passions and interests outside of the workplace.
With HeartVenture, Afea’s full-time employees have access to an individual grant. They can use this grant to explore and invest in activities that truly ignite their personal passions.
This can be a cooking class, a sewing course, a cheese-making workshop or even a badminton bootcamp! This unique program can fund virtually any conceivable hobby or activity.
HeartVenture is a perfect complement to our existing professional development program and is part of our ongoing commitment to support Afeans wherever we possibly can.
Celebrations: Afea Ohana Lunch, Diwali and more
As we do every year, we celebrated Harmony Week and Diwali in honour of our diverse workforce and the multicultural families we serve in the community.
We had twice the fun during the festival of lights as we held twin Diwali celebrations at our Parramatta and Liverpool community hubs.
This R U OK Day, we participated in a friendly morning tea bake-off, with Mai’s amazing mooncakes reigning supreme!
Our client Hem Sidharth Chandran provided a donation of his book at the launch of the Afea Library, where any Afean can give a book, take a book and read a book.
Christmas with our Clients and Alliance Partners
We celebrated the festive season with our SIL and SDA residents and carers. Here’s to a magical holiday season!
We spent a beautiful afternoon showing our appreciation to our partners and collaborators, who helped us touch more lives and provide compassionate care to more people in the community this past year. We can’t wait to see what we can achieve together in 2024!
Afea Ohana Lunch
Ohana means family!
We celebrated our 15th anniversary by hosting a feast in Parramatta. The Afea Ohana Lunch is also part of our National Carers Week (15 to 21 October) celebrations, to show our appreciation of our caregivers and support workers.
Guests included Afea staff, support workers, family members and community partners in the disability and aged care industry.
Event attendees enjoyed a buffet lunch, performances, goody bags, games and raffle draws with more than $1,400 worth of prizes.
What’s Next for Afea?
We have an exciting 2024 in store for you! Developments include more SIL/SDA homes and further service expansion in Victoria.
Thank you to our staff, carers and clients for another amazing year. We hope to continue to make a positive impact in our community in 2024!
