Saviour was appointed as Director of Seniors Services in July 2022. He held previous roles at Uniting as Director of Residential and Health Care, and Director of Ageing. He is responsible for residential aged care, home and community care, independent living and the Uniting War Memorial Hospital.
Prior to joining Uniting, Saviour managed services supporting people with intellectual disability living in both group homes and specialist support services with Family and Community Services, and prior to that he worked in various roles with the Home Care Service of NSW.
Transition to the new aged care act: Are we there yet?
Precis
The transition to the new Aged Care Act represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape aged care in Australia. For Uniting Seniors Services, this journey has been marked by bold transformation, deep consultation, and a commitment to embedding the rights of older people into every aspect of care. Uniting’s response to the reforms has been guided by the principle that change must be both strategic and human centered. We’ve embraced the complexity of the new regulatory model, the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, and the Support at Home program, recognising that reform is not just about compliance, it’s about our shared opportunity to elevate the lived experience of the older Australians we serve.
Reforms Readiness
As we grappled with getting the organisation reform ready for the transition to the Aged Care Act, we thought deeply about the idea of how do we do it best? What resources do we need? We are keen to share our learning after using a decentralized approach delegating specific reform activities to projects and teams across the business. and approach.
Lessons Learned from Implementation
Quality of Care Program
With a key focus on improving the experience of the older people we serve across our 72 residential aged care facilities. We partnered with our frontline teams to create initiatives to strengthen our delivery of high-quality services, supported by strong systems, proactive risk management, and a culture of continuous improvement.
Since the commencement of the program of work we have created Strengthened Standards training, pre-accreditation audit tools, dining influencers, and a refreshed Household Living Model. These initiatives have improved clinical governance, resident wellbeing, and frontline capability—aligning with the new Statement of Rights and regulatory expectations.
Home with U Program
A bold 18-month transformation of Home Care services, designed to align with the Support at Home reforms. on track to deliver over 130 initiatives including AI and Voice-to-Notes tools for staff, faster onboarding and service delivery for clients, and leadership development programs. Positioned Uniting to meet rising demand for in-home services, which are growing three times faster than residential aged care.
Operationalising the new Act
As Uniting NSW.ACT started to think about reforms we saw it as an opportunity to rethink the way we do things and go beyond the standards. We saw this as a once in generation chance to
Reimagine what we do and what older Australians deserve.