Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Centre

Case study background

he Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Centre, based in Wyong on the New South Wales Central Coast, falls under the responsibility of the Yerin Aboriginal Health Service Incorporated.

The Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Centre provides a full range of primary health care services for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Wyong community.

The centre was established after the Aboriginal leadership on the Central Coast focused on building a network, being an advocate and gaining community support before accessing Commonwealth funding.

This strategy has made the Yerin Aboriginal Health Service a strong, well-positioned community organisation.

Situation

From 2000 to 2005, the Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Centre saw enormous growth. In 2005, the centre faced the challenge of managing rapid growth of its services, the development of new services, and the need to secure adequate facilities as it had outgrown its current premises.

The organisation employed a total of 12 full-time and part-time staff. 

The work

Over a year, Gongan Consultancy provided the following services:

• facilitated strategic business planning workshops with executive, management and staff
• completed the Yerin Aboriginal Health Service Strategic Plan 2005-2010, which identified a number of strategic and operational gaps
• worked closely with the Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Centre board and management to build organisational and staff capacity for the future
• mentored the manager and helped to prepare activity and financial reports for numerous funding agencies
• organised the structuring of the financial systems for the organisation, which included contracting the services of an external bookkeeper and accountant which improved the accuracy and quality of the financial reports required
• delivered corporate governance workshops for the board and manager
• developed and implemented a strategic planning forum and selected partnership meetings, which was a recommendation from the strategic plan. The one-day forum focused on presenting the strategic plan, goals and barriers, and gaining commitment from present and future funding partners to work from the same plan.
  

The result



The five-year strategic plan provided focus and direction for the organisation, which has played a key role in the growth of Yerin Aboriginal Health Service from 12 to 23 staff, a full-time doctor and expansion over three buildings. The planning, structures and systems developed by Rod Williams provided a strong foundation for the organisation’s successful growth.