Thank you for FY26

Whether in our homes, villages, the community or our support offices, your efforts have made a real difference.

Let’s take a moment to celebrate some of the many milestones achieved across our teams in FY26.

Staying focused on customers

Throughout major aged care reforms, our teams kept care and services front and centre.

Home and community support teams guided nearly 6,000 clients through the transition to Support at Home – reshaping services, roles and ways of working while making sure support never missed a beat.

In residential care, teams have been preparing for the transition to Higher Everyday Living Fees (HELF), adapting how services are delivered and working closely with residents and families to maintain choice and continuity. Across 63 homes, more than 500 team members have taken part in training to support the change ahead of October.

At the same time, teams have continued to meet direct care minute targets and maintained 24/7 nursing coverage – while bringing person-centred care to life through new programs, including a pilot program underway in NSW homes.

In Victoria, retirement living teams responded quickly to new legislation, running information sessions to help residents and village committees understand what’s changing.

Strengthening safety and wellbeing

Over the last 12 months we have made important progress in strengthening safety and wellbeing and looking out for each other.

The refreshed Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy reinforced our commitment to safe and supportive environments.

Updates to the Critical Issues Escalation Matrix are strengthening how we manage critical events and support teams responding to them.

Our Melbourne HCS services achieved accreditation under the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Health Standards.

Building stronger partnerships

FY26 saw new partnerships take shape and existing partnerships evolve, extending our impact in the community.

Retirement living and sustainability teams worked with Containers for Change Queensland and social enterprise Reforest to introduce new initiatives in our communities.

Our support for veterans through Wounded Heroes Australia grew, from repurposing surplus furniture to featuring their unique blend of coffee in welcome packs for new village residents.

In a world-first, we partnered with Audeara to bring Auracast™ technology into retirement villages – helping residents with hearing loss stay connected.

In Melbourne, the Homeless Persons Program expanded its reach through partnerships with local organisations including Quest Connect, Street Side Medics and the Harcourts Foundation.

Leading innovation and research

Our innovation and research expertise continued to underpin everything we do.

Teams were recognised as finalists in the Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards across multiple categories highlighting new approaches to meet changing needs.

The Research Institute continued its work with frontline teams to expand the virtual model of care, helping clients living in regional and remote locations with improved access to occupational health and physiotherapy services.

New InTouch services, including an NBN internet service, were launched to support resident and client independence. A digital literacy program was delivered to help village residents and community members use technology safely.

At the same time, SMS visit reminders were introduced to improve clients’ experience and visibility of home visits.

Empowering healthy and active communities

Across our communities, teams continued helping people stay connected and proactive about their health.

The Be Healthy and Active program continues to grow, with new topics and a milestone of more than 50,000 participants in reach.

We began the final phase of our involvement in the Connect Local social prescribing pilot which has connected people with community services and activities through more than 700 referrals and 3,050 visits to its community directory.

HCS and retirement living teams worked together to embed the VIP connected support program with 900 village residents now receiving care and services in their own homes.

We marked the official start of work on our New Farm retirement living community to help us deliver more connected care services and meet local needs.

Simplifying ways of working

Behind the scenes, work has continued to integrate our teams through common ways of working including standardised systems and practices for rostering, time and attendance, and payroll.

We also introduced a new organisation-wide system to undertake HR activities (Workday) and made preparations to transition our residential aged care, retirement living and support services team to a single purchasing system (Basware).

Recognising each other

Through the new Awards and Recognition program, teams are actively nominating and celebrating each other’s contributions.

Thank You Day also provided a wonderful opportunity to recognise the care, compassion and dedication our people bring every day to support residents, clients and each other. Highlights from the day included dressing as superheroes, sharing messages of appreciation and connecting at local events.

Know someone who consistently lives our Bolton Clarke values?

You can nominate your colleagues for Heart of Us Employee of the Month recognition via My Rewards. Visit Connect or talk to your manager to find out more.

Main image: Thank You Day celebrations at the Sydney support office.
Inline image 1: HCS teams at the Central Coast Seniors Festival.
Inline image 2: HELF preparations were a key focus for our residential care teams at the recent RAC Roadshow.
Inline image 3: Our retirement living and sustainability teams partnered with Containers for Change QLD to make it easier for village residents to recycle.
Inline image 4: The VIP connected support program gives residents in our retirement villages greater control over their home care services.
Inline image 5: Basware training sessions are being heald across teams including our QLD RAC hospitality team.