Alumni in profile

Barbara is the Executive Officer of ASHCARE Inc where she has a management role and overall responsibility for compliance with respect to regulations, organisational structure, budget, WorkCover, staff management, case management and all aspects of resident support as well as the day-to-day management of the organisation.

Accommodation and support services are provided for the 21 people in ASHCARE's three residences. Barbara is responsible for staff management and training ensuring excellent standards are maintained in all aspects of resident health and lifestyle support.

Barbara regularly networks with other providers and disability services in the Eastern Metro region and participates as a non-government organisational representative on reviews and panels organised by the Disability Planning and Partnership Program of DHS.

Completion of the course helped Barbara make the transition from the government to the non-government sector in her particular area of study. She is a strong believer in the encouragement of practitioners to become involved in management.

"Here at ASHCARE, we focus on our mission statement and the highly developed sense of community to meet the needs of people with severe and multiple disabilities. The skills I developed during my course have enabled me to work with staff teams to reach our goals. In the future, I see myself moving into the advocacy area where I can liaise with the peak body in the disability services sector and respond to the strategic directions of disability services in general.

Currently Deakin is working in partnership with the disability services sector across Victoria and fosters a supportive environment for research in this area.

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