Inclusive Communities Australia, trading as “YourLifePlan”, has been established for the specific purpose of delivering LAC Services in accordance with the requirements set out in the National Disability Insurance Agency LAC Services Request for Tender documentation (October 2015). 

Inclusive Communities Australia is a partnership of six of Australia’s leading community sector organisations who have come together to address the historical poverty and exclusion many Australians with disability and their families face every day by working to make the National Disability Insurance Scheme a reality. Prior to the release of the LAC Services RFT all the organisations in this partnership unanimously agreed on the need to keep separate the delivery of planning services from the delivery of support services to people with disability and their families and carers.

The six partner organisations in the Consortium consist of:

Anglicare Partnership

Anglicare Tasmania was established in 1977 and is Tasmania’s largest statewide NFP community service organisation, serving thousands of people every year. It operates branch offices, group activities, individual carers and safe gathering spaces across the State, organised around the three regions: North-West; North-East and Southern Tasmania programs relating to health, accommodation, families, substance abuse and more.  Anglicare’s annual turnover in 2015-16 is $68M.

Anglicare is the Lead Agency in a national network of Anglicare organisations that have a commitment to the successful implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.  Anglicare South Australia and Anglicare Victoria have been active partners in the Consortium and have a formal agreement binding the three Anglicare organisations for the purposes of the Company as prescribed in the Company’s Objects found in its Constitution.

Anglicare South Australia: 2014-15 budget was $120M with a workforce of 1,750 employees.

Anglicare Victoria: 2014-15 budget was $97M with a workforce of 1,300 employees.

Disability Services Australia

Disability Services Australia (hereafter referred to as ‘DSA’) is a not-for-profit organisation that has been established for almost 60 years, employing more than 1,200 people in key regions of New South Wales and the ACT including the Hunter, the Illawarra, Metropolitan Sydney, the Southern Highlands and Southern Ranges. DSA is an innovative, learning organisation that is continuously developing. It supports people to develop the skills and capabilities they need to participate in society and contribute to the economy and enables opportunities for choice, inclusion and achievement at home, in the community, through education and in employment.  Annual turnover in 2014-15 was $54M

Endeavour Foundation

Endeavour Foundation was founded in 1951 as an independent NFP organisation supporting more than 3,300 people with a disability from more than 230 locations in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Through related entities, Endeavour Foundation offers employment, health, wellbeing and community development services. It is one of Australia’s most diverse and innovative NFP organisations with national capacity providing person-centred support for people with a disability as part of the everyday community – through education, training and life skill development, employment, accommodation support, respite and recreation. The current staff of 5000+ working across 4 states includes 2400+ supported employees.

St Laurence Community Services Inc

Formed in 1958 as a regional division of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, St Laurence Community Services Inc. (hereafter referred to as ‘St Laurence’) was established as a Public Benevolent Institution under the Incorporated Association Act in 1994.  It operates across the south-west regions of Victoria delivering residential and community-based aged care, jobactive and DES services, is a Registered Training Organisation, offers a retirement village and social housing in Geelong, offers in-home supports to people who are ageing or have disability, has a number of social enterprises (operating with Commonwealth support under the ADE program) and delivers a variety of independent living supports to NDIS Participants in the Barwon Region. Annual turnover in 2015-16 is $43M with a workforce of 775 people.

The YourLifePlan Board of Directors ensures the organisation’s behaviour is consistent with its Objects, Vision, and Strategic Priorities. 
The Board has ultimate responsibility to the Founding Member organisations for the strategy and performance of the company in general. The Board is dedicated to fulfilling its fiduciary duties in a lawful and professional manner, with the utmost integrity and objectivity, and in a way that produces an Australian society that is more inclusive of people with disability.

Expert Consumer Engagement Committee

The Expert Consumer Engagement Committee is a Committee of the Board of Directors. It provides high level oversight of the Consumer Governance Framework.
This Committee will ensure that the voices of people with a disability, their families and carers are heard at every level of the organisation.  They will have input into review and evaluation processes, oversee satisfaction and outcomes for those who engage with YourLifePlan and where necessary have a dialogue with the Commonwealth agency responsible for administrating the national delivery of services.
In accordance with the Company’s Constitution the Board must appoint individuals to a Board Committee established for the purposes of providing to the Directors advice on the following matters:

1. Oversight of the Company’s Consumer Governance Framework;
2. Provide expert opinion on how the delivery of services is being received in their local community;
3. Provide feedback on satisfaction and outcomes of the services delivered by the Company;
4. Provide advice that may be used to inform evaluation and review of the services delivered by the Company;
5. Provide guidance on the Company’s Community Capacity Building Plan;
6. Provide advice to the Board on consumer participation in the services delivered by the Company which must include the direct participation of people with disability, their families and carers.

YourLifePlan endorses the adages: “Nothing about us without us” and “Doing it with us not for us”.  These truths succinctly articulate the philosophies of the Founding Members and they are observable in their daily experiences working alongside people who consume services and supports. We will make use of these truths to underpin our approach of delivering services to people with disability, their families and their carers.
The Company actively supports consumer participation and is committed to recognising the experiences of the consumer as central to the Company’s operations.  Our commitment to having inclusive practice reflects the significance of people with disability in the identification of and solution of quality issues associated with the delivering of services. 
There are three fundamental intentions of the Consumer Governance Framework:

1. To build the capacity of people with disability, their families or carers for participation;
2. To listen to people with disability, their families and carers to identify their support needs;
3. To encourage disability and mainstream providers to work together in the community to achieve increased opportunities for people with disability to be active participants in their local community.

Delivering innovative person-centred solutions to support the participation of all people in the social, cultural and economic life of our community.

Core values

Our workforce is committed to displaying our Company values in their everyday activities.

Choice	“Nothing about me without me”.  Decisions about support services are made by the people who use them.
Inclusiveness	We listen to a range of perspectives and learn from these when designing and implementing support services that strengthen inclusion.
Integrity	We do what we say we will do. This is how we establish trust and build relationships with each other and those we serve.
Collaborative	We work with government and other organisations and individuals to achieve our Vision.
Empowerment	We ensure people have the information and assistance they need to make informed choices. We listen to the views of people who use services, as well as family members and carers.
Dignity	We respect a person’s right to make their own choices about their life. We adopt early intervention and strengths-based approaches to support people to enhance their wellbeing.
Accountability	We provide high quality support that is uniquely tailored to the needs of each person who receives it.

Corporate Objectives

The Corporate Objectives of YourLifePlan are found at Clause 4 of the Constitution and are:

1. to increase the autonomy, independence and community participation of people experiencing physical, intellectual and/or emotional barriers;
2. to be a responsive Company that listens to people who use the Company’s services and the voice of their families and carers - the Company values and learns from their knowledge and lived experience;
3. to provide clear information to assist people to make decisions about the full range of support services available to them;
4. to take responsibility for ensuring that people who require support or advisory services maintain or realise an optimal state of independence and participate in community activities receive the quality services they need;
5. to work collaboratively with governments, organisations and individuals to ensure quality support services that enable people to participate to the maximum extent in the life of their community are available to all who need them;
6. to ensure that existing social capital is both retained and increased through the investment of retained funds into additional services and social infrastructure consistent with the Company’s objectives as set out in this clause 4.1 and the Company’s vision as set out in clause 4.2;
7. to provide for the relief of poverty or distress by assisting those people living with disability or helplessness and otherwise people who experience disadvantage brought about by their exclusion from social, cultural and/or economic activities in their community or by an incapacity to operate with self-autonomy because they require necessary supports to fully participate in these activities.