Including the people we support in our decision making
At Annecto, we believe everyone deserves to have a say in the decisions that impact their lives. That’s why we strive to invite the right people into the right conversations.
Project Lead Cam Burke is developing Annecto’s first ‘Participation and Co-design Framework’, to help bridge the gap between people using our services and the decision-makers. Cam has also been integral in the development of Annecto’s Customer Reference Groups (CRGs).
What are Customer Reference Groups (CRGs)?
“CRG’s are a participatory design tool, which means they are a way for the people we support to give us direct input on the choices and decisions we’re making as an organisation. We want people to have more opportunities to participate in our decision-making process and what we should be doing together,” Cam explained.
This year, CRGs have been piloted across most Annecto locations, where staff are engaging in meaningful discussions with customers. Topics are chosen in advance by the Annecto leadership team, then the CRGs provide the participants with a platform to voice feedback, experiences and ideas.
Engagement and Feedback Consultant Shai Strahan has led the development of the CRGs.
“It’s going to make really meaningful change,” Shai said. “Eventually, that’s going to become co-design where customers are actually working with us to make changes.”
How CRGs are supporting us in working towards co-design
Facilitators of the CRGs are seeing the impact first-hand. Workforce Coordinator Beatrice Silarsah and Support Worker Diana Pereira became accredited facilitators and successfully ran Annecto Sydney’s first session in September.
“The customers were very open and very comfortable to share whatever feedback they had. They told us exactly what they would like and how they were seeing things,” Beatrice shared.
“It was like a little safe environment; they were able to express what they were feeling and thinking,” Diana said.
Co-design sessions for Speakers Bank, an Annecto enterprise
Collaboration and co-design have also been key in Speakers Bank’s recent rebranding project. Speakers Bank is an Annecto enterprise that supports people with lived experience of disability to share their stories with the community.
Speakers Bank Coordinator Rebecca Church facilitated co-design sessions to involve speakers in important decisions about the work that they do. Together, they developed a new purpose, values and language guidelines for the enterprise.
“The co-design process is a really clear example of the interdependence between participants, staff and people with expertise of a subject,” Rebecca stated. “It prioritises lived experience voices as of equal importance to expertise or professional experience.”
Collaboration and co-design in Housing and Support
Co-design practices are also being used daily in our Housing and Support department. Tenants are invited to participate in hiring new support workers. Transition Coordinator Mary Rekaris, understands how important it is to collaborate with tenants on these big decisions that impact them directly.
“They are getting that choice,” she said. “They are being listened to.”
Making decisions together
These practices make sure tenants live independently in the home of their choice, surrounded by the people they choose. That’s what makes their home right for them.
Collaboration and co-design is fundamental to the work that we do. By engaging in continuous conversations with the people we support, their communities and our staff, we are committing to building a more inclusive society. We are excited to see how these efforts evolve as we develop our new framework and integrate co-design into even more aspects of our work.