Australia’s first public service ‘mutual’ creates unique business success
Formerly part of the now devolved South Australian government agency, Child and Youth Services, employee-controlled disability services provider, Kudos Services will celebrate its third anniversary on October 1.
For children from birth to six years old, Kudos Services is the official NDIS Partner in South Australia for early intervention services for children who have been identified as having potential disability or developmental delay.
For young people with a disability aged seven and beyond, Kudos Services is an NDIS registered provider of therapy services and behaviour support services and offers a supportive community of care, involving parents and therapists to achieve the best possible outcomes.
According to Kudos Services CEO, Darrin Johnson the organisation is going from strength to strength, having increased the number of its clients by more than 50 per cent over the past year, and with strong future growth on the horizon.
“We are still in a start-up phase as we hit our third anniversary, but looking forward, we’re projecting major growth in our therapy business over the next three years,” he says.
Mr Johnson said he anticipated the organisation growing from its current $10 million base to generating more than $20 million per year.
“The thing that sets us apart is that we are Australia’s first public service mutual, which means that we are an organisation which is very similar to a co-operative model, where our therapists and staff actually own and operate the business, which is very rare in our sector.”
“Having been borne of a government department, we’ve had to build an entire business from the ground up and there’s been an enormous amount of work to get us to where we are today,” he said.
“But given our mutual model, our staff and therapists are incredibly and passionately engaged with our clients’ outcomes and the success of the business, and they are delivering very positive results.”
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Keli Blake is the Chair of Kudos’ Member Advisory Committee and believes the mutual model gives all the team members of Kudos a real voice in the governance of the organisation.
“It’s genuinely refreshing to know that we can bring forward ideas and issues and be treated on a level that has the ear and respect of management and the Board.”
According to Darrin Johnson one of Kudos’ key differences in South Australia’s disability service marketplace is its delivery model, which is still very much community based.
“Probably around 90 per cent of our services are delivered in the community, which is quite rare in our sector these days, as many other providers have moved to a more clinic-based model requiring clients to travel to them,” he said.
“But we’re in family loungerooms, around the kitchen table, in schools and workplaces. We think it delivers better outcomes for our families and we get fantastic feedback from families about helping them achieve the outcomes they’re looking for, for their children.”
Mr Johnson said as a group of very experienced therapists, the Kudos team also specialised in particularly complex and challenging cases.
“We currently have more than 140 people in our team and we’re looking for more therapists to join us,” he said.
“Looking at our growth and our future, I’m very excited for the Kudos team who are the owners and drivers of the business and have proven how just successful the mutual model can be.”
