Annual Report 2024 - 2025: Our People

Our people are critical to the success of our organisation. They are confident, skilled, and dedicated to delivering exceptional services and supports every day. We know that without our people, we could not provide the quality of supports that we do. Our people are committed to our purpose and spend every day contributing to a world where people with Cerebral Palsy have equal opportunities and can live the life they choose.

Staff Movements

In the last financial year, we welcomed 59 new employees, including 54 Support Workers and five office staff. As of June 30 2025, we had 162 staff in total.

Early 2025 saw CPSN farewell our long-term CEO, Scott Sheppard as he stepped into retirement. Scott was instrumental in cultivating CPSN’s culture and played a key role in supporting the development of our people and services. Following his retirement, we were delighted that Kellie O’Shea was appointed as CPSN’s CEO. Congratulations Kellie.

An adjusted organisation structure was finalised with two re-titled General Manager roles – GM, Service Delivery (responsible for services to people with CP) and GM, Shared Services (responsible for internal services including Human Resources, Finance, Marketing & Quality) as well as the introduction of two Service Delivery Manager roles. Congratulations to Olivia McCluskey and Brian Vanega on their appointments as Service Delivery Managers.

Learning and Development

We recognise the importance of learning and development in ensuring our people feel confident in their skills and knowledge to deliver on their roles and to meet their own career goals.

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Training is a key focus for CPSN, and our people have told us that online courses are accessible for them and allow them to complete training flexibly. From all our staff, we saw 605 completions from 40 online courses in 2024-25.

In addition to online learning, we facilitated in-person competency assessments for high intensity and complex care services, ensuring staff are trained to the key module and theory as well as the individualised support plans for each of the people they support.
Maximise output. The accompanying Workforce Policy outlines CPSN’s approach to diversity, inclusion, safety.

Mental Health First Aid Training July 2024 – June 2025

This year, Mental Health First Aid Training continued being delivered to Support Workers.
The two-day training, led by CPSN’s licensed instructors, Anna Perini and Sharon Marendaz, equips participants with practical skills to support individuals experiencing mental health issues until professional help is available.

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We started delivering this course in 2023, and feedback shows that it has been very well received and extremely valuable to participants therefore will continue to be offered to staff in 2026. We are proud to offer this course free of charge to our staff who are also paid for their attendance. We strongly encourage people to attend this training, but due to the nature of the content, we recognise this course isn’t suitable for everyone and it does not form part of CPSN’s compulsory training suite. CPSN remains committed to expanding this valuable training to support workers, clients, and their families.

Pulse Check Survey 2024

In October 2024, we facilitated a Pulse Survey for all employees spanning a range of key areas including how connected they feel to CPSN, their perceptions on access to training and resources and how they generally feel about their work.

Results were positive with most responses receiving a 4 or more out of a possible score of 5. We know that our Support Workers are extremely important to our success, so it was wonderful to see that over 90% of our Support Worker respondents said they were proud to work for CPSN.

Staff Connection Days

To continue supporting our team culture and connection across the organisation, we increased the frequency of our All Staff Connection Days. These are now scheduled bi-monthly (previously quarterly) and provide a relaxed, fun atmosphere that allows staff to connect in with fellow colleagues and spend valuable in person time reconnecting due to working fully remote. Highlights include:

Board games day – a competitive, fun environment with lots of laughs

All Abilities Playground in Mill Park. The family friendly event provided a great and accessible opportunity for staff to reconnect in an inclusive and relaxed setting.

National Gallery of Victoria – a beautiful setting to explore and appreciate all facets of art.
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Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and staff are really enjoying getting together and having fun.
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This year, we introduced Drop-In Days at Kensington Town Hall every alternate month.
These offered all staff the chance to come together, work alongside each other, and also provide an opportunity for support workers to access laptops and complete any outstanding training they may have.
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These initiatives have been introduced in response to a clear need for greater face-to-face engagement and are helping to build a more supportive and connected workplace culture.

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Download the full CPSN 2024–2025 Annual Report here
Explore all sections of the 2024/2025 Annual Report:
Annual Report 2024–2025: A Message from our Chair and CEO
Annual Report 2024–2025: Our Services
Annual Report 2024–2025: Our People
Annual Report 2024–2025: Reimagine our Image
Annual Report 2024–2025: Community & Advocacy

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