INTHEBLACK May 2022 - Magazine - Page 70
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// G I V I N G B A C K
STORY KATIE LANGMORE
CAREFUL
SERVICE
FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES, JENNENE BUCKLEY FCPA HAS BEEN USING HER SKILL
SET AS A FINANCE PROFESSIONAL TO SUPPORT THE AGED CARE SECTOR. AS THE
SECTOR GRAPPLES WITH THE CHALLENGES OF A ROYAL COMMISSION AND THE
PANDEMIC, BUCKLEY'S GOAL IS TO REMAIN AS PRESENT AS EVER.
J
ennene Buckley FCPA is quick to acknowledge
that her CPA qualification has given her the ideal
skill set to become CEO of Feros Care, a not-forprofit aged care and community care organisation.
Yet it is clearly her passion for the aged-care sector
that has kept her in the role for 20 years. Over
those two decades, Buckley took the organisation
from supporting 95 clients to overseeing 1000 staff
servicing more than 60,000 clients a year.
“I became CEO at 31,” says Buckley, who started at
Feros Care as an accounting manager. “At the time
I couldn’t imagine what we would achieve; that we
would grow this little community-owned not-forprofit to an organisation with A$100 million a year
turnover, providing services around the country and
winning national and international awards for our
leadership in digital transformation and innovation.”
Buckley has now passed on the baton of CEO
and plans to use her deep knowledge of the sector
supporting government and service providers
through her new consultancy, Enkindle.
“Right now, the industry is really struggling,”
explains Buckley, describing staff who “are exhausted
with managing 30 months of the Royal Commission
[into Aged Care Quality and Safety], two years of the
pandemic, insufficient funding and financial strain,
and workforce shortages like I have never seen in the
25 years I have been in aged care.
“Providers are trying to keep services operating
to the best of their ability in almost impossible
circumstances. I want to play a much bigger role in
shaping a world-class aged-care system for senior
Australians.”
Buckley is also giving her time and expertise to
several social enterprises. “As soon as I moved from
Feros into Enkindle, I wanted to make time to give
back,” she says.
70 ITB May 2022
This includes volunteering with a business
mentorship called Sourdough Business Pathways, a
not-for-profit that Buckley has also been supported
by over the last decade. “I’m supporting two
businesswomen who have a growing allied health
service, helping them with goal setting, business
planning and general advice,” she says.
Buckley has also helped a previous staff member
set up Women Connex, which supports women aged
40 to 70 to get back into the workforce. Launched
last year, Buckley is a member of the Women Connex
advisory board.
Until mid-2021, Buckley was also giving her time
to the advisory board of Be Someone For Someone,
an initiative she established before leaving Feros
Care. It advocates for people experiencing loneliness
and creates programs that enable meaningful
connections and better wellbeing for Australians.
“Be Someone For Someone was really a dream
come true for me,” says Buckley. “The idea of creating
a charitable foundation that would passionately
tackle a problem that we saw every day, which was
the devastating impact of loneliness on people of all
ages. Launching just before the pandemic couldn’t
really have come at a better time.”
Alongside her many commitments, Buckley hopes
to work with Aboriginal community-controlled health
organisations to help them to expand into aged care.
It’s a very personal mission as she’s recently found
out she has Aboriginal heritage on her father’s side.
“The Royal Commission [into Aged Care Quality and
Safety] talked to the need for First Nations elders to be
cared for by First Nations people; for Aboriginal elders
to access culturally appropriate and culturally safe care.
I really want to assist in closing the gap for Aboriginal
elders and I think I can use my 30-plus years in health
and aged care to support these organisations.”
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TO ACCESS
CPA Australia’s
resources on
voluntary or pro
bono accounting
services
Sourdough Business Pathways
is a not-for-profit organisation
supporting businesses in New
South Wales’ Northern Rivers
region to start up, skill up and
scale up through its start-up
programs, business skills
workshops, mentoring and
business women’s pathways.
sbp.org.au
Women Connex is a
Queensland-based social
enterprise that provides
activities and events designed
to get members together to
learn new skills, make
connections and have fun.
www.womenconnex.com.au