LDC Group works with the community, health and government sectors to strengthen their impact and shape positive social change.
We do this through building trusted relationships and tailoring our services to clients’ needs and values. Our team’s wide-ranging and diverse expertise means we can bring together insights from different specialties as needed, enabling us to add value to the bigger picture and work effectively and transparently across multiple projects with each client.
We believe the way we work is just as important as the end result, which is why we focus on working with people and organisations. Our approach is to build on existing expertise and insights so our clients understand where they are at and have the confidence to find their way through complex problems. We work together to generate great outcomes for people and communities.
With over three decades of working within and alongside government, community and health organisations, we understand the human services system, its people and values. Our team’s on-the-ground experience includes service delivery, management, policy development and research, so we understand first-hand the challenges organisations face – and the practical steps they can take to make a difference. This long-term depth of experience means it’s not just knowledge we bring to projects but wisdom, giving organisations the specialist insights they need to help them reach their goals.
Our key areas of focus extend across family violence, health and wellbeing, Indigenous services, ethno-specific/multicultural services, aged care, disability, mental health, homelessness and housing, and children, young people and families. Some of the ways we help strengthen people and organisations working in these sectors include:
We support organisations to get where they want to be by planning creatively for the future, and implementing the strategies, systems and practices they need to help them get there.
Volunteering Victoria (VV) took the decision to seek quality standards accreditation as an organisation with the aim of enhancing their reputation as a Peak Body and strengthening their internal systems, with the CEO favouring ISO accreditation. The LDC Group was asked to review various accreditation standards and provide advice on which would be most appropriate accreditation for VV.
Read moreLDC Group had worked periodically with Carrington Health over a five-year period when we were engaged to undertake an environmental scan to inform long term (15 years) service planning for Carrington Health.
Read moreWombat Housing Support Services (WHSS) supports people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to attain and maintain suitable housing in and around Melbourne’s West. The Board had been working for many years with a very professional and structured approach to governance known as the Carver model. However, given the changing operating environment, they felt it was time to test if it was still fit for purpose.
Read moreWe help navigate change and transformation for organisations and sectors to be more effective, creating opportunities to build knowledge and cultivate innovation, and developing tools and resources to help people and organisations grow.
The Playgroup movement has been providing and supporting playgroups for more than 45 years through volunteerism and the outreach work of each State and Territory organisation. Over the last two decades there have been significant societal changes that have impacted upon community playgroup participation, including, for example, increasing costs of child safe venues, changing workforce patterns, growth of facilitated playgroups, and a growing suite of child-parent activities across Australia
Read moreThe CLiQS program was developed by La Trobe University and the Australasian College of Health Services Management with funding from the Victorian Department of Health. The objective of the program was to equip current and potential clinical leaders with the knowledge, skills and competencies required to successfully lead the healthcare quality and safety agenda, incorporating both an organisational and system-wide perspective.
Read moreIn 2013, the Willum Warrain Gathering Place in Hastings sought a volunteer with appropriate skills and experience to work with them to develop policies, governance structures and funding options. Russell Jaffe volunteered to do the work through what is now known as ‘Community First Development’, originally ‘Indigenous Community Volunteers’.
Read moreFamily violence is a serious problem that occurs across Australia mostly affecting women and children from all cultural, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds.In recent years Victorian family violence reform has been escalated and made very public through the lens of the 2015 Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence (RCFV), resulting in 227 specific recommendations that have been taken up by government.
Read moreWe take a big-picture view across sectors and work models to help different organisations work together for better outcomes in current and emerging spaces.
Volunteering is a core part of Australian society, contributing significantly to community cohesion, the economy and individual wellbeing across a wide range of sectors, including aged care, disability, family and community services, disaster resilience, environmental management, sports, arts, and culture.In recent years the volunteering landscape has been impacted by bushfires and other crises, including COVID. At the same time there has been, changes in demographics, advances in technology, societal change as well as changes to government policy.
Read moreLDC Group consultants have over the past 30 years worked with communities across Australia, both in a paid and volunteer capacity on a range of initiatives aimed at improving the health and wellbeing outcomes of First Nations Peoples. This project explored the importance of Gathering Places for bringing First Nations Peoples together, where people can feel safe and supported.
Read moreThe Shekinah Group comprising of six agencies had a shared purpose to enhance social housing and alleviate homelessness. The agencies shared a range of policies and practices and met regularly to share information and provide support to each other. To further enhance standards across the Network they agreed to undertake a joint accreditation process.
Read moreWe work with organisations and sectors to clarify what is working well, where greater knowledge and understanding is needed, and what can be improved for the organisation, its clients and communities.
This fascinating project involved our consultants in a ‘meta evaluation’ of the three-year federal Government ‘Partnerships against Domestic Violence’ initiative. The initiative involved funding for approximately 80 projects nation-wide staggered across a 3-year period.
Read moreThe development of a ‘Catchment Plan’ to enhance services for children, young people and families in Melbourne’s South East was a State Government initiative designed to build on the structure for its Family Services Framework. An alliance of nine agencies were funded to work in partnership to deliver services for children, young people, and families in the area with Family Life appointed as the host agency for what was called the Family Services Alliance.
Read moreThe RDI Network functions as a key cross-sector platform for shared learning and action in the international development sector brings together practitioners, researchers, and evaluators. Approaching the midway point of a three-year program, the Network wanted to review and reflect on how the network was evolving, its current state and future potential. LDC Group consultants Anne Smyth and Lesley Thornton undertook this work.
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In the spirit of reconciliation, the LDC group respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present, to emerging leaders and the ongoing living cultures of Aboriginal people.
