03 MarELAA CEO UPDATE 3 MARCH 2021
It’s a very encouraging sign that the most recent COVID 19 outbreak in Victoria would appear to be under control with the Victorian Government now being sufficiently confident to wind back restrictions to pre-Christmas levels. An updated summary of the key restrictions now in place and how they affect Victorian ECEC services can be found on the ELAA COVID 19 Frequently Asked Questions page on the ELAA website.
The easing of restrictions has also meant that more ELAA staff are returning to the ELAA office after a lengthy period of working from home. I am very proud of how our staff have continued to maintain and exceed service levels to members during the past 12 months including handling a record number of member enquiries – 8804 enquiries during the 19/20 financial year which represents a 173 percent increase on the 18/19 year. This period was also something of a rollercoaster in terms sector policy and operational changes as they throttled up and down in response to community transmission levels which meant that not only did ELAA handle a significantly greater volume of member enquiries, we responded to enquiries that were consistently more complex in nature.
Assuming that community transmission levels remain under control, our intention is to gradually increase staff numbers in our office over the coming weeks and soon hope to switch our member telephone enquiry service back on. While we have supported members through mostly email contact over the past 12 months, we are looking forward to reconnecting with our members on the much greater personal level offered by phone contact. This will be supported by an upgrade to the technology used by our staff as we rollout the use of Microsoft Teams which will enable voice and video connectivity with members, even in circumstances where ELAA staff need to work from home. We’re very excited about reconnecting with our members in real time and look forward to hearing your voices again.
Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks!
Take care
David Worland
CEO
