Redesigning Supported Independent Living for Financial Sustainability
Designed and led a cross-functional transformation of a large Supported Independent Living portfolio, connecting client needs, workforce rostering and unit-level financial performance to turn a historically loss-making service into a sustainable operating model.
SECTOR
Disability Services
CHALLENGE
A large Supported Independent Living portfolio was experiencing recurring financial losses despite strong service demand. Rostering decisions were made locally across 78 SIL homes, with limited visibility of how staffing decisions affected the financial sustainability of each service.
Client information, rostering, workforce, payroll and financial data sat across separate systems, making it difficult for Operations, Finance and People teams to identify where cost pressures were occurring or intervene early. Agency staffing added further pressure, with substantially higher costs than the internal workforce.
The challenge was to protect client needs and service quality while creating a common operating model that connected roster design, workforce deployment, funding and unit-level financial performance.
IMPACT
The transformation introduced a unified SIL rostering and costing methodology that gave frontline leaders, Operations, Finance and Executives a common view of service requirements and financial performance.
Loss -3.35% → Profit +1.45%: The service moved from a recurring net loss to a positive first-year result a 4.8% financial turnaround.
78 SIL homes: Introduced consistent roster and unit-costing parameters across the portfolio while retaining the ability to respond to individual client support requirements.
Unit-level financial visibility: For the first time, leaders could connect each service's expected income with roster design and workforce costs before financial results emerged.
Reduced reliance on higher-cost agency workforce: Improved forward roster planning enabled greater use of the internal workforce and reduced dependency on agency staffing, which carried materially higher employment costs.
One operating view, connecting Operations, Finance, People & Culture and workforce planning around a common methodology for service quality, staffing and financial sustainability.
The turnaround created greater organisational confidence in the financial sustainability and scalability of Supported Independent Living, establishing a stronger foundation for subsequent service growth.
Client Disclaimer
This transformation was strategised and implemented by Evolve.i’s Founders while serving in a senior organisational role prior to the establishment of Evolve.i.
The project is presented to demonstrate the operational, workforce and financial transformation experience that now informs Evolve.i’s work. Evolve.i was not engaged to deliver the original project, and inclusion of this case study does not represent an endorsement by the organisation.
Project outcomes reflect the Founders’ direct experience of the transformation. Organisational, client, commercially sensitive and system-specific information has been removed or generalised.