Rocky Bay shoots for gold standard

Building support and connection for people with disability and their loved ones is something Rocky Bay has specialised in for 85 years.

Since opening in 1938, the Western Australia-based disability services provider has grown to support more than 3,400 individuals across 11 locations with more than 1,100 employees.

Rocky Bay has maintained its momentum into 2023, with several prominent projects under way, including the build of a new facility, launching autism assessment clinics and expanding its specialist disability accommodation.

Michael Tait has been chief executive for 17 years and emphasises Rocky Bay's sole reason for existence is to assist people with disability.

“I talk to our board and management a lot about making sure we remind ourselves that yes, we’re a business and must be sustainable but remember why we exist, what we’re here for and it’s purely for those people we support,” Mr Tait said.

“It’s absolutely imperative we remember that every day and to ensure we’re here for the long term; we must be sustainable and always seek to be better and more efficient.”

In May, Rocky Bay’s proposal to build a $78 million state-of-the-art facility in Belmont was approved by the Metro Inner-South Joint Development Assessment Panel.

The facility, anticipated for completion in 2025, will be a three-storey campus-style development comprised of connected pods surrounding a community garden.

Mr Tait said the centre would set a new standard for disability support within WA, providing high-quality services such as paediatric therapy, inclusive early learning, hydrotherapy, multi-disciplinary therapy, sector training and skills development opportunities and community access programs.

“We have great services and I have some of the best staff in the world but our current building doesn’t inspire,” he said.

“If you could rock up as a child to get services in a paediatric centre that excites and interests you, it makes such a difference.”

By contrast, Mr Tait said the Rocky Bay facility in Mosman Park did not inspire.

“The building is 50 years old, badly built, stairs to places where there shouldn’t be stairs, two or three glass doors, pokey little rooms,” he said.

“We’re a very wealthy state and we should be aspiring to give some of our most vulnerable people the best possible service.

“Setting a gold standard of this nature feels like the right thing to do for a purpose-based organisation like us.”

Rocky Bay would sell its Mosman Park site to relocate to Belmont, with Mr Tait saying the move would happen in the next couple years.

“At the moment we’re working through the zoning [of the land in Mosman Park, which will take another six to 12 months, then we can sell to a large-scale developer, which will give us enough money to start the build in Belmont,” he said.

“We’ll also be commencing a campaign by the end of this calendar year to raise money [for the development] so we can set new benchmarks for services in WA.”

Rocky Bay recently added autism assessment clinics to its variety of services, seeking to address the long wait times being faced by families.

Mr Tait said awaiting diagnosis had emerged as a prime hurdle for children with developmental delays within Rocky Bay’s client base.

“We’ve started one autism assessment clinic, initially operating out of our Lady Lawley campus in Cottesloe but we’re looking to expand this further,” he said.

In December 2022, Rocky Bay entered a 20-year peppercorn lease with Australian Red Cross to provide services at Lady Lawley Cottage, which had been closed for more than two years.

Mr Tait said Rocky Bay planned to transform the heritage-listed site into a vibrant hub for children and young people.

“It’s hopefully only going to be about half a million dollars to make it kid-safe, tidied up and more contemporary,” he said.

“We don’t have a lot of money, so we’re going to do the design, then we’ll raise money through philanthropy.

“In the meantime, we’re operating out of a couple of rooms there providing day activity services, kids holiday programs, after school care, early intervention, junior therapies and now, autism assessments.”

Specialist Disability Accommodation incentives were set up by National Disability Insurance Scheme to fill a gap in accessible housing, which involves properties being renovated or built to accommodate individuals with complex needs.

Rocky Bay, through its development division Shift Accessible Homes, has converted three former government houses into SDA homes.

“Stage one was about replacing our older stock and offering that to our existing customers,” Mr Tait said.

“We have $40 million of housing under construction, three SDAs about to open in the next six weeks and five more sites opening up later.

“We’re now talking about doing stage two because we’re seeing such great outcomes, return on our investment and it feels like the right thing to do.”

Mr Tait said it had been a difficult time for the sector and it was important for Rocky Bay to recognise its 85-year milestone.

“The NDIS is making the sector fragile,” he said.

“I support the NDIS and I think it was always going to be a bumpy road because it’s the largest wholesale social welfare change in Australian history to some exten. However, there’s some really good organisations struggling and we’re all losing money.”

Rocky Bay’s total revenue in FY22 was $84 million, 97 per cent of which was government funding.

Total outgoing expenses amounted to $86.35 million.

“We’re being prudent and realistic, so we’re not putting lots of money into a big party but it is our eighty-fifth, so it’s important we celebrate that and honour the legacy of those that have gone before us,” Mr Tait said.