Rocky Bay takes on Spina Bifida

Disability services provider Rocky Bay has taken over the services of 45-year-old agency Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Western Australia.

SBHAWA ceased operating last month, following an extensive search for a service provider to take over its operationstakes on.

At the time of its closure it was supporting 55 members with Spina Bifida, or 180 people including extended family members. 

These members will now have access to care through Rocky Bay, which is the ninth biggest charitable organisations ranked by revenue, according to BNiQ data, and which has a history of supporting people living with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.

The move has occurred in an environment of greater competition for funds and increasing administrative demands that many in the charitable, not for profit and disability sectors believe make it ripe for mergers and acquisitions, with Business News aware of several deals currently being negotiated.

SBHAWA president Miriam Borthwick, who has joined as a director on the board of Rocky Bay, said the change had also taken place due to the imminent arrival of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which is changing how disability services are provided to people in WA.

“It was important our members had access to the greater resources offered by Rocky Bay, a leading disability services provider,” Ms Borthwick said in a statement.

Last financial year, Rocky Bay increased its revenue by 15 per cent, grew its staff numbers to more than 600, and added operations and new services across Perth, which allowed it to help more than 3,000 Western Australians living with a disability.

Chief executive Michael Tait told Business News earlier this month, due to increasing demand for services and NDIS changes, it was forecasting more than 30 per cent growth in the current financial year.