The people and organisations we serve, our community.

Together we have greater scale to broaden and deepen our social impact. Our complementary skill-sets and experience will drive innovation for our sector and strengthen our ability to advocate for changes that matter to people we support.

FAQs for you

Why are we merging?

Our organisations have complementary capabilities, services and philosophy. When brought together, this results in something even better than the sum of both organisations’ individual parts. Ultimately this partnership will improve our ability to deliver quality and reliable services to the people we support. Key benefits of the merger include: Synergies from bringing two organisations together that will make the combined organisation stronger and with greater capability to withstand the challenges and seize the opportunities that are present now and in the future. We will be better positioned to invest in innovation, research and staff training. The business will be stronger, more sustainable and more stable. Greater scale will allow us to broaden and deepen our social impact and focus more of each funding dollar on direct support services. The merger will draw on the strengths of two significant and highly respected for-purpose organisations with a focus on disability and child and youth services.
When will the merger occur?

After the Lifestyle Solutions and Possability boards both agreed to the merger, a number of administrative things need to occur to make that happen. This included gaining approval from members of Lifestyle Solutions at a General Meeting in mid-October 2022. The integration of the two organisations can now officially begin.
How will the merger occur?

It is critical that everyone remains focused on continuing to provide high quality services to the people we support. To allow this to occur, both organisations will continue to operate under their current organisational structures for the coming months. A working group will be formed with people from both Lifestyle Solutions and Possability to develop an integration plan that will set everyone up for future success.
Who will lead the new organisation?

The boards of Lifestyle Solutions and Possability agreed to appoint the current CEO of Possability, Drew Beswick, as the CEO of the combined organisation. The current Chair of Lifestyle Solutions will be its Chair.
Will our organisation's name change?

The names and brands of Lifestyle Solutions and Possability both have strong recognition and reputational value among clients, families and the communities in which we operate. We have no plans to change the names in the foreseeable future. This will be reviewed as we progress through the engagement phase.
How are the transition/integration activities being organised?

A working group will be formed with people from both Lifestyle Solutions and Possability. The working group, will develop an integration plan. There will be work streams with specific themes in which people can engage. Throughout the process, there will be regular communications with employees about the transition activities. Your feedback will be important, so please provide comments and questions to questions@possability.com.au or questions@lifestylesolutions.org.au.
What will the merger mean for the people we support?

There will be no changes to services or support teams. The people we support will still see the same familiar faces and maintain their existing routines. Over time, we believe that our combined teams will be able to provide the opportunity to offer a wider range of services to the people we support.
What will the merger mean for employees?

There are no plans to change staffing or disrupt team structures to ensure the focus will continue to be on providing seamless services to the people we support.
Will job vacancies for both organisations be advertised in a single point so that all staff have the opportunity to apply across our two organisations? And if so, will that be treated as an internal transfer?

Our vision and commitment is that people will have the opportunities to move between different areas to be able to work where they can best make the contribution to delivering great services. However, internal transfers across all parts of the group might not be possible to do in the short term. The reality is that we have two organisations who've done things in different ways coming together in a very short period of time. Work is required to align recruitment processes; we also have to consider the different industrial arrangements that people work under. Published 17 November 2022
For departments that will eventually merge together, will we wait to be connected to them, or do we reach out to them ourselves?

As the integration work continues, it is important that we keep a focus on business as usual and ensure that we are delivering great supports during this time. We don't want people distracted by reaching out to each other straight away as this might cause confusion or duplicate effort. We encourage you to focus on delivering the work that you're delivering right now for the organisation that you're employed with. Focus on doing things within your existing policies and procedures. You'll have an opportunity to get involved in the process about how we move towards one team. There are lots of ways to get connected (insert link to relevant FAQ question). You will be informed how and when to reach out to your counterparts, how information will be shared and how the teams will join together. Published 17 November 2022
How long before we can start leveraging relationships between the two organisations to help solve immediate problems, or start learning?

Learning from one another and sharing best practice is one of the key benefits from joining together and it is great that people are motivated to do this. That said, it is important at this stage to stay focussed on business as usual as there is a lot of important work going on that needs to continue as planned. An Integration Team will soon be established and they will develop a process and preferred timing for engagement between the two organisations. It is recommended that you hold off on contacting your counterpart until you are informed that the time is right.
Will there be the opportunity for staff to work across the two organisations?

Joining together will present new and exciting work opportunities and career paths for employees of both organisations. Over time we would like employees to have the flexibility to be able to work across the different areas of the combined organisation. It is going to take us some time to work through how this can be facilitated, as there are implications with people being employed under different industrial arrangements in each organisation. If people wish to move their work location or make changes to their role, requests will be responded to on a case by case basis until such time as a process can be determined and put in place.
People understandably feel nervous about redundancies around mergers. What happens where roles are duplicated between the two organisations?

As a growing organisation, it is important that we retain the many skilled employees that we have. While it is possible that there might be some duplication of roles, it is observed that there are currently many vacancies across both organisations which reduces the likelihood of duplication. Our focus throughout the process is to retain the great people within the organisation, whether that be through combining teams or identifying alternative roles.