It has been only a few brief months since I joined First Step in the part-time position as Government Relations Advisor, but I feel truly welcomed as part of the First Step family.
Across the first two months I have been making my way around and meeting with our teams and work areas. Through this I have been genuinely overwhelmed and incredibly heartened to learn of the depth, breadth and quality of the services provided by First Step to its clients. I quickly also realised that underpinning every aspect of the organisation is a team who are incredibly committed to the work they do and working in partnership with our clients and supporting them to achieve their goals.
While my role as the Government Relations Advisor is excitingly new for both the organisation and me, I am focused and dedicated to extending and deepening our relationships and partnerships with all three tiers of government — local, state, and federal — while advocating for the long-term sustainability of our unique service model.
At the core of this, and at heart of First Step, is the trusted, long-standing, effective and meaningful relationship we have with our clients. I see this, alongside our unique and responsive model of care as our biggest assets and will play a key part in sharing the First Step story and success with government.
At the core of my work is the goal of ensuring that our multi-disciplinary health services continue to be recognised and valued, not only by our clients but also by policymakers and key stakeholders. I want to ensure First Step is working effectively towards secure, diverse and sustainable resources that enable us to expand our impact and maintain the high quality of care through the services we provide.
Engagement with government plays a pivotal role in this. I will continue to nurture relationships across the local, state, and federal levels, and look at ways that First Step can partner with, and work alongside government in the delivery of their policy goals and objectives. Additionally, given our service model strengths and the breadth of expertise across our program areas, I feel that we are also well positioned to provide government with valuable, well-considered, tested advice and guidance on policy development and effective service delivery.
A key part of this strategy involves driving awareness of our service model. I believe it is crucial that our integrated approach to healthcare is more widely recognised for the value (in multiple forms) it offers. By demonstrating the First Step model as an innovative and effective approach and possible solution to some of the systemic challenges in healthcare, we aim to secure broader support, understanding and driving meaningful engagement across the sector.
As we are becoming increasingly aware, all levels of government are facing considerable financial and budgetary pressures and restraint. However, with our continued commitment to work collaboratively and effectively across our communities, sectors and government, there is confidence that First Step will sustain its leadership role by providing innovative person-centred services as we continually strive towards better, safer, and inclusive practices.
Mikey Daly comes to First Step from the Department of Justice and Community Services where he was a Senior Policy and Project Advisor for Justice Health. This critical role has been funded with the foresight of the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and the Ross Trust. We are truly thankful for their vision and belief in our work.
