This President’s report feels eerily similar to my 2020 report as we look back on yet another year that was shaped by many trying to navigate the new pandemic world. I’m not going to lie, parts of the year were tough for many in the Industry, including the ANA. Thanks to further lockdowns and restrictions the year was filled with cancelled events, agency owners having to close up for a number of pandemic-related reasons, and our workforce experiencing one of the worst labour shortages we’ve seen. Regardless of the bumps in the road, I’m proud of how the Australian Nanny Industry continues to evolve in these ever-changing times.
We are so grateful to all committee members who volunteer their time to the provide ANA’s important support to the nanny industry. It was hard for many to volunteer time this year so we did have a smaller team running the ANA. I’m not going to lie, there were multiple conversations throughout 2021 where the committee discussed closing down the ANA because of the volunteer shortage. Each time we just couldn’t bring ourselves to the point where we would discuss a future without the ANA and it was a no-brainer to keep going so we can maintain the important industry position that the ANA represents. This organisation is a place where we as a community can collaborate, connect, and advocate together, making our voice louder to get more recognition for Australian nannies.
2022 marks 10 years since the ANA was founded. During this time the ANA has represented our industry as a collective in the Media, Government and stakeholder meetings, an Award rate being introduced, ATO consultations, sell-out nanny conventions, nanny events, nanny training and so much more. I stress again – the ANA is too important to close down.
We had to work smarter, not harder.
We decided that the ANA needed to work smarter and not harder so that the ANA could continue in periods with small committee numbers. The ANA is now able to continue and the committee can spend time where it matters most – supporting our members and helping our industry grow. I’m so proud of this work! Special thanks goes to Amanda Salmon who was vital in this project.
We evaluated the committee operations to better understand how we could take away heavy administrative tasks to allow our volunteers more time to focus more on Industry growth and support for our members. We overhauled the systems. Whatever we could outsource, automate or ditch, we did. I personally view this work as some of the most important work we have done because we have set up the ANA to run smoothly, with less admin and better workflows. This means volunteers can spend time on more valuable tasks for the industry and working on projects they are passionate about. We
- Hired a VA to manage membership administration.
- Changed banks to Commonwealth for better fund management.
- Upgraded to a more efficient email platform.
- Streamlined and improved membership forms for faster processing.
- Overhauled auto-emails for better communication to our members.
- Cleaned out historical files and moved filing to Google Drive for better storage.
- Changed committee meetings to be quarterly, not monthly.
We got a lot of media!
Like many other industries, we are experiencing a huge labour shortage in our workforce with many families and agencies expressing difficulty in sourcing nannies. Our agency members were struggling so we wanted to see how we could help them get the word out to grow our talent pool.
We worked closely with the community to deliver an impressive PR push that saw the ANA featured on Studio 10 and across multiple print media outlets across Australia. The coverage of our story about the nanny shortage had an estimated advertising value of over $150,000. This could not have been possible without our community jumping on board to take photos, talk to journalists and share the content. When we get real case studies we experience a huge increase in media exposure so it’s because of you that this PR push went so well.
Committee restructure and vision for the future
It’s funny with the committee – we either have heaps of volunteers or the bare minimum, and both scenarios have their pros and cons. Thanks to the administration overhaul we didn’t feel the pressure when we were faced with low volunteer numbers (understandably, with Covid). Yet throughout 2021, this amazing group of volunteers continued to meet, plan and achieve some great results for the industry.
I would like to personally thank Annie Sargood and Daria Boutros who have stepped down after volunteering for years with the Association. The ANA would not be where it is today without your efforts and ongoing support and we are all truly grateful for your contributions over the years.
Please join me in welcoming the new Committee voted in at the recent AGM:
*We are always looking for volunteers – If you want to get involved, please email us (enquiries@australiannannyassociation.org.au) to find out how you can support the ANA in 2022.
Last but not least, I want to pass on a thank you to each and every one of our members. It is incredible to see how our member numbers grow year on year and I for one am very excited to see what the future holds. We hope everyone has a great break over the holidays and a happy new year.
Australian Nanny Association President – Lauren Brown
