The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) was established in the 1970s to assist in the fight for land rights and was formally constituted as a statutory corporation under the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Rights Act in 1983.

​

As the State's peak representative body in Aboriginal Affairs, NSWALC is dedicated to protecting the interests and furthering the aspirations of its members and the broader Aboriginal community. With five Zone Offices across NSW and oversight of 121 Local Aboriginal Land Councils, NSWALC provides a wide range of programs, including those focused on culture and heritage, economic development, and housing.

​

NSWALC's outcomes reports are comprehensive, requiring the accurate capture and easy tracking of substantial amounts of qualitative and quantitative data. We spoke with CEO Yuseph Deen to explore how the team’s transition to Envisio has reduced their dependence on spreadsheets, enhanced efficiencies and strengthened staff’s connection to their strategic plan.

​

NSWALC’s Shift from Manual Processes to Centralised Reporting

Before implementing Envisio, NSWALC's outcomes reporting and data management processes were cumbersome and somewhat inefficient. The council relied on a basic rating system captured in spreadsheets to monitor progress and input comments. This process involved manually entering data, generating graphs, and transferring the results to Word documents for reporting. 

​

Yuseph highlighted how the reliance on multiple spreadsheets across disparate desktops and drives led to fragmented data, significant manual handling, and a high risk of errors. 

​

“We needed to improve our capture process for quantitative and qualitative data, and the goal was to find a solution that would centralise, allow us to track our progress, and increase efficiencies within the team,” he said. “To generate reports, teams would have to transfer data from spreadsheets to word documents and generate manual graphs - the process was clunky and sometimes took two to three days; it just wasn’t efficient.” 

​

“To generate reports, teams would have to transfer data from spreadsheets to word documents and generate manual graphs - the process was clunky and sometimes took two to three days; it just wasn’t efficient."

​ 

Customisation and Flexibility: Why NSWALC Chose Envisio to Streamline Their Processes​

Seeking to streamline these processes, NSWALC turned to Envisio. The team was immediately impressed by the platform’s user-friendly interface and exceptional customisation options, which could be tailored to their specific needs.

​

“The first thing that stood out to us was how clean and intuitive the Envisio interface was," said Yuseph. "This was crucial because we wanted everyone to adopt it easily without feeling like a significant leap. The customisation options were also impressive; we could tailor the solution to fit our existing structure without changing terminology or disrupting our workflow. The other solutions we considered seemed much more rigid by comparison.” 

​

“The first thing that stood out to us was how clean and intuitive the Envisio interface was. This was crucial because we wanted everyone to adopt it easily without feeling like a significant leap."

​

Yuseph also appreciated the solution's flexibility, particularly its capacity to accommodate multiple users. It was important that all levels of staff within NSWALC had access to Envisio, empowering them to contribute to the bigger picture.

​

"There are no strict limits on the number of users, and setting up new team members is straightforward. This is crucial because we want staff at all levels to be on the platform, enabling them to feel truly connected and immediately see how their actions align with our strategic plan."​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

Prioritising the User Experience: The Approach to Successful Implementation 

For Yuseph, highlighting the user experience and ease of use was crucial during implementation. Envisio’s intuitive interface, which resembled familiar tools like Excel, made it accessible even for those who weren’t tech-savvy. Additionally, working more efficiently within a single source of truth was a key advantage.

​

“Communicating the benefits from the start was crucial for us,” Yuseph said. “We wanted our staff to feel empowered and enthusiastic about the change, so we emphasised how the system’s ease of use would help them work faster while reducing risk.”

​

“We wanted our staff to feel empowered and enthusiastic about the change, so we emphasised how the system’s ease of use would help them work faster while reducing risk."

​

Training was also a vital aspect of the implementation strategy. Rather than overwhelming staff with Envisio's full capabilities, the training focused on the core components needed for immediate reporting tasks and was available to everyone.

​

“We made training available to managers and anyone interested, inviting all who wanted to participate. This approach ensured that everyone felt included and part of the process from the outset,” he said. “We also kept the initial training simple and accessible, ensuring staff felt confident and supported using the new platform. This approach also helped mitigate the fatigue often associated with adopting new technologies, which we had witnessed in the past.”

​

Yuseph and the team also appreciated the ongoing guidance and support that Team Redman provided throughout the process. “The team at Redman Solutions had a thorough understanding of the platform, and it was clear that we were in great hands. We really liked the personalised approach, which contributed to an easy transition,” he said.

​

Embracing Envisio

The team at NSWALC has been using Envisio since March 2024. Since then, they have successfully completed two quarterly reports within the platform and are currently building their 2024-25 Operational Plan into the platform. The platform has also assisted in the development of NSWALC’s first Social Impact Report, to be published later in 2024.

​

Yuseph finds it encouraging to see the significant efficiency gains achieved with the platform and how readily the team has embraced Envisio. 

​

“Usability has been a standout feature, creating efficiencies for myself and the managers. The elected Council has particularly appreciated how reports can be generated. We're also excited about utilising the dashboard functionality. It’s been particularly rewarding to see team members feel empowered, with many even suggesting new ways to maximise its use and build their own plans.”

​

“Usability has been a standout feature, creating efficiencies for myself and the managers. The elected Council has particularly appreciated how reports can be generated."

​

Looking to the Future

Whilst NSWALC has already seen significant benefits in its adoption of Envisio, this is just the beginning of the journey.

​

NSWALC is continuing to refine the use of the platform for the Quarterly Outcomes Reporting Process. A key focus will be launching the system’s Public Dashboard Function, with a key focus on building up NSWALC’s Social Impact reporting capability.

​

The team at NSWALC is also looking into additional ways staff can utilise the platform within their own teams in order to create improved efficiencies in reporting and management of programs data across the organisation.