About

Currawarna Assisted Living Ltd (CALL)  is a 33 bed supported housing facility developed with the help of the wider Bombala community.

CALL is registered charity and has been granted Deductible Gift Recipient status as a Public Benefit Institution effective 25 August 2022. CALL’s objective is to re-open Currawarna as an assisted living facility with the aim of: 

  • Offering affordable, supported housing to those members of our community wishing to transition from independent at home living. 

  • Providing assisted living facilities to clients who for medical needs require accommodation away from home or to aid in the delivery of NDIS packages 

  • Facilitating the redistribution of housing stocks within the greater Bombala region 

  • Providing care at home services to the Bombala region

  • Establishing a clear training and career pathway, to develop a locally grown, aged care workforce.

Goals

  1. To assist aged individuals in need of care and experiencing disadvantage in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council area.

  2. The provision of assisted living services and care at home services

  3. Caring for and supporting the aged in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council area.

  4. The provision of community services to the elderly living at home or in transitional housing within the Snowy Monaro Regional Council area.

  5. The employment and training of aged care workers

  6. To foster the sharing of government, community and industry responsibility for tackling the problems of aged care and assisted living facilities and a recognition of the skills in the community which can be positively shared to that end.

History

The Currawarna building is a former aged care facility built by the community in the late 1970’s and renovated in mid 2000’s.

It is a much-loved part of our community fabric, with many locals having experienced the care of a family member in Currawarna at some point in time.

Meet the Team

CALL consists of a dedicated team of volunteers; each offering a unique set of skills and expertise to make Currawarna great!

Board of Directors:

Dr Keith Campbell

Keith holds the following qualifications:

  • PhD Agricultural Economics

  • MSc Animal Nutrition

  • BSc (Hon) Wool and Pastoral Science

Keith and his family operate a grazing property in the Bombala district. His forebears commenced farming in the district in 1840. He has significant experience in commercial and NGO project development throughout Australia, Asia (China, Philippines & Cambodia) and Europe. At a national level, Keith has served on boards, taskforces and advisory committees including the Wool International Board, CSIRO Agricultural Advisory Committee, Federal Taskforces looking at the local timber industry and national wool processing. Keith has been active in a range of community-based organisations, including Landcare, and still serves as Captain of the Mila RFS Brigade.

Karen Brownlie

Karen holds the following qualifications 

  • Enrolled Nurse - Advanced

  • Diploma in Frontline Management 

  • Cert IV Trainer and Assessor 

Karen has worked in the health industry since 1974 in a number of General Hospitals. While employed at the Bombala Hospital, Karen was offered the position of Accreditation Coordinator serving in this position for three years. Karen commenced work at Currawarna in June 1998 as the Care Manager where she remained until retirement in January 2022. During this period, Currawarna was run by a voluntary board of directors operating under the Provider Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn until 2006. Karen managed the day to day running of the facility, supervised staff and the care of 40 residents, and prepared and submit applications for accreditation, which received top ratings with no recommendations or sanctions every time.

Rosemary (Rosie) Gillespie-Jones

Rosie holds the following qualifications:

  • Bachelor of Nursing

  • Advanced Diploma in Business Marketing (Public Relations)

Rosie has been a Registered Nurse for 14 years with experience in the ACT and NSW Health Care systems working across Oncology, Emergency, Cardiology and Critical Care. Since 2014 Rosie has specialised in palliative and residential aged care at Currawarna Residential Aged Care, Bombala NSW. Rosie believes caring for the elderly is a privilege and is passionate about making a person's care journey the very best it can be. Since leaving aged care in September 2021, Rosie has been managing her family farming enterprise. She has been a member of the “Stand with Currawarna” committee since it's inception in an attempt to find a solution to the closure of Bombala's only aged care facility. She has also been consulting in development of the “Brenna” App for the last 12 months, developing a communication app for aged care, which aims to improve communication between aged care facilities and the resident's family.

John Murdoch

John holds the following qualifications:

  • Graduate. Aust Inst Company Directors

  • Grad. Dip. Accounting, Inst. Chartered Accounts Aust.

  • Bachelor Commerce (ANU)

John is a joint owner/operator of a family wool, beef and lamb enterprise. He is currently a director of Monaro Farming Systems and was former chair 2019-2022. John is on a number of advisory panels for the red meat and wool industry. He worked for KPMG specialising in private and government body governance, performance and compliance. John is a graduate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia, and is currently a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Zoe Joseph Profile

Zoe Joseph

Zoe is a passionate supporter of Currawarna stemming from her experience supporting her Grandfather, a Currawarna resident of 6 years. Zoe has a co-working business in Merimbula and created a framework that supports women to create inner peace. Zoe has travelled to over 60 rural and regional communities to deliver the workshop to women. Currently her focus is taking time to be a Mum and support her family’s fencing and farming businesses. Having her perspective and passion as a family member on the board brings great value.