CALM and quietly spoken, Dallas Widdicombe is applying a methodical management approach to restructure at Mallee District Aboriginal Services.
The Bendigo District Aboriginal Corporation executive has been seconded to MDAS for three months to oversee administrative change in the region’s peak indigenous organisation, following the sudden and unexplained absence of chief executive officer Jacki Turfrey.
Ms Turfrey has been on indefinite unplanned leave since early last month and Sunraysia Daily understands there is a dispute concerning her and the MDAS board, but neither she nor the organisation have commented on this publicly.
Darug man Mr Widdicombe, aged 35 and a father of three, has joined MDAS as its interim deputy CEO, but his main task is the completion of a restructure begun under Ms Turfrey and generated by a new strategic plan adopted late last year.
At the time Ms Turfrey went on leave, the organisation was advertising to fill 10 senior positions, including four directorships, and the future of her own role is now unclear.
Mr Widdicombe has a background in social work and ran an Aboriginal community organisation in a remote part of Western Australia before returning to his home town of Bendigo eight years ago. He is the executive director of program delivery at BDAC, focusing on health and community services.
During his first two weeks at MDAS, the organisation filled two vacant management roles and was in the process of recruiting a new health director.
“It’s important for me to make MDAS an employer of choice,” he told Sunraysia Daily.
“I intend on having clear communication with the community, the staff and our stakeholders and being fully transparent in that aspect.
“We are seeing a lot more people applying for positions so, for us, it looks like exciting times ahead.”
Mr Widdicombe also wants to make sure there are open lines of communication between MDAS and the community and he said efforts were being made to inform people about what is happening at the organisation.
“We have meetings (community forums) coming up in Swan Hill and Kerang, we’ve had our Mildura community forum. It’s really important that the board and myself are listening to the community. That’s why we’re here, to service our community,” he said.
He also wants to “build safe avenues for feedback from the community” and then respond to that feedback “so people feel heard and then they can see that we are trying to move forward and make a difference”.
“We are a community controlled organisation, we are governed by a board who represent community. It is important that we are here for all Aboriginal people and have a sense of confidence from the community that we can provide services to all of our community,” he said.
