2023: a year of care and support with DPS Publishing

Key points:

• DPS Publishing is the company behind Talking Aged Care, Talking Disability, Your Retirement Living and print publications, such as the Disability Support Guide, Support at Home and Aged Care Guide

• 2023 has been a big year for the disability and aged care sectors, with the outcome of the Disability Royal Commission and the nation’s first glimpse at the new Aged Care Act

• The year has also been a transformative year for the staff that work hard to bring you information, news and resources to streamline a lot of the complex government jargon for the general public

A letter from the deputy editor of DPS Publishing

Looking back on 2023, the team behind both print and digital publications have consistently delivered news as it happened and condensed pages of thick government reports into timely and accessible information for you — the readers.

The year has been monumental for both the disability and aged care sectors, showing that the public needs systemic change to have their rights enshrined in policy and meaningful reform to improve the lives of people who are impacted by these policies.

Since the year started, the team at DPS Publishing has similarly undertaken a series of changes as we grow with and for the industry. Notably, the addition of our new digital masthead — Your Retirement Living — has allowed us to diversify the people we reach and how we reach them, as not every person who thinks about retiring is necessarily old and those seeking support in their later years may not be retired.

However, DPS Publishing prides itself on its people; be it the people we serve or the people who work to make a difference at this company, there’s no denying that our shared humanity unites us all.

We bid farewell to our former Managing Editor Margot White after more than a decade of her work at DPS Publishing, as she diligently kept information up to date and laid the foundations for me, David McManus Jr, to take on more responsibility and uphold the company’s reputation.

Prior to my start at DPS Publishing, Digital Marketing Manager Andrew Barbara had recently stepped into the world of care and support — using his keen eye, wit, wisdom and ability to determine how to reach more people.

Together, we have learnt about the barriers that people face in accessing necessary information that could change their lifestyle, well-being or the nature of their employment — information that we have worked to share with the public and continue to distribute.

Since we have both been welcomed into the vibrant, diverse and supportive staff at DPS Publishing, we have attended conventions and expos — seeing our efforts pay off as members from the public take home free copies of the guide and thank us for all that we do.

In the same way that we see a tangible difference in the lives of others through our continued work, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to those who work in the aged care industry and the disability support sector. Your work means something to those it supports, but it means much more when researching the number of hoops you must jump through to improve the quality of someone’s life.

I would like to thank our Chief Executive Officer Michelle Beech, as she has continued to guide our work and ensure that the public can always rely on us since DPS Publishing was founded in 1999.

Additionally, our friends at HelloCare, Hello Leaders and Connect the 40 Percent have continued to support us and deliver on our shared mission to deliver accurate, relevant and timely information to those who need it.

As the holiday season hits and people return from their offices to their homes, spending moments with family and friends, DPS Publishing will take a momentary break to do the same.

I would like to thank our dedicated readers, freelance contributors, typesetters, customer service representatives, sales team, software developers and the advertisers who support the work that we do.

When DPS Publishing returns, we will all get right back to doing what we do best — updating you on the goings-on in the world of care and support. There is a lot of content available online, some of it inaccurate, some of it irrelevant, some of it artificially generated… It feels good to be the person who researches, reviews and delivers you what you need to navigate the twists and turns of support and care.

On that note, please stay safe and have a happy holiday season.  Subscribe to the aged care, disability and retirement newsletters to stay up-to-date when we return. Thank you all for a tremendous 2023.