How this community organisation reinvested 1,380 admin hours a year into its people and purpose with Employment Hero

About the organisation

Brophy Family & Youth Services is a place-based, non-profit organisation that’s been supporting children, young people and families in south west Victoria for over 50 years. 

From family violence and family support to homelessness, mental health, youth AOD, and foster and kinship care, Brophy now runs more than 45 programs with nearly 200 staff.

The challenge

Until recently, HR at Brophy was powered by manila folders. As headcount grew towards 200, the Workforce Engagement team was spending the equivalent of most of a full-time role on manual admin every week.

“We simply couldn’t keep up with the pace of growth,” shares Workforce Engagement Manager, Simone Cottee. “Everything relied on emails, printing, and posting – information was everywhere.”

Even early digital tools were cumbersome. 

“We kept buying systems and adapting our process to them,” adds Business Systems Coordinator, Shiv Josan. “We needed one system to combine everything together.”

The solution

Employment Hero provided that unified system. 

“Having a proper self-service portal and a single point of truth is a huge thing for us,” says Shiv. 

Automated reminders ensure safety screenings and certifications stay current, and HR can instantly access contracts, EFT data and compliance records.

Recruitment has also transformed. 

“It’s completely transformed… everything we do in recruitment is now done through Employment Hero,” Simone explains. 

Candidates enjoy a smooth application experience, and hiring teams have real-time visibility of open roles and progress stages, all within one platform.

The ROI

By digitising HR processes, Brophy has:

• Freed up 0.7 FTE, saving 1,300+ admin hours each year
• Reinvested this time and capacity into a Workforce Engagement Lead focused on strategy, culture, and wellbeing
• Supported staff across 45+ programs through one integrated system
• Strengthened its workforce capacity and created space for higher-value, people-centred work

Why it matters

“Every hour we save through smarter systems is an hour we can spend supporting our people and delivering impact,” Simone reflects. 

Employment Hero provides Brophy with a scalable HR and compliance foundation, enabling them to work smarter, support its people better, and stay focused on delivering impact, not paperwork.f the clunky stuff so we can do the fun stuff.”