Client story: Koomarri

Driving operational efficiency and compliant care delivery through smarter systems

How RSM helped a not-for-profit disability service provider achieve a complete operational uplift

Koomarri has supported people with disability for more than 74 years in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and surrounds.

Operating as a not-for-profit organisation, Koomarri delivers a broad range of services to people with intellectual disability under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), including Supported Independent Living (SIL), Skill Development, Customised Employment, as well as support coordination and plan management. These services are delivered by dedicated staff who provide tailored assistance, including 24/7 care for SIL clients.  

Significant changes to the NDIS funding model, ongoing pricing constraints, and an increasing regulatory compliance burden positioned information technology as a key pillar of Koomari’s organisational strategy to deliver efficiencies, strengthen operational sustainability, and maintain its competitive position in the market. In response, Koomarri initiated the procurement and implementation of a modern rostering and care management system.

The challenge was finding the right software, at the right price point and implementing it in time, without disrupting operations. Happily, RSM was on the job.

NDIS changes placed pressure on outdated systems and operational inefficiencies

Like many providers, Koomarri has had to embrace relentless NDIS change and ever increasing funding and regulatory constraints.  The pricing assumptions underpinning the NDIS often diverged materially from the cost realities faced by service providers, placing sustained pressure on organisations to identify and pursue all viable avenues to maintain operational effectiveness and financial sustainability. As Chief Financial Officer Jawad Hayder explains, this environment drove a stronger focus on efficiency and the adoption of new ways of working.

The constant pace of regulatory change also took its toll, contributing to industry-wide fatigue. As Jawad describes it, "the whole industry was experiencing change fatigue."

Compounding these challenges, Koomarri’s existing systems were no longer fit for purpose:

• Core platforms were fragmented, with no integrated CRM and limited Case Management Systems capability, resulting in restricted access to timely and reliable information.
• A custom-built rostering system was unable to keep pace with frequent award and scheme changes, resulting in emerging compliance risks.
• Legacy on-premise systems contributed to regular outages, at times occurring almost weekly.

The need for change was clear. But an earlier system selection effort had stalled after internal restructuring and the loss of key personnel who had driven the original discovery work. A promising vendor demo had also turned sour at the reference-check stage, with software that looked impressive in theory but failed to deliver in practice. These challenges led to a degree of internal caution regarding the feasibility of successfully delivering a new implementation. 

ERP system selection and implementation for disability services

Koomarri engaged RSM to bring structure, objectivity, and delivery discipline to a complex, high-risk digital transformation. The relationship grew naturally from an existing one: RSM had served as Koomarri's auditors for the past decade and it was the audit and tax teams who connected Jawad with Peter Maggs, General Manager, ERP Consulting at RSM Australia to lead the technology project.

Peter led a structured discovery phase, engaging stakeholders across every level of the organisation to capture operational requirements directly from the people who would use the system. From this, the team built detailed specifications and took them to market through a formal procurement process.

Vendors were assessed using a structured ranking system, with input from multiple departments to ensure alignment across the organisation. This created a shared view of priorities and trade-offs; an important step given budget constraints and the relative immaturity of NDIS-specific platforms.  

The selected system was chosen as a best-fit solution: not a perfect platform, but one that met core requirements and provided a scalable foundation for future growth. The chosen platform provided integrated capabilities across care management, rostering, billing and reporting, delivered in a cloud-based environment.

Koomarri appointed a dedicated internal project manager who worked closely with Peter, while RSM provided oversight and guidance throughout the project lifecycle. This kept the project moving, maintained accountability, and ensured the executive and operational teams stayed engaged despite competing priorities.

The approach was deliberately risk-aware. When integrating the complex SCHADS award interpretation into the new system was assessed as too risky to deliver reliably, the team made a considered decision to defer it rather than compromise compliance. Good governance means knowing what to pursue, and what to park.

Reflecting on the difference RSM made, Jawad is clear: "doing it just by ourselves, it would have taken either much longer and there would have been a lot of hiccups. So, it was a very good decision to go with Peter (RSM) and have it implemented."

A collaborative and proactive advisory partnership 

Koomarri values RSM’s proactive approach and strong stakeholder engagement throughout the project.

RSM played a central role in maintaining momentum, coordinating teams, and ensuring the organisation remained aligned and accountable during a major transformation initiative.

This collaborative approach established a strong foundation of confidence in Koomarri’s ability to successfully deliver future IT initiatives. 

Improved efficiency, visibility and financial performance 

The successful implementation has delivered significant operational and financial improvements for Koomarri.

Key outcomes include:

• Faster billing cycles. Billing that once ran a month and a half to two months in arrears now runs weekly to fortnightly, easing working capital pressure and releasing funds.
• Less manual effort. A billing team of three to four people is now a single person managing all billing, with capacity for reconciliation and analysis.
• Fewer outages. Migrating from local servers to a cloud-based environment ended the near-weekly outages the organisation used to experience.
• A mobile workforce. Staff can now access information, pick up shifts, and receive notifications from any device, anywhere.
• Better access to data. Information that was once hard to retrieve is now, in Jawad's words, "on the tips" and available on mobile, enabling resource planning, dashboards, and KPIs that weren't possible before.
• Lower overheads. Streamlined processes have reduced administrative cost across the board.

In Jawad's words, the change has been transformative: "the things which we are able to do now are way better compared to what we had before." 

Asked whether he would recommend RSM to other organisations, his answer was immediate: "Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, why not?" 

Supporting sustainable growth through better systems 

Koomarri has emerged from a difficult period with modern, cloud-based systems that support sustainable growth rather than hold it back. Having achieved close to 100% of its original IT roadmap, the organisation is now setting fresh priorities, with future opportunities likely to include a new integrated payroll system, and a continued collaboration with RSM.

For organisations navigating complex operational environments or system transformation projects, bringing in expert consultants can be the difference between endless stalling and transformational change. The right systems are foundational for compliance, efficiency, and confident decision-making in an industry defined by change.

As Jawad reflects, organisations that can't produce timely, accurate data will struggle to keep pace, let alone realise the benefits of emerging technologies like AI.

To find out how RSM can support your digital transformation journey, get in touch with our team today.