Wesley Mission Queensland and Baidam aligned to do good
Wesley Mission Queensland (WMQ) has been helping people across Queensland since 1907. WMQ is a not-for-profit providing community support, mental health services, aged, disability and palliative care, and retirement living through thirteen residential aged care homes, three retirement villages, fourteen specialist disability accommodation facilities and two hospices.
WMQ has over 3000 employees and 2400 volunteers working across approximately ninety services.
Through its Reconciliation Action Plan, Wesley Mission Queensland celebrates diversity and stands with First Nations Peoples for an equal and united future.
Protecting the vulnerable
After almost 20 years, Selina Beauchamp, WMQ Director of Organisational Transformation, still takes great pride in working for the organisation, saying, “I love what we do and seeing the impact we make every day.”
In 2024, Selina was named as an award winner in the CIO50 Australia 2024.
As a not-for-profit, WMQ is highly aware of the importance of protecting its customers’ personal information. Security compliance is a topic that’s regularly on the Board’s agenda, and Selina played a key role in helping the organisation become one of the few not-for-profit healthcare providers to achieve ISO 27001 accreditation some years ago.
While achieving ISO took persistence, hard work, and extra resourcing, Selina says the effort and expense were well worth it. “While cybersecurity will doubtless always be an ongoing topic of discussion at the Board table, the conversation is quite different from a few years ago given the maturity we’ve achieved in the security space.”
It’s our duty to protect our customers’ personal identifiable information (PII), and it’s something we take very seriously.
It’s also our duty to educate our customers, our team, and, in some instances, our suppliers. We work with a lot of vulnerable people. Staying safe from cyber threats is now a critical life skill.”
Aligned values, aligned goals
WMQ works with several cybersecurity partners, including Baidam, and they all have one goal: To keep Wesley Mission Queensland and its customers safe.
Selina was introduced to Phillip (Pip) Jenkinson, Co-Founder and CEO of Baidam when WMQ was in the market for an endpoint solution.
“We spoke on the phone for a solid hour,” says Selina. “We covered a lot of ground, and what became 100% clear to me over the course of the conversation was that our respective organisational values were completely aligned. We are both genuinely motivated by the positive impact and outcomes of the work that we do in the community.”
Bridging the gap together
WMQ became one of Baidam’s earliest customers.
Today, Baidam provides the organisation with a range of product licensing, professional services, and IT recruitment services when needed. Selina was both excited and delighted to join Baidam at the official opening of its world-first First Nations Security Operations Centre (SOC) in 2023.
"Baidam are not only really good at what they do, but we know that every dollar we spend with them goes towards empowering future generations of First Nations Peoples,"
says Selina. “Their commitment and wonderful initiatives are at the very core of why this partnership between us works so well.
“You only need to look at their impact statements to see the good they are doing,” says Selina. “They are a very powerful and tangible demonstration of how far Baidam is prepared to go to bridge the gap.”
An authentic relationship
Selina has just three words she uses to describe Baidam:
Genuine. Open. Transparent.
“We share a vision for reconciliation and to stand united in that equal and inclusive future. We share goals and targets. Both of our organisations champion creating employment opportunities for First Nations Peoples and prioritising procurement through a diverse supply chain through Supply Nation. And like us, Baidam genuinely reinvests back into the community.
“Jack (Jack Reis, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Baidam), Pip, and their team all put everything into their customer relationships. For them, it’s not just about revenue generation – but partnership. This, too, sets them apart.”