One Year On

From the Chief Executive Officer, Lauretta Stace

With the launch of the new website, it is time to reflect on the year just past and get excited about what lies ahead for Remembrance Parks Central Victoria. The new website is symbolic of the change and progress that RPCV has undertaken over the past 12 months. The colours and images are designed to reflect the peace and serenity that we aspire to provide in our community remembrance parks. The site is informative and organised, which reflects our desire to provide efficient services with care, compassion and respect.

Since commencing in the role of Chief Executive Officer in August 2023, I have worked with the RPCV team to listen to and learn from community feedback. Our focus has been on the review and improvement of all our internal systems and processes so that we can continuously drive innovation and improvements to customer service and operational effectiveness. This time has been spent on reviewing and planning ahead and ensuring that our core foundations are strong so that we can continue to build into the future.

The Trust members and Executive Team have focused on major improvements to governance, risk and compliance. This helps RPCV to increase efficiency, reduce the risk of non-compliance, improve financial and operational performance and share information more effectively. Key examples of improvements to RPCV’s foundational elements include the appointment of a permanent Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the appointment of a new Internal Audit firm and the development of a new three-year audit program, the approval of the RPCV Enterprise Agreement 2024-2028 by the Fair Work Commission, the development of a robust risk management framework and a comprehensive review and updating of organisational policies and procedures.

RPCV also completed the renovation of the heritage listed Bendigo Chapel and we look forward to celebrating the return of this renovated asset to the community at an official opening in November 2024.

Our systems have also been overhauled and this has led to the development of a new website which has recently gone live, and the commissioning of a new cemetery management system which is due to go live in March 2025. All of these system innovations are designed to enhance RPCV’s customer experience.

The new website will enhance RPCV’s capability in digital communication, enabling us to connect with more people in the community and share information on our cemetery development plans, events and activities. The information on the website will be regularly updated and relevant to the needs of the people we serve.

RPCV has some exciting developments planned for each of our major remembrance parks over the next 12-24 months, so the website will be used in conjunction with social media to ensure that community members are informed about these plans and have an opportunity to provide feedback to our team.

The new cemetery management system will enable RPCV to deliver a more streamlined and efficient service to the community whilst introducing some digital innovations for families to engage with our team when they need to and undertake activities such as memorial scheduling, record searches and locating loved ones.

We’re excited about the journey that RPCV is now on. We hope you are too!

Lauretta Stace

Chief Executive Officer