Zoe Moffatt
Local disability service provider Distinctive Options will merge with East Gippsland-based provider Noweyung, to provide service and support for people from Bendigo to Bairnsdale.
The merger was announced on August 17, following two months of discussions and due diligence, after Noweyung approached Distinctive Options earlier in the year.
Distinctive Options currently has centres in Brimbank, Sunbury, Macedon Ranges, and Bendigo, and both organisations support about 350 people across the state with varying service requirements.
Ernie Metcalf is the Distinctive Options chief executive, and Noweyung’s former chief executive from 2003 to 2016. Mr Metcalf said the merger will help reduce management costs.
“Smaller country services really struggle to survive to meet the business needs,” he said. “By removing that extra layer you are able to better support the needs of the people you are supporting.
“Having Distinctive Options as the parent body means we can grow new services and reinvest.”
Distinctive Options board chair Kalma Rathouski said the services are largely interchangeable, with each service growing to have strengths that complement each other.
“For example, Distinctive Options is proud to have developed enterprises including honey production and a café in Gisborne,” Ms Rathouski said.
“[This provides] supported employment options and a wide range of group and individual activities and supports.
“Noweyung also has a café and an award-winning gourmet food enterprise, along with a range of group support services,”
“[It has] a well-developed supported residential living offering, plus financial plan management which assists participants and their families to navigate program packages and payments.
“It is clear [the] services will complement each other and allow us to expand what is available in each of the regions.”
The merger will formally take effect after meeting final legal requirements, which is expected to be finalised in the coming months.
Distinctive Options has assumed transition management arrangements in anticipation of completion from July, under the direction of Mr Metcalf and his leadership team.
