EOTYA 2024 Finalist: Dominic Porter

The old adage that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ still holds true today. So it’s only fitting that it’s one that resonates strongly with Dominic Porter, the visionary CEO of All Care Australia.

"It takes a full community," he tells The CEO Magazine. "That’s from teachers, parents, civilians, the elderly. And what we need to start focusing on is that these children are our future."

All Care Australia is a leading provider of community services dedicated to supporting children, young people and their families. By creating small, professionally staffed households, it gives youngsters a safe and secure environment in which to build trust and create healthy relationships.

As its Founder, Porter has made the company a trusted name in out-of-home care services for people under 18.

All Care Australia’s success in this field has led to Porter being a finalist for CEO of the Year Professional Services at The CEO Magazine’s 2024 Executive of the Year Awards.

"We work in an industry where we’re helping many lives," he says. "It’s relationship-based care, and that starts at the top. If I don’t have a good relationship with my managers, they’re not going to have a good relationship with their coordinators and so on, right down to the clients.

"We care about each other. I care about the outcomes and successes of my business, of each one of my staff members’ families. A lot of companies don’t do that."

An army of one

Porter was 19 when he was deployed to Afghanistan with the British Army. Before long he found himself working with families in the Helmand Province, where he saw the impact of trauma on children. It was a learning experience in more ways than one.

"The military leadership philosophy was RISE: respect, integrity, service before self; and excellence. I took that for my business, but I changed the S to safety," he explains.

"Safety in child protection is massive. And respect goes everywhere. If you don’t respect all areas of your life, you’re going to fail. Everything has an impact."

When he returned to the United Kingdom, Porter began working with children of Army personnel who had a parent deployed on operations abroad. The children, who were experiencing separation anxiety, prompted his interest in caring for children who are, for whatever reason, without parents.

After moving to Australia to embark on a career as a therapeutic residential care practitioner, Porter founded All Care Australia in 2017. He’s worked hard to build the brand’s reputation ever since.

"Building strong relationships within the community and sector is crucial for fostering brand sentiment," he says. "We’re committed to this by actively gathering feedback from the children, young people and families we support, as well as key stakeholders, through regular communication, surveys and focus groups."

A family effort

That feedback has been consistently positive. Meanwhile, the company was able to achieve accreditation without issue and enjoys annual growth of 50–75 percent. It’s a level of success that’s placed All Care Australia at the apex of the industry.

The company remains family owned and operated. It’s also for-profit, which gives it unique advantages to make such an impact.

"It means we can support children to heal from childhood trauma," Porter notes. "We keep staff employed. We can support the government. And we can provide our own profits to the charity arm of All Care Australia."

Porter says the company’s success and reputation owe everything to his team.

"Our employees are the greatest ambassadors, and to continue our journey in building a successful community services organization I believe we must invest in their professional development," he asserts.

"Engaged employees can transform the lives of the children, young people and families we support, while also fostering positive interactions within the community and with our stakeholders."

Personal connection

A method of engagement Porter has employed with great success is instilling a sense of ownership and personal connection to All Care Australia’s initiatives.

"As a leader, I encourage our teams to embrace philanthropy as a fundamental aspect of their professional lives, inspiring them to think creatively about how they can contribute to positive societal outcomes," he says.

One such win has been simple yet effective. "We’ve established a social enterprise cafe within our corporate precinct to offer supported employment opportunities for vulnerable individuals in our services," he reveals.

"Since its establishment in 2022, we’ve successfully integrated several young people into active employment and supported these individuals with their professional skills and transition into independence."

Keeping people that are familiar with the industry within its companies is key to maintaining an effective support structure.

"You need people from the industry or willing to learn the industry quickly," Porter explains. "There’s no point in having a mining company director on our board telling me how to care for young people. So we strive to quickly develop the understanding of our staff and give them the opportunity for growth."

On a personal level, Porter doesn’t hesitate to help staff in need, a fine example of practicing what he preaches.

"I care. Our staff might ask for an advance on their pay because they’re behind on bills. Fine, it’s done," he affirms. "A lot of companies don’t do that. We believe in supporting people."

Surviving and thriving

According to Porter, it’s a little-known fact about All Care Australia that it not only helps lives but also facilitates a significant amount of charity work. Through its profits, the company funds orphanages in Fiji and Bali, a poultry program in Zimbabwe and flood relief in New South Wales and Queensland.

"These are ongoing projects of ours. I’m proud that we make money and give it back to the community," Porter enthuses. "We provide funds to Transit Kitchen, a food service for disadvantaged families in Narre Warren. So 3,000 families get a three-course hot meal each week."

The orphanage in Fiji, Treasure House, is a clear example of Porter’s all-encompassing approach to charity.

"People turn up with pens, biscuits and such, which is great, but that’s not what they need. They need to pay the rent for the building, they need to pay for water, school fees and medication. So that’s why we pay all their staff’s wages. They can then focus on the smaller stuff."

All Care Australia also funded Jodie O’Shea House in Bali for two full years during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the island was impacted.

"There was no tourism," he recalls. "That’s how they survive and with it gone, everyone went back to local villages. We brought them back out. We thrived during the pandemic because child protection never stops."

Porter hopes that won’t always be the case. His wish for the industry is that proper reform can take significant effect to support and reduce children in residential care – even at the cost of his business.

"I’m here to support children to heal from childhood trauma. I don’t want to add to it by keeping them away from their families," he says.

"If we focused more on early intervention, if we had practices and skills in the organizations that work with these kids, which could stop the decline before it gets to the point that they can’t live at home anymore, we’d be supporting children to have better lives.

"At the end of the day, those kids are our future."