Who are Ignis Consulting?
Ignis Consulting are a small team of passionate people who have worked front-line within the aged care, community, health and disability sectors. We’ve worked as nurses, schedulers and case managers through to senior and executive leadership roles. We understand the unique challenges face by the human services sector and have a genuine desire to help organisations be the best they can be.
We have a hands-on approach and pride ourselves in working with teams to embed improved or new systems, processes and frameworks. We offer tailored support for each of our clients. We also partner with a range of specialists to ensure we meet the individual needs of each of our clients. Find out more about us below.
Meet the team
The Ignis Consulting team have over 30 years of combined experience working in the human services sector. The team have a shared passion for working with human service organisations to develop and embed sound clinical, quality and operational systems to support high quality outcomes for the people we support.
KELLY SMITHAM
Managing Director – Quality & Operations Consulting
Kelly is an accomplished leader with over 20 years of experience in the human services sector working for private, not-for-profit, charity, and local government organisations. With a broad range of experience in operations management, HR and marketing, Kelly is passionate about creating better human services – supporting growth and development of people through effective structures, systems and leadership.
LEAH MILES
Senior Consultant – Systems and Project Management
Leah has worked in project management for over 6 years and within the human services and community sector since 2013. Leah’s strength is in supporting organisations to operate efficiently and optimally, utilising technology to enhance business operations. Leah’s focus is on continual improvement through system optimisation, stakeholder engagement, change management and project management.
Partners
Our partners are specialists in their fields and work alongside Ignis to deliver solutions that meet the individual needs of clients. Ignis will utilise our partners knowledge to compliment our service offering as needed.
DR CATHY BALDING
Qualityworks Consulting
Cathy is the Director of Qualityworks and a leading industry expert in quality management. Cathy worked in a range of quality clinical governance roles in community, acute and aged care services before moving into executive leadership in 2001. Cathy started Qualityworks in 2005 where she developed the Strategic Quality System model, underpinned by extensive research and experience. Qualityworks and Ignis work in collaboration to deliver this model within the human services sector.
EMMA BRIERTY
PreEmpt Consulting
Emma’s background is in nursing and she spent many years working in the hospital and health care sector. Emma transitioned to the community and residential aged care sector in 2010 and since then has worked in a variety of governance, leadership, board and clinical roles within disability and aged care. Emma is the Director of PreEmpt, starting the organisation in 2022. PreEmpt Consulting works alongside Ignis Consutling to implement clinical governance and quality projects including the development of meeting, quality and document frameworks.
SAM WATSON
Advali Advisors
Sam is the Managing Director of Advali and a Chartered Accountant with nearly 10 years’ experience working in both public and commercial practices. Sam has worked within the aged care and disability sector to help organisations to understand their data and the impact this has on financial and operational performance. Sam works alongside Ignis to analyse and present data through dashboards which compliments our quality and reporting frameworks.
Our Story
Managing Director, Kelly Smitham started Ignis Consulting in 2019 out of a genuine desire to support organisations trying to navigate the ever-changing challenges that come from working in the community.
Kelly’s lived experience with family receiving home and residential aged care and NDIS services, encouraged her to drive genuine improvement to the systems and services supporting staff and clients in the human services sectors. Along the way, Kelly has established key partnerships with other consultants to compliment the needs of clients in the sector.
The Ignis team and our chosen partners have worked in a range of front-line roles including nurses, schedulers and case managers as well as senior and executive leadership. This gives the team insight into the day-to-day operational challenges in human services and an understanding of how to approach them from a strategic and practical perspective.
Kelly saw an opportunity to use this insight to work with leaders at all levels to create solutions together. Her goal is for solutions to be relatable and to co-design systems that are practical and will make a meaningful difference to the staff and clients they impact.