Barnardos Australia transforms casework with SugarCRM
For more than 100 years, Barnardos Australia has been one of the country’s leading children’s charities, working to protect children and young people from abuse and neglect. The organisation delivers more than 180 programmes across New South Wales and the ACT, supporting over 14,000 children, young people and families each year. Its mission is simple yet profound: to support families so that children can grow up safely at home.
Over time, Barnardos’ growth came with complexity. Decades of operations had left the organisation with nine separate legacy systems, creating silos and inefficiencies. Reporting took days, and caseworkers were spending too much time on administration instead of supporting families.
A major transformation
To better serve its community, Barnardos partnered with SugarCRM and Liferay to undertake one of the biggest transformations in the organisation’s history. The new system simplifies every part of a caseworker’s day.
Staff can now record and follow notes with ease, track incidents and goals with families; generate detailed reports in minutes instead of days, and access information quickly and securely. By reducing the time spent on administration, caseworkers can devote more energy to what matters most: supporting children and families.
“By using the new SugarCRM system, caseworkers now have the opportunity to save hours a day and provide more meaningful support to children, young people and families.”
– Matt H., Head of Practice and Impact, Practice Quality, Barnardos
Together with Liferay, Barnardos also launched new digital portals that provide children, carers and families with seamless access to essential information such as foster care records and medical histories. This combination of technology and partnership has not only improved efficiency but also set a new benchmark for the not-for-profit sector, showing how digital tools can amplify community impact.
Leading the way for the future
The move to SugarCRM has made Barnardos a leader in its sector, demonstrating how organisations can embrace modern technology to scale services, protect sensitive data and empower frontline teams. As Barnardos continues its mission, the message is clear: with the right technology in place, charities can deliver lasting change in the community and give staff more of the most precious resource of all: time with families.
