OUR TEAM
We are a team of people who are passionate about helping Australian families through the aged care journey.
Our mission to help families looking for aged care started in 2013 with Aged Care Reviews and evolved into Aged Care Decisions in 2016.
We are now Australia’s leading aged care service bringing families and aged care providers together.
Our Mission
“To bring comfort to people by empowering them in their aged care experience“
Our values
Be Bold, Be True, Be There.
Always Going Above and Beyond.
Our beliefs
Aged care information should be simple and easy to navigate, and receiving support to do so should be free for families.
The experience of placing a loved one into aged care is stressful and emotional enough, without the concerns of a complex aged care system and additional cost.
We unlock the power of modern technology to match a family’s care needs. Using their preferences and budget to find suitable live vacancies in nursing homes and aged care facilities.
The Industry
Australia’s Elderly Population
At the same time the Australian aged care industry is currently worth over $25 billion, with nearly 70% of that coming from the Australian taxpayer in the form of subsidies.
Each Australian should have a personal as well as public interest in how the aged care sector is run, and how care services are provided to our elderly.
For reasons of equity as well as transparency, the process of navigating the aged care industry should be free, easy and stress-free for families.
founded in 2013
Our Journey
2013
Each had first hand experience that highlighted the difficulty in placing a loved one in a nursing home with access to little, if any, independent and reliable information.
Aged care is now a $25 billion industry, with some of the country’s largest companies involved in the sector. Families are regularly asked to put up hundreds of thousands of dollars for bonds to get a place.
This is without any real certainty of the quality of the service and care of the facility. Accreditation is against a minimum standard done on a pass/fail basis, with reassessment occurring only every 3 years.
The founders knew that if user generated reviews provided consumers valuable insight and information for simple decisions, such as which hotel to stay at or which restaurant to eat at, there was a more compelling reason to provide insight and transparency.
Aged Care Reviews is able to provide support during an intimate, complex, traumatic and personal decision like placing a loved one into an aged care facility.
After two years, and many hundreds of families reaching out to Aged Care Reviews for additional support and assistance, a larger and more important need was identified – which was the need for a comprehensive, and free, end-to-end residential placement support service.
To that point the only option for families to receive support was to pay a ‘placement consultant’ thousands of dollars for assistance to find aged care vacancies. It was again clear that things needed to change, and so Aged Care Decisions was born.
2016
Aged Care Decision is now Australia’s largest aged care placement and support service – working with thousands of families a month to help them navigate the aged care maze, and find aged care vacancies in a fast, free and stress-free manner.
Aged Care decisions
Board Members
Andrew Henderson
CEO & Co Founder
Andrew was most recently the CEO of a well known B2B leadership and training group operating throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Having over 20 years experience in real estate and the financial industries, his roles range from sales management to leadership and training.
Kenneth Ray
Executive Director & Co Founder
Ken has a Bachelor of Law & Bachelor of Commerce from The University of Melbourne and a Master of Business (Property) from RMIT University.
Ken has over fifteen years’ experience in national business development, B2B sales, management strategy and business leadership roles in the property sector. Ken leads Aged Care Decisions in marketing, lead generation and technology product areas.
Nicholas Dignam
Non Executive Director
Nick has more than 15 years of private equity experience, focusing on growth capital and lower mid-market buyouts in Australia and New Zealand. Prior to establishing Fortitude, Nick was the Head of Growth Capital in Blue Sky’s Private Equity division, and prior to this as an Investment Director with Catalyst Investment Managers. Before Catalyst, Nick spent three years with Ernst & Young in the transaction advisory division.
Nick is a director of current Fortitude investee companies Aura Medical Group, Birch & Waite, HS Fresh Food, GM Hotels, Nomad Breads and Nutra Organics. He was a previous director of exited investee companies Better Medical, Hospital Pharmacy Services, Quality Foods & Beverages and Readify.
Nick holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland, and a Masters of Applied Finance from Queensland University of Technology.
Sam O’Connor
Non Executive Director
Prior to establishing Fortitude, Sam spent five years as an Investment Manager in Blue Sky’s Growth Capital division. Sam’s experience includes corporate finance and transaction advisory services at PwC where he was involved in mid-cap and large-cap buy and sell side transactions, including IPOs with a focus on energy, resources and consumer services.
Sam is a director of current Fortitude investee companies Aura Medical Group, Digital Lifecycle Group, GM Hotels and Shorthand. Sam was a previous director of exited investee companies Better Medical, Foundation Early Learning, Hospital Pharmacy Services and Shopper, as well as Sunfresh Salads prior to its merger with Houston’s Farm.
Sam has a Masters of Applied Finance (Dean’s List) from Queensland University of Technology and his Chartered Accountant’s qualification (CA), as well as a Bachelor of Business (Banking and Finance, Accounting with Distinction) from Queensland University of Technology. Sam has also completed Harvard Business School’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Executive Education course.
