Case Study

Newman Women’s Shelter uses M-Files to streamline their office, freeing up staff resources to better serve the community.

Key impacts of the M-Files solution at Newman Women’s Shelter:

• Finding information quickly
• A truly paperless office
• Customisable workflows for approval processes
• Enhanced regulatory compliance

Background

Established in 1999, Newman Women’s Shelter is a not-for-profit organisation which assists women and children who are experiencing Family and Domestic Violence. The organisation has grown from a basic women’s shelter providing emergency accommodation in Newman to assisting with domestic violence support, such as securing long term accommodation and financial support locally and in surrounding communities.

Newman Women’s Shelter also assists clients with accessing health care, counselling, transport, family wellness and accessing domestic violence and parental education. They also provide referrals to assist with underlying problems experienced by their clients.

Newman Women’s Shelter provides financial and material assistance to people in financial crisis.

Clients can access emergency relief to help them through a ‘one-off’ episode, whilst for others emergency relief becomes part of a comprehensive solution to dealing with ongoing financial disadvantage. The aim of emergency relief is to assist family and domestic violence victims experiencing financial crisis in a way that maintains dignity and encourages self-reliance.

Claudia is the Financial Officer and Executive Personal Assistant to the CEO as well as being an M-Files champion within the organisation. Claudia has been with Newman Women’s Shelter for over 20 years and completes all tasks relating to supporting other staff to focus on clients’ needs.

"For anybody that's in a position to authorise documents, it provides that audit trail and gives peace of mind that that there is record ... Everything is related in the M-Files database - documents, phone numbers and status of projects."

Claudia | Financial Officer, Newman Women's Shelter

Key challenges before implementing M-Files

Newman Women’s Shelter had a large volume of information to organise which was always challenging. As a not-for-profit

organisation, Newman Women’s Shelter are subject to regular regulatory compliance audits, which prior to M-Files were inefficient and time-consuming processes.

Newman Women’s Shelter previously used Windows Explorer to run the organisation which required staff to know who filed what, where and when. As Claudia recalled, “The approval system was very clunky … it involved printing a document, signing it then scanning and emailing it to the next person.”

As some staff work remotely, a further challenge was keeping track of emails and compliance with business processes.

Claudia set out to find a solution for the ad hoc filing system as well as automation of processes so that staff resources could be redirected back into the community. The solution had to be cost effective, easy to use and secure, as client privacy is of utmost importance at Newman Women’s Shelter.

The M-Files solution

M-Files has helped Newman Women’s Shelter to store and file a large volume of information quickly and easily, creating efficiency for all staff. It has also been invaluable for regulatory audit purposes, with requires information to be retrieved quickly and accurately. M-Files has been invaluable for the organisation’s financial management and corporate governance.

Claudia was impressed by the reduction in paper usage brought about by M-Files: “I think if you want to go paperless, M-Files is a great tool.” She also emphasised that M-Files has vastly improved and streamlined corporate governance at Newman Women’s Shelter: “For anybody that’s in a position to authorise documents, it provides that audit trail and gives peace of mind that that there is record … Everything is related in the M-Files database – documents, phone numbers and status of projects.”

The benefits of M-Files at Newman Women’s Shelter

• Workflows and approvals are completed the correct way, every time, ensuring compliance and efficiency.
• The ability to file emails as they are sent, so information does not get lost.
• Has sped up regulatory audit processes, with information easily accessible.
• The ability to store and find documents quickly.
• Approval processes and permissions ensure streamlined operations and that sensitive information is kept secure.
• Reporting and audit trails are integrated into M-Files for enhanced accountability.

“M-Files has provided a one stop shop to collect our information and to create relationships between different objects.” M-Files has allowed Newman Women’s Shelter to go paperless while improving the quality of their record keeping and approval processes. M-Files has greatly assisted with ensuring staff follow due process when completing important records by automating compliance with organisational and government policies.