MELBOURNE, Australia, Nov. 02, 2026 — Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), the trusted agentic platform for HR, finance, and IT, today announced that Melba Support Services, a Victoria-based disability support organisation, has deployed Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) to consolidate core operations, strengthen compliance, and scale workforce planning amid rapid growth.
Following a 500% expansion driven by the transfer of publicly operated disability homes to the not-for-profit sector, Melba faced complex operational challenges managing 1,500 employees across 100 Supported Independent Living homes, respite centres, and community programmes in Victoria. To replace fragmented legacy systems and manual processes, Melba selected Workday HCM as its unified enterprise platform for workforce data, compliance, learning, and talent management.
By deploying Workday HCM, Melba has consolidated disparate legal entities and legacy systems into a single source of truth. Leaders and frontline managers now have real-time visibility into workforce metrics, learning requirements, and compliance standings, enabling faster decision-making and ensuring continuous audit readiness in a highly regulated sector.
“Managers now can self-serve so much more than they could before,” said Bridget Thakrar, chief employee experience officer, Melba Support Services. “A lot of this data either didn't exist previously, or it was simply too hard to access. Support workers and outcomes managers are so focused on providing great support to our clients, and Workday has been an amazing enabler for that, taking the administrative burden off their plate so they can focus on what matters most.”
Key operational benefits achieved by Melba since deploying Workday include:
- Enhanced Engagement and Retention: Tracked a significant increase in employee engagement, as measured through Workday Peakon Employee Voice.
- Streamlined Compliance Visibility: Provided automated, real-time tracking of expiring certifications and training requirements, replacing manual compliance-chasing with continuous audit readiness.
- Data-Driven Talent Insights: Leveraged Workday People Analytics to identify regional workforce trends – such as casual turnover rates – and optimise strategic workforce planning across service areas.
- Automated Organisational Planning: Replaced static, manual organisation charts with a live, self-updating chart across the entire 1,500-person organisation.
“With just a couple of clicks, we can now see exactly where our compliance and learning risks sit,” added Thakrar. “That means we can make faster, better-informed decisions about where to move people if a service closes or a new area opens up, and do far more strategic workforce planning to support those decisions. When I talk to people about why we chose Workday, it always comes back to values alignment and partnership.”
“Melba's story reflects what we hear from many of our not-for-profit and healthcare customers: the ability to unify HR and compliance on a single platform doesn't just save time, it fundamentally changes how leaders operate day to day,” said Jo-Anne Ruhl, vice president and managing director, Workday Australia and New Zealand. “We're proud to support Melba as they continue to grow and deliver on their mission.”
About Melba Support Services
Operating since 1972, Melba Support Services is a not-for-profit disability support organisation based in Victoria, Australia, fully funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Melba employs about 1,500 staff who provide quality support services in the eastern and southern suburbs of Melbourne, Ballarat, Central Highlands, the Wimmera and across Gippsland.
About Workday
Workday operates at the heart of the enterprise – HR, finance, and IT – where the margin for error is effectively zero. By tightly coupling AI with the context, guardrails, and trusted processes that run the business, Workday goes beyond AI that assists with work to agents that are capable of driving measurable outcomes. More than 11,500 organizations worldwide, including more than 65% of the Fortune 500, trust Workday to deliver. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.