Customer Story: Challenge Community Services
Challenge Community Services provides disability support and foster care across New South Wales, operating from Albury to Lismore, Sydney, Dubbo, Tamworth and beyond. With over 900 staff and a network of carers that sees constant turnover, delivering consistent, high-quality training at scale had always been a complex problem — one that COVID made impossible to ignore.
900+
staff across New South Wales
staff across New South Wales
2,500+
people supported from Albury to Lismore
people supported from Albury to Lismore
$50k+
in annual training subscription costs eliminated
in annual training subscription costs eliminated
A system built on presence
Before 2020, all foster care training ran face-to-face. For an organisation spread across an entire state, that meant significant travel costs and time away from the desk for staff who were already stretched. It worked — until it didn’t.
When COVID hit in early 2020, face-to-face training became legally and physically impossible overnight. The organisation needed an online alternative, fast. And given the sensitive, specialist nature of their work, generic off-the-shelf content was never going to cut it.
Finding the right fit
Challenge Community Services evaluated several platforms before landing on Tribal Habits. The decision came down to a few clear factors: most LMS platforms were built for large enterprise organisations and priced accordingly. They also relied on third-party content creation and offered libraries that couldn’t be meaningfully customised.
Tribal Habits offered something different — a built-in content creation tool that meant the team could build their own training without outside help, at a fraction of the cost. The fact that it was Australian-owned mattered too, in line with the organisation’s commitment to buying local.
Built by two people, under pressure
With the platform selected, a team of two — neither with a background in online learning — got to work converting years of physical training resources into digital modules, while building entirely new content at the same time.
They leaned on Tribal Habits’ guided creation process, AI feedback tools, instructional design reviews, and templates to move quickly without sacrificing quality.
“The drag and drop editor makes it so simple to develop online learning that’s engaging and interactive. I thought we’d need to learn to code to deliver training this good.”
Results that went beyond the crisis
The response from staff and carers was immediate. Training was more engaging, required less time, and could be accessed on demand — eliminating a longstanding frustration where people waited up to six months for a session to hit minimum numbers.
“We used to have people waiting six months for training. Now it’s available online at any time — no minimum class sizes, no scheduling nightmares.”
The financial impact was just as significant. A $50,000-a-year subscription to external training courses was cancelled. Travel costs — already substantial for a state-wide organisation — dropped dramatically.
“Removing travel from our training program has saved an untold amount of money and reduced time away from desks and families. We’re getting better results in half the time.”
No going back
What started as a crisis response has become the foundation of how Challenge Community Services trains its people. A dedicated learning hub, powered by Tribal Habits, is now the primary training contact point for the entire carer network.
“COVID forced us into online learning — but there’s no way we’re going back. In the future, we’ll be delivering 95% of our training online.”
Organisation
Challenge Community Services
Challenge Community Services
Sector
Disability & Foster Care
Disability & Foster Care
Location
New South Wales
New South Wales
Organisation size
900+ staff
900+ staff
Use case
Compliance training, carer onboarding, and online learning migration
Compliance training, carer onboarding, and online learning migration
See how Tribal Habits helps community services organisations deliver training that scales
When your team is spread across an entire state, and the people you support depend on consistent care, training can’t be an afterthought. Tribal Habits makes it easy to build, deliver and track training across your whole organisation — without a dedicated L&D team.
