Objective is pleased that our long-time customer, Deanna Fleming, Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) Digital Workspace Manager, has won the Bernadette Bean 2020 Service Excellence Award. She is now shortlisted as a RIMPA company award nomination entry for the prestigious national RIMPA J Eddis Linton Achievement Awards – Outstanding Individual category.

Deanna was nominated by Vanessa Savic, Objective’s South Australia State Account Director. She was nominated by Vanessa due to her continuous passion and dedication for records and information management service excellence.

Nominated in four categories, Deanna was recognised for her leadership in leveraging PIRSA’s best practice records and information management framework and Objective ECM – in a project that was designed, implemented and managed by Deanna and her former PIRSA records and information management team – to:

  • drive best practice digital transformation, and innovative process automation and system integration;
  • promote records and information governance;
  • share knowledge, methodologies, experiences and reasoning with peers in other agencies to further enhance business outcomes for PIRSA and other government agencies across Australia.

“Deanna is 150% committed to the industry and I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of this award. She has brought passion, positive change and disruption to the industry and she is always thinking one step ahead as to how she can create better outcomes. Deanna has made lots of wonderful improvements with Objective,” commented Vanessa.


Examples of Deanna’s significant records and information management contributions include the design and implementation of information governance to PIRSA’s Microsoft Teams platform and digital transformation initiatives to revolutionise the way PIRSA delivers services externally and internally.

“I am honoured by both winning the award and being nominated by Objective. Information governance is my core and what we need to do to right now is to preserve business. So, to be recognised for that, is nothing short of amazing - Especially by an external body outside of government and Objective, by records management professionals highly regarded in the records management industry,” Deanna remarked.

Perhaps the key takeaway and most valuable aspect of this story is the type of relationship that Deanna and Vanessa share. When customers are able to express their pain points and that feedback is heard, that’s when change happens.

Deanna explained that the type of relationship she has with Vanessa is that they are able to work together on the ongoing challenges this new modern business environment has brought to light. “To be able to approach an account manager and say: ‘I have this business problem that I really need solved and we should work together on a solution,’ is really valuable.”

To be able to approach an account manager and say: ‘I have this business problem that I really need solved and we should work together on a solution,’ is really valuable.

Deanna Fleming

Digital Workspace Manager - PIRSA

Deanna approached Vanessa about governance concerns she was experiencing with the fastest growing Microsoft Teams. She needed a way to have governance over the files and information being shared.

“We have so much information in Teams and how we need to be careful with its management. Information can very quickly get out of control when it doesn’t fall inside the traditional governance processes. When PIRSA acknowledged this was a pressing problem, we immediately took action. I went straight to Vanessa who escalated this problem within Objective.”

“I am very invested in Deanna’s success and what she puts her name behind,” explained Vanessa. “When she needs something, I am always available. We both provide support to each other and this partnership approach has delivered excellent outcomes for Deanna’s projects, PIRSA and more broadly the community they serve.”

What’s next for Deanna? “There is still a lot to do within the information governance space and how we are collaborating remotely. We still need to move to more dynamic platforms while keeping governance in mind, and to consider how we manage staff through that.”

Deanna is the second Objective customer who won the Bernadette Bean Award. Last year, it was Matt Fry, Records Manager of Courts Administration Authority. The award recognises and celebrates demonstrated records management service excellence by an eligible SA individual. It is awarded in honour of the late Bernadette Bean’s outstanding leadership and other significant contributions to the records management industry for over 30 years.