BUSHkids Annual Report 2011-2012

It is with great pride in the efforts and talents of our dedicated staff across the Centres, through a year defined by changes, that I report to you now. Our rebranding 12 months ago is no longer new, but it is no less eye-catching, and more widely known and recognised – and has begun to reap direct dividends for BUSHkids. Our bolder, brighter public face has been supported by the development of a new model of service delivery, and everyone at BUSHkids has come to recognise the benefits and embrace a smarter methodology in our team and organisational structures. Had we a mantra for 2012, its principal themes would be ‘accountability’ and ‘ effectiveness’. Although it may well be argued that these traits should be – and are – our everyday watchwords, it is no secret that all NGOs (that is, Non- Government Organisations) and non- profits are facing funding constraints in the current climate. As government ‘ drills down’ more and more, seeking to maximise returns on its financial investments, so BUSHkids is rising to meet the challenges of this increased fiduciary responsibility. This is denoted by changes we have made to our governance structure and, particularly, our committees, where we now have enhanced skillsets in the human resources and fund- raising fields, and representation from clinical areas, to guide our oversight. Almost every Council member serves on one or more of our operational committees, further enmeshing the links with our frontline staff, whose feedback and input receives the direct attention of the executive team and the General Manager. For example, we are investigating improvements to our Warwick Centre and highlighting evidence-based areas of change in our traditional service model. Such changes will enable BUSHkids to meet and, we expect, exceed provisions of the Commonwealth Government’s Australian Charities and Not-for- From the Chairman

Profits Commission (ACNC) legisla- tion, proposed to be rolled out in a two-stage approach over the next two Financial Years (2012-13 and 2013-14). In broad terms, the ACNC will require charities and nonprofits to maintain key operational and financial records, report these annually, and meet certain governance standards in structure. The degree of detail required is said to be assessed against a definition of an organisation’s size – small, or medium and large – and, as we conclude this year’s Annual Report, is one of the areas still being finalised by the ACNC taskforce and its consultations. As we understand it, the government’s intention is to make this information available online in a public, searchable database, increasing transparency of the nonprofit sector’s member bodies and, we trust, reducing the frequency and quantity of reporting which is currently required of organisations by their respective funding departments and agencies. BUSHkids welcomes this broad-ranging initiative and is well placed to meet the requirements of the ACNC. Our credentials have been soundly demonstrated for over 75 years, and our systems and processes are being refined, where necessary, to further address this new framework. Our accountability and credibility, although not in question, has been scrutinised through this new prism during 2012, as we reviewed our performance and service delivery, to ensure we are maximising the outcome of every funding dollar invested in our work. We have focused internally on better utilising existing resources: for example, in the IT area and what we might call ‘data mining’ – that is, looking at the information we already have and collect on an operational basis. There has been much to discover in what we already know, and we are working to better use that data to improve daily running and strategic orientation of our service.

One outcome of this has seen BUSH- kids begin making structural and operational adjustments to better reflect demographics of the indigenous and non-indigenous communities in which we work and the clients which we serve. Another outcome has been our development of what we call our ‘ reference groups’: consultations with myself and General Manager Carlton Meyn and representatives of local and state government authorities, general practitioners and medical specialists. The concept behind these working parties is to inform the Council and Committee of BUSHkids at a strategic level and, in turn, to better interface with other service providers and community agencies to improve the economy and effectiveness of our service delivery on the ground. Our enhanced internal reporting mechanisms – via the structural and Committee changes I noted earlier – also illuminate this process, as our teams know their upwards feedback is being taken on board and applied in these working group consultations. This enables our staff to focus on their day to day work with confidence that we are navigating the bigger picture, to minimise any duplication or waste and maximise the efficacy of every dollar spent on our clients. We have tested the working group concept in Dalby and across the southern Darling Downs, and are looking to refine and develop this approach across the state in the next 12 months, in partnership with our nonprofit colleagues, clinical service providers and government.

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