BUSHkids Annual Report 21 | 22

5

Our work in the remote western Queensland town of Cunnamulla is funded by the Western Queensland Primary Health Network (WQPHN) through the Healthy Outback Kids Program . Our team is now firmly embedded in this community, supporting children’s development in the early years. Our partnership with the Cunnamulla Aboriginal Corporation for Health has matured and our team works closely with its New Directions Team to support mums and bubs in the community. Our therapists also work in Gidgee Kids Early Learning Centre & Kindergarten to support children’s development. Thanks to a fantastic partnership with Angel Flight , our teams took off on the inaugural BUSHkids Angel Flight to Cunnamulla from Archerfield Airport in October this year. This partnership ensures our team can spend more time in the community providing direct support to children and families. Our team has worked closely with Gundoo Aboriginal Corporation and Day Care Centre in Cherbourg to ensure that the services we are delivering are meeting the needs of children and families in the community. We have recruited an Allied Health Assistant (AHA) from within the community who works across both organisations – BUSHkids and Gundoo. We also have a dedicated team which works in the community on a weekly basis, building strong relationships. BUSHkids contributed to a round table discussion led by Mayor Elvie Sandow in the community to improve collaboration between organisations supporting children. This round table cul minated in the Bari Djum (Children’s) Health Day held at the Gundoo Centre, where kids could receive developmental screenings, health assessments and hearing checks, as well as enjoying a fun day interacting with farm animals. At this event, 39 children received developmental screening by the BUSHkids team.

BUSHkids is grateful to receive funding from the State and Federal Governments, essential for our work in Queensland communities. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) funds our Early Childhood Approach (ECA) Services, which are delivered from Rockhampton, Emerald, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Gympie, Kingaroy, Maroochydore, and Caloundra. We are working with the Agency to implement the Early Childhood Approach reset, which will involve providing more therapy supports to children by BUSHkids teams, a greater focus on community capacity building and increasing the age range of children eligible for this service. In October 2022, BUSHkids’ executive management team and Council members hosted newly-appointed members of the NDIA Board at Toowong. This meeting provided the opportunity for families we support across Queensland to meet and speak with the board members to share their stories. Together, we also discussed challenges and successes in delivering the Early Childhood Approach as an NDIS Partner in the Community. Our Children and Parenting Support Services (CPSS) receive funding from the Department of Social Services (DSS) to support families in and around Stanthorpe, Kingaroy, Nanango, Agnes Water and Miriam Vale. We have been delivering these services for more than seven years, working with the communities through drought, fires, floods, and the pandemic. We were delighted this year to see a BUSHkids case study (see page 16) featured in the DSS Annual Report.

Chief Executive Officer

BUSHkids’ vision is that all Queensland children achieve their potential regardless of where they live. This year at BUSHkids we have all worked together to make this happen. Making a real impact means working with others to get great outcomes for children, families, and communities across regional, rural, and remote locations in Queensland. BUSHkids’ core value of collaboration has been central to our achievements this year. There have been so many opportunities to work collaboratively with others and this has benefitted children, families and local communities across Queensland. The creation of our bespoke teleBUSHkids Centre in our Toowong precinct was the culmination of many strong partnerships across the years. The Centre builds upon our telepractice research project with The University of Queensland’s Centre for Research Excellence in Telehealth . We are grateful to the Queensland Government for partnering with us to accelerate the building of the Centre through the Community Infrastructure Investment Partnership (CIIP) Program . Additionally, Aurizon contributed to the purchase of new telepractice equipment and, through BUSHkids’ own fundraising appeals, extra money has been donated to the organisation for this work. This Centre will ensure BUSHkids can complement our on-the-ground services with telepractice to support more children and families across Queensland.