Introduction
Breaking the cycle through prevention, early intervention and ongoing support. For more than 150 years, Windermere Child & Family Services has been assisting children and families to help them reach their full potential. Our innovative, early intervention, education and support programs respond to the needs of our communities through service delivery, community collaboration and investment. Over 20 years ago we made South East Victoria our home, to grow with and be part of the community. This year, our 140 strong team have worked with more than 14,000 individuals and families and are proud to be one of the largest independent community services organisations operating solely in the state’s south east, serving more than 1.5 million Victorians.
Purpose
We get in early to make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities.
Vision
A stronger, connected and supported community.
Values
We believe that everyone is someone in our community where: •
Equity is viewed as a natural right
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Fairness embraces and incorporates difference
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Collaboration results in social good
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Opportunity creates empowerment and inclusion
Contents Chairman’s Message, Carl Strachan
5
CEO’s Message,
Our Key Services
9
Our Key Initiatives
17
Our Strategic Priorities
21
Communities For Children
10
Suicide Prevention
17
Know Our Community
23
Counselling Services
10
Building Harmony
19
Listen to Our Consumers
27
Kids on Track
19
Improve Lives
32
Malcolm’s Place and Mums & Bubs
20
Strengthen Our Future
37
Inspire Enterprising Practice
41
Financials
43
Our Partners & Supporters
49
Dr Lynette Buoy
6
Housing Support Services
11
Governance
7
Integrated Family Services
12
Service & Enterprise Risk Committee
8
Victims Assistance
13
Finance and Audit Advisory Committee
8
Disability Services
14
Early Childhood Development Services
15
Family Day Care and In Home Care
16
Early Learning Centre
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We remain strong in our early intervention and prevention work, generously funded through our philanthropic and individual donors.
This year our work has continued to focus on these challenges. Through government funded programs we continue to address issues relating to family breakdown and support, assault and homelessness and we work with individuals and families where disabilities and developmental delays require targeted support. We remain strong in our early intervention and prevention work, generously funded through our philanthropic and individual donors. Our supporters are committed to areas of youth suicide prevention, community education, building racial harmony, keeping kids on track in primary schools and supporting young homeless mums with small children. Children are a big part of our work and are at the centre of all that we do; helping parents tackle their challenges is always aimed at helping them be better individuals and better parents. Our early childhood education work is a space where we get to see lots of positive results as children meet the developmental milestones and get to learn new skills on a daily basis.
Chairman’s Message At a function held this year with past and current board members and CEOs, our ambassadors and a treasured life member, I was provided the wonderful opportunity to reflect on my 20 years with Windermere.
It is always difficult to wrap up a year’s work in a few short paragraphs, let alone 20 years. I am proud to have been part of Windermere’s journey and look forward to another year ahead. Once again I would like to thank all the staff of Windermere, my fellow board members and the many wonderful people who support our work and give generously each year.
Two decades ago things were very different, the community was smaller, our agency smaller. Yet one thing has remained the same – the need for our services. Each year I am proud to note the large number of children, families and individuals that we support to re-establish their lives, develop new skills and sometimes just simply get things back on track. When I look around the agency I see many of the same characteristics that I saw when I was first involved, including a team of committed staff dedicated to making a difference. I have also witnessed many changes to the way we do things, the systems we use, the increased level of accountability and in many respects a greater level of sophistication that we apply to our work.
Since joining the agency in early 2013, my focus has been on understanding the past and setting future directions. In such a large and diverse agency, the opportunity to activate our new strategic plan Our Way Forward 2013-16 included collaborative discussion, brainstorming and planning.
Working at Windermere is a great honour. The board, staff, funding bodies, partners and our supporters are where our vision for a stronger, connected and supported community really comes alive. I would like to acknowledge the amazing efforts of all the children, families and individuals we work with. Many of them come to us after experiencing a traumatic or life changing event; their capacity to overcome or even come to terms with these events is inspiring. Their openness to share their stories, set their goals and work towards new futures makes everything we do together so important.
Emerging from the strategic plan has been a wide range of strategic operational priorities that effect the work of our whole agency; the way we think about leadership; how we account for internal investments through efficiency gains; how we deliver seamless services to our community and how we now talk about our clients as consumers with the move of our sector towards consumer directed funding. Looking at our work through a whole-of-agency approach has required us all to be more collaborative and to undertake a series of projects to change existing practice and develop new frameworks and processes. Working together we have made some great progress and have also had to make some difficult decisions.
Dr Lynette Buoy CEO
At the end of the year we undertook a service area restructure reducing the number of line managers and taking a more consolidated approach to our service portfolio structure. The restructure was supported by an alignment of position descriptions at a management and team leader level creating greater clarity and consistency across both levels. Bringing together our managers and team leaders has built greater unity and has drawn on the vast knowledge, expertise and skills from across the agency. We have had some great conversations and I am looking forward to many more.
I would also like to acknowledge all of those within our communities who trust us everyday to help them make a difference.
The areas of Casey, Cardinia and Dandenong have also changed significantly. I have strong memories of the market gardens, smaller retail precincts and generations of families living in the areas. Today all these areas are large and growing communities. This has brought exciting opportunities, built some beautiful new communities and created some dynamic challenges.
Windermere Child & Family Services
CEO’s Message
Once again, the number of children, families and individuals that we worked with this year has been in excess of 14,000. The services have been diverse; yet so are the needs of our community. In the coming year we will continue to focus our work on key issues such as violence, respectful relationships, and building community cohesion and connectedness.
Carl Strachan Chairman
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In the coming year we will continue to focus our work on key issues such as violence, respectful relationships, and building community cohesion and connectedness. -6-
Annual Report 2013/2014
Governance
Governance Ultimate responsibility for the governance of Windermere Child & Family Services rests with the Board. This governance statement outlines how the Board meets that responsibility.
The Board •
Carl Strachan (Chairman )
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Elizabeth Mildwater
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Ian Forsyth (Vice Chairman)
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Dr Tricia Szirom
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Ricki Ryan (Treasurer)
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Pam Usher
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Dr Kevin McKenzie
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Max Warwick
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Nicola Mendleson
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Innes Willox
Service & Enterprise Risk Committee
The Board oversees and monitors management’s performance by reviewing detailed reports and recommendations on progress of operations, reviewing detailed financial reports on a periodical basis and assigning responsibility to its sub committees; the Service & Enterprise Risk Committee and the Finance & Audit Advisory Committee, as set out in their Terms of Reference. The Board and sub committees are comprised of external and internal members with relevant expertise or qualifications.
•
Elizabeth Mildwater - Chair
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Kelly Dickson
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Lil Banks
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Susanna Laurens
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Sue Beattie-Johnson
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Dr Kevin McKenzie
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Malcolm Brown
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Robyn Rourke
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Harley Brown
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Dr Tricia Szirom
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Dr Lynette Buoy
The purpose of the Service & Enterprise Risk Committee is to provide a monitoring and advisory role in the management and reporting of risk, service governance, quality improvement and enterprise activity in relation to organisational and program operations and service delivery. The committee informs the Board and management on critical decision making to ensure organisational compliance with key legislative requirements, external accreditation and funding sources.
Finance & Audit Advisory Committee
Back row from the left: Nicola Mendleson, Pam Usher, Carl Strachan, Dr Lynette Buoy, Ricki Ryan. Front row from left: Dr Kevin McKenzie, Elizabeth Mildwater. Absences: Ian Forsyth, Dr Tricia Szirom, Max Warwick, Innes Willox.
•
Ricki Ryan - Chair
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Malcolm Wells
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Lil Banks
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Susanna Laurens
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Jenny Brooks
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Nicola Mendleson
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Dr Lynette Buoy
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John Thwaites
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Gary Castricum
The Finance & Audit Advisory Committee is an advisory committee created to assist the Board in meeting its responsibilities by ensuring the adequacy and effectiveness of financial reporting systems and risk management processes, internal control structures, internal and external audit functions and management information systems.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Our Key Services
Communities for Children The Communities for Children program has been operating for more than eight years, focusing on early intervention and prevention for families experiencing disadvantage or vulnerability as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers. The Cranbourne-based program operates under a strengths-based community development model, working as a facilitator to a range of local service providers and partners to help reduce levels of abuse or neglect for children in the broader Cranbourne region.
Across the year, the Cranbourne program grew significantly, supporting more than 7,000 individuals, including 1,857 babies and toddlers and almost 1,700 children aged 5-12 years.
Our Key Services At times, families and individuals within our diverse communities face traumatic and difficult life circumstances resulting from unexpected or uncontrollable factors. These can include job loss, illness or health issues and violence, or as a result of behavioural or other long standing, generational circumstances. These situations can often create feelings of isolation, depression and anxiety and may inadvertently lead to incidents where the individual and/or their children are placed at risk. Our integrated and complementary service offering includes a wide range of support through prevention and education programs, therapeutic services and community engagement strategies. Our services also extend to those seeking high quality care and education services for their children, providing a choice of options in either a long day care setting or flexible, home based care. Windermere Child & Family Services
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Counselling Services
326 consumers were supported through Department of Human Services funded programs. A further 194 individuals were counselled through our partnership with Berwick Family Relationships Centre/ Relationships Australia Victoria.
Our counselling services are delivered to support women or children who have experienced or witnessed family violence; children who have experienced sexual assault or who demonstrate sexualised behaviours; and children referred by child protection to prevent the child being placed in out of home care. We also provide family therapy to support those experiencing family related issues such as roles within the family unit, conflict, grief and loss, adjustment issues & separation. Driven by community needs, across the period, a number of new proactive group therapy sessions have also been established, focusing on issues such as parenting after separation, management of anxiety and depression and anger management.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Our Key Services
Housing Support Services The Housing Support Services team work with families who reside in transitional housing sites. The team provide high quality support, information and advocacy to families at risk of homelessness in order to equip them to source and maintain stable housing. The Support for Families at Risk of Homelessness Program is an intensive case management program supporting families to maintain their permanent accommodation including families in private rental, community housing and public housing.
80 adults and 527 children engaged with housing support services ensuring long term accommodation options are in place and sustainable.
Integrated Family Services Funded by the Department of Human Services, the Integrated Family Services team work with vulnerable and at risk families with children under 18 to prevent them from entering the Child Protection System. The program aims to strengthen parental capabilities to provide basic care, ensure safety and promote children’s development and improve the family’s connectedness with the community and capacity to access community resources.
The Integrated Family Services team provided 493 families with more than 21,500 hours of support which included home based visits, teenage and parenting group sessions and service linkages. The team also established successful partnerships with Stepping up, Connections and Ermha to help identify and manage drug, alcohol and mental health issues.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Our Key Services
Victims Assistance Funded through the Department of Justice, the Victims Assistance team provide essential and immediate support to any person who has experienced or witnessed a violent crime to assist them effectively manage and recover from the impact of the incident. This is a person centred process and includes practical advice, information and assistance about the criminal justice system, counselling and support throughout legal proceedings. Through key partnerships and networks and its supportive approach, the program is highly respected within the broader community of the South East Victoria corridor.
The Victims Assistance program assisted more than 2,100 individuals across Southern Metropolitan Melbourne as well as more than 930 individuals based in the Gippsland region.
Disability Services Currently funded by the Department of Human Services, the Disability Services team delivers assessment and planning, case management and transitional support for people aged between 0-65 with a disability. Flexible support packages also provide limited funding to purchase disability specific services and related equipment. The team also run a number of other programs in order to assist families to manage and overcome continence issues in children aged between 6-16 years.
The Disability Services team offered support to more than 500 consumers across the year and exceeded the Key Performance Indicators relating to the Autism Spectrum Disorder Consultancy role.
In addition to the government-funded places, a growing number of individuals receiving Department of Human Services funded Individual Support packages, are utilising their funds to purchase disability case management and support services. The impending introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and its dynamic landscape has sparked innovation and change across the Disability Services team, requiring them to adapt business models to meet the changing funding environment.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Our Key Services
Family Day Care and In Home Care Under the direction and regulation of the National Quality Framework, the Family Day Care and In Home Care programs have been operating for over 5 years, providing education and care services for young children to help meet the growing community need of flexible, accessible and affordable child care options. These fee-for-service programs, supported through the Commonwealth Department of Education, provide care for children aged from birth to 12 years in an approved and contracted educator’s home or within the family home, throughout Melbourne’s South East region.
We’ve worked with 74 Educators and provided education and care to over 1,200 children through our Family Day Care and specialised In Home Care programs.
Early Childhood Development Services The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development fund Windermere to provide 162 Early Childhood Intervention Service places each year. This helps support children aged from birth to school entry who have a diagnosed disability or developmental delay. Our team draw on the knowledge and experience of the family coupled with the professional expertise of staff members to support each child and their family. Assessments are undertaken to provide a range of physical and behavioural therapies through our qualified staff to help children reach their full potential.
Post a recent restructure, the highly engaged team are working to more streamlined procedures and strengthened processes. This year, the program assisted 180 children and their families with information, referral and advocacy as well as therapeutic interventions and the purchase of aids and equipment. Windermere Child & Family Services
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Over the past 12 months, we cared for 239 children, increasing overall occupancy to 82%, with 23 families now wait listed. Demand for the 0-2 age group has grown significantly.
Early Learning Centre Based in Frankston, the Early Learning Centre is a state of the art, purpose built and high quality education and care centre, providing full or part-time education and care for children aged from birth to 6 years. In partnership with Monash University, the centre has made strong connections in its surrounding community and across key faculties within the university.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Our Key Initiatives
Our Key Initiatives We are proud to run a number of life changing programs which receive no government funding. These programs offer children and families within our schools and local communities support and education to help influence community attitudes, harness positive thinking and avoid potentially hazardous situations. We rely solely on the generosity of the philanthropic community and our donors to enable us to operate these programs.
Suicide Prevention This program delivers information sessions on suicide prevention to the community and families within the City of Casey and Shire of Cardinia. These may take the form of general awareness sessions to parents, teachers and community groups as well as information sessions to students and workplaces. We also provide targeted development to community members and professionals through the delivery of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. Through the various facets of this Suicide Prevention Program, Windermere has enhanced peer and community knowledge of the risk factors of suicide and resources available, and in turn has helped reduce tragic loss of life.
Windermere Child & Family Services
Throughout this year, over 449 individuals attended training or information sessions relating to suicide prevention.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Our Key Initiatives
Building Harmony Bringing together students from across five faith based schools, this program aims to build racial harmony and deepen understanding and respect of cultural and religious differences. Each year, these 9-11 year olds unite to share and celebrate their diversities and commonalities through a series of fun, informative and educational activities, resulting in greater knowledge, understanding and new friendships. Since 2010 this program has been solely funded by the generosity of a private donor organisation.
The program worked with more than 150 students, running five activities across the period, each one hosted by the five participating schools.
Malcolm’s Place and Mums & Bubs Kids on Track An eight week early intervention education and engagement program designed to address anti-social behaviours, build strength, resilience and protective behaviours within young ‘at risk’ children aged 10-13 years across the south eastern growth corridor of Cardinia, Casey and Frankston shires.
Over the past 12 months we have delivered this 8 week program to 289 students, equipping grade 5 and 6 children with essential tools and skills to help them make smart choices now and into the future. Windermere Child & Family Services
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Malcolm's Place is a home, which offers a family in need, a safe and secure environment, whilst receiving support from skilled Windermere staff, to source permanent accommodation which is sustainable. The Mums & Bubs program supports young mothers, at risk of homelessness through adverse and complex circumstance.
Malcolm's Place gave shelter and support to 3 families throughout the year and the Mums & Bubs program enabled 11 young women and their children to find permanent accommodation.
This specialised program offers accommodation together with relevant life skills development such as finance management, employment preparation, parenting and child development. Malcolm’s Place and Mums & Bubs are both funded solely through the generosity of private donors.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Our Strategic Priorities
Our Strategic Priorities In early 2013, Windermere embarked upon the development of a new strategic plan to lead the focus of the agency for the next five years. The process involved consultation with all of our staff and board, with an emphasis on co-design. From the planning process, five key strategic priorities were adopted:
1. Know Our Community
2. Listen To Our Consumers
3. Improve Lives
4. Strengthen Our Future
5. Inspire Enterprising Practice
Over the past year, these strategic priorities have underpinned our overarching vision as well as informing our everyday business practices as we continue to seek new opportunities and approaches to support families and children within our communities.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Know Our Community
Know Our Community Over the past 12 months, we have continued to work collaboratively with our communities to better understand their needs, strategically building on existing relationships to deliver long term results. Utilising existing evidence to support action, we have sought to develop a deeper understanding of our own data sources and resources.
We continue to build healthier and strong relationships by targeting specific womens groups with the aim of educating and breaking these violence cycles before they escalate. Our Integrated Family Services team placed a dedicated Family Therapist within their program – this allowed us to respond to the growing number of families requiring group support. In addition, the team have identified and developed strategic relationships with local psychologists in order to respond to increasing demand for Family Violence counselling.
We have developed new, and built on existing partnerships with key local community organisations and associations, with fellow not for profits and key government networks as well as relevant local community representatives to remain connected and ensure we are active contributors in our community. We have also consulted with teachers and staff at local schools on our program content and on issues, behaviours and potential new solutions. Through data and open discussion, across both the Casey and Cardinia regions, rates of reported violence within the family have reached levels of alarming concern. Casey is now considered one of the highest reported areas for family violence. Similarly, Cardinia has indicated a 70% increase in reports across the twelve month period. Comparatively, after reviewing figures reported through our own data as we respond to victims of crime, we too note the alarming increases in violent crimes against individuals including homicide and threats to kill. This alarming social trend has been met with great concern by both the community and Windermere. Identifying and being responsive to social issues such as these is critical for Windermere; participating in high level network groups enables us to share and discuss data and seek joint action. In regards to specific trends around violence, we have directed our own independent funds into programs targeting young children that are designed to break down gender based violence and build stronger respectful relationships amongst this segment of the population. We also continue to build healthier and strong relationships by targeting specific womens groups with the aim of educating and breaking these cycles of violence before they escalate.
Connecting with key members of our community Best Start Network
Monash University
Cardinia Shire Council Cardinia Youth Network
Outer South/Peninsula Integrated Family Violence Partnership
Catholic Education Office Gippsland
Pittstop Partnership
City of Bayside City of Casey Clear Minds Better Lives Hampton Park Feeling is Thinking Headspace Lake Tyers – Aboriginal Renewal Community
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Southern Metropolitan Region Justice Reference Group (Convenor: Department of Justice)
Southern Region Respite Network
SMA Executive Group (Convenor: Department
Stepping-up Cardinia
of Human Services & Department of Health)
Upper Beaconsfield Progress Association
South East Family Violence Network
Victims of Crime Consultative Committee
South Eastern Family Services (ChildFIRST)
Lifeline
Southern Cultural and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Network
Mental Health Professionals Network
Southern Family Violence Executive Group
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(Convenor: Department of Justice)
Victoria Police
Annual Report 2013/2014
Know Our Community
Additionally, we are in the final stages of implementation of an agency wide data analysis system. The Supplementary Reporting Tool is designed to collate consumer information from a number of sources across Windermere and provide a single data warehouse to enable interpretation of usage patterns, workflow and to highlight opportunities for a greater emphasis on collective action. Whilst the information is stored in a de-identified manner (in line with privacy laws) the tool is able to highlight a number of simple factors that previously would have taken extensive hours of manual administration. In conjunction with internal information, external data sources have also informed our work, including the Australian Early Development Index, Australian Bureau of Statistics Census, Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas, and Health and Wellbeing Plans of our local government partners all providing us with greater insights into the socio-economic situations and trends within our communities. To better understand the needs of our Early Childhood Education and Care Services team we utilised numerous sources to create comprehensive community profiles for the three key geographic areas that the home based and centre based programs operate within (Cardinia, Bayside & Frankston). Utilising statistical data, we were able to better inform and customise our service development and funding submissions.
Across the year we engaged with more than 14,000 members of our community; knowing this specific part of the community intimately is critical for us to be able to be responsive and also where possible, preventative.
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We commissioned a local evaluator, Clear Horizon, to aid collection of rich qualitative stories to complement current quantitative data, utilising the Most Significant Change model. This model involves generating and analysing personal accounts of change creating a consumer directed perspective of the opportunities and outcomes delivered through our Communities for Children programs. Finally, right across the organisation, our teams have attended leadership forums, key events and expos and participated in specific reform reviews to influence legislation and practice. Regular analysis and engagement with a diverse spectrum of data sources, relating to and emerging from our community, have helped provide a forum for ongoing conversation, keeping us in touch with current and emerging localised trends and provoking necessary insights to enable us to be responsive to our community’s needs.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Listen to Our Consumers For us to be a trusted member of our community, it is important we continue to build and refresh an in-depth understanding of our community and our consumer’s experience.
Listen to Our Consumers At the core of our work are our consumers; the families, children and individuals connected to our services and our vision. Maintaining and developing new approaches to ensure their voices are heard, respected and inform our daily service interaction is an essential part of our work. These voices also help guide the way we build our internal systems to ensure a seamless service approach and the maximisation of our resources.
the first 'Bullying and Bystander Behaviour' sessions were incorporated permanently into the Kids on Track program, with co-facilitation by Victoria Police. The sessions included engaging information and discussion on Cyber Safety with a focus on driving awareness of ‘online grooming’ and ‘sexting'. Since inception late last year, these programs have received overwhelming support from teachers and students and have helped children further develop pro-social and protective behaviours.
Across 2013/14 we have utilised a number of new channels to collect community feedback and insights, including increasing the number and method of consumer surveys, utilising online social media to engage and converse informally with our consumers and we have continued to have a presence at local shopping centres and other local events. Interacting directly with our community has helped us to continually assess how our services are being received and to stay connected to their broader needs within. The impact of this work has resulted in a number of positive service changes and responses.
Remaining sensitive and vigilant to the issue of suicide prevention, our four year old Suicide Prevention program implemented an even stronger and clearly documented risk management strategy to ensure that those attending our programs were protected and managed appropriately after the program had concluded. By touching base with all participants and following set protocol we were able to identify emerging risk and maintain a proactive dialogue.
Through interactions with local primary schools, Victoria Police and local council, in early 2013 we were asked to build a program to address bullying behaviour. In July 2013,
Our Communities for Children program has also been listening to feedback to improve their service delivery model. The team have worked to build trusting
By touching base with all participants and following set protocol we were able to identify emerging risk and maintain a proactive dialogue.
relationships with their consumers, encouraging them to have their say and fostering an ongoing dialogue on what is working well and what could be done better. This year, the
Mother Goose for All Facilitated Playgroup was divided into two smaller age-appropriate groups after consumers told us they felt it would be more suitable for their children, with overwhelming success and improved outcomes for the children attending. Our Early Childhood Education and Care Services team developed a centralised enrolment and orientation process for the home-based and centre-based programs helping us to consistently engage families from initial contact through to the first six weeks after their child has commenced enabling us to better meet the needs of our families. In addition to this we have undertaken a major review and refresh of all communications and collateral to reflect the changing landscape of the program and its services. Leveraging structural and legislative changes within the industry, the team also made timely improvements to the home-based care programs, refreshing and updating documentation for Educators. As the Victims Assistance team moved into their third year of operation in the greater Gippsland area, through the appointment of an Indigenous staff member, we have been able to broaden our engagement across the Gippsland region and its Indigenous communities.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Listen to Our Consumers We continue to acknowledge and appreciate the way in which the Gippsland community has welcomed us and the new opportunities that are opened to us by the indigenous community.
Our Consumer Consultative Committee, made up of consumers with disabilities and their carers, continued to meet on a regular basis, helping inform service delivery, policy and quality issues. One of the key changes implemented as a result of the committee was the redesign of the wait room at our Narre Warren site. Previously, access to the waiting room was challenging for disability consumers; the committee made some key recommendations regarding access and the space is now more accessible to Windermere consumers across all service areas.
Ongoing survey and consultation process has continued with consumers right across the year. In late 2013, our ‘Help Us To Improve’ survey was provided to a random sample of services users at various times throughout their service delivery. Overall, we learnt that 90% of people using our services felt listened to, comfortable and respected by their Windermere worker and that more than 80% felt that assessment, planning and case review activities were of very high/high quality. 97% of consumers stated they would recommend Windermere to family and friends with one commenting “we wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for the care and support of Windermere to keep us together as a family”.
The Integrated Family Services team continued cold calling families receiving a service to assess satisfaction with overall service delivery, resulting in overwhelmingly positive feedback. The team also measured outcomes for families using a comparative model, indicating statistically significant improvements in the before and after measurements across family functioning, family communications, parenting coping skills and household management. In addition to listening to our external consumers, we’ve also worked closely with our internal consumers – our staff – to ensure we understand and respond best to their needs. Ongoing feedback, information sessions, consultation and agency wide communications have been a key component of this throughout the year.
By listening to what all of our consumers tell us, we have been able to adapt and respond to changing needs and thereby providing relevant, targeted and greater support to our communities.
Across our Corporate Services division, a comprehensive review and overhaul of our Occupational Health & Safety policies and procedures has taken place to ensure best practice. This included a gap analysis of the current safety systems, a desktop review of policies and procedures and hazard inspections across all Windermere sites. Based on the finding of this review, an on-site OHS consultant was engaged to implement the findings and ensure all staff and stakeholders were aware of their rights and responsibilities regarding this critical area of safety in the workplace. By listening to what all of our consumers tell us, we have been able to adapt and respond best to changing needs and therefore provide relevant, targeted and greater support to our communities.
Listening to our donors... Seeking to ensure our major fundraising events remained fresh and relevant to our donors, we asked participants of our 2014 Classic Golf Day for their views on all aspects of the day. After trialling a new venue (a result of feedback from 2013), attendees were satisfied with the venue change however respondents indicated we should also review timing of the event as well as structure to ensure a more streamlined and seamless flow across the day; their feedback will be considered and incorporated as we plan the event for 2015.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Improve Lives
By applying an integrative approach to our service delivery we understand we can provide an improved and seamless service for our consumers.
Improve Lives Shaping and changing lives through information, education and understanding is at the heart of all Windermere’s services and programs. Our staff are geared to deliver the best outcomes for an individual or family; they understand that what works for one family may not work for another; they bring a personalised approach and rapport to their service delivery. An innovative initiative implemented this year was the establishment of an Integrated Care Team; through accessing the technical expertise and resources from the various divisions right across Windermere, the aim was to provide a more integrated framework for service delivery for families. Working with service areas including Disability, Counselling, Housing, Victims Assistance and Integrated Family Services the team were engaged to build stronger relationships with consumers and provide them with a single touchpoint whilst still accessing the expertise of multiple service areas. In doing this for our families, we hope to reduce the number of times they need to tell their story and need to fill out multiple applications, forms or documents.
One parent told us: “We are taking little steps, but we are getting there… I have never felt that feeling before”. Windermere Child & Family Services
In mid 2013, arising from the changing funding and service delivery landscape brought about by the National Disability Insurance Scheme, a similar move was made to a more streamlined model across our Disability Services and Early Childhood Development teams. It was identified that there was a growing need for better case coordination and seamless transition for consumers; as such we employed a Consumer Response Officer to manage the process - roll out for this is planned for late 2014 - early 2015. The Early Childhood Development team also participated in a three month study for the Department of Education & Early Child Development which was designed to assess and evaluate engagement with new clients and their families. Through this process, a multifaceted survey was conducted with findings indicating that there was a lack of understanding for some of our service delivery model amongst new clients. In the coming financial year, the team will begin to implement initiatives to build greater understanding of the way we operate and how consumers can benefit to improve our consumer relationships.
Preliminary results indicate satisfaction from consumers who have been exposed to the integrated service model and feedback has reported that the number of appointments families need to keep is now more manageable.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Improve Lives Our Victims Assistance team have continued to deal with ever increasing demand on services. Whilst demands have been acknowledged through a welcome increase in funding, subsequently allowing for an increase in staff, the types and incidences of crime have also continued to grow relatively. This year we have provided services to a number of victims of very high profile community crimes that have left whole communities affected. We have also worked with international families being informed of the death or serious injury of their family members here in Australia and have had to support surviving family members involved in culpable driving accidents. Throughout Gippsland, the Victims Assistance team had also been experiencing cultural challenges with the largely indigenous communities within the region. A partnership established with Victorian Aboriginal ChildCare Association and Ramyhuck Social (an aboriginal cooperative) has helped to break down these barriers and the entire team have since been declared ‘Culturally Competent’ by Elders across a number of tribes – a significant privilege to have received as well providing access for us to support these areas more effectively. With the many diverse cultures emerging across our vast communities, now more than ever it’s important for us to ensure social inclusion and social cohesion for the families within our growing communities. To address some of these emerging cultures, Windermere’s Communities for Children program, based primarily in Cranbourne, identified the need for a culturally and socially-inclusive playgroup in Cranbourne West. This was established at the City of Casey’s Fairhaven Family & Children’s Centre. Nine families have participated in a weekly group that uses music and musical therapies to celebrate culturally diverse backgrounds and improve family cohesion.
Windermere continues to provide a range of interpretive services for our consumers with our own staff available across the following languages: Bosnian, Croatian, Danish, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Pidgeon English/Kakao/Chimbu, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Shona (Zimbabwean), Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog and Urdu. Windermere Child & Family Services
In late 2013 our Housing team implemented a longitudinal study with existing and previous consumers to assess the long term outcomes of the program’s recipients in relation to permanent housing. The study has already demonstrated more than pleasing results, with at least 95% of individuals remaining in private, long term rentals for at least three years post the program.
ways, develop problem solving strategies, learn ways to deal with conflict and understand the meaning and importance of resilience. In addition, in conjunction with Headspace, a 10 week program for school children to help them manage personal anxiety or deal with anxiety within the home was developed. Staff from Headspace, who were unable to resource the program themselves, provided core training to Windermere to enable a roll out of the program to local schools. Due to an increased demand and unexpected resource constraints, our Suicide Prevention Services team also engaged several community organisations to help us deliver our ASIST workshops. These groups included Early in Life Mental Health Service, LifeCentral and the Salvation Army and although these partnerships were initially developed to meet demand needs, across the period they led to wider community awareness and more effective operations of the program. The Integrated Family Services team also established a number of pilot programs to determine long term feasibility, viability and necessity. These included a short term case management pilot designed to support and reduce the number of consumers who disengaged while awaiting the allocation of a case worker. With services under strong demand and an anticipate length of support required (between three to nine months) the pilot was designed to last six to eight weeks and work on singularly focused issues for the family. The appropriateness of this approach was assessed on an individual basis however a majority of clients said that they felt the shorter timeframe helped motivate them and found the fast goal achievements to be “empowering”. Additional funding into the Kids on Track program lead to enhancements to current program modules, introduction of new modules as well as an expansion of the program into schools located within the Greater Frankston and Cranbourne West areas – helping us reach more children and build greater resilience across more of the communities we work within.
The Suicide Prevention team, in conjunction with Headspace and City of Casey, established the Youth Mental Health Network, with the aim of bringing together key organisations within the community to exchange information, insights, identify localised risks and share what we are doing. From this network, the Resilience 4 Life group was founded. Resilience 4 Life provides participants with positive coping skills to better navigate challenging life experiences, helping them to effectively think in positive
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Improve Lives In 2013, the Communities for Children Library has Legs program was also established to effectively engage consumers and organisations, including the indigenous community, across Cranbourne region. The outreach program, which takes library resources to the community, assists indigenous adults with reading to babies, infants and toddlers to help them develop their literacy. Although too early to effectively evaluate, the program has helped us forge a significant partnerships with Balee Koolin Bubup Bush Playgroup and build upon existing relationships with Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) and the Dandenong District Aboriginal Co-operative Ltd. In spite of the growing cultural and religious diversity within our communities, Christmas is still largely celebrated and cherished; for some of Windermere’s consumers, this can be an especially tough time. Windermere’s Merry Mission 2013 gift appeal sought to make the festive season a little easier for more than 1100 children right across our communities. Through the generosity of hundreds of donors through 23 donor coordinators, we received almost $30,000 worth of gifts, delivering more than 1250 gifts and hampers to help bring Christmas joy and smiles to the faces of children. Organisations such as Commonwealth Bank, Rotary Clubs, Harvey Norman and Target supported the campaign, as well as Adventure Brands who very generously donated 504 mountain bikes valued at more than $145,000. Windermere’s dedicated Early Childhood Education and Care Services team across the period has continued to provide accessible, affordable and flexible child care for our communities, helping to generate income for local families as Family Day Care and In Home Care providers and providing high quality care options for individuals returning back into the workforce. Understanding the commonalities of these key drivers of child care, the team implemented a coordinated approach towards planning and development, revising their resourcing structure to ensure a consistent approach to policy and practice. Combined with a framework that sits within the National Quality Framework, our skilled educators provide a seamless and consistent experience for families, with quality learning outcomes for all children.
“I developed new methods and skills in relation to my parenting and feel much more confident in my ability to interact positively with my kids. The results in relation to my children’s improved behaviours have been remarkable!”
This year has also seen our Early Learning Centre in Frankston reach full capacity. With significant work undertaken by our team to promote the service and to create a welcoming environment for families and children, the demand for this service reached maximum capacity at the start of 2014. It has been an exciting project that now feels like a long term component of our business mix.
Mum, who attended a Communities for Children porgram in December 2013
All of these initiatives have enabled the Windermere team to be more responsive and relevant to the broader community and ensure we can continue to provide greater support to enhance and improve the lives of the families and individuals we work alongside.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Strengthen Our Future
Strengthen Our Future Over our many years of operation, we have worked hard to build quality systems and processes to assure legislative compliance, improve quality of service delivery and provide ongoing, insightful analysis of our performance. With our three year accreditation up for renewal in September 2014 across the 2013/14 period we have continued with our quality working groups to ensure we constantly review our processes and systems. In maintaining a strong understanding of the external environment and changing legislation as well as meet new requirements under the Family Assistance Act, our Early Childhood Education and Care Services team commenced our Family Assistance Law project. The project is designed to establish and meet changing compliance requirements
within the Child Care Payment Compliance framework and also informs the development of future business models, to ensure long term financial viability of our two home based programs. The project is due to conclude in January 2015. As part of the overall monitoring of our programs, we engaged Murdoch Children’s Research Institute to undertake an evaluation of Windermere’s Communities For Children facilitation program. The study, which sought feedback from consumers, the community and those service providers who had funded the program, was assessed on the following criteria: •
Recognise and accept the need for partnership
•
That the partnership’s vision, outcomes, objectives and aims is shared and achievable
•
Ability to develop and maintain trust
•
Ensure commitment and ownership
•
Create clear and robust partnership arrangements
•
Monitor, learn and measure
Results have been overwhelmingly positive with a reported “high level of satisfaction” with Windermere as the facilitating partner.
Across the period, our work developing the site at Toomah in Pakenham has continued. Working in conjunction with Cardinia Shire and a number of other key stakeholders over the past twelve months, we have explored and designed a framework for our future work together. With the aim of constructing a coordinated collaboration of service types working from the Toomah site, we conducted a series of informal discussions with a range of potential partners with the capacity to provide an expanded and complementary portfolio of services to the community. By 2015, we hope to finalise arrangements with providers in preparation for the opening of the centre. In regards to accessing critical funding for our Toomah project, two significant events occurred. In July 2013, we received a very generous pre-election commitment from the then Liberal Candidate for Latrobe Mr Jason Wood; our site at Toomah receiving a $1 million capital grant towards its construction. We were also successful in the sale of our Pakenham site at 48 Station Street, which ensured the remainder of the funding for the Toomah project was secured. With the construction experiencing some delays, the building is set to be ready in early 2015.
The strong leadership demonstrated by Windermere was a significant factor to the successful implementation (of the Cranbourne Communities for Children program). The commitment and support provided (by Windermere) was also identified as a major contributor to the high level of engagement noted in the wider Cranbourne community. An excerpt from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Evaluative Study
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Strengthen Our Future
members in these positions. The new structure has helped ready us for further development work over the next 12 months, ensuring excellence in leadership and supervision of staff to better equip our leaders to understand and meet program outcomes.
Within our Finance team, considerable cost savings have been made by bringing the Payroll systems in house, providing an improved, integrated system with better reporting and self managed monitoring. A restructure of the budget process was undertaken in February in response to organisation needs and across the next financial year should provide greater flexibility, accountability, transparency and improved reporting across the agency.
To bolster fundraising revenue, our Community Partnerships & Marketing team worked closely with key stakeholders to deliver a number of successful events. The annual Bounce of the Ball luncheon was held in March on the eve of the 2014 AFL Season’s kick off, raising in excess of $100,000 for Windermere’s Suicide Prevention and Family Violence programs.
Striving for improvements and efficiencies in our systems, processes and services has allowed us access to greater opportunities – this has not only resulted in driving down organisational costs, it has led to improved staff engagement and empowerment – one of our core foundations for continued growth and success.
The Windermere Golf Classic, held in April raised more than $60,000 to help us run some of our critical intervention programs. The event was attended by Windermere Ambassador Matthew ‘Richo’ Richardson. Other successful community fundraising events were held throughout the year, including the Irvine Club luncheon which raised almost $30,000 and the Prestige Hino Golf Day which contributed $15,000 towards Windermere’s programs and services.
We received a number of significant grants from the philanthropic community to fund some of our early intervention housing and children’s programs including Mums & Bubs, Building Harmony and Kids on Track.
As is the case with most not for profit organisations, funding uncertainty always remains at the forefront of our decision making. Being a largely government funded organisation, election periods can sometimes bring to us good fortune (as was the case with Toomah) however a potential change in government can also create greater levels of uncertainty.
In May 2014 a significant restructure of our service management team was undertaken, reducing middle management numbers from 7 to 4 – this move was to provide improved integration across our service teams with cost savings reallocated to meet new strategic operational requirements. Resourcing reviews have also occurred across a number of departments, resulting in departmental restructures and these have created further cost and resource efficiencies to allow for expansion into new opportunities.
To increase our financial resilience and help minimise the risk associated with government funded programs, strengthening and diversifying our income streams and driving down costs has become a renewed focus across the organisation.
A shuffle of Corporate Services team has allowed for the inclusion of an agency wide learning and development coordinator and a IT projects assistant to drive two key strategies. Across all of our service teams, a holistic review of the role and responsibilities of all Team Leaders has helped to ensure an equitable and consistent level of responsibility across the agency. These positions have created uniformity and shared responsibilities, as well as greater role definition, clarity and purpose for the staff
To meet the needs of our families at the Early Learning Centre, a review was conducted of our software and processes which highlighted some inefficiencies in the current system. We have implemented a new software program which has seen improved financial management capabilities and has created overall operational efficiencies and improved consumer responsiveness.
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We received a number of significant grants from the philanthropic community to fund some of our early intervention housing and children’s programs including our Mums & Bubs, Building Harmony and Kids on Track. Made possible by committed individuals and foundations with a passion for community change, we highly value our relationship with them and their contribution to the community is invaluable. Internally, our Corporate Services team have undertaken a comprehensive review of our contractor management practices, implementing a preferred supplier arrangement across all sites – this has enabled for streamlined operating of contractors, minimising paperwork and administration related to their day to day management and thus, driving significant cost efficiencies. The implementation of Windermere’s new Human Resources Information System in June 2014 is on track to provide line supervisors with greater access to workforce information around employment contracts and entitlements, minimising time and duplications and increasing transparency.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Inspire Enterprising Practice
Inspire Enterprising Practice Long-standing organisations are built upon a foundation of good strategy and innovative thinking – the collective ability to adapt, act and respond to changing environmental, economical and social influences. Windermere has consistently sought out opportunities to grow, strengthen and diversify in order to remain a sustainable and relevant organisation to its changing communities. Over the past twelve months, we have renewed focus on our organisational and service practices to ensure we continue to challenge the status quo.
A steering committee comprising of key members across the organisation, as well individuals from relevant community and government agencies, was established to prepare and manage the organisation transition of disability services and programs impacted by the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The primary focus of the committee was to identify constraints with current systems, processes and service practices and redevelop business models to maximise funding under the new scheme. Over the course of the next 12-18 months Windermere will seek to roll out a new individualised service model in areas relevant to our work and our community’s needs in time for the implementation of the NDIS across Victoria.
Building on our 2013-16 Strategic Plan we have introduced a set of Strategic Operational Priorities to drive new practice across the agency. These priorities are key operational requirements for the entire agency and emerged from individual department workplans to form one collective plan. Seeking out new ways to address operational priorities, management staff and Team Leaders have been on a development journey, utilising such strategies as Program Logic, to assist with planning and project focus. Through these operational priorities, we have been able to formulate ideas and objectives and ensure our direction remains focused on our future outcomes.
We have already mentioned the great work surrounding the development of our site at Toomah. Part of this ground breaking project has been the collaboration of partnerships between services, utilities and suppliers to minimise the initial project and ongoing operational costs and provide a centralised, cohesive and cost-focussed approach to communications and security.
We have and will continue to use our overall organisational purpose as our compass to keep us on track, realigning and maintaining our focus on what is important and where we need to head so we can continue to be a sustainable, viable and relevant organisation well into the future.
Windermere Child & Family Services
In seeking new solutions after discussion and feedback from key members across our community, we understood that parents of children on the Autism Spectrum, faced ongoing challenges when trying to manage their child’s behaviour and communicate these variations to those teachers, case workers and other professionals working with them. To address this, our Early Childhood Development Services team pioneered a DIY behavioural tool kit which gathers information about a person’s individual ASD related needs and behaviours and provide simple ideas about meeting needs and preventing particular behaviours. The kit was rolled out in May 2014 with plans for it to be moved into an interactive, mobile app in 2014-15.
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Similarly, from both a technological and cost-reduction perspective, there has been a growing need to become more responsive and more efficient in the way our staff work and communicate across multiple sites in diverse geographical locations. This has been demonstrated in a renegotiation on our overall staff printing contracts and devices, helping to provide further flexibility to staff travelling between Windermere locations, enabling resource accountability and minimising wasted printing. We were also able to obtain significant cost benefits through a generous corporate donation over the life of the contract. Roll out is scheduled for August 2014. Furthermore, to respond to organisational and industry expectations for improved information technology systems and infrastructure upgrades, we renegotiated existing communication data contracts to boost flexibility between our geographic locations to aid user mobility. To help facilitate this change, we realised the necessity of recruiting an Information & Communications Technology Projects Assistant, commencing in October 2014. Project priorities will include point-to-point Wifi and server upgrades agency wide. Understanding the landscape around us, the key social trends and the changing expectations of our community are critical to our continued long term survival. Our enterprising perspective is becoming intrinsic to our organisational culture; remaining aware and accountable helps us to continually assess and evaluate our processes and practices to improve, adapt and refine them.
Strategic Operational Priorities 2013 and Beyond •
Unified leadership development for Management & Team Leaders
•
The creation of a Seamless Service approach
•
Identifying new efficiencies through new IT solutions
•
Creating a ‘whole of agency’ approach to training
•
Developing new business approaches to support a consumer led service system
Annual Report 2013/2014
Financials
Financials Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of Windermere Child & Family Services Inc. We have audited the summarised financial report of Windermere Child & Family Services Inc. for the year ended 30 June 2014 comprising the Summary Statement of Comprehensive Income and the Summary Balance Sheet in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards. In our opinion, the information reported in the summarised financial report is consistent with the annual financial report from which it is derived and upon which we expressed an unqualified audit opinion in our report to the members dated 13 November 2014. For a better understanding of the scope of our audit, this report should be read in conjunction with our audit report on the annual financial report.
McLean Delmo Bentleys Audit Pty Ltd
Kevin P Adams Director Hawthorn 13 November 2014
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Financials
Summary statement of comprehensive income for the year ended 30 June 2014
Summary balance sheet as at 30 June 2014
2014
2013
$
$
14,000,320
13,017,584
293,442
316,881
Other Income
2,204,127
2,549,609
Total Revenue
16,497,889
15,884,074
Revenue Government Funding Donations and Fundraising (Net)
2014
2013
$
$
Current Assets
7,041,740
7,903,472
Non-Current Assets
5,833,350
5,920,886
12,875,090
13,824,358
2,973,802
6,027,401
290,673
291,114
Total Liabilities
3,264,475
6,318,515
Net Assets
9,610,615
7,505,843
Total Assets Current Liabilities Non-Current Liabilities
Expenses Employment
9,006,590
8,377,028
Family Day Care / In Home Care Contractors
2,878,818
3,079,809
458,439
440,663
1,413,026
1,620,679
698,640
556,821
1,758,058
1,733,276
16,213,571
15,808,276
Operating Surplus
284,318
75,798
Community Development Grant - Toomah Centre
750,000
-
(117,150)
(12,252)
909
2,000
(2,199)
(2,216)
915,878
63,330
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss Revaluation of land and buildings
1,188,894
-
Total Comprehensive Income for the Year
2,104,772
63,330
Accommodation Direct Client Assistance Brokered Contracts Other Operating Costs Total Expenses
Loss on Sale of Property, Plant and Equipment Specific Purpose Donations and Memorial Fund Revenue Specific Purpose Donations and Memorial Fund Expenses Net Surplus
Government income by program
Other Comprehensive Income
Please note: As required by the Association Incorporation Reform Act 2012, members of Windermere Child & Family Services Inc. have been provided with a complete copy of the Financial Report for the year ended 30 June 2014. Persons seeking information are invited to direct enquiries to the Chief Executive Officer.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Financials
As a result of increased funding, salaries, contractors and oncosts grew proportionately, representing 55.15% of total expenditure.
Overall, income has remained stable and strong across the financial year with consistent and incremental growth of around 8.58% on the previous year. Federal and State Government income has remained steady despite a shifting and uncertain funding landscape. Within the period, we continued to source new and diversified revenue streams to aid growth and investment. These include income gained from the $750,000 Federal Government capital development grant for our new community site, Toomah, in Pakenham and new philanthropic channels to support our critical intervention programs that receive no government funding.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Our Partners & Supporters
Thank you
Our Partners & Supporters We rely solely on the generosity of individuals, community groups, local business and the philanthropic community to enable us to operate some of our life changing programs. Over the past 12 months we have been fortunate to have received hundreds of donations from all members of our community.
Significant Donors
Event Sponsors
Automotive Holdings Group Limited
Schools, Tertiary & Training Institutions
Cardinia Shire Council
School of Health & Social Development
Berwick Sand & Soil
Carl Strachan
Faculty of Health, Deakin University
Carl Strachan
Dominion Hotel Group
Monash University
Commonwealth Bank
Elizabeth Mildwater
Nepean Industry Edge Training
Facey Industrial
G. & K. O’Connor
Government Departments
Commercial
Geoff Bainbridge
Department of Health
Global Zone
Ian Ball
Department of Human Services
Leanne Montague
Inner Wheel Club of Berwick
Department of Justice
Mercedes Benz Berwick
Myer Stores Community Fund
Department of Education and Early
Montague Group
Newmarket Tavern Pty Ltd Shopping
Childhood Education
Morgan & Griffin
Plaza
Department of Social Services
South East Business Park
Bank of Queensland
Parklea Pty Ltd
Tarmac Civil
Quest Carpet Manufacturers Pty Ltd
Constructions
Ray Montague
Agencies, Trusts & Foundations
RB Print Imaging Pty Ltd
Collier Charitable Fund
Rotary Club of Casey
Commonwealth Bank Australia
Susan Delaney
Gandel Philanthropy
Vantage Property Investments
Pace Development Group
Warfam Pty Ltd
Sunshine and Crocodiles Fund Pty Ltd
Ray & Dawn King
Zagame Automotive
Ambassadors David Parkin OAM Matthew Richardson
We thank all of our other supporters, in-kind donors, staff and volunteers who enable us to operate effectively every day.
The Cardinia Foundation
Local Government Bayside City Council Cardinia Shire Council City of Casey
The Marian & EH Flack Trust The Russell Foundation The Good Guys Foundation The Jean Anderson Foundation
Dandenong City Council Frankston City Council
Please note: We appreciate and individually thank all donors individually; while every effort has been made to thank all of our supporters, we apologise for any oversight or omission in this document. Please note that although donations of less than $2,500 are not acknowledged in this report, we are grateful for every financial and inkind contribution we have received over the past financial year.
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Annual Report 2013/2014
Get Involved There are many ways you can show your support to Windermere and our community - from a monthly donation or gift in your Will, your contribution can make a difference to the lives and wellbeing of our children and families.
Make a donation
Give a monthly gift
One or many, every dollar you give can help provide critical funds for our intervention programs, helping children and families gain the necessary skills to equip them for a better future. Invest in your community today by giving online or
Your small gift can make a big difference...for as little as $20 a month, you can provide life-changing assistance to a child who desperately needs your help. Invest in your community today by giving online or phoning us to make a donation.
phoning us to make a donation.
Donate through your workplace We rely heavily on the support of the corporate sector to help us continue our vital work. We seek to forge long-term, strategic and mutually beneficial relationships with involved and committed partners as well as work with employers to improve workplace satisfaction through a workplace giving program. Speak to the Community Partnerships team about how your workplace can get involved and support families and children in your local community to have a brighter future.
Host a fundraising event Why not hold a morning tea, bake sale or trivia night to raise money for Windermere. No matter what you plan to do, a fundraising event is a fun and personal way to bring together friends, family and other members of the community to help support a great cause! Please call us to see how we can support you.
Leave a gift in your Will Leave a long lasting legacy, by providing Windermere with a gift in your Will. Your generous contribution will benefit families and children in your community long after you’ve gone. For a confidential discussion speak with the Community and Corporate Relations Manager.
Attend an event Windermere’s events are a great way for individuals and businesses to get involved in something special and give something back at the same time. We run a number of special events each year, some of which take place overseas and involve a number of physical and fundraising challenges. While the purpose of our events is to raise money, everyone who participates gets something valuable back too — just by taking part. For more information about our upcoming events, speak to our Community Partnerships & Marketing team.