United Way Australia Annual Report 2013

UNITED WAY AUSTRALIA

ADVANCING EDUCATION INCOME AND HEALTH

GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEER.UnitedWay.com.au

2013 ANNUAL REPORT

INTRODUCTION CONTENTS

We are delighted to welcome you to our 2013 Annual Report. For your convenience, you will find it is made up of 3 distinct sections so you can choose whether you read just the relevant sections or get the full picture by reading cover to cover.

The 3 sections are:

WHO WE ARE

GOVERNANCE

IMPACT

To bring this report to life and to show our commitment to credibility and transparency, you will discover links in the online version to other interesting collateral, research and video material. We hope you enjoy reading about our journey in creating positive social change.

WHO WE AREReport from CEO and Chairman .............. 4-5

2013 Year in Review by numbers ............... 6

A New Horizon .......................................... 7

Vision, Mission, Strategy .......................... 8

GOVERNANCEBoard Members .................................. 10-11 Board Attendance ................................... 12 Financials ...........................................13-14

IMPACTProcess and Reporting ............................ 16

Measuring Impact ....................................17

Education ...........................................18-21

Income .............................................. 22-27 Health ................................................28-29

Impact in the Spotlight ...................... 30-33

Conclusion .............................................. 34

Contacts ................................................. 35

UNITED WAY AUSTRALIA 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

2 | CONTENTS

WHO WE ARE


4 | WHO WE ARE

GROWING OUR COMMUNITY IMPACT

MOBILISING THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

In 2009 we published our mandate to create Community Impact. This confirmed our transition from a fundraising/grant making organisation to one focused on achieving lasting results through Collaboration, Innovation and Evidence. In addition we outlined our plans to focus on the social areas where we could make most difference - Education, Income and Health. It was pleasing in 2013 to publish our first Community Impact report ‘Our Journey So Far’ which outlined our key areas of impact, evaluation insights and opportunities for practice improvement. We were greatly encouraged by the acclaim the report received from sectoral leaders as a contribution to the ongoing dialogue about social impact measurement and evaluation.

We have similarly been emboldened by the growing interest in Collective Impact from corporate, government and community leaders. United Way Worldwide has featured strongly in many case studies relating to Collective Impact and locally we have been active in collaborative initiatives that feature many of the key principles of Collective Impact. This positioning has opened doors for us to share our insights with many practitioners and sectoral leaders. We are encouraged by the development and look to further nurture our own Collective Impact initiatives and in the sector more broadly.

In June 2013, and after two years of solid work, we launched our ReadLearnSuceed strategy with well-known Australian author

Peter Fitzsimons in Sydney and the Victorian Premier, the Honourable Denis Napthine in Portland, Victoria. This is a cradle to career agenda using the principles of collective impact in high need communities around Australia. Our initial focus is on ensuring more children start school ready to learn. We do this by working with many local community partners to create aligned activities. This work includes an opportunity for children to receive a free new book every month up to their 5th birthday. We couldn’t have done this without the support and capabilities of our partners. By year end we were pleased to be working in 7 communities with 1300 Children. Thank you to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Penguin Random House Publishers and Rotary International for your support.

United Way has had a strong partnership with local and national Australian businesses for decades. In recent years we have built on our focus of Workplace Giving® to now being the pre-eminent provider of corporate volunteering in Australia engaging over 6000 employees in the community. We are proud to be working with talented and passionate volunteers – lending their muscle, skills and capabilities to help us address critical social issues.

Through a number of events during the year we had the opportunity to share our knowledge about creating healthy communities with Australian businesses. This included John Kenny, CEO of Colliers International, hosting a meeting for a group of CEOs so we could hear Barry Salzberg (Global CEO of Deloitte and Chairman of United Way Worldwide) share his thoughts on ‘leveraging human capital to improve businesses and strengthen communities.’ He challenged us all to think about the many ways businesses can mobilise their people for skilled and strategic volunteering. Barry also explained that his passion for education resulted from his own life experience as the first person in his family to go to university. We were also grateful to Vaughan Richter, CEO of INGDirect, for hosting a group of Australian CEOs in conversation about the role of business in education at James Meehan High School in Macquarie Fields, Sydney.

And we listened intently to Michael Wesley (ANU Professor) and Simon Blair (Group Executive, International Financial Services, Commonwealth Bank of Australia) who featured in our Corporate Community Impact in Asia Summit. At this forum, Brian Gallagher (CEO of United Way Worldwide) observed that across the world there is a new social contract being negotiated between business, government and communities. This is leading to new ways of working together to solve community problems. Other speakers challenged corporate leaders to think of Australia as more than a bystander in Asia and the importance of addressing the gap between education and opportunity for many young people in our region. Speakers stressed the importance of addressing a need in the community by adding value and investing time in relationships that are two way and avoiding the ‘missionary’ philosophy. The Asia summit highlighted our growing international legacy and engagement which has been supported by the appointment of Paul Metcalfe as Director, Investor Relations South East Asia and Pacific with United Way Worldwide.

We have built on our focus of Workplace Giving® to now being the pre-eminent provider of corporate volunteering in Australia engaging over 6000 volunteers in the community.

WHO WE ARE | 5


DIVERSIFYING AND SUSTAINING OUR RESOURCES

STRENGTHENING ORGANISATION CAPACITY

The change in our mission from fundraiser to community mobiliser over the last 5 years has necessitated a change in our legal entity’s status. We were pleased that the Commonwealth passed a bill confirming United Way Australia’s new classification as a Listed Deductible Gift Recipient in June 2013. This reclassification is recognition of the important role we are playing and provides opportunities to fundraise in our own right and secure funding from Private and Public Ancillary Funds.

During the year the total revenue from our operations across the Australian entities increased to $6,696,461 in 2013 (2012 gross revenue: $5,292,866), of which United Way Australia (covering Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland) raised $3,047,744 in 2013 (2012 gross revenue: $2,426,493). This increase in income is the result of the successful acquisition of new major donors and other general donations toward our ReadLearnSucceed programs as well as a significant one off contribution to United Way Glenelg. In addition to financial contributions from its donors, United Ways across Australia expanded their Corporate Connect® and Engaged Volunteering programs during the year delivering 43,410 volunteers hours (2012: 40,315 hours) through the efforts of 6,298 volunteers* (2012: 3,266 volunteers) to local communities.

Our new strategic focus has required us to build our organisational capacity, particularly in hiring new team members with specialist skills in fundraising, marketing and Community Impact. These have been supported with stronger systems (to enable programs such as the Imagination Library) including a new IT server, as well as continuous improvement in risk management, compliance and occupational health and safety. Our capacity is strengthened by the many businesses that provide us with pro bono services; most notably Rodgers Reidy for the provision of office space, IT Next Generation for IT Support, HP and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for a new server, Deloitte for their financial auditing, Fuji Xerox Australia for their printing support, EY for their review of our Community Impact work, Gadens Lawyers and Herbert Smith Freehills for legal support, McCann and Weber Shandwick for communications support.

Our thanks also extends to the United Way Australia Board and network for their continued support and commitment to our new focus on Community Impact. In 2013 we farewelled Alison Frame from our National Board and welcomed our CEO, Doug Taylor, as an Executive Director. Our thanks to the national Board for their active participation in our independent organisational review to ensure we have the right governance capability and leadership at all levels in the organisation to deliver on our bold new agenda. Finally, hearty congratulations to our colleagues at United Way Ballarat for their 30 year anniversary and outstanding support and leadership in their community.

* A significant increase from 2012 to 2013 due to a one off youth program called ‘Lead on Ballarat’ which recruited larger numbers of young people in order to break a Guinness world record.

Brian Long Chairman

Doug Taylor CEO and Executive Director

United Ways across Australia expanded their Corporate Connect® and Engaged Volunteering programs during the year delivering 43,410 volunteer hours through the efforts of 6,298 volunteers.


6 | WHO WE ARE

2013 YEAR IN REVIEW BY NUMBERS ACROSS THE UNITED WAY NETWORK

WE MADE A DECISION TO FOCUS ON AND MAKE HEADWAY IN EDUCATION PARTICULARLY. TOGETHER, WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2013.

YOUR SUPPORT MEANT WE COULD MAKE A REAL COMMUNITY IMPACT – IMPROVING PEOPLE’S EDUCATION, INCOME AND HEALTH LOCALLY AND ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

...across health

CONTINUED OUR COALITION WORK TO IMPROVE THE MENTAL HEALTH OF MANY HIGH RISK YOUNG PEOPLE IN REDFERN AND WATERLOO, NSW.

Making them better prepared for future careers and further education

Across australia, over

VOLUNTEERS6000

...across education, over

CHILDREN AGED 0-5 YEARS1300

...across income, over

SECONDARY STUDENTS945

received more than

NEW BOOKS4700

have been mentored by

VOLUNTEERS135

put in more than

HOURS40,000to support more than

COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS200

their literacy supported by over

VOLUNTEERS140

through

EVENTS88

and

EVENTS22

and change the lives of over

28,000INDIVIDUALS

WHO WE ARE | 7


A NEW HORIZON

For many people a real highlight of the Olympics is watching the final night of the swimming. It’s not just because Australia typically does well (London aside) but because it’s the night of the relay finals and we are drawn to the best swimmers putting aside their respective interests to strive together for a gold medal for their country.

There’s something inherently appealing and logical about using our assets and capabilities to work together to achieve a common goal and it’s most evident in our community when we face a crisis or natural disaster. Somehow on those occasions the social sector is able to shift from running our own individual races in swim lanes to forming a champion team and doing great things together. It begs the question, why can’t this be done day in day out as we work to support Australians beset by perennial social problems? Surely funders and our community partners can put aside logo and ego to improve the lives of more Australians and create stronger communities. It’s tough but it can be done, by organisations large and small alike.

United Way Worldwide is the largest privately funded not for profit in the world and 15 years ago our colleagues in the United States and Canada started asking questions about their theory of change. For over 100 years our purpose was to raise money from local communities (in the US this equates to $2.2 billion) and make grants to thousands of charities around the country.

They concluded that whilst this had done lots of good, we’d inadvertently created a complex web of small community projects that were disconnected from each other; they were at times duplicating activity and at worst actively competing. It was hard to see improved outcomes at the local community population level despite this massive investment. This reflection led to a historic decision to move away from raising money to fund programs to instead resourcing community level impact strategies or as we call it ‘mobilising individuals and organisations to advance the common good.’

As you can imagine when the largest funder in the country changes the way they grant and engage local communities, it creates a wave of change. As our network became more focused on a few key national strategies including school readiness, school completion and financial security there developed some fantastic innovations and local partnerships. One was the Strive Partnership in Cincinatti which was showcased in Kania and Kramer’s work on Collective Impact in late 2011. Kramer recently wrote about the work of United Way and it provides a potential blue print for other funders:

‘United Way can train the spotlight on critical issues, engage with private and public sector leaders and coordinate agendas with partners to leverage collective efforts. When United Way leverages its role as a funder to build relationships between organisations rather than fund them individually, it is also redefining its own role within a larger context for impact.’ (United Way Worldwide, Charting a Course for Change, 2012)

There’s been lots of talk about Collective Impact in Australia and like every new innovation there can be too much of a sense that this is the new silver bullet. Collective Impact provides a useful guide in tackling a complex social problem for a population group in a local community. United Way Australia has been on this

journey for the last 6 years which you can read about in our Community Impact report. A great local example of our collaborative work is 90 Homes for 90 Lives - a coalition of leaders that secured resources to provide permanent homes for 70 Rough Sleepers in Woolloomooloo, with demonstrated early success.

Of course we have not achieved these things alone. We have been supported by our corporate and community partners and there are many other funders who have been working collaboratively for a number of years. Collective Impact does provide a helpful new tool kit for those of us committed to long term outcomes. United Way is actively applying the Collective Impact principles and wants to learn along with others.

As funders and community leaders we need to ask ourselves are we only accountable for running our organisation’s program and getting a personal best in our own individual event? Or are we willing to take responsibility for the overall health and wellbeing of our community and take a step in a new direction to make change of truly Olympic proportions? Because when we team up with the person in the lane next to us, magic can happen. And against the odds, maybe we can even win gold!

United Way can train the spotlight on critical issues, engage with private sector leaders and coordinate agendas with partners to leverage collective efforts.


8 | WHO WE ARE

OUR MISSION

OUR VISION OUR STRATEGY

United Way Australia and our affiliates have undergone a process of transformation over the last 3 years. These changes have been shaped by the social context in which we operate. It’s increasingly clear that the community needs United Way to play a role in mobilising individuals and organisations across the sectors to work together to improve our communities and the lives of those who struggle with social and economic disadvantage.

In light of this we have embarked upon a new social mandate of Community Impact which has reshaped our proposition for support and engagement for employees and businesses. Our work over the last 2 years has been solid and provided a good foundation resulting in a 5% growth in our resource base. The last year has afforded us the opportunity to develop a new 3 year organisational strategy that we believe will deliver on our ambition. This has included Board level strategy development which identified the following 4 key elements:

IMPACT – to be a community mobiliser that enables measurable Community Impact in Australia.

By 2016, we will demonstrate a trend towards the 5 year goal: By 2018, the % of children commencing school ‘language vulnerable’ in our targeted communities will be halved.

By 2016, 90% of young people in our target schools are ‘fully engaged’ 6 months after leaving school.

INCOME/REVENUE – develop a sustainable and scalable resource base for our work.

By 2016 UWA receives income from diversified sources which fully fund its operations.

By 2016, UWA has built financial reserves for future sustainability from surplus income.

IDENTITY – strong identity as a mobiliser for Community Impact.

By 2016 many more individuals and institutions will know the brands LIVE UNITED and United Way, what we stand for and actively Give, Advocate and Volunteer.

INFLUENCE – United Way will influence the way in which institutions improve lives and systems.

By 2016 United Way Australia will be the partner of choice for institutions committed to collaborative Community Impact.

By 2016 across Australia there will be a number of significant Community Impact partnerships that cite United Way’s work locally and globally and as a source of good practice.

As a not for profit

organisation, our focus is on establishing education,

income and health as the building blocks of a good life. Right now,

our priority is ReadLearnSucceed, an early intervention program

for disadvantaged communities that seeks to improve literacy,

school retention and readiness for work.

We believe all

individuals and families should have the opportunity

to reach their full potential. And since everyone has a role to play in

removing barriers and making this a reality, at United Way our mission is

to mobilise individuals, business and government so that together

we can help address society’s most pressing needs.

GOVERNANCE


10 | GOVERNANCE

GOVERNANCEUNITED WAY AUSTRALIA BOARD MEMBERS

The United Way Australia Board provides governance and leadership to the organisation in accordance with the Constitution and Board related policies. The Board is elected by the members of the organisation who comprise of representatives from the communities in which United Way has a presence. The Board is the custodian of the United Way Brand in Australia and as such provides leadership to the organisation’s Regional Councils in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and Affiliated Boards in South Australia, Glenelg, Ballarat and West Australia.

The Board has active sub-committees with portfolios that include finance and audit, performance and remuneration. The finance and audit committee oversees the financial audit, budget review, as well as risk and compliance assessments. In 2013 the Board also engaged in a review of occupational health and safety policies, customer relationship application, 2013-2016 strategic plan and self-assessment with the support of an external consultant.

TOM ADAMS is currently Executive Director Finance and Business Services for Alcoa of Australia Ltd. The primary focus of this role is accountability for the leadership, strategy and management of finance and business services supporting Alcoa’s operations across Australia (including Finance, Accounting, Taxation, Treasury, Shared Services, Internal Audit, Risk Management, Procurement, Supply, Information Systems and Technology, Credit Management, and Company Secretary). As a director of the company, Tom also contributes to strategic decisions and policies formulated by Alcoa’s senior management team. Tom has been an employee of Alcoa since 1985 and worked in chartered accountancy firms in New South Wales, Northern Territory and Perth prior to Alcoa. Tom is a director and company secretary on the boards of Alcoa of Australia Ltd and its subsidiary companies. He is also a board member and Chairman of United Way Western Australia. He has been a director (and is currently an alternate director) on the board of DBNGP Pty Ltd, which operates the major gas pipeline in Western Australia and is partially owned by Alcoa. Tom is also a Trustee on Alcoa of Australia’s superannuation fund.

TOM BRIGSTOCKE joined the United Way Sydney Board in November 2002. He has specialised in branding and communications for over 30 years in the UK, Europe and Australia and is now Managing Director of Principals Pty Ltd, Australia’s leading independent brand strategy, identity and language company. He is also a director of Imaging Partners Online Limited. Previously he spent 4 years on the board of Brumby’s Bakeries Holdings Ltd. Tom also serves on the United Way Sydney Council

STACEY GROSE, LLB BA, is a Director and Commercial Solicitor at BJT Legal in Ballarat, Victoria. Stacey joined the firm in 2006 and runs the Business Law Team. Stacey is currently the Chair of United Way Ballarat having been committed to the organization since joining in early 2008. In addition she is also the Chair of the Ballarat Foundation, a community foundation that operates alongside United Way Ballarat. Stacey is also the Chair of the Ballarat Business Centre Inc, an organization which is partly government funded and accommodates, supports and educates small business in the Western Victoria region.

TAMI HARRIOTT, B.A. (Oklahoma State), M.S. (Oklahoma State)., MBA (UTAS), GAICD started her career in financial services in 1983 in Delaware, USA. She has over 17 years experience in Banking & Finance in the United States and Australia. In addition to her experience in Banking & Finance, Tami has held senior roles in both the Construction and Health Care industries in Human Resource Management, Sales and Marketing. As part of her tenure in Marketing she has been involved in establishing CSR frameworks for small businesses and is an active volunteer. She is the past Vice Chair of ABWN, Past Chair of Queensland Writers Centre and a Chair of the United Ways – Qld Regional Council. Tami’s involvement with United Way dates back to 1984 while working with PNC Bank in the United States.

LIZ DIBBS was a Partner and General Counsel of PwC and previously worked with major law firms Mallesons Stephen Jaques (Sydney) and Linklaters & Paines (London). Liz now works as a Non-Executive Director in the NFP and community sectors. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Western Sydney, a Council Member of Chief Executive Women and Chair of its Scholarship Committee and a Governor of the Centenary Institute. She was the President of YWCA NSW from 2007-2011 and a Director of YWCA Australia from 2009 to 2013.

DENISE BROTHERTON BEc. CPA MTax is a Partner with EY, specialising in business tax advisory services including services to the not for profit sector. Denise has worked with EY for 18 years. She is currently a board member of the EY Foundation. Denise has worked with United Way in Australia for almost 5 years and is Chair of the United Way Melbourne Council.

GOVERNANCE | 11


PHILIP HOSER, MA (Cantab), Barrister (England), joined the United Way Australia Board in July 2008. Philip is recognised as a leading litigator of corporate dispute work, restructuring, and insolvency. Before joining Jones Day in 2009 (where he is now a Partner) he headed the restructuring and insolvency practice at a major Australian law firm. He has been Chair of the United Way Sydney Council since 2010.

GEOFFREY VOGT, B Ec, FAICD, FCSA, CPA, ANZIIF (Assoc), CFTP, SF FIN, RFD, FGIA has extensive experience in the financial services and insurance industries. He is currently CEO of the Industry Leaders Fund Inc, which identifies and invests in the development and realisation of the potential of future industry leaders in South Australia. He is a Director of KeyInvest Limited, the Centennial Park Cemetery Authority, and two not for profit organisations. He is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Australian Army Reserve. For nearly 12 years until July 2008, Geoffrey was Chief Executive Officer of the Motor Accident Commission in South Australia, a Statutory Authority which has responsibility for the monopoly compulsory third party insurance scheme in the state and has had experience as a Ministerial Advisor.

ALISON FRAME joined the Australian Public Service in 2000, after 5 years as an Allied Health Professional in the NGO sector working as an Assistive Technology Consultant with people with disabilities. Ms Frame has worked in Medicare Australia, the Commonwealth Department of Families and Community Services, and the Department of Human Services. She has also spent time as a Departmental Liaison Officer and Ministerial Adviser on social policy and service delivery issues at Parliament House in Canberra. Ms Frame was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in the Commonwealth Public Service in 2006 in the Department of Human Services. In 2008 Ms Frame was transferred with Centrelink from Canberra to a network leadership role in Sydney with responsibility for Centrelink operations in parts of Sydney and the Illawarra, including responsibility for 25 offices and over 1000 staff. Since December 2010 Ms Frame has worked in Canberra in the Department of Human Services overseeing the Social Policy Delivery and Planning Division.

DOUG TAYLOR joined United Way Sydney in 2007 and in his role as CEO he is focused on developing the Community Impact strategy that addresses the education, income and health needs of local communities and instigated the Common Cause Strategy in Sydney. This work has culminated in a number of Collective Impact strategies and ReadLearnSucceed. He has played a leadership role in nationalising United Way’s work which resulted in him becoming United Way Australia’s inaugural CEO and Executive Director. He is a Board Member of the School for Social Entrepreneurs. Doug completed Post Graduate studies in Management and is an alumni of the Sydney Leadership program in 2004. He also has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and was the inaugural Chair of United Way Worldwide’s Global Professional Council and is currently a member of the Membership Accountability Committee.

RICHARD SHARPE is a Director in a third generation family owned business. Richard is an active member of the Central Coast community involved in Rotary, the Salvation Army and Scouts. His Civil Contracting business, Sharpe Bros, has won many awards for safety and Engineering. Richard has been a Director of the United Way Central Coast Community Chest since 2010.

BRIAN LONG FCA is Chairman of United Way Australia. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Commonwealth Bank Of Australia . He is the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ten Network Holdings Limited. He is the Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Council of the University Of NSW . Previously he had been a partner of the accounting firm EY for almost 30 years and had been the Presiding Partner of the EY Global Advisory Council and Presiding Partner of the EY Oceania Area Advisory Council.

DIRECTORS WHO RETIRED AT THE AGM 22 MAY 2013

DIRECTORS WHO WERE ELECTED AT THE BOARD MEETING 4 DECEMBER 2012 AND RATIFIED AT THE 2013 AGM

BOARD ATTENDANCE

NAME BOAR

D M

EETI

NGS

HELD

W

HILE

BOA

RD M

EMBE

R

NUM

BER

ATTE

NDED

AUDI

T AN

D FI

NANC

E

COM

MIT

TEE

MEE

TING

S HE

LD

NUM

BER

ATTE

NDED

PERF

ORM

ANCE

AND

NO

MIN

ATIO

NS C

OMM

ITTE

E M

EETI

NGS

HELD

NUM

BER

ATTE

NDED

Tom Adams

Tom Brigstocke

Denise Brotherton

Martin Cowling

Liz Dibbs

Alison Frame (Retired 22 May 2013)

Stacey Grose

Tami Harriott

Phillip Hoser

Brian Long

Richard Sharpe

Geoff Vogt

Doug Taylor (Appointed 22 May 2013)


12 | GOVERNANCE

FINANCIALS

GOVERNANCE | 13


2013 2012 $ $

ASSETS

CURRENT ASSETS

Cash and cash equivalents 942,985 885,322

Fixed term bank deposits 472,924 252,801

Receivables 157,996 221,685

TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 1,573,905 1,359,808

NON-CURRENT ASSETS

Plant and equipment 11,720 7,649

TOTAL NON-CURRENT ASSETS 11,720 7,649

TOTAL ASSETS 1,585,625 1,367,457

LIABILITIES

CURRENT LIABILITIES

Payables and accrued expenses 136,696 73,597

Related parties 47,426 49,111

Deferred revenue 214,534 210,207

TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 398,656 332,915

LONG TERM LIABILITIES

Provision for Long Service Leave 9,839 4,334

TOTAL LONG TERM LIABILITIES 9,839 4,334

TOTAL LIABILITIES 408,495 337,249

NET ASSETS 1,177,130 1,030,207

EQUITY

Donations Fund

- for designated purposes 209,766 219,709

- for general purposes 293,302 293,302

Operations Fund (Previously Administration Fund)

- for United Way Australia network purposes 168,119 168,119

- for general purposes 505,943 349,078

TOTAL EQUITY 1,177,130 1,030,207

Consolidated statement of financial position as at 31 December 2013

Consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for year ending 31 December 2013

2013 2012 $ $

DONATIONS FUND

Revenue

Donations revenue 1,206,712 1,456,791

Less:

Revenue received on behalf of other United Way entities

in Australia (184,337) (206,700)

1,022,375 1,250,091

Expenses

Donations distributed to beneficiaries (1,032,318) (1,267,403)

(Shortfall)/Excess of revenue over expenses from Donations Fund (9,943) (17,312)

ADMINISTRATION FUND

Revenue

Programme revenue and project income 1,807,256 1,384,337

Less:

Programme revenue and project income allocated to

other United Way entities in Australia (43,092) (54,800)

1,764,164 1,329,537

Proceeds from Liquidation of United Way Queensland - 14,431

Interest income 33,776 33,606

Non monetary donations 257,758 202,904

Total Revenue 2,055,698 1,580,479

Expenses

Programme 871,824 582,080

Volunteering projects to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane community 326,787 385,093

Administration expenses 700,222 610,275

Total Expenses 1,898,833 1,577,448

Excess of administration revenue over administration expenses 156,865 3,031

Total Excess / (Shortfall) of revenue over expenses from continuing operations before income tax expense 146,922 (14,282)

Income tax – –

Total comprehensive income / (loss) 146,922 (14,282)

FINANCIALS


14 | GOVERNANCE

IMPACT


16 | IMPACT

IMPACTCOMMUNITY IMPACT STRATEGY

At United Way Australia we acknowledge that many of the social issues facing Australia today are highly complex. That is, no one organisation can solve them. Instead we believe in working across sectors and organisations to leverage the available resources to make a collective impact in communities.

We are uniquely positioned as a ‘neutral broker’ to bring together government, community organisations, citizens and businesses – all that we fundamentally believe are required to overcome social issues. That’s how we tackle issues strategically. Tactically we work in high need geographic communities, rolling our sleeves up with our volunteers to engage and directly support families and children. Combined, we call this approach Community Impact – changing the lives of whole communities for the better, for a long time.

During 2011 and 2012, we took time to investigate and understand the facts and data behind key social issues and 2013 was the time to act on our findings. We became laser focused on education and building relationships with key people and organisations.

We also saw the need to refine our strategic direction and operations in 2013 to be able to deliver on our promises. Whilst maintaining our overarching three community impact areas, we decided to focus on developing education –

building on where our key strength and experience lies. And we rebranded this work ‘ReadLearnSucceed. ‘

ReadLearnSucceed is a ‘cradle to career’ strategy with unifying messaging relevant across United Way Australia’s existing and new work. It is a call to action that is easily understood by our current and potential donors, advocators and supporters and provides us with common benchmarks of performance across the education continuum: school readiness, reading proficiency at grade 3; middle grade success and high school completion; and post-secondary and career readiness.

Data collection methods are developed in conjunction with our community partners and include surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, event feedback, data analysis, debriefing with corporate volunteers and case studies.

This data is forecasted for the year in an impact map template and then reported against annually by our program staff or program partners. In addition to the impact map, program managers are asked to reflect on process improvements to improve outcomes.

In addition to monitoring outputs and measuring outcomes, United Way Australia worked with EY to undertake a process evaluation of our Ready to Read program in October 2013 – see more on page 20.

We also undertook a review of the Ready to Succeed coalition in collaboration with our corporate partners Fuji Xerox Australia, Genworth and ING DIRECT - more on page 24.

We continued to produce periodic reports in May and November in 2013 to our corporate partners, local councils and board. Corporate round tables and the Annual General Meeting provide other touch points throughout the year to reflect and report on our work. As demonstrated by this report, we are both committed to accountability and learning how to improve our work.

DATA COLLECTION METHODS

PROCESS REVIEWS REPORTING MILESTONES

MEASURING COMMUNITY IMPACT

UNITED WAY AUSTRALIA IMPACT MAP 2013

We continue our steadfast commitment to measuring community impact across our grants, programs and coalition work using the ‘impact mapping approach.’

Assumption

InputsResources required for the initiative

Activities The core activities that will be delivered

OutputsThe direct products of the activities in numerical terms

Outcomes Intended benefits for participants during and after the initiative

ImpactLonger-term benefits for the individual and community

There are a range of systemic and resource barriers to people achieving their potential that could be overcome through early-intervention initiatives that ensure a ‘cradle to career’ pathway.

ConnectProvide access to networks, donors, and programs.

InvestThrough , corporate and philanthropic grants.

MobiliseCorporate Volunteers: Team-based Skilled/EngagedStrategic

StrengthenMentoring (Partners for Impact)Social Change and Collective Impact skillsProject managementMonitoring and Evaluation expertise

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library book distribution program, reading events and parent support

Pre-school early interventions

Children and parents reading more regularly and accessing reading opportunities.

Increased communication, emotional, physical skills for children and families

Children start school ready to read, learn and succeed.

All individuals and families achieve their human potential through education, income stability and healthy lives.

Transition to work programs

Ready to Succeed coalition

Young people inspired, equipped and motivated to pursue positive pathways post year 10.

Young people and families accessing the support they need to better manage

Young people engaged in full-time work or full-education (or mixture) after completing school.

Young people are healthy and avoid risky behaviours.

IMPACT | 17



18 | IMPACT

Experience and research has taught us that focusing on education in a child’s early years (0-5 years) is a game changer. Our goal is to halve the number of children not ready to start school in our target communities by 2018.

In 2013, United Way Australia acquired the licence to operate the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and established an organisational strategy that encompassed a two-level approach to it. The first approach is a social venture, making the program highly replicable and available at a low unit cost to any organisation wanting to set a library up in their community. The second approach is a high impact community solution called Ready to Read which incorporates Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, events with parents and the coalition building around school readiness.

In alignment with these programs, we also ran Play and Learn with Good Beginnings, Paint the Town REaD activities and Partners for Impact. The combination of all of these programs allowed United Way Australia and its partners to deliver immediate and longer term positive outcomes to all levels of the system - for children and parents in need, community leaders, corporate and community volunteers and the wider community.

In addition to United Way Australia (covering Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland), United Way Ballarat and United Way Glenelg took up the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and by the end of the year had signed up 310 (Ballarat) and 267 (Glenelg) children in their respective communities. The Portland Imagination Library was launched in July by the Victorian State Premier Denis Napthine and was met with overwhelming enthusiasm; almost half of eligible

children in the Glenelg region were registered in the first 3 weeks.

Here is a snapshot of the education programs that we ran and supported in 2013 and highlight our philosophy of entire community ownership and involvement in order to create real social change. We also include case studies to demonstrate our commitment to visibility and provide a deeper insight.

EDUCATION

READY TO READ gives pre-school children in high need communities free access to a library of books that are both fun and support local curriculum learning. It is a holistic program of activities including engaging and teaching parents the importance of and how to participate in shared reading with their children through events, emails, texts and social media.

Outputs:

• Engaged 56 local community organisations and businesses

• Reached over 3000 people through local reading events

• Communicated with 176 parents in our first email alone, sharing book tips, reviews of apps and online resources and age-appropriate advice for reading to their children

Experience and research has taught us that focusing on education in a child’s early years (0-5 years) is a game changer.

IMPACT | 19


THE DOLLY PARTON IMAGINATION LIBRARY is a monthly book ordering program that is accessible to children aged 0-5 years. It’s based on the simple fact that the more books in the home, the better the educational outcomes for children.

Partnerships creating change:

• Penguin Australia

• Rotary International

• The Endeavour Foundation

• Doveton library

• Good Beginnings Australia

• Mission Australia

• Benevolent Society

• Paint the Town REaD

• University of Melbourne

• Southern Migrant Resource Centre

• Fuji Xerox Australia

• Children’s author, Jane Godwin

• JP Morgan, Force for Good Graduate Program

Outputs:

• 72 different books distributed to 7 communities across NSW, Victoria and Queensland

• Provided 1395 children with 4770 quality age-appropriate books

PARTNERS FOR IMPACT is a year-long peer professional development and networking program. Corporate and community leaders are strategically paired to develop the capacity of the community organisations so that they can better achieve their missions.


• Beacon Foundation

• Bridge Housing

• Good Beginnings

• Inspire Foundation

• NEAMI

• School for Social Entrepreneurs

• South Sydney High School

• The Smith Family

• Weave

• Amgen

• AMP

• Colliers International

• Freehills

• Fuji Xerox Australia

• Genworth

• ING DIRECT

Outputs:

• 26 leaders from 16 different organisations participated

Outcomes:

• Increasing operational capacity of community organisations

• Opportunity for corporates to live their community values and achieve lasting social change

• Forming new alliances and enhancing leaders’ capabilities to work in complex environments

GOOD BEGINNING’S PLAY AND LEARN provides high quality learning experiences for pre-school children in low socio-economic areas through a range of activities including painting, music, play dough, toys and craft activities. It also acts as a forum for parents and carers to share their experiences, meet others in the community and learn themselves.


• Close partnership between UWA and Good Beginnings

Outputs:

• Assisted over 80 families in need

Outcomes:

• 100% of parents surveyed report that parenting practices have changed as a result of working with Good Beginnings

• 90% of students show developing positive learning outcomes in the areas of name recognition/writing, colour recognition, number recognition, concepts of print and early literacy and numeracy skills

PAINT THE TOWN REaD encourages the wider community to own and support the development of children’s early literacy through:

• an annual reading day where local business owners and community leaders act as role models for parents and children. They read, sing, rhyme and talk with pre-school children

• community and local organisations re-evaluating where and how they invest time and money, placing preference and focus on early learning outcomes


• Local school principals

• Local council

• State government

• Local business

Outputs:

• Training for organisations in 7 high need communities across Australia

• 1 community workshop in Doveton

• Become an incorporated charity organisation

and

VOLUNTEERS144

through

EVENTS22

reached by

BOOKS4770

Total of

CHILDREN1395


20 | IMPACT

KEY LEARNINGS LOOKING AHEAD

OUR SUCCESSES

2013 was a significant year for United Way Australia in terms of organisational and program learning in the education area.

Our key learnings:

• It takes time to build trust with community organisations in areas where programs already exist because they do not understand our unique systemic approach and also fear funding competition

• Around 50% of parents are engaged with services, the remainder appear to have access issues

• Many of the children accessing our services and libraries live outside the geographic areas we have identified, making containment challenging

In October 2013 we enlisted the pro bono assistance of professional services organisation, EY, to undertake a process evaluation of our Ready to Read program. Their brief was to look at all aspects of our work - analyse our processes and speak with our stakeholders. And then to recommend improvements. Representatives from United Way Australia, the Dollywood Foundation, Endeavour Foundation and community partners Paint the Town REaD, Rotary International, Mission Australia and the Benevolent Society all contributed to the review. The findings and recommendations were presented to the

United Way Australia management team and the Chairman of the Board and are presented here against what we are doing well and what we can improve upon.

• More than 50% of the children in the Ready to Read communities have been signed up

• Parents and children like the program

• We’ve established good relationships with the local communities

• UWA has a willingness to learn

• UWA’s team is passionate about the program

• The sign up form was a barrier to entry as it included a survey to collect baseline data that deterred parents. EY recommended we contact the parents after the first book delivery instead

• Children outside the targeted suburbs were being turned away from the program resulting in children

and families feeling excluded. It was recommended that a capped allowance be made to allow ‘out of area’ children to sign up

• No formal feedback process was in place for parents or community partners

• No marketing campaigns were rolled out to increase the awareness of the program within the community before it was implemented. It was recommended a marketing campaign plan be put into place as soon as possible

• There were communication gaps between UWA and partners in regards to expectations from each other when delivering the program. It was recommended that a Memorandum of Understandings be put in place outlining clear expectations

• There has been no formal training provided to new employees and volunteers for signing up children. It was recommended that a formal training pack be developed and rolled out

• The current organisational structure of UWA needed streamlining and clarifying

NB. Since the review, all of the above recommendations for improvement have either been addressed or are in the process of being put into effect.

Additional to the continuing the programs we ran in 2013, we are dedicated to pursuing the following opportunities in 2014:

• Establishing ‘reading trails’ in community parks that include fun activities for parents and families

• Mobilising volunteers from local business and the wider community to deliver reading sessions in the communities, making reading resources and kits for families and community services and setting up the reading trails

• Recruiting parent ambassadors to sign up the remaining parents in communities and encourage friends and neighbours to engage in early literacy activities

• Delivering a social marketing campaign called ‘Stories Can Start Anywhere’ in conjunction with Weber Shanwick and McCann Advertising Agency to encourage parents and families to share stories anywhere anytime

• Strengthening local organisations’ and childcare workers’ capacities to model best practice shared reading in partnership with Let’s Read

• Formalising the local literacy committee’s plans in a collective impact framework

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

IMPACT | 21


PARTNERS FOR IMPACT CASE STUDY

Laura Bachman and Will Griffiths talk about their experiences of the peer professional development and networking program and the differences and similarities between corporate and community missions.

Laura Bachman, NT/SA Manager for Good Beginnings:

“It’s been a really good partnership. I get a fresh perspective from Will and it’s been good to get into the practice of ‘reflection time.’ We’ve had some similar issues and whilst we haven’t used the same solutions, I think it’s been a two-way street and we’ve learnt from each other”.

The capacity build so far – “In the first six months we achieved a lot, after taking a while to nut out what it would look like”. By interviewing project members one on one, Laura found an overemphasis on meetings was obstructing other workable solutions. To rectify this, Good Beginnings replaced some meetings with simpler forms of communication like email, which in turn improved ownership of projects.

Feedback from staff also prompted a revisit of the work plan and they took on board a suggestion from Will to develop a “Terms of reference” document to ensure clearer organisational direction.

“The Terms of reference provided structure and clear roles and responsibilities. It’s not rocket science – but otherwise we might take for granted that we’ve all got the same ‘vibe.’ Now there’s more consistency. It’s had a positive effect on local ownership and participation and the new process is front of mind when I am establishing new working groups [in the state and nationally]”.

Will Griffiths, Director, Rodgers Reidy:

“I didn’t know what to expect, but I’ve gained a better understanding of the not for profit industry and their challenges – it’s been interesting for me. They work on a shoestring budget, so maybe some of the ideas aren’t practical, but I think I’ve been able to help Laura approach things in a new way.”

I didn’t know what to expect...but I think I’ve been able to help Laura approach things in a new way.


22 | IMPACT

INCOME

Our research shows that those who complete schooling to year 12 have a much greater chance of gaining well paid and meaningful employment and better social and health outcomes throughout life. Our goal is to increase the number of students within our target communities, who 2 years after leaving school, are in employment, training or further education by 2018.

In 2013, we continued with our two-tier approach to supporting young people to make a successful transition from school to work:

1. Transition to work activities - either directly with the school or through the Beacon Foundation program

2. Ready to Succeed coalition of cross-sector stakeholders

We focused on six schools in 2013 - a reduction from nine in 2012. Marrickville High School in NSW opted to exit the Beacon Program due to a school decision and we discontinued what was limited engagement in two schools in VIC and ACT to continue and strengthen our focus on Narre Warren K-12 School.

We built on our relationships with James Meehan High School, Plumpton High School, South Sydney High School and Eaglevale High School in NSW. In Queensland we funded a new school, Nyanda High School through its second year of the Beacon Foundation program.

We continued into the second year of the Ready to Succeed coalition in NSW to improve young people’s transition to work journey. The coalition members included the Beacon Foundation, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Fuji Xerox Australia, Genworth, ING DIRECT, Inspire Foundation, United Way Australia and the principals of the four partner schools in NSW.

In addition, our Partners for Impact program paired an AMP Manager with a principal from one of the schools – a shared and mutually beneficial mentoring experience to assist with making and achieving strategy, missions and goals.

The opposite page provides a snapshot of the income programs that we ran and supported in 2013 in partnership with the Beacon Foundation, and highlight our philosophy of entire community ownership and involvement in order to create real social change. We also include case studies to demonstrate our commitment to visibility and provide a deeper insight.

IMPACT | 23


MOCK INTERVIEWSStudents practice their personal interview skills and techniques in a mock interview situation. This includes advice on how to dress and prepare a written resume, covering letter and application.

Outputs:

• 6 events across NSW, QLD and VICOTHER BUSINESS PREPARATION EVENTS

• Business blackboards

• Presentation skills

• CV writing

• Emotional resilience

• Industry tour

Outputs:

• 23 events across NSW, QLD and VIC

• Work experience support in VIC

PARTNERS FOR IMPACTPartners for Impact is a year-long peer professional development and networking program. Corporate and community leaders are strategically paired to develop the capacity of the community organisations so that they can better achieve their missions.

Outputs:

• AMP Manager and school principal successfully enrolled

COLLECTIVE OUTCOMESAfter completing the program(s):

• Students who reported an intention to leave school after year 10 reduced from 6% to 1%

SPEED CAREERINGBusiness volunteers from all over the career spectrum are grouped with and asked questions by students on different aspects of their jobs.

Outputs:

• 1 event in QLD

BBQ WITH THE BOYSMale members from corporate organisations are invited to participate as mentors in a one day program targeting young 15-16 year old males who are at risk of disengaging from school or are without a positive male role model.

Outputs:

• 4 events across NSW and QLD

CHARTER SIGNINGLocal businesses support an event where Grade 10 children make a public pledge that they will be in further education, employment or training by March of the following year.

Outputs:

• 5 events across NSW, QLD

BUSINESS BREAKFASTMembers from local businesses are invited to initiate, build or celebrate business support for the ‘No Dole’ program, an initiative which addresses employment pathways and school-to-work transitions for young people.

Outputs:

• 1 event in QLD

LUNCH WITH THE GIRLSFemale members from corporate organisations are invited to participate as mentors in a one day program targeting young 15-16 year old females who are at risk of disengaging from school or are without a positive female role model.

Outputs:

• 5 events across NSW, QLD and VIC

through

EVENTS88

reached by

VOLUNTEERS135

Total of

STUDENTS945

• Students who reported that they did not know what their post year 10 pathway would be dropped from 8% to 2%

• Students who reported that they had a definite career plan reduced from

increased from 50% to 75%

• 99.6% of students were in full time education, training or work


24 | IMPACT

READY TO SUCCEED COALITION KEY LEARNINGS AND SUCCESSES

In 2012 Ready to Succeed coalition established four mutually reinforcing focus areas as pre-conditions for the successful transition from school to work:

• Literacy and numeracy skills

• Resilience and well being

• Business acumen of teachers

• Work connections

In early 2013 the coalition separated into work streams to research existing programs and best practices. Following this, United Way Australia and Anne Myers from ING DIRECT, the then Chair of the coalition, proposed trialling a framework that would focus on the four areas, but designed and implemented at a school level. The framework involved a six step process involving an environmental scan of existing programs; stakeholder engagement, establishment of a local steering committee, development of a plan incorporating the four focus areas, execution of the plan and evaluation.

The idea was presented back to the entire coalition in August 2013 and Gail Taylor, the Principal of James Meehan High School, volunteered to try out the process at her school. Between September and December 2013, United Way committed a two-day a week resource to commence the first stages of the approach, an environmental scan which

included mapping of existing programs, review of school retention and pathways data, six student forums, three parent forums, 20 teacher/staff interviews and an engagement workshop with staff, community organisations and businesses.

Our successes:

• The coalition established a framework, piloted it successfully in one school and is now in the process of discussing a further pilot with another school

• The principals found being able to share ideas and experiences with other principals who were just as concerned and committed to school to work transitions immensely useful. A variety of ideas were shared and taken up by each principal

• United Way Australia and the other members learnt about establishing, managing and getting results from cross-functional coalitions. These learnings will inform the way we form, brief and manage future coalitions to address social problems

The vast and varied findings from the environmental scan at James Meehan High School included:

• Teachers feeling overwhelmed by time-competing priorities between syllabus, helping the students get good marks, letting students participate in work related activities and doing paperwork

• Programs need to start earlier (in Year 8) and be across the year groups, but varying year on year e.g. issue with wellbeing for Year 9 students and year 7’s already having ‘enough to cope with’

• Internal communication - teachers felt that they were not across what other staff were doing, resulting in a perception that the strategies are reactive and ad hoc

• Teachers having limited or no connections to work

• A tension between keeping students in class so teachers are funded versus best interests of each student (e.g. leaving school for an apprenticeship)

• Continuity of members. There were a number of changes in the membership of the coalition over the time it was active. The representatives from businesses and schools changed and the backbone support role from United Way changed

• Time and resources of the members to the coalition. All parties involved reported challenges in being able to put in the necessary time to make the coalition successful. This led to not all coalition members attending all meetings and not being able to do the work in between meetings. At numerous times UWA provided the resources to undertake the work in between meetings to move the process on

• The brief for the coalition was not clear. It was not clear early in the process whether the purpose of the coalition was to plan change, execute change or simply support activities in schools, or all of the above. The focus was shifted - from doing activities in schools to planning a more strategic approach of establishing the high level goals and establishing a framework.

• No clear process. As well as lack of clarity about the role of the coalition, the process and timeframes were also not clear resulting in members having little motivation to achieve the end goal

• Not having the right people in the room to effect the aspirational change

• Identification of two additional focus areas:

1. Enhance alternative pathways for students

2. Parent engagement


IMPACT | 25


OPPORTUNITIESTRANISTION TO WORK PROGRAM KEY LEARNINGS

KEY LEARNINGS AND SUCCESSES


• Only 30% of children in year 10 go on to complete year 12 and after completion it is difficult to measure what students are doing next

• The lack of local (especially small and medium enterprises) business engagement and strong community connection to the issue

• Support from teachers, students and parents for the (four) focus area holistic approach

• Since the process and presentation of the findings, the principal and senior staff at James Meehan High School have instigated a series of system changes within the school including:

• Dedicated leads within the school for each of the four focus areas

• Communicating the range of transition to work programs across all years through a simple document that tables all programs

• Using the framework to engage new business partners

• A year 8-12 transitions program that is incorporated into the school timetable i.e. two periods on wellbeing, two periods on literacy and two periods on work connections a fortnight.

• Bringing a TAFE teacher into the school

• Tapping into the free and popular student communication forum, Facebook, as a way to track students post Year 12

• We learnt the importance of ongoing communication at every level and clarity around roles and expectations.

• Students enjoyed and valued the programs so much that they wanted more events and work experience opportunities to occur

• Our partnership with the Beacon Foundation was tested this year as both organisations underwent significant changes in their strategy and operations. This lead to some cross-over, especially in the areas of community mobilisation.

• Students wanted a wider variety of industries represented


26 | IMPACT

Gail Taylor, Principal of James Meehan High School, talking about the impact of the Income coalition on her school:

“The Ready to Succeed framework has transformed the way I talk to businesses – it’s provided me with something that businesses can understand and they can easily see where they can add value and support the four capability areas [wellbeing, literacy & numeracy, connections to work and teacher acumen]”

Transition to work program students reported back in United Way Australia focus groups – about their lessons learnt, new found confidence, an improved outlook on life and fresh hope for the future.

The program had a big impact on me and I know I will use the skills for the rest of my life.

I wouldn’t have been able to do these interviews if it wasn’t for the program. I used to be really shy.

The highlight of the year was being involved overall. I feel like I could be a leader for the school.

You learn to push yourself to be the best person you can be, to be true to yourself and keep going.

IMPACT | 27


PARTNERS FOR IMPACT CASE STUDY

Rob Casamento and Robyn Laidlaw share their experiences of the peer professional development and networking program.

Rob Casamento, Principal, Narre Warren South P-12 College:

The capacity building focus so far – “We started by looking at the staff development issue because the Department advised us to defer our strategic reviews until 2014, pending some departmental changes. I would have progressed the development issue anyway but without Vanguard’s input it wouldn’t have been nearly as good. In 2014 when we do our strategic review, it will be good to have Robyn and maybe one of her colleagues as ‘critical friends’ of the school to give their input”.

“It was fantastic that Robyn and Joe Marmilic (HR Head) were able to come out to the school. It’s been really useful to get input from them about private sector thinking and how they grow staff. Since that session I’ve written a paper suggesting a more rigorous process for staff development and distributed it to the staff for consultation. It’s much more rigorous than anything we’ve had in place previously but I haven’t had any [negative] feedback and verbal feedback is that it seems pretty right. I’m sure some won’t like it but generally staff are supportive.”

Robyn Laidlaw, Head of Product and Marketing,

Vanguard Investments Australia

It’s been really useful to get input from them about private sector thinking and how they grow staff.


28 | IMPACT

HEALTH

Over 75% of mental health conditions commence before the age of 25. Some of these can be prevented through appropriate early intervention. Our goal is that all young people in our target communities are able to access effective mental health services by 2018.

As a result of our strategic decision to focus on our education work in 2013, we did not commence any new health related activities, instead concentrating on strengthening our existing relationships and programs. We continued our role in the Redfern Waterloo Youth Mental Health coalition (RWYMHC). This group first commenced in March 2012 with the intention of using a collective impact approach to improving youth mental health outcomes in Redfern Waterloo, NSW.

Detail on the coalition members’ specific focus and area contributions is below:

AMGEN - Facilitation, training skills, marketing skills, publication of results, mentoring and coaching skills transfer.

Headspace Camperdown - Access to mental health services and resources for young people, engagement with national best practice, training on mental health issues and direct support for young people.

Infant Child and Adolescence Mental Health Services - Providing information sessions about the medical model of mental illness with stakeholders and providing training in mental health first aid.

Inner West Sydney Medicare Local - Secretariat support, engaging with local medical practitioners and other allied health professionals and program management skills.

National Centre of Indigenous Excellence - Connecting to local aboriginal communities, space and catering for events in the centre of Redfern/Waterloo, community engagement/forum delivery, Youth Advisory Committee, and aligning lifestyle programs.

United Way Australia - Submission writing, collective Impact expertise, monitoring and evaluation.

The Fact Tree - Youth outreach and a variety of programs aimed at 12-18 year olds.

Weave Youth Family Community - Youth outreach skills, alignment of existing youth support initiatives and access to two advertising companies.

The coalition’s collective impact approach is made up of three distinct phases; discovery, design and delivery.

Phase 1: Discovery, March 2012 - July 2013

During this first phase the coalition:

• formed as a cross-sector group with a common agenda (that young people take healthy action in relation to mental health issues).

• undertook research and consultation with the community.

• identified that around 80% of young people in the Redfern/Waterloo area (predominantly Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander 15-16 year olds ) were managing their mental health wellbeing positively.

• set a goal - by 2023, 90% of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people (aged 15-16 years) in Redfern and Waterloo will take healthy action in relation to mental health issues.

• successfully acquired funding from the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation to undertake phase 2, design.

Phase 2: Design, August 2013 – December 2013

A series of community forums were held to gain feedback on the work of the coalition, to seek buy-in from elders and the Aboriginal community and to ensure all relevant stakeholders (i.e. Aboriginal Medical Service and local schools) were included and engaged in plans. During this period, over 50 young people, Aboriginal community members and local organisation representatives were consulted.

Other outputs for this period included a thorough asset mapping of services available to the community and a Strategic Action Framework designed for the coalition for 2014. The framework includes setting and agreeing on milestones, deliverables and resource allocations for the multiple partners.

IMPACT | 29


KEY LEARNINGS FROM PHASES 1 AND 2 LOOKING AHEAD

The original intention of the coalition was to pool resources, achieve community trust, create networks and bring about knowledge and mutually reinforcing activities to improve outcomes for young people’s mental health in the region. This has been challenging. Following learnings from our Ready to Succeed education coalition, we ran a self-assessment of the coalition in early January 2014. The results found that we did not score highly in any of the factors required for a successful collaboration.

We need to improve on:

• our history of collaboration or cooperation in the community

• adaptability

• skilled leadership

• open and frequent communication

• concrete, attainable goals and objectives

• established informal relationships and communications links

• a unique and shared purpose

• making the coalition valuable and worthwhile for member

• appropriate cross section of members

• development of clear roles and policy guidelines

• multiple layers of decision-making

• sufficient funds, staff, materials and time

• flexibility

• coalition credibility in the local community

• members share a stake in both process and outcome

• mutual respect, understanding, and trust

• appropriate pace of development

At the beginning of 2014 we are at a juncture with this project. The results of the self-assessment showed there is more work to do. We have tasked a consultant to develop a Memorandum of Understanding with the partners to formalise what is outlined in the strategy for 2014, along with clauses related to communication, governance and membership.

This will be discussed and hopefully endorsed in February 2014 so the group can move into the third phase, delivery.

In the long term we are aiming to see:

• a percentage increase in the help seeking behaviour of 15-16 year old Aboriginal young people.

• a percentage decrease in the proportion of 15-16 year old Aboriginal young people who are likely to take or promote the taking of illicit drugs.

• a percentage decrease in the proportion of 15-16 year old Aboriginal young people who are self-mutilating or acting on suicidal thoughts.

In terms of our direct role in 2014, United Way Australia will be less hands on with the Redfern Waterloo Youth Mental Health coalition as our focus moves onto Ready to Read and Ready to Succeed. Before this happens, we are ensuring that our key functions undertaken over the last two years of secretariat, facilitator, communicator and monitor will be covered by different members of the group. Headspace has made a commitment to providing secretariat support to the group in 2014 and other members will be leading on activities from the strategic action plan.


30 | IMPACT

IMPACT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

2013 was a busy year for WA and we made some significant achievements across our education, income and health focus areas. We’d like to highlight the following successful programs:

Paint the Town REaD – working with CLAN Midland, City of Swan, Swan Libraries, Disability Services, Health Department, Communities for Children, School Volunteer Program, Dyslexia-Speld Literacy Services, Smith Family, Ngala, Local Primary schools, Local businesses, Fuji Xerox Australia, Landcorp and 40 volunteers, we reached 150 families in the City of Swan.

“It was so great to be able to come along to the local shopping centre and have some activities for my children that helped them learn, were fun and got us out of the house. I loved being able to take home some activities I can use at home to keep helping my kids to learn. Everyone was really friendly and I learnt as much as my kids. I have lots more ideas now to help them learn even when we are out and about.” Keith –City of Swan resident.

Read, Play, Grow - a program that supports parents in their own home to enhance the pre-literacy skills of their children. Each parent visit covers a different focus area including engaged reading, engaged playing, early brain development, health and nutrition and familiarisation with the

local library. We partnered with CLAN Midland, City of Swan, Swan Library, Smith Family and Ngala, and helped 116 families. Parents and community workers have reported back on the positive benefits. Parents are more positive and feel more empowered to help their children learn.

“The child was animated, drew you in and enjoyed the interaction...Thank you, what a difference.” Child Health Nurse

Baby FAST™ - an early intervention model for young parents and their children aged 0-3 years, unique in its ability to draw grandparents, fathers, and other supporters into the family care process. The program works especially well for first-time mothers and is intended to protect vulnerable families with risk factors, such as single-parent families, teen mums, isolated families or with higher risk factors such as child abuse or neglect.

We worked with CLAN Midland, City of Swan, Smith Family, Swan Emergency, Parenting WA, Swan Family Connect and 8 volunteers – together we reached 22 families.

Participating Family Amber (Mother), Des (Grandfather)

“Before Baby FAST I felt so alone and like the whole world was against me...the team didn’t give up on me and after I tried the first week I loved it. I felt wanted and that I belonged and was a part of something. By being linked to other support groups it completed

the package. Also my Grandmother now respects me more as a parent.” Amber – mother participating in the program.

“Amber bubbled with excitement for hours after coming back from Baby Fast. Being with other young mums was such a benefit for her. She was very depressed before, taking tablets and not getting the counselling she needed. The joy of watching Amber go from feeling scared to now a proud and upstanding young mum is indescribable. My many fears for her future have been washed away now.” (Des – Amber’s Grandfather)

Boost – teaches parents with pre-school children and in high risk communities how to support their early literacy development through workshops and take-home kits.

Partnering with Dyslexia-Speld Literacy Services, University of Western Australia, local primary schools and early learning centres we improved the lives of 65 families.

“Being able to help my own child is the best feeling in the world. My son was having lots of problems learning to read and after Boost I realised the importance of him learning sounds and how language works myself. I have been able to help his teacher take him from a waiting list for special services to not only catching up, but reading above his age level. I just wish this had been around when my older son was little and I am telling everyone at school to book in next year as it is the best course they can do to help themselves and their kids.”

Families and Schools Together – targets families with children aged between 4 and 8 years, teaching them family skills to enhance healthy child development. We worked with CLAN Midland, Middle Swan Primary, various community services and local business and 15 volunteers to improve the family situation in 15 homes.

“Before the program, my child was dictating how the family ran. We were supported and empowered to be patient, positive and take control again. No more time out at school compared with several times a day previously.” FAST parent.

Health and Nutrition for Happy Families – identified out of a need for City of Swan families with children under 18 years who were not receiving adequate nutrition to learn, grow or reach their potential. The program provides practical strategies and information on health and nutrition, exercise, fussy eaters, budgeting and includes practical cooking each week. Partnering with CLAN Midland, Middle Swan Primary and Mental Health fellowship WA, we helped 45 families.

IMPACT | 31


“I knew in my heart my kids weren’t eating right but I just didn’t know how to change it. I cook every day now and I mostly shop on the outside isles of the supermarket and try to only have ‘take away’ once a week. Sometimes I don’t even think to have it and we actually don’t miss it. We have all lost weight and I feel so good that I am making my kids healthier and hopefully they won’t get sick when they are adults as they will know how to cook. We all cook together and this has helped us get closer as a family. I feel so much better about myself and I go out a lot more. I have made friends through Health and Nutrition - we still catch up to share ideas and encourage each other to keep cooking and get healthier and healthier.”

The Transition from Homelessness to Employment Project - United Way recognises that the issue of homelessness is complex and single agencies are often limited in their ability to solve the problem on their own. United Way WA developed the United Way Western Australia Homelessness coalition, a one year pilot program, which has brought together business and community expertise to develop new ways to create change.

Working with Ruah Community Services, Foundation Housing Ltd, St Bartholomew’s House, St Vincent de Paul Society, Central Institute of Technology, HOPE, The Centre for Social Impact, Bankwest and Herbert Smith Freehills, we have engaged a number of homeless people – helping them build relationships and creating pathways for sustainable employment.

We have 16 dedicated coalition members who have contributed 2016 hours over the last 12 months. It is a constant learning experience for us and we hope to be able to share some tangible results soon.”


32 | IMPACT

Launching the Ballarat Imagination Library was the highlight of 2013 for United Way Ballarat. Our approach is to start children as young as possible, posting out a quality book a month addressed to the child from birth until they turn 5. Reading to children before they can understand words, teaches them to associate books with love and affection.

We compliment the Imagination Library with The Smith Family’s “Let’s Read” and Volunteer Reading Tutors programs. Let’s Read incorporates educational programs of reading to young children and the development of the brain in the early years. Volunteer Reading Tutors (VRT’s) is a pilot program we began in three local primary schools - improving the reading skills for children in years prep to grade 2. Often these children just need a little more time to fully comprehend the concepts of decoding and reading fluency and by bringing in the VRT’s, the children thrive on the additional attention and positive relationship building.

At the end of the 10 week term VRT program we had over 40 volunteers and 100 children reading together. The principals and teachers at the schools are very positive, seeing a real value in this experience. They have witnessed a real improvement in the children’s’ focus in all areas because they know someone is coming to visit them and take a special interest in their education and well being. This VRT program has now been expanded into 9 schools and has also linked several high schools’ community actions with the primary schools, creating life-long positive experience for older and young students.

The Ballarat Imagination Library was launched in November 2013 and 160 families signed up to the program on the day. Within two days we had reached our financial limit of 310 children that are funded to receive the books.

Kerry Hartmann from Urquhart Park couldn’t speak more highly of the VRT program: “These children will remember this special time. Studies have shown that if one adult invests in a child making them feel valued, it can prevent later use of drugs, violence and self-harm. This is making a huge difference in these children’s lives.”

BALLARAT

IMPACT | 33


The Portland Re-Engagement Program (PREP) helps high risk young people attending Portland Secondary College who may not otherwise transition successfully into further education, training or meaningful work. It is an innovative education approach because it tackles secondary students early on in their education - from year 7 onwards – solving early or potentially avoiding issues in the first place. Many of the students face multiple barriers including a long history of educational failure, or bullying, they may come from dysfunctional families or those in poverty, have cultural issues, or other barriers to successful engagement in education including mental health, disability and drug and alcohol issues. Strong results are being delivered. Students who have participated have improved their attendance levels, decreased absenteeism, delivered steady improvement in numeracy and literacy levels and improved their capacity for learning and interacting with peers and teachers.

Portland Reengagement Program teacher Chris Thomas said the ‘Life Skills’ program was integral in supporting PREP students, who have found mainstream educational settings challenging.

“The support of United Way has really given us the chance to do something different at The Portland Re-Engagement Centre. It gives the students more opportunities and enhances their chances of success at school and beyond.”

“It’s given my kids a whole new lease on life. It’s a second chance. The Life Skills at program at the Re-Engagement Centre has given them chances to do things that they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise,” Libby Boyle, parent.

GLENELG


34 | IMPACT

In 2013 we increased our revenue, engaged more people in more meaningful activities and improved the lives of thousands of children and young people. Critical to our success are our dedicated staff and our supporters – giving, advocating and volunteering.

We would like to acknowledge those individuals and our corporate and community partners who donate their resources, talent, skills, knowledge, networks and passion to enable the long lasting positive change we seek in communities.

In 2014 we, alongside our partners, will continue to build on our Education focus and work towards delivering our goals in preschool literacy and secondary school transitions to work and further education.

CONCLUSION

IMPACT | 35


CONTACTS

MELBOURNE

www.unitedway.com.au

Level 7, 225 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000

P (03) 9650 5900

E [email protected]

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

www.unitedwaysa.com.au

829 Main North Road, Pooraka, SA 5095

P (08) 7002 0140

F (08) 7002 0139

E [email protected]

SYDNEY


c/o Rodgers Reidy, 230 Clarence Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

P (02) 9321 0300

F (02) 9321 0333

E [email protected]

BALLARAT

www.unitedwayballarat.com.au

PO Box 50, Ballarat VIC 3353

P (03) 5331 5555

F (03) 5331 8618

E [email protected]

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

www.unitedwaywa.com.au

PO Box 326 Osborne Park, WA 6917

P (08) 9440 4800

F (08) 9440 4833

E [email protected]

QUEENSLAND


PO Box 3668, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101

P (07) 3407 2144

E [email protected]

GLENELG

www.unitedwayglenelg.com.au

PO Box 1032, Portland VIC, 3305

P (03) 0410 513 305

E [email protected]

We believe all individuals and families should have the opportunity to reach their full potential. And since everyone has a role to play in removing barriers and making this a reality, at United Way our mission is to mobilise individuals, business and government so that together we can help address society’s most pressing needs.

United Way Australia Annual Report 2013

Documents

Transcript of United Way Australia Annual Report 2013