Lifeline Tasmania. Annual Report

Transcription

1 Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report

2 Table of Contents Contact details... 3 Message from the President... 4 Our strategic plan Our services and activities... 7 Telephone crisis support... 7 Standby... 8 Access to Allied Psychological Services... 9 Chats... 9 Community Visitor Scheme... 9 Education and Training Policy Retail Out of the Shadows Walk Financial Summary and Report Treasurer s report Financial Statement and Balance Sheets Director s Declaration Auditor s statement Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 2 of 23

3 Contact details Central Office Level 5 The Quay Building 31 Cambridge Road Bellerive TAS 7018 Phone: (03) Fax: (03) info.south@lifelinetasmania.org.au Web: Telephone Crisis Support 24 hours StandBy Response Service Southern Tasmania 24 hours Access to Allied Psychological Services Southern Tasmania Business hours (03) Chats Business hours (03) leigh.delaney@lifelinetasmania.org.au Community Visitors Scheme Business hours (03) cvs@lifelinetasmania.org.au Education and training Business hours (03) info.south@lifelinetasmania.org.au Policy Business hours (03) kate.taylor@lifelinetasmania.org.au Lifeline Shops Burnie Shop 19 Alexander Street, Burnie 7320 Phone: (03) Devonport Shop 4 Kempling Street, Devonport 7310 Phone: (03) Devonport TROLL (Tip) Shop Bay Drive, Devonport 7310 Phone: (03) East Devonport Shop Shops 3-4 /15 Murray Street, East Devonport 7310 Phone: (03) East Devonport Furniture & Bric-A- Brac Shop Shop 9/15 Murray Street, East Devonport 7310 Phone: (03) East Devonport Warehouse 15 Murray Street, East Devonport 7310 Phone: (03) Hobart Shop 147 Argyle Street, Hobart 7000 Phone: (03) Kingston Shop 1a Beach Road, Kingston 7050 Phone: (03) Latrobe Shop 116 Gilbert Street, Latrobe 7307 Phone: (03) Ulverstone Shop 24a King Edward Street, Ulverstone 7315 Phone: (03) Wynyard Shop Goldie St, Wynyard 7325 Phone: (03) Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 3 of 23

4 Message from the President Dear Lifeline Supporters, Lifeline Tasmania is an organisation that is committed to supporting the emotional needs of the Tasmanian population, by seeking to assist people in times of crisis and building their resilience and wellbeing. Our dedication to our clients is at our forefront, and this year we celebrate 40 years of Lifeline operating in Tasmania. This is a significant achievement and can be attributed to the many staff, volunteers and supporters who have dedicated themselves to their community through their involvement with Lifeline. While Lifeline existed as two organisations in Tasmania for many years we successfully amalgamated Lifeline Hobart and Lifeline North West to become Lifeline Tasmania in This was a significant project sought for the benefit of our clients and the Tasmanian community, through the delivery of state-wide services and a stronger voice in the public sphere. Over the last year we have consolidated the recent growth in our services: Tasmanian callers are using this service more than ever before. Standby Response Service continues to provide assistance and support for those bereaved by a suicide. Access to Allied Psychological Services up and running for over two years now and has consolidated its services ASIST and safetalk delivery of these important suicide prevention programs continued during 2012/2013. Domestic violence training Lifeline Tasmania joined its national Lifeline counterparts in delivering DV-Alert training around identifying and responding to signs of domestic violence. CHATS this program continues to grow and thrive in line with increased funding. Community Visitors Scheme continues to provide befriending services to people living in residential aged care. Policy development we have made significant progress with identifying the gaps in current service and policy relating to suicide prevention and are using this work to inform service development and influence public policy and investment. There have been significant challenges in but we have steered our way through, working hard to establish a sustainable future. In February 2013 Lifeline Tasmania s Board and management became aware of concerns about the organisation s cash flow. Every member of the Board and staff was deeply committed to securing Lifeline Tasmania s future and its ability to meet clients needs. The Board worked swiftly with the management team to develop and implement an Action Plan ensuring the organisation s sustainability and continued service delivery. The Action Plan involved reviewing Lifeline Tasmania operations to identify areas for reform. This was a very difficult process for all those affected given the many years of investment staff and volunteers have made into programs and assets. In making these difficult decisions we sought to ensure clients came first, all services continued and our actions and decisions aligned to our values. We worked through our Action Plan in a methodical process and achieved the necessary sustainability, although we acknowledge the toll this process has taken on our organisation and our staff, volunteers and supporters. Looking forward we will Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 4 of 23

5 be taking a conservative approach and working towards surplus budgets and rebuilding assets commencing the financial year. The Board have also worked with Lifeline Tasmania management to identify Lifeline Tasmania s goals for the next three years, which are set out in our new Strategic Plan for The plan seeks to better position Lifeline Tasmania to meet the needs of our clients, place volunteers at the front of our services, and provide leadership and collaboration in our sector. Finally, I would like to acknowledge a recent achievement by one of our long term Board Members, Mary Parsissons. In May this year Mary won the Tasmanian LIFE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Suicide Prevention by an individual. Mary, like many of our staff, volunteers and supporters, has worked towards Lifeline s goals for many years and saved countless lives as a result of her actions. In this our 40 th year the Board would like to acknowledge the hard work and commitment that everyone connected with us has made towards improving the lives of Tasmanians through Lifeline. James Pirie President Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 5 of 23

6 Our strategic plan Lifeline Tasmania has recently developed a new Strategic Plan for The plan seeks to better position Lifeline Tasmania to meet the needs of our clients, place volunteers at the front of our services, and provide leadership and collaboration in our sector. Our vision A Tasmania free of suicide, where everyone meets challenges with strength and optimism Our purpose To lead, develop and deliver programs and services that save lives and build emotional wellbeing and resilience Our strategic foundations (our core business) We provide crisis support We build resilience in individuals and communities We ensure volunteers are core to all that we do We are leaders, collaborators and influencers Our strategic priorities Streamline and grow service Develop evidence based targeted crisis support services Deliver services in all regions of Tasmania Develop evidence based targeted resilience programs and services Operate in a community development framework Support Tasmanian communities to be suicide ready Develop a best practice volunteer management strategy Be the preferred volunteering organisation Ensure volunteers have a key role in ALL LT s services Influence social policy and government spending Research suicide prevention and lead public conversation Key strategy enablers Practice good governance and management aligned to our strategy Manage change well Have a strong performance culture Ensure organisational financial viability Involve, listen to and engage key stakeholders Our values Engendering Resilience: Valuing Individuals: Instilling Optimism: We strengthen the resources of people and communities. We help people to help themselves. We treat every person with respect, care and acceptance. We assist people to find their own way forward. We believe everyone has the possibility of creating a better future for themselves. Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 6 of 23

7 Number of calls Our services and activities Telephone crisis support Lifeline s confidential telephone crisis support is available 24/7 from a landline, payphone or mobile. Anyone across Australia experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide can contact Lifeline. Regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation our trained volunteers are ready to listen, provide support and referrals. Lifeline Tasmania is licensed to operate five telephones, three in Hobart and two in the North West, which assist in answering calls from all around Australia using approximately 50 local volunteer telephone crisis supporters. In Lifeline Tasmania answered 7,818 calls; 6,598 in the Hobart Call Centre and 1,220 in the North West Call Centre. In Lifeline Tasmania received $265,000 in support from the Department of Health and Human Services for Lifeline Tasmania s contribution to the telephone crisis support service. This funding assists in employing staff coordinators, training and supporting volunteer telephone crisis supporters, and associated administrative costs calls answered by Lifeline Tasmania Calls answered in the North Calls answered in the South Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 7 of 23

8 Number of call attempts Lifeline Australia s telephone crisis support received a number of calls in originating from Tasmania, as demonstrated in the table below. These calls were answered across Australia. A total of 22,376 calls were made from Tasmania during the year, an average of 1,865 a month. March through to May 2013 saw a significant increase in calls for assistance. Lifeline Tasmania is yet to determine the cause behind this increase. Call Attempts to from Tasmania in ,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1, Calls from the North Calls from the South Standby Lifeline Tasmania delivers the StandBy Response Service in Southern Tasmania, a suicide bereavement support service. The service seeks to stand by families, friends and associates in their bereavement through suicide. It provides a 24 hour coordinated community crisis response to anyone bereaved through suicide. Lifeline Tasmania employs a full time coordinator who is supported by up to ten team members, providing 24 hour outreach response to calls for assistance. The service has supported over 500 people since its commencement in July Lifeline Tasmania received $165,000 in through United Synergies, as funded by the Department of Health and Ageing. Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 8 of 23

9 Access to Allied Psychological Services Tasmania Medicare Local contracts Lifeline Tasmania to deliver a Suicide Prevention Service under the Australian Government funded Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program. The aim of the program is to support people who are suicidal for a period of up to two months. During this period they will be assisted to develop skills, supports and resources that may reduce their risk of suicide. The person is contacted by a Suicide Prevention Service clinician within 24 hours of referral. Daytime services are backed up by a national after-hours phone support service. During the referral period there is no limit to the number times the person can access the service. Support is provided face-to-face as well as by phone. The service is only available through referral by a General Practitioner or the Royal Hobart Hospital Emergency Department. Lifeline Tasmania aims to assist individuals by providing support that will inhibit a suicide attempt and help vulnerable people to develop external protective factors and internal reason for living. Lifeline Tasmania received approximately $70,000 in through Tasmania Medicare Local for this program. Chats The Chats provides older people living independently with an opportunity to develop new friendships and social connections, to build their resilience and wellbeing. Participants are connected with volunteers and receive regular social calls, opportunities to engage in organised activities, transport assistance and a monthly newsletter. Chats is now a state wide program, having been expanded in from the Hobart region to the North and North West. There are 70 participants and 15 volunteers in the NorthWest, 128 participants and 14 volunteers in the North, and 316 participants and 45 volunteers in the South. The South also has 54 people on a waiting list to join. In Chats received $727,909 in support from the Department of Health and Ageing and $111,118 from the Department of Health and Human Services. Community Visitor Scheme The Community Visitors Scheme supports Tasmanians who are living in residential care and are socially isolated. The program works by setting up vulnerable people with a volunteer who will make regular visits and befriend the client. The program delivers positive benefits to clients through enriched quality of life, reduced sense of isolation and loneliness, and increased involvement in the wide community. In the Community Visitors Scheme had approximately 45 clients and 48 volunteers, and received $54,000 in support from the Department of Health and Ageing. Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 9 of 23

10 Education and Training Since the mid 1990 s Lifeline Tasmania s Education and Training program has sought to raise community awareness of how to identify and respond to the signs of suicide. It has done this through delivering the two-day ASIST and half-day safetalk training modules to interested community sector workers, businesses and individuals. For the second year running Lifeline Tasmania has also delivered the DV-Alert program, which trains participants in how to recognise, respond and refer people who are impacted by family and domestic violence. The DV-Alert program is funded by the Department of Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (now the Department of Social Services) and managed by Lifeline Australia. Policy In November 2012 Lifeline Tasmania took its first step in employing a policy officer, to assist the organisation in identifying the future needs of suicide prevention policy in Tasmania and building stronger relationships with interested stakeholders. The policy officer has assisted Lifeline Tasmania by examining the Australian and Tasmanian government suicide prevention policies and funding streams, identifying possible gaps in services, representing Lifeline Tasmania in liaisons with government agencies and the community sector, and contributing to the Tasmanian Suicide Prevention Community Network and its policy discussions. It is hoped the work of the policy officer will assist Lifeline Tasmania and the wider sector prepare for future suicide prevention strategies, by providing a stronger understanding of changing local trends and evidence based responses. Retail Lifeline Tasmania s Retail shops seek to raise funds for Lifeline Tasmania services to the greater community. We have many dedicated volunteers and a core of paid staff who work tirelessly to process, organise and present donated clothing and goods for sale in our retail outlets across the state. One of main challenges has been receiving enough good fashionable product that is appealing to the customer. The fashion industry more generally is producing clothes that are cheaper and of poorer quality, making it difficult for op shops to receive well tailored clothing that last many years and can compete in pricing. We also have a problem in that many of the clothes and goods donated to us are not of suitable for resale because they are too dirty or broken. This is difficult because Lifeline Tasmania then has to pay through tip fees to dispose of these unusable goods, diminishing our profit margins. However despite the challenges, our resolve remains and we have had some good outcomes. While it is difficult to make as much profit as we have in the past, we do continue to continue to turn a profit for the benefit of Lifeline Tasmania s services. We would like to thank everyone of our staff, volunteers and valued customers for your support, because every minute or dollar you give helps save lives. Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 10 of 23

11 Out of the Shadows Walk Each year Lifeline Tasmania joins with a number of other Lifeline chapters around Australia in hosting an Out of the Shadows Walk during Suicide Prevention Week. The event provides participants with an opportunity to show their support and commitment to preventing suicide and remember those who have died. In 2012 Lifeline Tasmania hosted a dawn walk for about 400 participants from the Cenotaph in Hobart to the Salamanca lawns. The event received sponsorship of $4,000 from TASPLAN. A volunteer s experience of the Out of the Shadows Walk Along with more than 400 others, I attended the Out Of The Shadows Walk this morning. The absolutely stunning sun rise and cold, crisp and clear weather certainly delivered a strong metaphoric overlay for Out of the Shadows. The thing I noticed most was the sheer number of young people at the event. I would estimate that 1 in 3 were in their teens. It was a sobering sight. I wandered through the crowd at the end of the Walk collecting donations with a tin. I came across a young lad in his school uniform, I think he was 14 or so. He pulled out his wallet, and I said, Just some silver mate, keep your goldies. He replied, No, I want to give you guys some money. I nearly killed myself a little while ago, but I called you and you got me in contact with Headspace. I m really good now. Please, take the money. It just blew me away. Never has it been clearer to me what our organisation is about, and the difference that a bunch of people can make in the lives of others. Perhaps without Lifeline as the first port of call, that young lad would not be around, and it might have been his Mum, Dad or sister at the Walk, wondering why they didn t see it coming and why they didn t act. There are people out there counting on us to be there for them in their times of crisis, and we must do so, because without Lifeline they might not see another stunning sunrise. Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 11 of 23

12 Financial Summary and Report Treasurer s report The past financial year proved to be very challenging. The Budget was developed early in the evolution of Lifeline Tasmania and as our new CEO was coming to grips with the newly merged organisation. That Board approved Budget was cash positive, but with depreciation taken into account, we expected an overall operating deficit for the year. During the year, we found ourselves pushing against a couple of strong tides: the general economic malaise Tasmania finds itself in impacting on retail spending in general, as well as making fundraising, donations and raffle income much harder than anticipated; very low-priced imports of new clothes now widely available in discount outlets very much testing the market position of our Chosen Pieces brand; and a general deterioration in the quality of second hand clothes donated to us (reflecting the flow-on impact of the above). This resulted in our cash inflows being softer than anticipated at the time the Budget was struck. At the same time, some of our costs increased at levels above that expected at Budget time. A complicating factor was a relatively low understanding of the cost drivers in some of our key programs, reflecting: historic approaches taken to centralise budget development; the newness of the organisation; and the change at senior management levels and the loss of corporate memory. Our Finance Manager, Andrew McMaster, prepared several rounds of detailed analysis for the Board on the financial performance of our organisation and undertook a program-byprogram study of our revenues and expenses. The purpose was to quickly identify options for management and the Board to consider to move Lifeline Tasmania onto a sustainable financial footing. This required some difficult restructuring decisions to be made to realign program costs with program funding, both reducing costs and renegotiating funding agreements. As the Board worked with senior management to understand the drivers of our deteriorating financial performance and implement measures to deal with it, our available cash balances were assisting funding our operating costs. This left the organisation in a vulnerable financial position as we needed to replace our cash buffers and find additional resources to finance some of the one-off restructuring costs. The priority for the Board was to find a timely solution that enabled us to continue our service delivery in a seamless manner and to avoid reputational damage to the Lifeline brand in Tasmania. Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 12 of 23

13 We assessed a range of options, and the solution decided by the Board was to realign our balance sheet away from buildings and property to cash, on the basis that this best met the strategic objectives. The Board obtained an independent valuation of the Argyle Street properties before approaching several property owners/developers with a view to conducting a competitive sales process. A sale was successfully completed with a 5-year lease back at zero rent, enabling the retail business to continue on its previous basis for the medium term. Using the independent valuation, the Board concluded that the combined value to Lifeline Tasmania of the lease and the capital value achieved for the sale of the property was in excess of the valuation, and the sale was completed. The impact on our financial position is explained in our audited financial accounts in this Annual Report. The approved Budget is for a small surplus, noting that cost control will remain a very high priority for management, particularly in light of continuing difficult trading conditions for the retail business and the less favourable environment for fundraising through raffles. Undoubtedly, some refinement in our costs will be required over time. However, with the difficult decisions taken to restructure our organisation, and the bottom-up collegial budgeting process developed and implemented by Andrew McMaster and Maxine Griffiths, the Board considers that Lifeline Tasmania is now on a much stronger and much betterunderstood financial footing. Adrian Christian Treasurer Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 13 of 23

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21 LIFELINE TASMANIA INC. DIRECTOR S DECLARATION FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2013 In accordance with a resolution of the directors of Lifeline Tasmania Inc. the directors declare that: (a) The accompanying Income and Expenditure and Statement gives a true and fair view of the results of the Association for the financial year ended 30 June (b) The accompanying Balance Sheet gives a true and fair view the state of affairs of the Association as at the end of the financial year; and (c) At the date of this statement there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Association will be able to pay its debts as and when they fall due. This statement is made in accordance with a resolution of the Board of Directors and signed for and on behalf of the Board of Directors. James Pirie Adrian Christian Dated this 28 th day of October 2013 Lifeline Tasmania Annual Report Page 21 of 23

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