Annual Report 3 2014... · 2021. 4. 29. · - Remind Training & Education 28 - Volunteering...

OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Annual Report2013 _ 2014

The Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc. is committed to improving the circumstances and welfare of people with a mental illness, their relatives and carers, and professionals working in the area.

The Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc. will work to:

■ eliminate stigma and create a society that is understanding and accepting;

■ ensure people with mental illness, especially schizophrenia, and their carers and relatives have access to information and appropriate services;

■ advocate on behalf of people with a mental illness, especially schizophrenia, their carers and relatives and mental health professionals for better government policy in the areas of research, treatment, rehabilitation, housing and other relevant areas;

■ provide innovative programs and support.

Mission statement

Our VisionA society in which people with mental illness are valued and treated as equals.

OF NEW SOUTH WALES INC.

Annual Report2013–2014

SCHIZOPHRENIA FELLOWSHIP

4

S C H I ZO P H R E N I A F E L L O W S H I P A N N UA L R E P O R T

Our People 3Highlights of the year 4President’s report 6CEO’s report 7Advocacy 8CONSUMER SERVICES 9 - RRSP 10

- PhaMs 12 - D2DL 14

- Helping Hands 16 - Pioneer Clubhouse 18

- DES 19 - Physical Health 20 - New Moves 21 - Consumer Consultative Committee 22 - Drought Relief 22 - Peter Meyer Fund & Research Trust Fund 22WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY 23 - Community Development 24 - Schizophrenia Awareness Week 27 - Remind Training & Education 28 - Volunteering Services 29 - Forensic Community Reintegration Program 30 - Partners in Recovery 31 - Representation on External Committees 32CARER SERVICES 33 - Carer Assist 34 - Respite Services 36 - Mental Health Respite & Carer Support 38 - Support Groups 39 - ON FIRE! 39 - Where We Work 40FINANCIAL REPORT 41

Contents

O U R P E O P L E 5

Board MembersPresident: Associate Prof Anthony Harris Senior Vice President: Alexandra RiversJunior Vice President: John ConnellSecretary: Margaret WhiteTreasurer: John Neely

Ordinary MembersGreg ArnoldPatricia BoydellJohn ConnellJohn Feneley (resigned 31 July 2013)Judy HopwoodPatricia KingBob GoldiePeter FergusonMia RosenNick Lunzer

Sub CommitteesPioneer Clubhouse Chair: Doug MillerLight and Hope Committee Chair: Prof Frank DeaneEndeavour House Chair: Bob Boss WalkerFriends of Sunflower House Chair: John BraggBeautiful Minds Community Committee Chair: Sandra McDonaldConsumer Consultative Committee Chair: Rob RamjanWellness Walk Committee Chair: Doug MillerON FIRE! Advisory Committee Chair: Dr Angela MilceMental Health Sports Network Chair: Sue Sacker

StaffCEO: Rob Ramjan AM

Deputy CEO: Sue Sacker OAM

Head Corporate Services: David Gill CPA

HR Administrator: Karen KarakayaCarer Assist Manager: Dr Angela MilceON FIRE! Project Co-ordinator: Diane WardGeneral Manager Recovery Services: Bill Gye OAM

Remind Business Manager: David Cain/Greg Jewson Respite Services Senior Manager: Jeannine KokozakiPIR SWS Manager: Maria Visotina

Public Officer

John Connell

AuditorsVLC Partners

LawyersHenry Davis YorkPaul Murphy and AssociatesAtanaskovic HartnellMallesons Stephens JacquesBlake Dawson Waldron

Our people

Mary Josephine Gilchrist 1936 – 2014

Wendy Weir 1942 – 2014

Patricia Boydell 1937 – 2014

6 H I G H L I G H T S


Highlights of the year

Recovery Recovering event at Parliament House

Parliamentary Luncheon 2014

Staff Conference, Women’s College, Sydney University – 2014

Guest Speaker Her Excellency, Marie Bashir with Elaine Goddard and Kieran Condell

The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG

Melanie Gibbons MP

The Hon Barbara Perry

Greg Aplin MP with Peter Ferguson and Robert Neely Dr Nicola Hancock with Assoc Prof Anthony Harris

7

Postcard from Schizophrenia Awareness Week Campaign

Official Party from Partners in Recovery Launch, Campbelltown. Left to right: Renne Pennock, Ken Moroney, Elder – Uncle Ivan, Maria Visotina, Brian Doyle MP, Sue Sacker and Anthony Harris

Mayor Dean Lynch and Cherie Adams at the opening of the Carer Assist office, Cooma

above and right: Wellness Walk – Bridge Walk for Mental Health

James receiving award from Inspector Joel Murchie, Commander MHIT

Warialda Carers Group – Scarecrow Day

8 P R E S I D E N T ’ S R E P O R T


President’s report

What a busy and challenging year it has been once more for the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW. Some of the highlights are unforgettable, listening to Michael Kirby speaking in the Stranger’s Dining Room at Parliament House in Macquarie Street, about the struggles he had as a young gay man and his own mistakes that he had made as a judge because of his poor understanding of mental illness. Our reception by Governor Marie Bashir in which she spoke with much warmth about the work of the Fellowship and her own experience of trying to help people with a mental illness recover. The Wellness Walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge was another highpoint. Accompanied by over 500 people lead by Mike Baird and Kevin Humphries, we walked back and forth across the Harbour Bridge. What a fantastic day organised by Pioneer Club House and its support team that brought our activities and the great work of Pioneer Club House to the notice of all of Sydney.

But a year only of highlights hides a year of work. Over the past year the Fellowship has been relentless in its advocacy surrounding the National Disability Insurance Service. The NDIS will revolutionise the way that care for people with a disability is provided throughout this country. It has the potential of significantly interrupting the support services that we are presently providing to people with a mental illness and their carers. The fear remains that the NDIS has been designed primarily with people with an enduring intellectual or physical disability in mind, not people with a mental illness. The services that are in the firing line such as the Personal Helpers and Mentors Service (PHaMS), the Day-to-Day Living program (D2DL), or the Respite Care services are services that provide essential support and relief for people with a mental illness and their carers across the country. We are concerned that the true benefits occurring from these programs have not been acknowledged by the federal government and we will continue to push for their continuation vigorously both as the Fellowship and with the support of our national body, the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia.

After a difficult period Our Disability Employment Services have turned the corner and once more are able to make a substantial contribution to helping people with a mental illness find work. This involved a tremendous effort by many in our organisation. On a brighter note the skills and capacity of the Fellowship were acknowledged earlier this year with the request that we provide the bulk of drought assistance services through rural and regional

NSW. This request recognises the wide network of services that we have set up across the state and our skill in developing programs and carrying out the work.

Our success as always is not just with the Fellowship staff alone. The Light and Hope Committee in Wollongong tapped into their community with their “Highlights for Hope” fundraiser, bringing hairdressers from across the region to help fundraise for their club house. The project has caught the eye and coloured the hair of people from across the Illawarra region and has raised much money and positive publicity for mental illness in a way

which few would have thought possible. Most of us are used to the unofficial status of hairdressers as the counsellor to the worried, but to have them advocate in this way was truly inventive.

I would also like to note the honours and remember our pioneers. This year saw a number of honours given to key members of our team, Sue Sacker and Bill Gye both received the Medal of the Order of Australia; Narelle Kennedy one of our Board members for the Sunflower Foundation was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia; and Rob Ramjan our CEO was awarded a Meritorious Service Award by the New South Wales branch of the Royal Australian New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. This external validation of our work is very pleasing but reflects many years of hard work. My heartfelt congratulations to you all.

This year also saw the passing of Mary Gilchrist one of the founders of the Fellowship and a supporter of groups in the St George area for many years. Although I did not know Mary, I know many are feeling her passing deeply. We have also only just learnt of the death of Pat Boydell, one of our Management Committee members. Pat had been a committee member for many years and was also a community activist, an aspiring politician, and for the Fellowship, the support group leader on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. I spoke at Pat’s group many times, and know how much energy and commitment she put into that group. We will miss them both.

And finally I would like to thank the management team and all the staff of the Fellowship for their continuing hard work. As the Fellowship grows it is absolutely essential that we keep the spirit and the commitment to people with a mental illness and their carers in our work. I am pleased to say that we are continuing to achieve this.

Anthony HarrisPresident

C E O ’ S R E P O R T 9

2015 will mark the 30th Birthday for the Fellowship and through the efforts of so many people, some of them no longer with us, the Fellowship has achieved so much in such a short time. I will focus on the past 12 months but want to start with a thank you to the many heroes, consumers, carers, supporters and partners, who have helped us make the difference that we do every day. It is amazing that the dream that that small group of six people sitting around a kitchen table has grown to. We now have services in 54 locations across the state, services for consumers and for carers. And we still remain committed to the core function identified by those six people 30 years ago, advocacy remains our prime focus.

The Partners in Recovery program is the largest and potentially the most important mental health reform in Australia and we have been involved from day one. In NSW the Fellowship was involved with 11 of the 17 Medicare Local areas through consortia and planning meetings. We entered a unique and very productive partnership with the South West Sydney Medicare Local and were successful in our bid to be lead organisation. 24 other organisations are members of our consortium - we think the largest consortium in the country. The Fellowship also has support facilitators in six other Medicare Local areas and is involved in a number of other areas across the state. Our South West Sydney program under the leadership of Maria Visotina has been a great success to date.

The Fellowship partnered with a number of other national organisations and Connetica to produce the Obsessive Hope Disorder Report which was launched by Brian Burdekin at the Brain and Mind Centre Sydney University. This landmark report examined numerous inquiries and reports into mental health services over the past 30 years, the fragmented mental health system and the failure to reform. With the 10 year Road Map of the NSW Mental Health Commission under the stewardship of John Feneley we remain obsessively hopeful that meaningful reform is possible and achievable.

There are a few items that are well worth celebrating.

• By the time we reach the AGM, the Fellowship will have formal confirmation that we have for the third time achieved three year accreditation under the Quality Improvement Standards.

• NSW Police have an addition to the Mental Health Intervention Team four day training which aims to have 10% of front line officers trained. There is now a one day training for 100% of front line officers which we have advocated for many years.

• By December 2014 100% of the Fellowship’s paid workers will have undergone cultural competency training.

• Our physical health program partnership with the Canterbury Bulldogs Club has been refunded for a sixth year.

• Our Back to Work partnership with the Balgowlah RSL entered

its 20th successful year, assisting many consumers in their recovery goal of paid employment.

• Following our successful implementation a couple of years ago of a federally funded flood relief program, we were invited to provide drought relief in 10 local government areas in NSW.

• We have been successful in gaining funding for a string of Employment Personal Helpers and Mentors programs in NSW.

• Our national body, the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia has grown in membership and in its advocacy impact in Canberra with the efforts of David Meldrum and Susan Golley.

Over the last 12 months the Fellowship has had a number of notable visitors including Martin Dives, Immediate Past President of Clubhouse International and a delegation of psychiatrists and social workers from Thailand who wished to learn how we had so effectively engaged in community development.

Your Board has been very active in its governance which is critical as we have grown so much in such a short time. A new Directions Statement has been adopted. The Board has opted for this concept as there is so much uncertainty afoot at present, there was a need for a flexible approach to the future. Further strategic planning has been undertaken by the Board and the Executive with external facilitation which identified key areas for our focus over the next one to three years.

My very personal thanks to the members of the Fellowship Executive, Sue Sacker, Bill Gye and David Gill for their support and dedication over the last 12 months. Susan Freeman, Executive Assistant, needs a special mention. Susan’s efficiency and perseverance have made management of the Fellowship that much easier and at the same time she has made our State Office a more welcoming place for staff and visitors. Thanks also to the members of the Senior Management Team, Cheryl Harris, Jeannine Kokozaki, Angela Milce, Jill Steverson, Jennifer Wellsmore, Maria Visotina who keep their hands on the tillers of their respective services. We have such talented and committed people at all levels of the Fellowship, which brings me to the Board.

I have been at the Fellowship for some time and have had the privilege of working with some amazing Board Members. It seems to me that a Board could not be better, then we get a few new members who raise the bar yet again. These last 12 months has seen that. New and newish Board Members have brought a wealth of professional and lived experience that is important as we have grown and is deeply appreciated by the Executive. My very deep thanks to Anthony Harris who seems to be involved in so many things but always has the time to meet, to talk and to provide advice and direction.

Rob Ramjan AM, CEO

CEO’s report

1 0 A DVO C AC Y


Advocacy

Individual advocacy is one of the highest priorities for the Fellowship and its staff and this year has seen an increase in the number of individuals, both consumers and carers assisted to express their voice. Systemic advocacy has also ramped up with major changes happening at both the State and Commonwealth levels as you will see from below.

NSW Police

As noted last year we advocated for one day training for all front line officers. This has been achieved and is currently rolling out across the state.

National Mental Health Commission

A short submission with a great number of attachments ex-pressing our views was sent to the Commission which is reviewing all federally funded mental health programs.

National Disability Insurance Scheme

Whilst we have welcomed the introduction of the NDIS, the Fellowship through both the State and national organisations has expressed concern about two major matters. Firstly the number of programs that were established under the COAG national mental health reform process that are “in scope” for the NDIS. That means that the funding currently allocated to these programs will cease or be dramatically reduced thereby leading to a loss of those services to literally tens of thousands of Australians with a mental illness, and also to first targeted services for carers of a person with mental illness. The second issue is the very low number of people with a psychiatric disability who are being assessed as eligible for an NDIS package. We have advocated about these two issues in numerous venues. The SFNSW CEO has been a member of the Mental Health Council of Australia Working Party looking at NDIS eligibility.

Medication

Unfortunately there is no magic bullet for the treatment of any mental illness. However the Fellowship seeks to ensure that consumers have the broadest options with regard to medication. In the last 12 months we made submissions to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee regarding new medications, on this occasion the new medication was unsuccessful in achieving listing. Despite the rhetoric regarding the increasing costs of medication, it should be noted that as a percentage of GDP, the actual cost is dropping.

Schizophrenia Research Institute

As many would know the SRI commenced life as the Neuroscience Institute for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders and was a subcommittee of the Fellowship from 1991 to 1996. SRI’s future was being questioned. The Fellowship has been very actively involved in trying to secure the future for SRI. SRI is the only research institute in NSW that is addressing major psychotic illnesses. The concept of an institute without walls has been extremely productive and we must ensure that it continues.

Psychosis Australia Trust

This Trust has been established to try and unify research into psychotic illnesses in Australia. Through SFNSW we were able to secure the wonderful support of Robert Neely and Henry Davis York to have PAT registered as a Foundation. The Hon Rob Knowles is Chair, Prof Patrick McGorry chairs the scientific advisory committee and the SFNSW CEO is a Trustee.

Obsessive Hope Disorder Report

The Fellowship was a financial supporter of the development of this report as well as a contributor. The report looks at the myriad of reviews, reports, commissions, inquiries over the past 30 years into mental health services. Sadly it notes limited change but as the title states, we remain obsessively hopeful that real change is coming.

Wellness Walk

The reduction of stigma can be achieved through large public events. The Fellowship launched the inaugural Sydney Harbour Bridge Wellness Walk in November 2013. This will become an annual high profile event which was supported by consumers, carers, the general public and politicians.

Mental Health Act Review

The Fellowship made submissions regarding this and we await the final outcome.

Parliamentary Friends of Mental Illness

As noted elsewhere in this report, we have remained very active with both the state and the federal PFMI, providing secretariat assistance, information and speakers.

Rob Ramjan CEO

CONSUMER SERVICES

12 R E C OV E RY S E R V I C E S


Recovery and Resources Services Programs (RRSP) are located in Nowra and Wagga Wagga. Funded by NSW Health, RRSP supports people with a mental illness by improving access to social, recreational and vocational activities in the broader community.

Nowra

RRSP Nowra has been established for three years and has a steady stream of referrals and many collaborative relationships with local services. Over the past twelve months 37 participants have received extensive support; 26 new referrals (majority from Community Mental Health and GPs); 16 of these were assessed as fully eligible and commenced; 23 are currently active; 4 on a waiting list pending assessment and 14 exited from the program as no longer requiring support.

In addition to social, leisure and recreational activities there has been an increased focus on goals for employment and independent living, as well as exercise and physical health which has lead to measurable improvements in participants’ health and quality of life.

SFNSW’s healthy lifestyle 16 week program New Moves was conducted twice in the July 2013–14 reporting period. In the July 2013 program, among the 17 participants from several SFNSW services who participated, 6 were from RRSP. In May 2014 there were 8 RRSP participants out of 15. The table below shows data recording positive outcomes in the half way fitness test for New Moves Group May–July 2014.

RRSP has been involved in promoting itself and participating in a number of community events such as the Shoalhaven TAFE Expo, Richmond PRA Open Day, Illawarra Shoalhaven Medicare Local Health Collaboration Forum, and South Coast and Monaro Community Consultative Forum, Mental Health Month, 2014 Sorry Day Walk across Shoalhaven Bridge, Women’s Wellness Festival, Schizophrenia Awareness Week, Open Day and BBQ at Hope House and the Shoalhaven Mental Health Fellowship Dinner and Trivia Night.

A strategic plan developed at the Recovery Services training at the SFNSW Annual Conference, identified three major objective elements to prioritise for improvement:

• Care coordination

• Service promotion and

• Recovery orientated practice .

In 2014–15, with significant consumer involvement, we hope to further implement these priorities.

Judith Simons Team Leader, RRSP Nowra

Recovery and Resources Services Program (RRSP)

New Moves half way fitness test May–July 2014

Name Weight – kgs loss or gain

Flexibility sit and stretch – per cm

loss or gain

Cardio walk/run for 6 mins –

metres gained

Strength – Push ups in 1 minute

Waist – cm loss or gain

Participant 1 -3 -1 +30 +8 -6Participant 2 -2 +9 +65 +13 -3.5Participant 3 -8 +3 +65 -3 -4Participant 4 -3 +2 +85 +1 -6Participant 5 0 +2 +40 +1 -2Participant 6 -10 0 +75 +4 -7Participant 7 -2 0 +80 0 -5Participant 8 0 0 -100 0 -2

The New Moves program has arrived at an important time in my recovery from very long episodes of being unwell. I can’t fault the efforts of all staff and participants and the impact of the course on my personal well being is immense.

Participant 2, New Moves

My Fellowship

13

Wagga Wagga

RRSP supports participants within a strengths based and client driven approach that aligns with individual collaborate care plan agreements. During the July 2013–June 2014 period, RRSP Wagga Wagga received 18 new referrals and supported a total of 37 participants to increase their emotional and mental resilience, community participation, maintaining daily living requirements and engaging with education, employment and other positive lifestyle choices.

The graph below depicts the major areas of engagement and the number of participants that remained engaged for more than 6 months. A major highlight is an 85% retention rate of those engaging within employment at the 6 months period

In total 43% of RRSP participants are now employed, and a further 32% engaged with an employment provider. A focus on physical health was achieved by running SFNSW’s New Moves and Healthy Recharge programs. This gave rise to a RRSP par-ticipant becoming trained and employed as a New Moves Peer Educator. This person presented to an audience of 400 people at the Merging Minds Conference and received a standing ovation.

RRSP promoted its service to the Wagga Wagga community in a variety of ways. The 2013 Mental Health Month Family Fun Day and the 2014 Schizophrenia Awareness Week Public Screening of ‘The Sunny Boy’ are two stand out accomplishments in both promoting RRSP and reducing the stigma associated with mental illness.

RRSP also continues to work in partnership with all other SFNSW programs in strengthening the local Care Coordination model, leading the way in providing holistic support to families affected by mental illness. The independent quality review, which took place in May 2014, highlighted the remarkable service collaboration that exists amongst all SFNSW Wagga Wagga services.

Jayne Lang Team Leader, RRSP Wagga Wagga

What I got out of being a peer worker is putting my best effort into everything I do. Others motivate me so I can better support them. It helped me get out of my shell, and feel much more confident and shoulder responsibility. Being able to assist others by motivating them has made me feel better about myself and I feel like a member of a team. I see a sense of camaraderie among the participants. And the remarkable improvement over the course of the New Moves program for some people is extremely heart-warming to see and I can feel proud that I am a part of that.

B Miller

My Fellowship

New Moves graduation, Wagga Wagga

Total number of participants engaged

Total number of participants remaining engaged after 6 months

Study

Employment

Volunteering

Social/recreation

Exercise/physical health

Client Engagement – 1 July 2013 – 30 June 2014

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

*Note: some participants are engaged in more than one area.

14 P E R S O N A L H E L P E R S & M E N T O R S P R O G R A M


It has been a year of consolidation of new services and ongoing improvement in practice outcomes for PHaMs within the Fellowship. PHaMs is a service that provides person-centred recovery orientated 1:1 support to individuals to move forward in their recovery journey. It has the scope to provide innovative support and mentoring to the participant from 6 months to 2 years, or more as required.

Three new PHaMs services and two new PHaMs extensions commenced in 2013 and these services have been developed into well run services in this past year that have been greatly welcomed by the communities they serve.

Key elements for PHaMs are providing a collaborative and mo-tivated team (5-8 Recovery Support Workers), quality training and having a team approach to creatively problem solve, share skills and manage participant numbers. PHaMs sites use person centred recovery principles to generate trust and engagement with participants in order to empower them to achieve their per-sonal goals. This can range from basic activities like, getting out of the house and using public transport to re-engaging with clini-cal services or a GP, improving wellness and confidence to start working on training, vocational or employment goals. Flexibility allows participants to proceed at their own pace with greater con-fidence, hope, resilience and ability to manage their lives. A family approach is used when possible, providing care or refer-rals to all those connected with the consumer. Sometimes a PHaMs site will often support several members of the same fam-ily. All PHaMs focus on cultivating self-efficacy and independence, in order to create move-through for new participants.

Best practice and quality improvement across PHaMs is led by a process where Team Leaders attend Strategic Planning days and monthly meetings and all PHaMs staff come together prior to the Staff Conference.

The sites have all had a wide variety of initiatives and successes over the past year, constraints mean only a few can be mentioned here.

The new PHaMs Employment services have sourced their offices and built a clear understanding of their service in the community, ie working specifically with those individuals who wish to gain employment but who need extra support to overcome pre-vocational barriers. The Campbelltown-Camden service is at capacity with a variety of employment services providing a flood of referrals. The Illawarra Service has tackled the geographical challenge of servicing the large area from Wollongong in the north to Narooma in the south of NSW. Staff is co-located in the Fellowship generalist PHaMs services (Nowra, Ulladulla and Moruya) and with PIR in Wollongong and the specialist PHaMs Employment staff now have their own cohesive team despite their diverse locations. The emphasis on employment has assisted the generalist PHaMs services. MOUs are in place with eight different job services and participant numbers are steadily increasing.

Wagga Wagga Employment PHaMs has developed steadily with an additional office in Albury with a full time staff member and a high numbers of incoming referrals.

Bega-Cooma is a new service, very much welcomed and needed in an area with few services, the Bega office rapidly reached capacity. Promotion and development in the Cooma area took longer both with recruitment, networking and referrals.This is partly due to the large rural geographic area the service is to cover surrounding Cooma.

Dubbo has built a partnership with the new Recovery Centre (subacute unit), developed a Volunteer Committee formed of program participants, run a successful and evaluated Coffee Club, supported participants developing a garden, increased links within the Aboriginal community, held special mental health education open days for Mental Health month and Schizophrenia Awareness Week. There are now participants in the program from the extension areas of Warren, Narromine and Trangie.

Eurobodalla have continued to invest in their work with Aboriginal communities in Bodalla, Wallaga Lake and Narooma where there is great social disadvantage and a high need for long term trusting relationships with services. PHaMs supported two Mental Health Forums for Schizophrenia Awareness week for consumers and organisations.

The Shoalhaven service (Nowra and Ulladulla Offices) were very busy over the year with a high number of participants with complex needs. The service was involved in many community events this year, reflecting an active region and well connected services. The team assisted PHaMs participants attending the

Personal Helpers & Mentors Program (PHaMs)

PHaMs has been really good for me because it’s the most support I’ve ever had, especially the emotional and social support from my PHaMs’ worker.

OB, client

My Fellowship

1 5

NSW Parliamentary Luncheon (speaker Michael Kirby) for Schizophrenia Awareness Week.

Other successes: in some areas, Partners in Recovery (PIR) are assisting PHaMs. Participants are often accepted into PHaMs who have very complex needs purely as there is no other services for them. In the long term this is very time consuming for PHaMs. Care coordination initiatives from PIR greatly assist PHaMs with this client group.

Eurobodalla and Shoalhaven PHaMs enabled two Aboriginal Trainees to successfully complete their two year training under the New Aboriginal Careers in Mental Health initiative and both now have full time positions within their PHaMs team. An emphasis on ongoing professional development for all PHaMs staff also contributes to an increasingly skilled workforce. A by product of this is, that it has been gratifying the Fellowship has recruited trained PHaMs staff who are moving from other areas, plus have been able to provide trained staff to PHaMs in other regions and organisations. This benefits the sector overall and potential PHaMs participants in the future.

Jill SteversonState Manager, Recovery Services

Jill Steverson State Manager, Recovery Services

Geographic location Type of service/extension Commencement Target number of participants

Registered Participants at 30 June 14

Shoalhaven General Est 2008 82 98

Eurobodalla General Est 2009 82 62

Dubbo General plus extension to Narromine/Warren

Est 2008/Extension from April 2013

72 71 ( inc 10 in Ext area)

Wagga Wagga General Est 2008 60 56

Wagga Wagga/Albury Employment June 2013 40 21

Bega-Cooma General April 2013 45 38

Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla

Employment April 2013 90 54

Camden-Campbelltown Employment June 2013 90 88

Total 488

Current PHaMs services

It’s been a great help knowing that there’s a program that’s able to support me with my mental health in time of need. It’s really helped me to start towards putting my tragic life back together and help me cope with everyday issues.

DH, client

PHaMs has been very useful in getting me to important appointments when I needed it and in supporting me to get to rehab and getting into hospital when I needed it.

AT, client

My Fellowship

The PHaMs program is a wonderful service. It gives people with mental health problems resources to stay well and become active members of society. I am very grateful as without my PHaMs workers support I probably would have had a lot more hospital stays.

GH, client

My Fellowship

My Fellowship

1 6 DAY T O DAY L I V I N G


This busy program continues across six sites Campbelltown/Bowral, Parramatta, Ryde, Ulladulla, Wagga Wagga and Canberra City. It is a centre based psychosocial rehabilitation program for people living with severe and persistent mental Illness. All activi-ties are based on education, socialisation and recreation and the service aims to help individuals achieve their maximum potential. It is funded by the Commonwealth Government, Department of Health (DoH) and is in the 7th year of service.

Consumer ownership has moved to a new level in the last 18 months as two of the sites, Campbelltown and Wagga Wagga, have now transitioned into the Clubhouse model. Members have been fully involved in this exciting change and now use the work-ordered day, operating a café on site and very successful ‘Outreach’ programs. Both sites have established advisory com-mittees ensuring local community involvement and support.

All sites develop their own monthly programs in collaboration with members and each program facilitates activities targeted towards the physical health and wellbeing of members, including smoking cessation, exercise and nutrition.

Members and staff attended major events in the last year including the D2DL Forum in Melbourne and the SFNSW Parlia-mentary Lunch. These and other events are continually proving to be of great benefit to the members, to be seen as everyone else is – not different but the same.

D2DL services provided at total of 31,836 hours of medium (structured) support service and 11,934 hours of drop in service to over 450 clients. Details for each site are set out in the graph below.

Highlights of a busy year

Campbelltown (Harmony House) is almost unrecognisable from the very basic premises that were leased from South West Sydney Area Health seven years ago, to a modern clubhouse, with thriving gardens (landscaping and garden designed by members) and a member operated café. Thanks to the Beautiful Minds a large NSW Community Builders Grant was awarded and after four months of major renovations, Harmony House was re-launched in March 2014. The day was opened by the Honorable Brian Doyle MP with a Welcome to Country carried out by two Primary School children. The day was a great success with approximately 100 members, family, friends and other service providers attending. Entertainment for the day was provided by members of Harmony House who have formed a band called Mixed Nuts. Catering was also provided by members.

Bowral D2DL is a partner in the The Mentoring for Wellness Project. This is a joint program with Wingecarribee Health Association for Men (WHAM) and SSWLHD (Berrima Cottage Rehab) in association with Bowral Men’s Shed (Uniting Church). The program is aimed at supporting young men living with mental

Support for Day to Day Living in the Community

Campbelltown Canberra City Parramatta Ryde Ulladulla Wagga Wagga

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0

D2DL Hours July 2013–June 2014

Total medium support hours

Total drop-in hours

17

illness who may have difficulties with schooling, to make a transition to other study or work.

Sunflower House (SFH) Wagga Wagga has had an amazing year, not only with the clubhouse transition but with support from the local community and member participation. Attendance num-bers are well in advance of targets. The ‘Music 4 Mates’ suicide awareness event raised $10,000 and Friends of Sunflower House committee also supported the service financially. SFH partnered with PIR (Partners in Recovery-Murrumbidgee Medicare Local), Wagga City Library and Forum Cinema 6 to provide a free screen-ing of the film Sunny Boy on 19 May 2014. 120 people attended the event; comments were made that the film was very powerful, discussions afterwards were educational and of great benefit.

Canberra City has had a complete staff turn over with the new team commencing in March of this year. The team have hit the ground running and have already worked with 308 individuals which is unprecedented given the unique nature of Ainslie Village. Discussion sessions proved to be a positive way forward to re-build trusting relationships with the members and residents and a very effective way of engaging in a safe and nonjudgmental environment. The first Member ‘Working Bee’ in Ainslie Village happened in May 2014 which was very positive. A collaborative project in June resulted in the Art Exhibition ‘Marks by the Unknown’. Opening night of this event was a huge success with 65 guests attending along with members and staff. Again we witnessed a stand against stigma as all participants were filled with confidence, seeing their art work on show – they stood proud, not anonymous. The new team are looking forward to this coming year with the NDIS commencing in Canberra and the opportunity to offer the D2DL program to Women in the ACT prison are just two ways in which the service will adapt to meet the needs of the community in an innovative way.

Schizophrenia Awareness Week 2014 activities were a great success at Sunflower House Ulladulla which hosted a tie dying workshop and BBQ to which the response was incredibly positive. This was a collaborative event between Partners in Recovery, RichmondPRA and St Vincent’s and brought new members to the program and helped raise awareness of mental illness. Approximately 40 people attended the day, partnerships were strengthened with the local TAFE which will see more student placements at Sunflower House. This is an important development for the small community of Ulladulla, as student placements can sometimes be difficult to obtain due to lack of services. Sunflower House is proud to be able to support students to further develop skills working in the mental health sector.

On 20th February 2014 Frangipani House celebrated six years as a Day to Day Living program in the Parramatta LGA. On that day members shared their stories, what the service meant to them, reminisced on staff and members and premises past and present. Favourite activities were discussed which included discussion groups, art and crafts and poetry writing. Special thanks go to Mary one of the volunteers for her efforts with the preparation and organisation of the arts activities from members’ suggestions. Frangipani House held an Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea Party to raise funds and awareness of cancer for the Cancer Council. The day was well attended with the aim of members to give back to the community. The current site at 5 Alice Street Harris Park is the third and most popular premises for the program and it has developed into a warm and welcoming place with much more space for a variety of activities.

Ryde’s successful year included facilitation of their first ‘New Moves’ program; a successful ‘Market Day’ and a ‘Christmas in July’ lunch for members and their guests. The Hearing Voices Network group continues each fortnight. This group has proven to be of great benefit to its participants and saw several members gaining enough confidence to commence volunteering and another two commencing part time employment this year. Ryde was also involved in the SFNSW quality accreditation process and the accreditation team stated that the service had a very warm and positive atmosphere and it was evident in the interviews that members enjoyed their program and the opportunities it delivered. There are exciting plans for Ryde D2DL to move to Chatswood in the coming year, to work side by side with multiple partners including New Horizons and Uniting Care. The aim is to develop a complete Hub (four houses) of mental health and wellbeing services.

Cheryl HarrisD2DL/Clubhouse Development Manager

Without Harmony House I would be home alone and socially isolated. Harmony House gives me a purpose and the incentive to get out of bed every day. At Harmony House I am treated as a person with value, not as an illness.

Christine M

My Fellowship

From the first time I went there I was welcomed with warmth and understanding. It’s great to have a place to go that is safe and non-judgemental and it is also so good to feel like you are not the only one who struggles with managing life alongside a mental illness. It’s great even if you are having a really low day, somehow just attending picks you up.

Laura Hughes

My Fellowship

1 8 H E LP I N G H A N D S


Helping Hands

Our incredible volunteers have contributed greatly to our participants lives by giving of their time and talents to come alongside participants of the Helping Hands program. They donate their precious time and skills to provide supported socialisation, care and safe connections to increase the quality of life of people with mental illness. Helping Hands continues to provide volunteer support to those living with mental illness.

Volunteering at Helping Hands is rewarding and sustainable long-term. Our longest serving member has been linked 1:1 with the same participant for eight years and is still happily supporting them in reducing their social isolation and assisting with accessing their local community.

The West Street community is also a place where other services can accompany their clients to visit while they are becoming more accustomed to being out in the social setting. The supported social support that Helping Hands volunteers provide is a unique service in Nowra. Helping Hands provides support to a large number of consumers who otherwise receive no support from any other service (37%). However, there is a large number for whom Helping Hands provides social inclusion and supported socialisation while other services work with the consumer on other recovery goals (63%).

Volunteers and consumers work side-by-side in our community garden to plan what to plant and how to manage their garden and it continues to be productive both as a garden and a mental health recovery tool. Workers in the garden take home the goods they produce. This year both participants and volunteers held a stall to sell produce, plants and seeds from the garden at the local Nowra markets. They also built a garden and planted herbs at our West Street facility for the cooks to use and for the benefit of those who wanted to do some light gardening. (see above).

The West Street Program also supports healthy activities with tennis always on the menu. The Walking Group is always well attended by up to 10 participants and now runs on both Mondays and Thursdays. Participants work side by side with volunteers in maintaining the centre and the camaraderie is excellent.

The Mental Health Rehab team join us each week to facilitate the stretch and flex group at West Street, followed by a session of mindfulness. These groups are well attended and have been

Total Consumers

Regularly attend Wellbeing program

Regularly participate at the Community Garden

New participants to the program

Total Volunteers

Active volunteers

Active peer leaders

Volunteers trained in past 12 months

93

69

8

16

37

32

5

17

Total participants involved with Helping Hands

The new garden at West Street Centre Willing workers on the community garden from D2D Ulladulla and Helping Hands

1 9

known to draw a crowd of up to 15 participants each Thursday. This year our knitting volunteer retired so one of our participants took up the challenge to run the group. Our Knitting Group has grown to six members and has become quite a hub of activity and discussions. Helping Hands also introduced an Aboriginal Art Group for several weeks to increase inclusiveness of our indigenous people. This has now become an aboriginal art/craft group.

In May 2014, Helping Hands and PHaMs combined to host a Schizophrenia Awareness Week event – Diagnosed and Still Beautiful. It was a pamper day which was open to the public. A local hairdresser (Maiden Hair) donated several hours of her time to cut hair while other staff and volunteers taught basic nail art, hair styling and makeup techniques. The local retail community donated various items to our cause such as hair chalk, makeup and applicators, nail polish and hand cream and make up removal wipes. It was a fun and successful day bringing the community together whilst raising awareness of mental illness.

With the focus on encouraging healthy lifestyles, Helping Hands joined with RRSP (Recovery and Resources Services Program), Respite services and the Area Health Mental Health Rehab team to deliver a 16 week healthy lifestyle and behaviour change program, New Moves. The program delivered information about how to read and understand food labels, an exercise program, measuring progress in increased fitness and flexibility as well as introducing participants to new recipes and support to learn how to prepare them. It was a very successful program and will run again next year.

Although 2013–2014 has been a year of progress, we have also had the sad task of saying goodbye to several volunteers due to other employment or life circumstances. But it has been a great loss to have the coordinator Kim Kenny leave this year after three years of incredible service at Helping Hands. Her facilitation of the revamp of the community centre along with the many activities she introduced are much appreciated and she is greatly missed.

As I have stepped into this role I have been constantly amazed at the incredible work that our volunteers do in supporting our participants. The generosity of their time and energy to sit with, do with and teach their skills to others is commendable and I am most appreciative of all they do.

Janet MenziesCoordinator, Helping Hands

far left: Helping Hands Art and Garden left: Volunteer colouring Coordinator’s hair

2 0 P I O N E E R C LU B H O U S E


Pioneer Clubhouse

Financial year 2013–2014 saw us come to the conclusion of our last Strategic Plan, bringing with it many reasons for celebration due to the diligent and hard work by members, staff, Advisory Board, and off course the support of management and support staff at the Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales. In addi-tion to supporting a total of 237 individuals work towards their individual recovery goals, on at least one occasion in the last finan-cial year we managed to achieve a couple of larger objectives.

In 2013–14 we welcomed new leadership onto the Pioneer Club-house Advisory Board. The role of the chair was taken on by Douglas Miller. Doug took on the role after serving two years as President of the Rotary Club of Manly Sunrise who have been a big supporter of Pioneer Clubhouse over the last 20 years and most recently with our renovation and expansion project. Doug, a Psy-chology Honours graduate with an MBA taught at Melbourne University before being called up for national service, graduating from Officer Training and serving as a commissioned officer in the Australian Army Psychology corps. He began his commercial career with Shell Australia as an organisation development con-sultant, spent several years with Alcoa Australia in different human resources management positions, and then moved to Fuji Xerox Australia to head first their southern region human resources man-agement services, then to develop and lead the company’s leadership training and organisation development initiatives and finally for the 10 years until he retired served as the company’s Director of Human Resources and Quality in what was to prove to be a key role in driving performance and cultural change both in Australia and overseas.

An achievement that we were very proud of being a part the inau-gural Wellness Walk over the Sydney Harbor Bridge in November. This event was a big success attracting slightly over 600 participants. Not only did it attract great participation in its first year, it also met its main objective of raising awareness of Mental Health issues and its secondary aim of helping the many organisations that assist individuals living with mental illness raise much needed funds. We look forward to a bigger Wellness Walk for Mental Health in 2014 and welcome any support offered. 2013–2014 also saw the introduction of Support Facilitators with the Partners in Recovery Initiative introduced into Pioneer Clubhouse. Standard number 28 of the International Standards for Clubhouse Programs states, “Community support services are provided by the members and staff of the Clubhouse. Community support ac-tivities are centred in the work unit structure of the Clubhouse. They include helping with entitlements, housing and advocacy, pro-moting healthy lifestyles, as well as assistance in finding quality medical, psychological, pharmacological and substance abuse

services in the community.” Having access to Support Facilitators has allowed the Clubhouse community to actively work to find and engage with individuals who are falling through the system’s gaps and provided them with more intensive support to effectively ad-dress the complexity of their needs. At the end of the financial year, the PIR team at Pioneer Clubhouse had supported 46 individuals.

In October 2013 we began partnering with a local charity Street Mission to provide a hot healthy meal to homeless and socially isolated individuals on Saturday evenings. This venture has proved to be a resounding success with an average of 40 individuals both members and potential new members attending this activity. Many individuals have through attending this meal had an opportunity to connect with the Partners in Recovery initiative based at Pioneer Clubhouse and have access to a recovery oriented service to help put them on their journey to recovery.

Moving forward, we are in the process of developing a strategic plan that will guide us in addressing gaps we face as an organisa-tion trying to support individuals with mental illness. One such gap we hope to shortly fill is to develop the capacity to assist our mem-bers in accessing adequate employment supports. We will also be addressing four core focus areas which are:

• Securing our funding in an uncertain funding environment.

• Strengthening our capabilities.

• Ensuring we deliver.

• Consolidating our impact.

In conclusion, we are excited about the future opportunities we face as well as confident in our ability to contend with the challenges all of us in the Mental Health sector face around funding security and look forward to an exciting 2014–2015.

Jason Kioko Director, Pioneer Clubhouse

Doug Miller, Jason Kioko, Lynn Anderson and Walter Harris at the 17th International Clubhouse Seminar in St Louis, Missouri, USA.

D I S A B I L I T Y E M P LOY M E N T S E R V I C E S 2 1

Disability Employment Services (DES)

SFNSW delivers specialist mental health employment DES (Disability Employment Services) as a sub-contractor and member of Ostara Australia. There are two main types of DES services: Disability Management Services (DMS) and Employment Support Services (ESS). The latter service is for jobseekers with higher support needs and is in general a more suitable service for SFNSW traditional client base.

In 2013–14 the major KPI’s for the DES services are set out in the following table:

In early 2014 SFNSW and Ostara ceased providing DES-DMS services in the Northern Sydney, Macarthur and Southern Ranges ESAs (Employment Service Areas). Up to the period of service con-solidation in February 2014, SFNSW DES services were operating at a financial loss. From March 2014 that ongoing loss ceased and for the remaining four months of the year the DES services traded at a small surplus.

In 2013 SFNSW began providing DES-ESS services in Macar-thur. From February 2014 the ESS service became the major focus in the Macarthur ESA. The significant performance improvement in job placements in the last four months of 2013–14 is shown in the graph. With a strong focus on Post-Placement support in 2014–15, it is anticipated that this success will soon be reflected in high 13 and 26 week outcomes.

Bill Gye OAMGeneral Manager, Recovery Services

Inner West

Macarthur DMS

Macarthur ESS

Shoalhaven

South Eastern NSW

Southern Ranges

Northern Sydney

TOTAL

Commencements (1st Service Fees)

66

46

43

61

26

12

48

302

Job Placements

30

15

35

40

7

7

7

141

13 week Outcomes

20

5

5

19

6

4

4

63

26 week Outcomes

22

2

4

18

5

1

5

57

It gives me great pleasure to share my experiences of working with the wonderful support team at Ostara Burwood, to whom I am profound-ly grateful. Ostara provided me with unwavering guidance, care, and encouragement during a particularly difficult period of my life as a job seeker with a mental health condition.

The Ostara Burwood team was most attentive and sensitive to my individual needs. They worked closely with me to develop goals and tailor strategies which assisted me in securing employment and post-graduate education. Ostara were proactive, accessible, practical, and displayed an outstanding level of communication. Ostara were genu-inely committed to see me achieve my goals, and also maintained a balanced approach to promote and safeguard my overall wellbeing. When my self-concept was quite poor, Ostara were responsible for helping me develop a tenacious spirit, an optimistic outlook, and strong self-belief. Ostara consistently supported me at a capacity far beyond employment services provision. I am especially appreciative to the Ostara Burwood team for making me feel valued, and helping me realise that via employment in my chosen field, I will have an opportunity to make a unique and meaningful contribution to our community. I do feel privileged to have been able to work with Ostara.

Jennifer Carew, Job seeker

My Fellowship

Some of the 2013–14 Macarthur DES team: Jennifer Watts, Jodi Stuart, Melissa Hardie, Erica Thieu and Manager, Andrew Hindmarch

Job placements – ESS Macarthur

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun13 13 13 14 14 14 14 14 14

20

15

10

5

0

Mental Health Sports Network

The Mental Health Sports Network (MHSN) brings together a network of mental health organisations and individuals commit-ted to providing opportunities for people with a mental illness to engage in sporting activities in NSW.

The MHSN creates a variety of sporting events that are deliv-ered by national and local sporting organisations for people living with a mental illness to have the opportunity to:

• Increase participation through sporting activities in the community

• Improve confidence, independence, sense of belonging and self worth

• Develop existing and new skills within sport

• Improve physical health, sociability, mental health and wellbeing as part of a healthy lifestyle

• Value for money

• Improve ongoing opportunities to access regular sporting activities

Throughout 2013/2014 the MHSN had over 300 participants partake in various sports, including:

• AFL

• Badminton

• Basketball

• Bowling

• Cricket

The MHSN steering committee plays an important role in guid-ing decisions of activities alongside helping to host particular events. Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month with partner organisations Aftercare, NEAMI National, New Hori-zons, The Como group, Uniting Care Mental Health and Richmond PRA as well as consumer representatives.

This past year was particularly important with progress being made to strengthen new and existing partnerships with State Sporting Organisations and create new events for the MHSN par-ticipants. This year saw AFL NSW, Basketball NSW, Cricket NSW and Netball NSW come on board.

The MHSN conducted its first winter Sports Camp in May 2014 by partnering with SFNSW Respite Services. The Sports Camp was held over five days at the Sydney Academy of Sports in Nar-rabeen.

For further information regarding the MHSN, please visit: www.mhsn.org.au

2 2 P H YS I C A L H E A LT H


Physical Health

I go for long walks with my parents, and cook healthy meals with them. I am encouraging them to make healthy changes

Particpant

My Fellowship

top right: Sport does not build character it reveals it. bottom right: I don’t know of any other way, but lead by example. far right: If you watch sport, it’s recreation. If you play it, it’s fun.

• Netball

• Soccer

• Tennis

• Table Tennis

• Sailing

N E W M OV E S 2 3

Consumer Survey

100%100%67%

83%100%67%83%

––

33%

––––

–––

17%–

33%17%

I am feeling fitterI have more energyI am feeling better about myself (i.e. improved self-esteem, self worth).I am enjoying exerciseI am enjoying eating healthy foodsI am sleeping betterI am more motivated to exercise and eat healthy foods.

Responses Agree Disagree N/A

Week 2 Week 8 Week 14

96.5

96

95.5

95

94.5

31.4

31.2

31.0

30.8

BMI(kg/m2)

Weight(kg)

Body Composition (figure 1)


20

15

10

5

0

SitandReach (cm)

Flexibility (figure 2)


1000

500

0

Distance(m)

Cardiovascular Fitness: 6 minute time trial (figure 3)

Figure 1 shows an average group weight loss of 3kg, Figure 2 an increase in flexibility by 5cm and Figure 3 shows a 200 metre increase in distance run over six minutes for 15 participants at one of our New Moves site.

New Moves

The New Moves Program is a 16 week healthy lifestyle program for two hours per week based around exercise activities that tar-get cardiovascular fitness and strength training. Activities are performed in a group setting where participation in preparing healthy meals and a variety of educational discussion topics are provided to participants helping them to learn skills to better manage their physical health and long term recovery.

The New Moves Program is forever growing and 2013/2014 saw six SFNSW sites across NSW deliver the program to over 90 participants. New Moves was delivered in Canterbury, Balgowlah, North Ryde, Ulladulla, Wagga Wagga and Nowra.

New Moves is an evidence based program and below shows what 15 participants thought about their physical health, emo-tional health and social well-being.

Jas VirdeeCoordinator Physical Health and Wellness Programs

2 4


The committee met four times during this financial year with very good attendance. Two regional representatives joined the meeting in person (from Wagga Wagga) and via teleconference (Cessnock). The meeting is chaired by the CEO and the Senior Vice President attends as a Board representative. One of the consumer members of the committee also has a seat on the Fellowship Board ensuring strong two way communication between the committee and the Board.

Members of the committee discussed numerous internal and external policies and advocacy issues and made recommendations to the Board for action which were adopted. Particular attention was given to the development of the peer work force and the Recovery Discussion Paper. The physical health of people with mental illness and the Fellowship’s actions to address that issue have also been a major discussion point.

The committee had representatives involved in our Quality Accreditation as has been the case with each external assessment of our quality processes. Some members of the committee are approaching the end of their current term. Advertisements will be circulated calling for nominations to fill these positions.

Rob Ramjan

The Fellowship has been asked by the Department of Social Ser-vices (DSS) to work in partnership with other providers to deliver Drought Relief stress supports which are designed to help farming communities where there may be mental health concerns.

As a part of connecting with rural communities the Fellowship is expanding TRISS (Telephone Referral Information Support Services) to include Rural Outreach under a marketing strategy called Support A Mate. The idea is to get the message out to farming communities about mental health supports that are available within their communities through outreach connection. The Fellowship is currently building a website that will act as a referral point for rural farming communities. The website is also called Support A Mate.

To engage with farming communities an emphasis has been put in place to create events in rural communities that provides direct contact with these communities to discuss supports for mental health in a welcoming atmosphere where farmers and their families are more likely to attend. The Fellowship has already contributed to events in Walgett and Lightening Ridge called BBQ & a Bale and Lightning Ridge Hay Run held at Bando Station owned by the Turnbull Family. Future events have been organised in conjunction with Black Dog Motor bike ride in July and Depression Awareness in Warren Shire. Drought support will continue until December 2014.

Victor Tyler, Business Development Manager

Research Trust Fund & Peter Meyer Fund

Drought Relief

The Trustees of the fund are:

Chair: Assoc Prof Anthony HarrisDeputy Chair: Alexandra RiversTreasurer: John ConnellTrustees: The Hon John Hatzistergos, Dr Michael Lunzer,

Greg Arnold, Rob Ramjan

The RTF has two grants that have been operational during this period. This first is a small grant to Sergeant Matthew Ireland, NSW Police, to assist with his PhD study which is focusing on the NSW Police Mental Health Intervention Team. Matt’s research has already led to his being invited to present at an international conference in the United States. We know the value of the MHIT

Consumer Consultative Committee

and we look forward to seeing Matt’s research. A second grant to Dr Pamela Marsh and her team at the Centre for Cognitive Disorders, Macquarie University, is assisting with the development of a translational piece of research that will develop a social cognition training program for people with schizophrenia.

Both Sergeant Ireland and Dr Pamela Marsh will address the 2015 Symposium and report on their work.

The Trustees have called for submissions for grants from both the RTF and the Peter Myer Fund which will be received and awarded in the 2014-15 financial year.Rob Ramjan

WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY

2 6 C O M M U N I T Y D E V E LO P M E N T


Community Development

Hunter Community Development Program

The Hunter Community Development Program continues to pros-per thanks to a great team of dedicated volunteers who contribute their time and effort to support group and community awareness activities, as well as the daily operations of the Sunflower Centre.

The highlight of the last 12 months would have to be the relocation of the Sunflower Centre from Newcastle West to Mayfield and the opening of the new premises on 10th February 2014. The opening saw more than 50 people from Hunter New England Mental Health, Medicare Local, other Mental Health NGOs and community based organisations join our consumers and carers to welcome the Mental Health Minister, Kevin Humphries, Newcastle State MP, Tim Owen, and Clinical Director of Hunter New England Mental Health to officially open our new home.

The established support groups continue to flourish and new groups are working hard to establish themselves in local communi-ties. Support group members have participated in a range of activities including lunches, movie outings, bare foot bowling and respite weekends to North Head, among other activities.

Community Awareness Activities continue to be a focus with con-sumers and carers involved in giving talks to Occupational Therapy, Nursing and Medical students at the University of Newcastle, all receiving very positive feedback and giving students a realistic view of what it is like to live with mental illness or to care for some-one with a mental illness.

In Schizophrenia Awareness Week a forum was held in conjunc-tion with Carer Assist focussing on the ‘Carer Role’. Feedback from this event was very positive, especially relating to the Carers who were brave enough to tell their stories. Consumers and Carers also

attended the Fellowship Symposium in Sydney and the Parliamen-tary Luncheon.

The Sunflower Centre continues to be staffed by dedicated vol-unteers who make outreach calls to an increasing number of isolated consumers each week. Many of these consumers have become part of the Fellowship family sending in photos of their pets and looking forward to our calls each week. Ian Walker has been leading a walking group weekly which makes its way along the beautiful Newcastle Foreshore, Simon Swinson spends hours putting our Newsletter together. To Kaz Francis, Jenny Nichols, Julie Killeen, Sarah Preston, Jessie Rowan and all the other volun-teers who help out at the Sunflower Centre on a regular basis, we appreciate your help. To our support group leaders, members and all the people who support the varied activities of The Fellowship in the Hunter Region, a big thank you – we could not do as much as we do without your valuable assistance.

Nadine Farrell, Coordinator, Hunter Programs

Support Work and Community Development (NOUS)

NOUS is a recovery program that provides support to people with a mental illness and their carers who are primarily from a Greek speaking background. The program integrates community education, support groups and a transitional housing program in partnership with Evolve Housing.

NOUS has been vigorous in promoting the program throughout the year. The NOUS newsletter is a valuable tool that promotes and educates the Greek community on issues surrounding mental illness and mental health. Nine monthly NOUS newsletter issues were published with an increased circulation of 21%, bringing the total number distributed throughout the year to 749. NOUS also had articles published in the Greek Kosmo newspaper and utilised a Greek radio program to promote the various events and activities held throughout the year. Community engagement and reducing the stigma attached to mental illness is a key focus of the NOUS program. This was achieved in numerous ways. NOUS participated in the Healthy Minds Expo at Westfield shopping centre Hurstville, partnered with Carer Assist to deliver modules from the Assisting Families program to our Greek carers support group. NOUS partnered with St George Community Mental Health to present an information workshop on ‘Understanding mental illness and where to get help’ to 100 Year 7 and 8 students at the All Saints Greek Orthodox School in Belmore.

Two big events on the calendar for NOUS are Mental Health month and Schizophrenia Awareness Week where we engage

Sunflower Centre Volunteers: Kaz Francis, Dawn Lewis, Ruth Gorton, and Jan Greig

2 7

with the wider Greek community. These events attracted 85 participants.

The transitional accommodation program has provided intensive support to two consumers in working towards their individualised recovery goals. One consumer has been placed in permanent accommodation and referred to other services for continued support. The other consumer was able to complete university studies and is waiting to be housed permanently. Due to changes in the Supported Housing environment this transitional accommodation program with Evolve Housing will not continue into the next reporting period. The NOUS team will be redirecting energies into greater community development and focusing on the adolescent age group.

The Greek Carers support group has had consistent regular monthly attendance and has grown in membership. We are grateful to Canterbury Community Mental Health for allowing us to use their facilities at no charge. NOUS has also assisted 24 other carers, consumers and health professionals with information, referrals and support. The NOUS team look forward to creating new opportunities to engage with the Greek community and the growth of the program in the next year.

Sophie Zografos, Recovery Support Worker

Murrumbidgee Local Area Health Network

29 July 2013 Frank Goodyer commenced work in the role of Community Development Officer, Sunflower Family Services in Wagga Wagga and during the past 12 months, has been working towards developing effective interagency relationships within the local community to improve outcomes for people living with mental illness and raise awareness of the role of SFNSW in the Wagga Wagga community.

Existing partnerships with Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) and Murrumbidgee Medicare Local (MML) have continued to provide practical support to the Dramatic Minds Festival Com-mittee and the Co-Morbidity Steering Committee, the latter being the vehicle for the planning and facilitation of the very successful Merging Minds Conference in May 2014.

Media – the local community radio station 2AAAFM offers live to air interviews on local events or matters of interest in relation to mental health. ABC Radio Riverina and local print media also regu-larly promote Carer Assist workshops, ON FIRE programs, Mental Health Month activities and the Mental Health Sports Network.

Presentations – 11 September 2013 a forum of Community Care Co-coordinators at the Gurwood Street meeting room was hosted and the CDO gave a presentation on the coordinated care services which the Fellowship operates in Wagga Wagga. In Janu-ary 2013, the Retired Teachers Federation of NSW, Wagga Wagga branch was addressed on the programs and services offered by the Schizophrenia Fellowship in Wagga Wagga. February saw the opening of CSU ’O-Week’ with Jayne Lang, Team Leader, Recovery and Resource Services and in May a Sunflower Services ‘all pro-grams information session’ at Sunflower House was held. The

2013 Dramatic Minds Festival and the Wagga PCYC gave opportu-nities to promote mental health awareness in the Wagga Wagga community. In 2014 the Wagga Wagga Dramatic Minds Festival received $2500 in funding from the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP).

On 19 March 2014 a Consumer Forum was conducted in Nar-randera and the CDO coordinated Sunflower Family Services support for the forum. SFNSW provided an information stall staffed by support workers from our Wagga Wagga Respite program. This provided an opportunity to hear presentations from several influ-ential people within the mental health sector.

Mental Health Sports Network – The MHSN has been coordi-nated by the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW since 2010 and has partnered with a number of sporting organisations to offer partici-pation in a wide range of sports. January 2014 saw the establishment of a sub-committee of the MHSN in Wagga Wagga to provide appropriate sporting opportunities through Cricket NSW. A very successful cricket coaching clinic for twelve participants was held at Bolton Park Wagga Wagga delivered by Warren Smith, original mentor to former Australian test batsmen, Michael Slater. We are hopeful of providing another similar clinic later in 2014.

‘Sporting Chance’ program – SFNSW was successful in securing $10,000 in funding towards sporting events/activities in the Wagga Wagga and Hunter regions.

Mental Health Month Planning Committee – The Mental Health Month Planning Committee meets monthly. Several new member organisations including Riverina Aboriginal Medical and Dental, Centacare and Wagga Wagga TAFE have joined the committee. The committee is currently planning promotional activities for Mental Health Month 2014.

Co-Morbidity Steering Committee – Merging Minds Conference – this committee is working towards hosting the bi-annual Merging Minds Conference in Wagga Wagga.

Youth Mental Health Forum – The 2014 Youth Mental Health Forum was held in Wagga Wagga on 4th June 2014 to initiate some positive change to Youth Mental Health issues across the Riverina. This Forum was facilitated by BATYR and one of the key outcomes from the day was that students developed an action plan to take back to their school, to implement change and assist in destigma-tising the subject of mental health among their peers and families.Frank Goodyer, CDO, Murrumbidgee Local Health District

Sunflower Health Services

Sunflower Health Services has had a significant year of growth, development and change this financial year. There has been growth in not only individuals accessing the service, but also development in services provided through our contractors and change that brings very exciting opportunities for years to come. Over the past financial year Sunflower Health Services has provided services to over 90 individuals, 87% of these individuals identified as a person living with a mental illness and 13% identified as a carer. The finan-cial year has seen a 34% increase in appointments booked and

2 8 C O M M U N I T Y D E V E LO P M E N T


33% increase in appointments attended, with a total of 512 appoint-ments attended. The Did Not Attend rate was at a rate of 4.9% across the two sites with the remainder of appointments not attend-ed being cancelled or rescheduled by clients prior to their appointment.

This financial year had seven contractors working between the locations of Sunflower Health Services which consisted of six psy-chologists and the addition of a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner to the team. The additions to the team included Psychologist, Eva Wong, who joined our Burwood Team and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Wendy Corliss, who joined our Balgowlah team. Both Eva and Wendy bring expertise and knowledge in fundamental ar-eas of mental and physical health. Both Eva and Wendy offer compassionate and well-trained services to individuals, families and carers affected by psychosis and other mental illnesses.

Sunflower Health Services held its first event, on Wednesday 13th November 2013 the team took the opportunity to celebrate National Psychology Week and launch the newly renovated prem-ises at Balgowlah with a ‘Morning Tea for Wellness’. The Morning Tea was an opportunity to get local service providers together to discuss the importance of care collaboration.

The year has seen the accomplishment of many goals, including the implementation of an online appointment and bulk billing sys-tem which has drastically improved the quality of the service. Furthermore at the end of the financial year the service was fortu-nate enough to be successful in a grant application for a start-up funding to bring Sunflower Health Services into other areas of NSW.

Endeavour Clubhouse Committee – Port Macquarie

This year’s report is one that is so odd. Bob Boss Walker and his team have achieved something beyond what could be hoped for. Port Macquarie now has a purpose built clubhouse ready and able to provide psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery services. This is a service sadly lacking in this catchment.

The clubhouse has been achieved through massive community support and fund raising over more than 12 years and has a won-derful commercial kitchen, clerical areas, offices, quiet rooms. The building project also received a large grant from the NSW Premier’s Community Building Fund. Everything a clubhouse should have. It does not have staff. Despite numerous promises over the last nine years, there is apparently no funding available for Port Macquarie.

This is painful incremental change but the Fellowship and the very committed team in Port Macquarie will not give up on achiev-ing what the community, including many people with a mental illness and their carers, want.

Rob Ramjan

Light and Hope Committee

The Illawarra Light and Hope Clubhouse Committee has focused on fundraising to maintain the Clubhouse at two days per week. We have 15 to 20 people attend each day with a total of around 50 active Clubhouse members.

In 2013 we ran a major raffle in conjunction with 20 local hairdressing salons who sold the raffle tickets and offered a discount to customers as part of the campaign. The ‘Highlights for Hope’ campaign ultimately raised $27,000 in much needed funds. The campaign received fantastic support from the hairdressers and many local businesses and prominent identities in the Illawarra region. In 2014 we are again running ‘Highlights for Hope’ with approximately 50 salons participating, with the addition of the ‘Shoot the Hairdresser’ photographic competition and a Hairdresser’s Ball in October where prize winners will also be announced. We are hopeful that these activities will raise sufficient funds to support the Light and Hope Clubhouse to continue to operate for two days a week.

The Committee members continue to raise awareness of the Light and Hope Clubhouse and mental health needs in the local community. There have been several opportunities to communi-cate with local and state politicians to promote the Clubhouse with a view to obtaining some form of operational funding. At pre-sent we rely on the support of the Illawarra community for their donations to sustain Clubhouse operations. We have excellent relationships with other mental health service providers from both the public and private sector and they have been enthusias-tic in recommending and referring potential Clubhouse members.

Prof Frank Deane, Chairman

Friends of Sunflower House (FoSH), Wagga Wagga

The role of the CDO continues to have a strong affiliation with Sunflower House and the Friends of Sunflower House committee (FoSH) and with the resignation of long serving committee chairman, John Bragg early in 2014, the CDO provided guidance and support to FoSH in recruiting new members and assisted with administration and the submission of applications for grant funding, securing $12,195 in funding through local programs to help fund the planned extensions to Sunflower House.

The Fellowship continues to provide administrative support to the FoSH committee and identify opportunities for fundraising and applications for grant funding. Regular attendance at Sunflower House on a weekly basis takes place resulting in interaction with members in order to gain a clearer understanding of their aspirations and to see what the Fellowship can do practically to enhance their experience within the Sunflower House Program.

August 2013 saw submission of a grant application for funding for the proposed renovations of Sunflower House from the Wagga Wagga Golden Gowns Committee. On 10 December a formal function hosted by the Mayor of Wagga Wagga at the Council Chambers for the announcement and distribution of grant funding from the Golden Gowns Awards Committee Inc. Sunflower House was a successful recipient in the sum of $10,000 towards the planned renovations of Sunflower House by the Kooringal Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga.

Frank Goodyer, CDO Murrumbidgee Local Health District

S C H I Z O P H R E N I A AWA R E N E S S W E E K 2 9

Schizophrenia Awareness Week 2014

The great excitement of SAW is that it has become a truly national event over the last few years. The Mental Illness Fellowship of Aus-tralia is the only non government organisation with true national coverage and through that we are able to reach every state and territory in Australia. SAW planning is now conducted by a national committee which agrees on themes and the methods of raising awareness.

We have been able to engage an excellent media company, Media Key led by Ross Woodward, which exceeds all expectations in securing media coverage for the week. This year there were well in excess of 120 radio interviews across the country with over 40 in NSW as well as broad newspaper coverage in both major and regional outlets. Television interviews were conducted in a number of states including NSW where both our President and Senior Vice President were interviewed.

The national focus for this year’s week was young carers. We were privileged to have a young woman, aged 17, as the face of this national campaign. Joanna cares for her parents who have a men-tal illness and has been a member of our ON FIRE Young Carers program in the Hunter. She featured in our Avant Card campaign, our posters and a video telling her story. Both Joanna and James, aged 18, and also a young carer from the Hunter, addressed the Federal Parliamentary Friends of Mental Illness at Parliament House. They were both brilliant and had high impact on our federal politicians.

Thanks go to Mike Preston and Creatives Co-op once again for their wonderful design work and the shooting of the video which is powerful. David Meldrum, MIFA ED, and Tony Stevenson’s crew at MIFQ in Brisbane once again took lead roles in this campaign and we thank them for their efforts.

We were deeply honoured to have the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG as our speaker at this year’s NSW Parliamentary Luncheon. The event was hosted by the Hon Barbara Perry, Member for Auburn, and Melanie Gibbons, Member for Menai, and held in the Stran-ger’s Dining Room. It was a real pleasure to have a full house with just under 150 people in attendance. It was even more wonderful that about 25% of the people in attendance were consumers, that is, people with a mental illness. Also in attendance were the Hon Greg James QC, retired Supreme Court Judge, John Feneley, NSW Mental Health Commissioner, Pam Rutledge, CEO RPRA, and rep-resentatives of Janssen Cilag and Lundbeck who sponsored our SAW activities.

Symposium 2014 also focused on the carer and featured pres-entations from Elena Katrakis, CEO Carers NSW, Ray Ward, Solicitor Law Society Wills Committee, Dr Anne Honey, researcher Sydney

University, a panel of carers, Sandra McDonald, Janice Purvis, and Stephen Cooper. Sandra presented a video on the outstanding work of Beautiful Minds in South West Sydney which I recommend to all. Judy Hodgkinson, a consumer, told her compelling story of recovery, and Maria Visotina, Manager PiR South West Sydney, explained the Partners in Recovery program. Our sincere thanks to each and every one of them.

Across the country we engaged in “getting our message out” through mailouts to politicians, local agencies, libraries, etc. In NSW there were too many local events to mention here. Morning teas, open days, social events, information stalls and dinners were held in many locations.

Most sincere thanks go to the literally hundreds of volunteers and those who made each event the success that they were. It is good to know that we had major activities happening in over 50 locations across the state, bringing greater awareness and hope-fully a more tolerant and caring society that gives people with a mental illness a fair go and a hand when they need it.

As usual I will finish this report the same as I have over many years. We receive the pathetic amount of $15,000 from NSW Health to run SAW as a state wide activity. This barely covers the cost of the SAW mailout. We rely heavily on support from compa-nies such as Janssen who have partnered with us for 23 years in making SAW happen and gratefully welcome Lundbeck back as a sponsor of SAW after a few years’ absence. I know what we did achieve during the Schizophrenia Awareness Week with such a small amount of money. I know what we could achieve if this were increased and remain ever hopeful that we will get there.

Rob Ramjan, CEO

Dinh Sievwright and Susan Freeman at Symposium 2014

Remind has had an active year with significant developments driven both by the changing external environment and our internal landscape. The introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the roll out of the regional Partners In Recovery (PIR) programs have introduced a wide range of both challenges and opportunities for the Training and Education Division. Remind has been successful in winning some significant and interesting training work with a number of PIR regions, including North Sydney, Southwest Sydney and Murrumbidgee. Remind Manager, Greg Jewson looks forward to building strong relationships with these PIR’s, using their great linkages into local communities to provide workshops and support to consumers and carers along with helping to build capacity within these communities.

Remind has had a very successful Assisting Families program supporting respite workers and carers for some years now. In the last year all these modules have undergone a major rewrite to ensure that they are current, fresh and relevant. Thanks are due to the Carer Assist Team within SFNSW which has been a major contributor to this work, ensuring we remain industry leaders in this area. There are now twelve three hour modules available. These modules are delivered by Remind but predominantly by Carer Assist in NSW and we continue to have successful licensing arrangements with North Queensland (MIFNQ), Queensland (MIFQ) and the Northern Territory (MIFANT)). It is particularly pleasing to note that these are now delivered in a range of languages, including English, Chinese, Arabic, Italian, Vietnamese and Khmer. Supporting carers for whom English is not their first language is an important element in our assistance to families.

The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) continues to fund this program and to deliver excellent outcomes for its target audience. See the numbers in Table 1 to see the overview of numbers serviced. While the numbers show real improvements, behind these numbers there are many stories of the good work being done and the positive outcomes being achieved. Thanks are due to all those throughout NSW who identify those who would benefit from these courses and who make it possible for their attendance.

A key ingredient of the Remind training workshops is our use of mental health educators who, as a part of the workshops, share their personal lived experience. There is constant feedback that this is a most powerful and enlightening element of the workshops. Remind supports the educators by providing a two day training course, delivered by our very well credentialed Clinical Leader, Ms Alison Bell. We have run another of these this year. This means we have now trained over one hundred mental health educators from

which we have an active pool of people and stories to draw on. Of course we always welcome more.

While the use of educators telling their story as a part of our training workshops is critical to their success, we also meet many requests each year to provide our educators to tell their stories as stand-alone experiences. Again, our feedback on these is wonder-fully positive. This year we have worked with a range of emergency services including the Ambulance Service of NSW and a number of different faculties in various universities, among others.

We have also been fortunate to work with Sydney Water, for whom we ran a number of focus groups looking at their customer services and accounts and also their website through the eyes of a range of mental health consumers and carers. Sydney Water has been very positive that the outcomes of these and other focus groups will lead to more accessible and easily understood information for the whole community. Remind is very proud to be associated with this work.

We are also pleased to have continued our long standing relationship with the NSW Police Force through the Mental Health Intervention Team (MHIT), for whom we provide a facilitator and mental health educators on a monthly basis at their Collaroy Training Centre. This year we also commenced work in the corrective service area, providing a number of courses in de-escalation to corrective services officers.

Greg Jewson assisted Remind in June and now as Manager will take Remind into the new year. Special thanks to Sally, Jenna, Alison and the whole team of facilitators and educators, who have all made an invaluable contribution to maintaining and enhancing the Remind reputation during the year. It is appreciated.

Greg JewsonRemind Manager

3 0 R E M I N D


Remind training and education

Table 1

2013/14

3,341

240

76105

1,40581

Total Participants

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse *(CALD)

Aboriginal

Workshops

Respite

Mental Health Educator Talks

2012/13

2,593

174

1194

38443

% change

+28.9%

+37.9%

+590%+11.4%+365%+88.3%

required2013/14

1,000

180

30N/AN/AN/A

VO LU N T E E R I N G S E R V I C E S 3 1

Volunteering ServicesTRISS – Telephone Referral Information Support Service

TRISS volunteers based at Gladesville provided 3,244.33 hours of work over the year covering Monday to Friday 9am–5pm with an average of two volunteers per shift. TRISS has successful partnership agreements with Macquarie University PACE Pro-gram and ACAP (Australian Institute of Applied Psychology) providing student placement positions. Two rounds of training were conducted during this period which commenced in August 2013, with 10 workers recruited during July and a further 14 volunteers recruited and trained during March 2014.

Over the past 12 months, seven volunteers have obtained paid positions either within SFNSW or other mental health organisa-tions, as a direct result of their training and experience earned whilst being a volunteer. I believe this progression demonstrates the effectiveness of our training program and the benefits of hav-ing practical experience in which to apply theory and experience in how this translates in the ‘real’ world. Not to mention the enjoy-ment of connecting with others for the common purpose to support individuals around mental health.

Throughout 2013-2014 TRISS has 33 active volunteers who assist members of the public and professionals alike around areas concerning mental illness throughout. There were 1,121 calls recorded to the TRISS service direct from the national Mi Networks Service, which guarantees service and information delivery to all callers on the national 1800 number. During this financial year the TRISS service has assisted 2,066 callers pro-viding a range of information, referrals and emotional support to members of our community. The percentage of calls were largely from care recipients (149) and carers (171) with the vast majority of people seeking information (118), consumer support (159), assistance with coping strategies (79), referrals to other services (53) and an additional 66 calls to follow up with people after a referral or when they have experienced a crisis.

Thank you to all the dedicated volunteers.

Volunteers

Volunteers are the unsung heroes of the Fellowship giving their time to support our organisation and the clients we service. Dis-tributing the bi-monthly Focus newsletter, assisting in preparing media kits for events such as SAW (Schizophrenia Awareness Week) and the Wellness Walk are just some of the events in which our casual volunteers assist. Many of our volunteers have been long time members of the organisation who also share their

experiences with other newer volunteers to the Fellowship creat-ing another opportunity for connection, support and often a good laugh. Consumers from Frangipani House are regular contribu-tors to assist with Focus and it is lovely to see people coming together for a common purpose and given the opportunity to meet and see our Head Office in Gladesville. We truly thank you for your support.

Outreach Program

Currently the Outreach Program is providing support to 132 peo-ple who are often from isolated rural communities, people within metro areas who are experiencing a period of severe distress and those who have limited social skills and opportunities for one on one direct support work. Outreach volunteers are making an esti-mated 16 calls per day with the average call length lasting 17 mins with the total calls made throughout the year 3,992.

Evaluations were sent to all participants and of the 22 we received back, all reported that the degree they feel listened to is significant. All respondents reported the level of service to be ex-cellent or very good and stated they felt the service is extremely useful or very useful.

The launch of ‘Reach Out’, our newsletter for Outreach clients, received terrific feedback from everyone and further provides an avenue for connection amongst our client base, with people shar-ing their stories, artwork, recipes and even their ideas for future publications.

Poetry and Photography Competition

I would like to congratulate all the winners of the 2013 Poetry and Photography Competition and thank everyone who entered and shared part of themselves with us. A morning tea was held in October during Mental Health Month to showcase everyone’s work which made for a very special day. All of the winning photos and poems are on display on our website at www.sfnsw.org.au.

The printed book of everyone’s entries was a huge success. Special thanks to Chris Jackson from Lyno’s Printing (Artarmon) for his ongoing support to create our book each year.

Stacey AdmiraalVolunteers Coordinator

I really believe this service has saved my life. Thank you to you and Natalie for your support. I have a lot of respect for SFNSW and am grateful for this program.

Darren – Outreach client

My Fellowship

3 2 FO R E N S I C C O M M U N I T Y R E I N T E G R AT I O N P R O G R A M


Forensic Community Reintegration Program

Entering its third year of operation, the Forensic Community Reintegration Program finished the 2013–14 period on a high note with 13 active participants in the program and another three referrals on a newly created waiting list. In the six months from January, there were 83 outings – an increase of nearly 400% on the previous six months.

The program was established to enable consumers to access leave entitlements and has evolved from simply taking consumers out for morning/afternoon tea or lunch to supervising consumers to participate in community based, psychosocial activities that will enhance their recovery journey – of course, they still enjoy going out for lunch!

Outings range from improving social skills over a cup of coffee, to engaging in cooking classes, art workshop and music groups. Where possible, public transport is utilised in order for consumers who have been institutionalised for some time, to reacquaint with independent transport options. There is also the occasional group outing which may involve bowling or the football at Hunter Stadium.

With the support of the treating teams and other staff from Hunter New England Mental Health and the confidence of the Mental Health Review Tribunal in the program, we have seen a shift in attitudes from all stakeholders which has contributed to the success of the Program.

The volunteers with the program now come from a range of disciplines, including Psychology, Social Work, Speech Pathology, Nursing, Social Sciences and Community Services. This diversity adds to the skill base we call on when taking consumers on outings. There are currently 29 active volunteers with another 6 yet to complete training. A recent recruitment drive saw 47 expressions of interest in the program.

Given the success of Phase 1 of the Forensic Community Reintegration Program which only involves supervised outside day leave, preparations are underway to launch Phase 2 –Supervised Overnight Leave in late 2014. Discussions have also commenced regarding Phase 3 which will involve support for forensic consumers in the community.

Nadine Farrell Coordinator, Hunter Programs

Sunflower Centre and Forensic Program Opening – Rob Ramjan, Kevin Humphries (Minister for Mental Health), Nadine Farrell and Tim Owen (local State Member).

Volunteer Simon Swinson and staff member Julie Killeen at the opening of the new Sunflower Centre premises

PA R T N E R S I N R E C OV E RY 3 3

Partners in Recovery

PiR’s target group are people with a lived experience of severe and persistent mental illness, especially those with complex needs. It seeks to build a more effective and better coordinated system of clinical and community supports, underpinned by a community based recovery model.

The Fellowship is lead agency in South West Sydney and is a sub-contractor/host in six other PIR regions in NSW. The Fellowship also employs a Practice Manager who mentors and supports the Recovery focus of the Facilitators’ in South West Sydney and in other locations.

Inner West Sydney: The Fellowship PIR team commenced in November 2013 in the Burwood office and began with several weeks training led by the Lead Agency, New Horizons. Over the next few months the team established a presence in the community and utilised this period to develop networks and promote the concept of PIR. A range of positive outcomes have already achieved.

Sydney North Shore and Beaches: Since January linked some of the most marginalised and isolated individuals into supportive community based services. We have identified system gaps and now have a specialist homelessness worker position. PIR has been a gateway for new members to Pioneer Clubhouse and members in turn have provided invaluable peer support for other PIR participants.

Southern NSW: Facilitators are co-located with PHaMs in Moruya and Cooma and a third co-located with Family and Carer Respite in Goulburn. Examples of initiatives undertaken include providing increased encouragement to GP’s in regard to the PIR client group with a special emphasis on providing physical health programs, and the support to develop a new Consumer group in Moruya.

Murrumbidgee: Off and running, this service together with its consortium partners, has identified and filled several service gaps.

Illawarra Shoalhaven: PIR had some challenges resulting in a slower start than some PIRs but it is progressing with referrals, wide Stakeholder involvement and Carer and Consumer consultation. The Fellowship also had recruitment challenges but now employs two Support Facilitators, one located in Wollongong, and one in Nowra.

Western NSW: There has been a focus on building high level Accords between agencies (e.g. Family and Community Services, Corrective Services). Other projects include strengthening Consum-er/ Peer Worker involvement, improving access and coordination in Rural areas, and the therapeutic continuum between clinical, allied health and community services for the individual.

South Western Sydney

It has been a busy year for the Fellowship as lead agency for Partners in Recovery in South Western Sydney. The program is designed to provide care coordination for people who have a se-vere and persistent mental illness with complex needs requiring the support of multiple agencies.

This year saw the implementation of the program across the four local government areas of Liverpool, Bankstown, Campbell-town, Camden. Further roll out of the program will occur in 2014–15 with Wingecarribbee, Wollondilly and Fairfield coming on board. The program is supported by a consortium of 24 mem-ber organisations.

A core team of eight staff co-located with our partner agency South Western Sydney Medicare Local have been appointed to manage the program. Six organisations have been contracted to provide support facilitation services, employing a total of 18 staff. These agencies include:

• Aftercare in partnership with Gandangara Health Service and ROAM Communities covering Liverpool

• Richmond/PRA in partnership with Care Connect covering Bankstown

• Macarthur Disability Services covering Campbelltown/Camden

A comprehensive communication strategy to inform the com-munity about the program was initiated through print media and a website www.pirsws.com.au

With services commenced, the program was launched in De-cember at an event attended by 200 people. The launch included the release of the Service Mapping and Gap Analysis conducted by South Western Sydney Medicare Local on behalf of the pro-gram. This document has informed the system improvement agenda of the program.

Overall, in the first six months of operations, statistics show that the program has been well received by the community and is well understood by referral sources. A total of 168 referrals were received almost evenly split between males and females. The peak age group was the 35–44 years old group and 12% were of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background.

Maria Visotina Manager, PIR SWS

3 4 E X T E R N A L C O M M I T T E E S

S C H I ZO P H R E N I A F E L L O W S H I P A N N UA L R E P O R T V

Representation on External Committees

Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia

Research Trust Fund

Schizophrenia Research Institute Board

Aboriginal Education Council of NSW Board

Mental Health Council of Australia National Consumer Carer Register

RANZCP Continuing Education Program

Housing Connection Board

NSW Parliamentary Friends of Mental Illness

Central Sydney Health Community Network Board

Canterbury Council MH and Wellbeing Steering Committee

Centre for Cognitive Disorders Advisory Committee, Macquarie University

Psychosis Australia Trust

MHCC Board

MHCC Finance Committee

NSW Health Family and Carer Mental Health Program Steering Committee

Ostara Board

National Employment Services Association Advisory Group

National Respite Association

Carers Coalition Northern Sydney Region

Chinese Subcommittee Transcultural Mental Health Centre

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Manly Council Human Services Policy and Planning Committee

Sydney North Shore and Beaches Medicare Local Mental Health Advisory Committee

PIR CONSORTIA – Illawarra/Shoalhaven Medicare Local – Murrumbidgee – Northern Beaches – Western New South Wales – Southern New South Wales – Inner West – South West Sydney

Over the past few years the Fellowship’s representation on external committees has grown dramatically. It is no longer possible to include a full list in the Annual Report. We sit on many area health/local health district committees as well as Medicare Local working parties and Mental Health Professional Network Groups.

Committee SFNSW Representative

Vice President: Anthony Harris

Chair: Anthony Harris

Board Member: Anthony Harris

Board Member: Alex Rivers

Board Member: Alex Rivers

Anthony Harris

Margaret White

Rob Ramjan

Rob Ramjan

Deirdre Healy

Rob Ramjan

Rob Ramjan

Sue Sacker

Treasurer: Sue Sacker

Dr Angela Milce

Bill Gye

Bill Gye

President: Jeannine Kokozaki

Katherine Owen

Shelley Sha

Lynne Hutton

Jason Kioko

Jason Kioko

Sue SackerSue SackerBill GyeJill SteversonDr Angela MilceJeannine KokozakiRob Ramjan

CARER SERVICES

Carer Assist has been providing services to families and carers across NSW in partnership with Hunter, Murrumbidgee, Southern NSW, Sydney and South Western Sydney Local Health Districts (LHDs) since 2006 as part of the NSW Family and Carer Mental Health Program (FCMHP). Staff retention remained high when continuity of service was assured with 13 staff members having provided more than 5 years’ service. This means that we operate with a strong team across all areas. Our numbers of contacts and new clients also remains consistent as can be seen in Table 1.

Depression Anxiety Stress Scale DASS

The DASS is designed to measure the negative emotional state of depression, anxiety and stress and is used by the FCMHP as a standardised approach to working with clients measuring the change in emotional state over time. During the year 285 Initial Assessments and 217 Follow Up DASS Assessments were com-pleted. Monitoring the scores allows us to assess and manage clients. However, due to the episodic nature of mental illness, comparing the first and last assessment of a client may not give a true indication of effective interventions.

As an example, we look at three different carers who all com-pleted three follow up assessments during the year:

Carer 1 showed a significant decrease in all scores after par-ticipating in education in 2010 and regularly attending a support group. The scores have remained constantly low since that time.

Carer 2 has very high stress scores on all three assessments although respite and attendance at a support group has shown decreases in depression and anxiety.

Carer 3 had a relatively low score at the first assessment which decreased when the carer went on holiday without any children present and increased dramatically on the third assessment when there were major family issues.

Partnerships

Our partnerships with the LHDs remain excellent and 40% of our referrals are made directly by clinicians. Additional main sources of referrals are other non-government organisations, word of mouth and publicity material. Other successful partner-ships include Headspace in Tamworth where our Carer Advocate attends a regular clinic for family members participating in a car-ing role.

Successful carer conferences with HNELHD across Hunter New England have been offered for the second year and are set to continue. We have been involved in events involving young carers in Armidale, Tamworth and Taree with outings and camps held across the year. These have been provided in partnership with HNELHD and the CRCC. Griffith is also the location of excellent opportunities for young people with the Riverina Youth Mental Health Forum offered in partnership with Youth Connections, NSW Education & Communities, Ramhp, Leeton Shire Council, Murrumbidgee Local Health District, Campbell Page, Australian Government Department of Education and the Medicare Local. The outcomes for young people included Mental Health wellbeing in their own peer groups; getting to know what services are avail-able if they need to make contact and developing leadership skills that will benefit families.

Carer Assist was heavily involved in the setup of the Recovery and Support Network (RAS) in the Wingecarribee. This proved ex-tremely successful and we were asked by SWS LHD to organise a similar network in the Bankstown area. This has now been achieved and meetings are very well attended by organisations across the area. A service such as this has been missing for a long time in Bankstown. Another successful partnership occur-ring in the Bankstown Area is with the Arab Council. They are providing a room for our Arabic Support Group and assist us to provide education on a regular basis. Strong relationships in the

3 6 C A R E R A S S I S T


Carer Assist

New clients

Contacts with unregistered clients

Contacts with uregistered clients

Hunter

256

182

4,543

Murrumbidgee

141

71

1570

Southern NSW

163

32

2533

Sydney

150

15

796

SW Sydney

171

58

2028

Total

881

358

11,470

Table 1

3 7

AngelaMilce,CarerAssistManager

Canterbury area were forged with CRCC and CECAL resulting in education programs; luncheons and presentations to carers with CECAL providing a venue for the Inner West Support Group.

Education

This has been an exciting year for education as two of our Carer Advocates, Mary Henry and Katharine Clarke, have rewritten most of our modules in the Assisting Families program with the addition of new modules. We now have the following modules available:

Module 1 Assisting with Mental IllnessModule 2 Assisting with PsychosisModule 3 Assisting with SchizophreniaModule 4 Assisting with DepressionModule 5 Assisting with Bipolar DisorderModule 9 Assisting with Finding Hope in Grief and LossModule 10 Assisting with RecoveryModule 13 Assisting with MindfulnessModule 14 Assisting with Caring for Yourself

Three modules on communication are currently reaching finalisation – Assisting with Meaningful Communication, Assisting with Conversations about Change and Assisting with Challenging Conversations.

The following programs were delivered to 803 carers during the year with 256 attending Assisting with Caring for Yourself, the main program that is appropriate for all carers whatever the men-tal illness or circumstances involved.

Responses from carers have been excellent confirming that the changes made to offer a more appropriate learning environment addressing carers’ needs is working, as you can see below:

• How it was presented, the ease and inclusiveness I felt to be understood and heard.

• It helps me to understand my husband’s mental illness which gives me a fresh start to coping with things and gives me a sense of normality.

• Facilitators used simple language – easy to understand.

• How diverse mental illness is and how willing people are to share their experiences. It is good to know we’re not alone and don’t have to feel guilty or responsible for the person’s illness.

• It was easy to understand and questions were welcomed. The time taken was good as it wasn’t rushed and all topics were covered. Able to take notes and given information to take home.

• Directed at real needs. Opportunity to share with others who have had similar experience.

• Problem solving approach directly applicable.

• I feel more confident to deal with issues, found today very helpful.

• Presented in a caring environment without pressure to share information but were able to if we wanted to.

• Keep up the valuable work. As a carer I believe we need support and try to understand our loved one’s journey and try to think laterally and guide them in their life.

In conclusion, it has been a good year for consolidation in preparation for the changes required to meet future funding requirements in the ever-shifting landscape.

Angela Milce, Carer Assist Manager

Carer Assist staff, July 2013

Assisting with

Mental Illness

Psychosis

Schizophrenia

Depression

Bipolar Disorder

Grief and Loss

Mindfulness

Caring for Yourself

TOTAL

Southern NSW

7

6

6

5

3

0

1

4

32

Murrimbidgee

5

1

1

3

3

1

0

5

19

Hunter/New England

7

9

8

2

4

2

3

8

43

Sydney & SW Sydney

7

2

2

5

0

1

1

17

35

Education modules

3 8 R E S P I T E S E R V I C E S


Respite Services

The current funding round of 12 months is due to expire in June 2015. The short term funding rounds have created an uncertainty around the future of the Respite Services for carers and families of a person with a mental illness and for staff in the respite teams. While demand for the services continues to grow with new carers accessing the Respite Services, our ability to meet this growth has been impeded by staff turnover due to uncertainty of tenure for their position.

Respite service delivery models delivered to respond to the identified needs of carers include:

• Group or 1:1 support consists of social and recreational activities for both carers and the person with mental illness at a Fellowship site or elsewhere in the community. The service model is based on the identified carer needs from the assessment. The carer may require direct support for their own needs or want the support for the person in their caring role so they can independently attend to their own needs.

• In home respite, where the service is provided in the carer’s or the home of the person with the mental illness.

• Carer well-being groups focus on health, emotional support and education through attendance at retreats at Sanctuary or Gundair Respite Centres or activities at community facilities.

• Care planning and care coordination and advocacy with other services to maximise the benefit from the respite break and support for both the carer and the person in their caring role.

• Flexible respite services are delivered in the smaller regional

communities from our Albury, Wagga Wagga, Bulli, Nowra and Dubbo offices with support workers travelling to rural centres to meet the respite needs of carers where limited supports are available.

Service Delivery 2013 – 2014 Strengths

The Inner West Respite Services has been able to respond to the needs of carers and consumers with flexible respite services in an area which has a high cultural and linguistically diverse (CALD) population. This has been done through strong partner-ships with other services. Shared resources provide a mix of service delivery which promotes physical health, emotional well-being and social and recreational activities for carers, families and others who provide caring support and for the person with mental illness.

The Illawarra Respite Services deliver The ‘Boys are Back in Town’ and a walking group in a Department of Housing Estate which has continued to provide carers with a break with partici-pants having significant health gains such as weight loss. Carers continue to have a strong commitment to attending the Carers Pampering and support groups to engage with their peers and therapists to experience relief and emotional support in their caring role.

A great strength in the Orana Far West Respite Services is the dedication and commitment of the Respite Team to provide carers who attend either the Sanctuary Respite Centre or Gundair

Service Model

Respite

Educational Programs

Counselling

Peer Support

Advocacy Services

Information and Referral

Social and Recreational Activities

Total Instances of Support

Illawarra

1857

708

0

7

70

107

1846

4595

Inner West

360

230

0

32

40

55

961

1678

Orana Far West

1370

676

3

2

0

16

380

2447

Riverina Murray

4

42

0

4

1

4

997

1052

Total

3591

1656

3

45

111

182

4184

9772

Instances of respite support for carers and care recipients by service model for the period July 2013 to June 2014

3 9

Respite: a short break or relief in the caring role.Carer: a person who is actively caring for a person with a mental illness, with whom they have an on-going relationship. Family: a relative, sibling, friend or neighbour who has a family-like relationship with the person with a mental illness.

Homestead with a retreat experience that meets their need to rest, relax and rejuvenate to better respond to their caring role. Respite activities include massage, emotional support and education or just quiet time for themselves. Both venues offer other experiences from the local environments with the rural setting at Gundair or the Harbour Trust Sanctuary on North Head.

Riverina staff are undaunted by the distances travelled to provide the respite service and often have limited access to facilities and make creative use of the natural environment of the areas.

Service Highlights

Respite Services in the Inner West, North Head, Wagga Wagga and Illawarra support the delivery of the New Moves program twice yearly with significant positive health and wellbeing outcomes for participants and regular respite breaks for carers.

Inner West weekly Art Group participants have been proud to hold exhibitions of their work, win art prizes and sell paintings.

Illawarra Respite Services commitment the Light and Hope Clubhouse saw their participation in the Highlights for Hope fund raising events. These events engaged the Illawarra community in fund raising and raised awareness of the need to address the stigma around mental illness.

For Schizophrenia Awareness Week this year, The Sanctuary Respite Centre together with other service providers in the area and with the support of the Manly LSC, screened ‘The Sunnyboy’ on Friday, May 23. Funds raised from this event went to extra recreational activities at East Wing, Manly Hospital.

Strong advocacy support has resulted in several carers successful rehousing and linking with relevant services in the new area.

Burwood Respite Facility provides accommodation and rehabilitation activities for consumers while carers are able to attend to their needs. Respite provides staff support to care recipients while they stay at the Centre. This service is able to be offered through a Service Level Agreement with the LHD.

The outreach service in Dubbo provides support to consumers who are also PHaMs clients. This support is identified during the assessment with the carer and is an additional service designed to respond to the carer respite needs and add to the PHaMs support role.

Respite Services have engaged with 330 new carers in the past twelve months. This is the story from one new carer:

Partnerships

The Fellowship’s Respite Services across the state have been able to deliver a range of flexible and innovative respite options for carers, families and the person with the mental illness by working in partnership with Fellowship services and other service providers for referral, assessment and service coordinator and delivery. The Respite Services have welcomed the establishment of the Partners in Recovery Service and the opportunity to make referrals for participants in the Respite programs and increase support for carers in their role through coordinated services for the person with the mental illness.

Physical Health – Sports Camp

While Respite Services still provide the key administrative role for the Sports Camps, it has been great to have a stronger engagement from the Recovery Services and their team in the delivery of the Sports Camps at the Narrabeen Sports Academy. We have been very pleased to welcome the role of the Fellowship’s Physical Health Coordinator into the organizing and delivery of the Sports Camp. This new energy and enthusiasm from the staff and the ongoing commitment from the support staff who attend has seen the successful continued delivery of two Sports Camps in November 2013 and the second in May 2014. The next Sports Camp is scheduled for November 2014.

Other partners in the Sports Camps are the SFNSW sponsored Mental Health Sports Network and Sport and Recreation Sports Academy at Narrabeen. The Commonwealth Carer and Carelink Centres (CRCC’s) are a state wide partner in this program. The CRCC funding of participants to attend the Camp and try out the professional coaching clinics and other activities provides carers with a break in their caring role and opportunity to address their own needs.

Jeannine Kokozaki Respite Services Senior Manager

I am a carer of my daughter, who suffers from depression and other anxieties. At one of my lowest ebbs when I was very sad and feeling helpless, a miracle occurred. A very close friend suggested I go with my daughter to a ‘Rest and Rejuvenation’ weekend (Gundair Respite Homestead, Tooraweenah) I had some reservations about this but my friend was quite insistent. The ‘Gundair’ experience, as I like to call it was an answer to my prayers. We both had the best weekend. We shared stories, laughed, cried, prepared communal meals and had very necessary and relaxing massages. I would recommend this weekend to any carer who wants some space to get away, to relax, to talk or just ‘be’. You will not be disappointed and I guarantee you will come away with a new lease on life, feeling ready to take on new and exciting challenges.

Respite participant

My Fellowship

4 0 M E N TA L H E A LT H R E S P I T E & C A R E R S U P P O R T


Mental Health Respite & Carer Support (MHRCS) works in the framework and management of Carer Assist and is supported by a Team Leader and four Support Workers across the Wollondilly, Wingecarribee, Goulburn Mulwaree, Upper Lachlan, Yass and Palerang local government areas. The MHRCS program is an activity under the Targeted Community Care Program funded by FaHCSIA. The program provides support for families and Carers of people with a mental illness and intervenes early to assist families with children and young people affected by mental illness (Young Carers).

The first round of funding for the MHRCS program was received in July 2013 for six Local Government Areas covering approximately 25,037 square kilometres, encompassing parts of South West Sydney and Southern Local Health Districts. As a new program, we are undergoing ongoing systems’ development and are currently in the process of aligning the program with MOSAIC. The second six monthly report and activity plan has recently been provided to FaHCSIA. The effective promotion and networking of the program in its first year has resulted in the MHRCS program assisting 226 Carers and providing 460 direct services. The categories of direct service delivery are shown in Figure 1 at the bottom of the page.

The MHRCS service provides a range of flexible support options for carers of people with mental illness:

Linking Together Program

Our Linking Together program is based on the development of social support groups and events, to reduce social isolation, increase social interaction and introduce carers to supportive peer and social networks within their own local area or community.

Mental Health Respite & Carer Support

Young Carers Groups

Events for young carers aged 8–17 are held up to four times per year using local venues to support social interaction and friend-ship for young carers.

Carers Retreat

Carers Retreats are an annual event and provide carers with the opportunity to enjoy a short and rejuvenating break from their caring role.

“Thank you so very much for providing me with the opportunity to go to Solar Springs. I enjoyed the break and came home feeling rejuvenated”

Information Distribution

Our information distribution service provides information pamphlets, booklets and brochures about the services provided by SFNSW and other support organisations.

Education

MHRCS work in partnership with Carer Assist to provide a range of education and specialist information sessions and workshops to help carers in their caring role.

Wendy Den Team Leader, Goulburn

Figure 1 – MHRCS Direct Service Delivery

Respite 4%

Peer support 14%

Information and referral 57%

Social and recreational 10%

Counselling 13%

<16 16–24 25–39 40–54 55–64 65+ age unknown

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

MHRCS Age Demographics

Carer Consultation in Yass

S U P P O R T G R O U P S / O N F I R E ! 41

ON FIRE!

ON FIRE is a strengths-based peer support program for young people aged 8–17 years living in families affected by mental health issues. ON FIRE works within the framework and management of Carer Assist and is supported by a Program Coordinator, four Area Coordinators and trained volunteers (Leaders).

ON FIRE is funded by the Department of Social Services (DSS) until end of June 2015 in South East Sydney, Hunter New England, Riverina and South West Sydney. The Hunters Hill/Gladesville ON FIRE group, initially funded by Hunters Hill Rotary and subsidised by SFNSW, was not included in the DSS funding and ceased oper-ating in May 2014. Interested families will be invited to transfer to the South Eastern Sydney group.

ON FIRE events include Fun Days and Camps and cover three main areas of development, reportable to DSS each six months under Social & Recreational; Peer Support and Education. The fol-lowing Table provides some basic details of data over the past twelve months for the four DSS funded areas.

The second Epicorma Retreat Camp has been planned and scheduled for 1–4 July to be held at Mangrove Mountain Yoga Ash-ram. Nickolas Yu designed and facilitated the four day program where 32 members from across ON FIRE areas and 17 highly skilled volunteers and Area Coordinators committed to attend the Retreat.

ON FIRE continues to succeed due to the commitment of chil-dren and families, volunteers, staff and SFNSW Management and, of course, DSS funding. Thank you to each and every one of you. Nickolas Yu deserves special thanks for his continued inspiration and dedication to ON FIRE, and for providing the underpinning phi-losophy and principles of the program – the EPICORMA SKILLS.

Diane Ward, Program Coordinator

#Numbers fluctuate for a variety of reasons throughout the year

Events

3 Camps 8 Fun Days

2 Camps 8 Fun Days

2 Camps, 8 Fun Days

2 Camps, 5 Fun Days

Area

Hunter/ New England

South WestSydney

South East Sydney

RiverinaMurray

Instances of direct services in social & recreational; peer

support & education

459

309

334

242

Members as at

30/6/14#

34

32

23

27

Volunteer pool

14

11

16

4

Support Groups

Support groups provide a place where people can access information, share their experiences with like-minded people and feel understood and they remain a strong basis for relational support and connectedness for both consumers and carers. These support groups vary across the state in the number of people attending them with small regular groups having 8-10 people whilst others receive a vast increase when guest speakers of significance have been advertised. On an average, 12 members attend the groups each month which in turn means that over 756 people are currently receiving support by regular attendance at a Fellowship support group every month and over 9,072 per annum.

Currently the Fellowship has a total of 63 support groups statewide. The addition of the Taree Hearing Voices group especially for consumers and additional social group times for other carer groups has proven to be valuable for people wishing to increase the networking opportunities and connections outside of the regular monthly meeting. Partnership agreement between SFNSW, Carer Assist and the Earlwood Canterbury Community Centre was established to enable a relaunch of our Inner West Support Group run by Carer Assist.

As at 30 June 2014 there are:

• 11 Sydney based support groups• 30 Regional support groups• 15 Specialty Groups• 7 Associated Support Groups

The West Ryde Bipolar Support Group assisted in raising public awareness of bipolar and mental health at the Top Ryde shopping centre on World Bipolar Day. They promoted their successful support group, had a variety of literature available for members of the public in all different languages and sold green bipolar awareness ribbons. Reducing stigma in the community and promoting support and wellbeing for people is something that our support groups do very well across the state.

The Central Coast Schizophrenia and Bipolar Fellowship Sup-port Group located in Gosford, recently celebrated their ten year anniversary. This is a huge milestone for any group or organisa-tion to achieve and here at the SFNSW, the Central Coast support group has joined an illustrious list of support groups which have supported and served the members of their communities around mental health issues, education and advocacy. Congratulations to those groups which have celebrated such large milestones within your community and to those groups which have signifi-cant anniversaries later in the year.

Stacey Admiraal Support Group Coordinator

4 2 W H E R E W E WO R K


Where we work

WAGGA WAGGA Carer AssistCDOD2DL DESPHaMsPHaMs EmploymentRecovery & Resource Services (RRSP)Respite ServicesON FIRE!

ALBURY Carer AssistePHaMs Respite Services

DUBBO PHaMs, Respite Services

ARMIDALE Carer AssistTAMWORTH Carer Assist, Drought Relief

TOORAWEENAH Respite ServicesCOONAMBLE Drought Relief

WARREN/BOGAN Drought Relief

GILGANDRA/WARRUMBUNGLE Drought Relief

WARIALDA Carer AssistWALGETT Drought Relief

INVERELL/GWYDIR Drought Relief

TAREE Carer AssistPORT MACQUARIE Endeavour House

BULLI Respite Services WOLLONGONG Light & Hope Clubhouse ILLAWARRA PHaMs EmploymentKIAMA DES MOSS VALE /BOWRAL Carer Assist, D2DL, DESNOWRA PHaMs, Respite Services, Helping Hands, Community Garden, RRSP, DES, West St CentreULLADULLA D2DL, PHaMs, DESSUSSEX INLET/VINCENTIA/ST GEORGES BASIN DES MORUYA Carer Assist

SYDNEY METRO

GLADESVILLE SFNSW Head OfficeTRISS GymBALGOWLAH Disability Employment Services Pioneer ClubhouseSunflower ClinicBELMORE Carer AssistCommunity DevelopmentNOUSBURWOOD Disability Employment Services Respite Services Sunflower ClinicCAMPBELLTOWN Carer AssistD2DL Disability Employment Services ON FIRE!CAMDEN/CAMPBELLTOWN PHaMs EmploymentCOOGEE ON FIRE!

HUNTERS HILL ON FIRE!MILSONS POINT Disability Employment Services Bradfield Park Wellness CentreMONA VALE Disability Employment ServicesNORTH HEAD, MANLY Respite ServicesPARRAMATTA D2DLRYDE D2DL DES Sunflower ClinicSOUTH WEST SYDNEY Partners in Recovery

STATEWIDE SERVICES

Remind MH Sports Network New MovesSupport GroupsTelephone OutreachResearch Trust Fund

PIR

South West SydneyNorth Shore and BeachesInner WestMurrumbidgeeIllawarra ShoalhavenWestern NSW (Dubbo)South Coast

NEWCASTLE Carer Assist, Community Development Office, ON FIRE!MORRISET Forensic Program

GRIFFITH Carer Assist

YASS Disability Employment Services

CANBERRA D2DLQUEANBEYAN Carer Assist

SYDNEY METRO see inset

GLADESVILLE

HUNTERS HILL

PARRAMATTA

CAMPBELLTOWN

BURWOODCOOGEE

MILSONS POINT

RYDE MANLY

BALGOWLAH

MONA VALE

BELMORE

GOULBURN Carer Assist Disability Employment ServicesTargeted Community Care

FINANCIAL REPORT

4 4


Corporate Services Report

Another year has passed and like last has also been one of challenges for the Corporate Services. Corporate Services encompasses several administration functions within the Fellowship and while not delivering directly to those in need as do the frontline services, we do support all the divisions in admin-istration areas such as:-

• Accounting and Finance• Payroll, Human Resources and Learning and Development• Procurement and Asset management• Lease management

We have continued to develop our various systems and procedures and have built on the base that we started two years ago. These systems continue to be developed and enhanced to cater for the changing requirements of the Fellowship and the demands of our various funding bodies and stake-holders. We, as a division need to be flexible and able to adapt promptly to these requirements.

The reporting requirements for all our program areas differ. Reporting requirements within programs such as PiR (Partners in Recovery) are different for each PiR area. PiR as a consortium based program is different to our other main program areas such as Carer Assist, Respite and Recovery being block funded. DES is a fee for service model. In the development of our reporting we are also mindful of the future re-quirements of programs such as the NDIS and are developing ways to account for these client based funding programs, developing integration paths into our client based management system, Mosaic.

To assist in this we have introduced a cloud based reporting system ‘Calumo’ to disseminate month-ly financial reports to managers, executive and Board and to also report to other stakeholders in the various required formats. While this tool has only been in place a short time we believe the benefit it makes to the timely presentation of financial performance reports to stakeholders is self-evident and will increase with further development.

The Fellowship employs over 230 people and has about 170 volunteers on our books. During the year we started 98 new employees and at the same time lost 82. Our staff and volunteers are some of the Fellowship’s best resources and with that in mind and because of the dynamics of staffing, we are about to upgrade our busy HR environment to manage this resource better. We are looking at LMS (Learning Management System) software to enhance our training capabilities and have developed on line recruiting which will be able to integrate into the HR system.

A VOIP cloud based phone system has been installed in the Gladesville and other locations, this will be further expanded to other further during this year. We are also installing a TMS (Time Management System) which will, besides streamlining our payroll processing. This will allow us to do staff rostering to manage our staffing requirements. We will also be developing a CMS (Client Management System) to manage our membership base more effectively and to develop the Remind Client Base. All this is designed to make the Fellowship able to adapt, to respond to the changing needs of the fellowship and the sector.

In closing as in previous years this is also an opportunity to thank my wonderful staff and without whom, the role of a Corporate Services division would not function. Weiwei, Tom and Lionel have left us from accounting and Anne from L&D. We welcome Steven, Amy, Caroline and Jenny to the Finance team and Tegan and Hamdia into the HR/L&D team and would like to specifically mention Dinh, Amin, David, Daisy and Karen, who bring so much to the Division and to the Fellowship.

David Gill, Head of Corporate Services

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EXTRACTS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA FELLOWSHIP OF NEW SOUTH WALES INC. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

4 5FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EXTRACTS OF RESEARCH TRUST FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

Research Trust FundSTATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

2014 2013

$ $

INCOME

Bequeaths 10,000 ―

Donations 4,950 5,813

Interest received 24,383 29,498

39,333 35,311

EXPENSES

Accountancy and audit fees 2,000 2,000

Miscellaneous expenses 199 ―

Small grant awards 22,727 25,000

Sponsorship 1,000 ―

25,926 27,000

Operating profit/(loss) before income tax 13,407 8,311

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

Retained General Total Earnings Reserves

$ $ $

Balance at 1 July 2012 175,607 493,264 668,871

Movement for the year 2,498 5,813 8,311

Balance at 30 June 2013 178,105 499,077 677,182

Movement for the year 8,457 4,950 13,407

Balance at 30 June 2014 186,562 504,027 690,589

4 6


FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EXTRACTS OF RESEARCH TRUST FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 30 JUNE 2014

2014 2013

$ $

CURRENT ASSETS

Cash and cash equivalents 675,812 654,903

Loan to Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc. 9,653 23,700

Receivables 5,144 799

TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 690,609 679,402

TOTAL ASSETS 690,609 679,402

CURRENT LIABILITIES

Accruals ― 2,200

TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES ― 2,200

TOTAL LIABILITIES ― 2,200

NET ASSETS 690,609 677,202

EQUITY

Settlement sum 20 20

Reserves 504,027 499,077

Retained earnings 186,562 178,105

TOTAL EQUITY 690,609 677,202

47FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EXTRACTS OF RESEARCH TRUST FUND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

2014 2013

$ $

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Receipts from donations ― ―

Payments to suppliers and other ― ―

Interest received - current year 20,909 13,867

Net cash provided/(used) by operating activities 20,909 13,867

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES

Payments for property, plant and equipment ― ―

Payments for investments ― ―

Redemption of investments ― ―

Loans/repayments from related parties ― ―

Loans to related parties ― ―

Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment ― ―

Net cash provided/(used) by investing activities ― ―

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES

Proceeds from borrowings ― ―

Repayments of borrowings ― ―

Repayment of lease liabilities ― ―

Net cash provided/(used) by financing activities ― ―

Net increase/(decrease) in cash held 20,909 13,867

Cash at the beginning of the financial year 654,903 641,036

Cash at the end of the financial year 675,812 654,903

Research Trust Fund 2014 Abridged Audit Opinion

The Research Trust Fund has been audited in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards. The statement of comprehensive income; statement of changes in equity; statement of cash flows and statement of financial position are true and fairly presented.

Members 2014 Annual Report Note

A complete copy of the 2014 Audited Annual Report of the Research Trust Fund is available on request.

4 8


FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EXTRACTS OF THE SUNFLOWER FOUNDATION TRUST FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

2014 2013 $ $

Revenue 39,960 36,811

Employee benefit expenses (6,571) ―

Donations (100,000) ―

Other expenses from ordinary operations (2,500) (36,811)

Finance costs ― ―

Income tax expense ― ―

Profit/(loss) after income tax (69,111) ―


Retained General Total Earnings Reserves $ $ $

Balance at 1 July 2012 ― 1,000,000 1,000,000

Movement for the year ― ― ―

Balance at 30 June 2013 ― 1,000,000 1,000,000

Movement for the year (69,111) 295,091 225,980

Balance at 30 June 2014 (69,111) 1,295,091 1,225,980


2014 2013 $ $


Receipts from bequeaths and legacies 250,000 ―

Net cash provided/(used) by operating activities 250,000 ―


Interest earned from financial institutions 31,784 36,811

Trust earnings applied to Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc. (15,017) (36,811)

Net cash provided/(used) by investing activities 16,767 ―



Net increase/(decrease) in cash held 266,767 ―

Cash at the beginning of the financial year 1,000,000 1,000,000

Cash at the end of the financial year 1,266,767 1,000,000

The Sunflower Foundation Trust

49FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EXTRACTS OF THE SUNFLOWER FOUNDATION TRUST FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014


2014 2013 $ $

CURRENT ASSETS

Cash at bank 1,266,767 1,000,000

Cash on hand 10 10

Receivables 8,176 ―

TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 1,274,953 1,000,010

TOTAL ASSETS 1,274,953 1,000,010

CURRENT LIABILITIES

Amount owing to Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc. 48,442 ―

Employee benefit provisions 521 ―

TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 48,963 ―

TOTAL LIABILITIES 48,963 ―

NET ASSETS 1,225,990 1,000,010

EQUITY

Settled sum 10 10

Accumulated losses (69,111) ―

Bequeaths and legacies 1,295,091 1,000,000

TOTAL EQUITY 1,225,990 1,000,010

Significant Disclosure Note

The Sunflower Foundation Trust (the Trust) was settled on the 8th August 2009. The Trust’s objective is to administer legacies, bequeaths and donations in memory and wills received from the Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales Inc. (the Fellowship), public and private institutions, and the general public.

During the financial year $250,000.00 (2013: $Nil) was transferred to the Sunflower Foundation Trust by the Fellowship. Interest income earned during the year was applied to the Fellowship in accordance with clause 3.1 of the Trust Deed. At 30th June 2014, the balance of bequeaths and donations received by the Fellowship and not transferred to the Trust amounted to $1,673,001.00 (2013: $1,747,837.00). The Trust is administrated by its trustee: Mental Illness Fellowship of NSW Limited (ABN 65 131 104 562).

The Sunflower Foundation Trust 2014 Abridged Audit Opinion

The Sunflower Foundation Trust has been audited in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards. The statement of comprehensive income; statement of changes in equity; statement of cash flows and statement of financial position are true and fairly presented.


A complete copy of the 2014 Audited Annual Report of the Sunflower Foundation Trust is available on request.


2014 2013 $ $

Revenue 39,960 36,811

Employee benefit expenses (6,571) ―

Donations (100,000) ―

Other expenses from ordinary operations (2,500) (36,811)



Profit/(loss) after income tax (69,111) ―


Retained General Total Earnings Reserves $ $ $

Balance at 1 July 2012 ― 1,000,000 1,000,000

Movement for the year ― ― ―

Balance at 30 June 2013 ― 1,000,000 1,000,000

Movement for the year (69,111) 295,091 225,980

Balance at 30 June 2014 (69,111) 1,295,091 1,225,980


2014 2013 $ $


Receipts from bequeaths and legacies 250,000 ―

Net cash provided/(used) by operating activities 250,000 ―


Interest earned from financial institutions 31,784 36,811

Trust earnings applied to Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc. (15,017) (36,811)

Net cash provided/(used) by investing activities 16,767 ―



Net increase/(decrease) in cash held 266,767 ―

Cash at the beginning of the financial year 1,000,000 1,000,000

Cash at the end of the financial year 1,266,767 1,000,000

5 0




2014 2013

$ $

Revenue 23,965,682 17,309,597

Employee benefit expenses (11,698,527) (10,433,181)

Depreciation, amortisation & impairment expenses (328,049) (285,867)

Operating lease expenses (331,989) (235,344)

Publication costs (21,810) (22,039)

Seminars, training and development (288,074) (249,253)

Other expenses from ordinary operations (11,159,103) (6,700,459)



Profit/(loss) after income tax 138,130 (616,546)



$ $ $

Balance at 1 July 2012 2,777,166 (23,372) 2,753,794

Profit/(loss) for the year (616,546) ― (616,546)

Transfer to: -

Employee contingency reserve ― 423,372 423,372

Balance at 30 June 2013 2,160,620 400,000 2,560,620

Profit/(loss) for the year 138,130 ― 138,130

Transfer to/(from): -


Balance at 30 June 2014 2,298,750 819,611 3,118,361

Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales Inc.

5 1FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EXTRACTS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA FELLOWSHIP OF NEW SOUTH WALES INC. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014


2014 2013

$ $

CURRENT ASSETS

Cash and cash equivalents 7,740,486 7,184,969

Trade and other receivables 675,632 660,606

Amount owing from Sunflower Foundation Trust 48,442 ―

Other current assets 181,179 100,683

TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 8,645,739 7,946,258

NON-CURRENT ASSETS

Investment in Disability Employment Services 1 1

Property, plant & equipment 651,904 747,351

TOTAL NON CURRENT ASSETS 651,905 747,352

TOTAL ASSETS 9,297,644 8,693,610

CURRENT LIABILITIES

Trade and other payables 1,274,845 1,475,149

Amount owing to Research Trust Fund 9,653 23,700

Amount owing to other trust funds 37,237 42,453

Employee benefit provisions 680,778 686,603

Unspent grant funds & other funds 3,289,170 3,564,401

TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 5,291,683 5,792,306

NON CURRENT LIABILITIES

Long term employee benefit provisions 887,600 340,684

TOTAL NON CURRENT LIABILITIES 887,600 340,684

TOTAL LIABILITIES 6,179,283 6,132,990

NET ASSETS 3,118,361 2,560,620

EQUITY

Retained earnings and reserves 3,118,361 2,560,620

TOTAL EQUITY 3,118,361 2,560,620


2014 2013

$ $

Revenue 23,965,682 17,309,597

Employee benefit expenses (11,698,527) (10,433,181)

Depreciation, amortisation & impairment expenses (328,049) (285,867)

Operating lease expenses (331,989) (235,344)

Publication costs (21,810) (22,039)

Seminars, training and development (288,074) (249,253)

Other expenses from ordinary operations (11,159,103) (6,700,459)






$ $ $

Balance at 1 July 2012 2,777,166 (23,372) 2,753,794

Profit/(loss) for the year (616,546) ― (616,546)

Transfer to: -


Balance at 30 June 2013 2,160,620 400,000 2,560,620

Profit/(loss) for the year 138,130 ― 138,130

Transfer to/(from): -


Balance at 30 June 2014 2,298,750 819,611 3,118,361


5 2



2014 2013

$ $


Payments

Suppliers and employees (20,361,990) (14,301,727)

Receipts

Interest received 266,839 252,625

Memberships 14,649 17,924

Donations 284,301 562,829

Sponsorship 92,008 13,403

Grant recovery activities and other income 3,918,959 2,946,557

Net cash provided by operating activities (15,785,234) (10,508,389)


Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 14,799 ―

Purchase of property, plant and equipment (247,648) (453,148)

Advances from related parties 19,263 (138,789)

Net cash used in investing activities (213,586) (591,937)

CASH FLOWS FROM GOVERNMENT/OTHER

Receipts from appropriation/grants

Recurrent (government) 14,679,603 11,744,785

Other special (non-government) 1,874,734 1,771,475

Net cash provided by government grants/other 16,554,337 13,516,260


Repayment of leasing ― ―

Net cash used in financing activities ― ―

Net increase/(decrease) in cash held 555,517 2,415,934

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of financial year 7,184,969 4,769,035

Cash and cash equivalents at end of financial year 7,740,486 7,184,969


5 3

RECONCILIATION OF CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS WITH PROFIT AFTER INCOME TAX

2014 2013

$ $


Government grants included in operating result (14,679,604) (11,744,786)

Non cash flows in profit

Depreciation and impairment of operating assets 328,049 285,867

Changes in assets and liabilities

(Increase) in receivables and other assets (1,618,102) (670,834)

(Decrease)/increase in unexpended grants (275,231) 2,196,775

(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables (219,567) 69,927

(Decrease)/increase in employee benefit provisions 541,091 (10,083)

(Decrease) in employee loans ― (8,709)

(Decrease) in long term provisions ― (10,000)

Cash flows (used in) operating activities (15,785,234) (10,508,389)


A complete copy of the 2014 Audited Annual Report of the Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales Inc. is available on request.


5 4



STATEMENT BY MEMBERS OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

In the opinion of the Management Committee the financial report:

1. Presents a true and fair view of the financial position of the Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales Inc as at 30th June 2014 and its performance for the year ended on that date in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards (including Australian Accounting Interpretations) of the Australian Accounting Standards Board.

2. At the date of this statement, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Fellowship will be able to pay its debts as and when they fall due.

This statement is made in accordance with a resolution of the Management Committee and is signed for and on behalf of the Management Committee by:

Anthony Harris John NeelyPresident Treasurer

Robert Ramjan David GillChief Executive Officer Head of Corporate Services

SydneyDated this 4th day of September 2014.

Building 36, Digby Road, Old Gladesville HospitalGladesville NSW 2111

5 5FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EXTRACTS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA FELLOWSHIP OF NEW SOUTH WALES INC. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2014

STATEMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH AUTHORITY CONDITIONS OF THE CHARITABLE FUNDRAISING ACT 1991

In accordance with Section 6 and Section 22 of the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991 of State of New South Wales (the Act), the Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales Inc. (the Fellowship) declares that:

1. the income statement gives a true and a fair view of all income and expenditure of the Fellowship with respect to fundraising appeals; and

2. the balance sheet as at 30th June 2014 gives a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Fellowship with respect of fundraising appeals conducted by the organisation; and

3. the provisions of the Act, the regulations under the Act and the conditions attached to the fundraising authority have been complied with by the Fellowship; and

4. the internal controls exercised by the Fellowship are appropriate and effective in accounting for all income received and applied by the Fellowship from any of its fundraising appeals.

Anthony Harris John NeelyPresident Treasurer

Robert Ramjan David GillChief Executive Officer Head of Corporate Services

SydneyDated this 4th day of September 2014.

Building 36, Digby Road, Old Gladesville HospitalGladesville NSW 2111

5 6



INDEPENDENT AUDIT REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA FELLOWSHIP OF NEW SOUTH WALES INC.

Scope

We have audited the accompanying financial report of Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales Inc. which comprises the balance sheet as at 30th June 2014 and the income statement, statement of recognised income and expenditure and statement of cash flows for the year ended on that date, a summary of significant accounting policies, other explanatory notes and the management committee declaration. We have conducted an independent audit of the financial report in order to express an opinion on it to the members of the Fellowship.

The Committee’s Responsibility for the Financial Report

The committee of Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales Inc is responsible for the preparation of the financial report, and has determined that the basis of preparation described in Note 1 is appropriate to meet the requirements of the Australian Accounting Standards (including Australian Accounting Interpretations) and is appropriate to meet the needs of the members. The committee’s responsibility also includes such internal control as the committee determines is necessary to enable the preparation of a financial report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor’s Responsibility

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial report based on our audit. We have conducted our audit in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards. Those standards require that we comply with relevant ethical requirements relating to audit engagements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial report is free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial report. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial report, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the association’s preparation of the financial report that gives a true and fair view, in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the association’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the committee, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial report.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

5 7

INDEPENDENT AUDIT REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA FELLOWSHIP OF NEW SOUTH WALES INC. (continued)

Independence

In conducting our audit, we have complied with the independence requirements of Australian professional ethical pronouncements.

Auditor’s Opinion

In our opinion:

The financial report of Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc. is in accordance with the Associations Incorporation Act 1984 (NSW) and its Regulations, including:

1. giving a true and fair view of the Association’s financial position as at 30th June 2014 and of its performance for the year ended on that date;

2. complying with the relevant terms and conditions of the Funding and Performance Agreement entered into between the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc. and the NSW Department of Health, Northern Sydney Central Coast Health Service, South East Sydney Illawarra Health Service, Greater Southern Health Service, the Federal Department of Health and Ageing and the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Hunter/New England Health Service, and IMB Community Foundation.

3. complying with Australian Accounting Standards (including the Australian Accounting Interpretations) and Associations Incorporation Act 1984 (NSW) and its Regulations.

VLC Partners

Chartered Accountants

Ross GatwoodAssociate

Dated this 4th day of September, 2014.

Level 16, 168 Walker StreetNorth Sydney. NSW 2060


5 8



AUDITOR’S INDEPENDENCE DECLARATION TO THE MEMBERS OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OF SCHIZOPHRENIA FELLOWSHIP OF NSW INC.

I declare that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, during the year ended 30th June 2014 there has been:

i. No contraventions of any applicable code of professional conduct in relation to the audit of Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Inc.

VLC Partners

Chartered Accountants

Ross GatwoodAssociate

Dated this 3rd day of September, 2014.

Level 16, 168 Walker StreetNorth Sydney. NSW 2060


Building 36 Digby Road, Gladesville Hospital, Gladesville, NSW 2111Postal address Locked Bag 5014, Gladesville NSW, 1675Telephone (02) 9879 2600 Fax (02) 9879 2699Email [email protected] www.sfnsw.org.au www.facebook.com/sfnsw www.twitter.com/sfnsw

© This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for information or education purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source and is not available for commercial usage or sale.The Schizophrenia Fellowship is supported by the NSW Department of Health, Commonwealth Department of Health, Commonwealth Department of Social Services, NSW Department of Sport and Recreation and by private and company donations. Design: Trudi Fletcher Printing: Burwood Press, Sydney

SCHIZOPHRENIA FELLOWSHIP OF NEW SOUTH WALES INC.Building 36 Digby Road Old Gladesville Hospital Gladesville NSW 2111Locked Bag 5014 Gladesville NSW 1675T: 02 9879 2600 F: 02 9879 2699E: [email protected] W: www.sfnsw.org.au www.facebook.com/sfnsw www.twitter.com/sfnsw

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