Annual Report

2013-2014

Thank you, Rachel Baker Photography for the beautiful images in this annual report that

highlight our relaunch in August 2014.

t a b l e o f c o n t e n t s

Awards !Board Members !President !State Executive Officer !Membership !Child Health and Parenting Services !Southern Region !Northern Region !North West Region !Family Food Patch !Growing Families !Treasurer !Financial Audit

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a w a r d s

Merit Awards Stelle Carmichael Rebecca Crawford Alice Graham Nadine Hawkins Louise Ims Amy Isham Christine Jolly Katrina Kruse Luella Mageean Fiona Mason Charlene Milner Jo Morrisson Sonja Preston Katy Pryor Kelly Rechtin Olivia Salmon Liz Selkirk Kate Sward !Service Awards Anita Clements Seona Findlay Susannah Koch

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b o a r d m e m b e r s

President Katie Wightman !Vice President Rachel Sylvester !Secretary Kate Cashman !Treasurer Georgina Sertori !Public Officer Kate Cashman !Board Members Elizabeth Daly Danny Gibson Amanda Woollams

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p r e s i d e n t

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As many of you will be aware, His Excellency the Honourable Peter Underwood, AC, Governor of Tasmania, passed away recently after a short illness. A beautiful kind man His Excellency will be missed by all. Child Health Association Tasmania (CHAT) expresses our deepest sympathies to our Patron Mrs Underwood and family. !CHAT is a state-wide Association celebrating ninety seven most productive years of service to families across Tasmania. The productivity is due to a number of factors, significantly the number of volunteers with ongoing years of service. !It is wonderful to acknowledge volunteer effort and service to the Association. While each year we celebrate all our volunteers, this year there are a total of 21 Award recipients, which is fantastic. !An organisation with an esteemed history like CHAT is not without the normal highs and lows experienced by the not for profit sector. We know that with longevity of operation comes times when change must be experienced. Sometimes it is tough, really really tough, however with the support and action of the staff and the dedicated effort of a visionary and active Board, we have more recently been able to move from an operational (often urgent) mode to one of governance. I’m delighted that CHAT has been able to respond over time to the changing nature of family’s needs and always has at its centre Tasmanian children. I very humbly and most seriously feel the board have ensured CHAT can remain the leading Tasmanian authority on promoting the health and social needs of children and their families. !During the past year the CHAT Board have worked closely and collaboratively with our SEO to:

• review our strategic plan and operational annual plan;  • seek a review of our website and logo; • review position descriptions for all staff and the Board; • review the CHAT Policy and Procedure manual

describing - volunteering, membership, occupational health and safety, governance, finance, write protocols and detailed information supporting each procedure;

• review and publish policies and procedures to support the rights and work of our staff, volunteers and rights and services of our members;

• review and seek the development of many forms to support the work of staff and volunteers and to create opportunities for members to engage with the organisation;

• ensure staff and volunteers are mentored, supported and rewarded;

• recruit staff; • commence a review into staff induction training and

certification; • support our SEO to lead staff and volunteers to

develop events to meet the needs of Tasmanian families;

• ensure the development of social events become a key component of the CHAT calendar;

• support our SEO to finalise significant grant spends for the purchase of dental flip charts and a photocopier;

• continue to build the communication information strategy with the purchase of a large outdoor banner, stickers, magnets and balloons;

• continue to review our prospective member or ‘CHAT packs’;

• support the SEO to update the online membership form and PayPal for online membership via our website;

• observe an increase in Facebook closed membership. A service where 365 days per year 24 hours a day families can share without judgement their fears, concerns , joys and t r iumphs w i th suppor t , encouragement and ideas from like-minded friends. It is one of the most positive online communities that I am proud to belong;

• observe an increase in likes of our Facebook open fan page from 343 likes in 2013 to 737 likes in 2014. We reached 2500 thousand people with consistent viral event posts in recent times.

• ensure memberships and renewal rates remain steady. We are not surprised that memberships and renewals decreased after considerable staff changes, nor are we surprised since our relaunch that we have seen a spike in membership applications; and

• receive consistently positive TV, radio and print coverage since our re-launch. !

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During the next 12 months it is a goal for CHAT volunteers (particularly playgroup) to engage with the Early Years Framework. The Framework describes the principles, practices and outcomes that support and enhance young children’s learning from birth to five years of age, as well as their transition to school. It is the foundation for ensuring that children experience quality play-based learning and this will enhance the playgroup experience. !It is my hope that in the coming year we have a particular focus on financial management of the association. While we have responsibly managed the finances all underpinned by representing our members best interests and meeting our funding agreements we hope to develop a financial management plan that extends beyond program budgets to include a fundraising strategy and annual project. !During the next year it is a goal for CHAT to:

• continue to make CHAT immediately recognisable across our state;

• increase membership; • further advance the strategic plan; • commence work on achieving the financial  goals as

outlined in the strategic plan.  Plan specifically a more strategic approach to fundraising aimed at attracting corporate sponsorship and new funding sources;

• build and maintain mutually beneficial community partnerships to continue to provide information and programs to families. That is develop and maintain a supportive network with other service providers in the Tasmanian community;

• consider options to offer an affiliation membership; • expand our newsletter subscription to allied health

professionals and education and corporate sectors; and • develop a mail out strategy to allied health

professionals, education and corporate sectors. !While our staff and volunteers are the public faces of CHAT that provide vital and important services to ensure CHAT is:

• financially responsible and attract new funds, endorsements and sponsorship;

• growing membership, meeting the needs of new and renewing members;

• policy and procedure compliant;

• connecting with new and renewing members via welcome packs, mail outs, social media, publication and our website; and

• connecting with allied health professionals, early childhood sector, support services and the Department of Education. !

Together ‘behind the scenes’ we have 10 part-time staff, 8 volunteer Board members and approximately 21 volunteers supporting CHAT to oversee the implementation and leadership of the above mentioned services. !An outstanding work ethic and commitment to CHAT supports staff to complete work of the highest standard always seeking innovative ways to improve service delivery. Excellent leadership from staff ensures CHAT is operating as a dynamic high functioning Association of which I am very humbled and proud to be Board President. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Katie Wightman Board President

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s t a t e e x e c u t i v e

o f f i c e r

The last four months have been a whirlwind! After sitting on the Board for 10 months, and sadly farewelling two long-serving staff members in Christine Minchin and Tanya Zaadstra during that time, I found myself putting my hand up to temporarily step down from the Board and act in the State Executive Officer role. !I think it is important to acknowledge that CHAT has been through a difficult period in the last 12-18 months, with the loss of so much amazing corporate knowledge, various staff vacancies, and many of our programs and groups feeling a little unsupported as a result of all this change. !As an organisation approaching our centenary, I chose to see these challenges as an opportunity to not only consolidate what CHAT had done so well for such a long time, but to also consider how we might be able to re-energise and expand on what we offer and provide bigger and better support, services and opportunities for our members. !My first priority was to create an Action List of critical issues and present it to the Board for endorsement. I have been so fortunate to have the support and encouragement of our Board, who approved the plan and have been an invaluable resource and support for me in undertaking and being able to achieve so much since I have been acting in the role. !I am sure some of our members have found the last few months an uncharacteristically quiet time for CHAT, but I would like to reassure our membership and our partners, that an incredible amount of hard work has been going on behind the scenes both to re-establish and to grow our services. !As a part of considering how CHAT might continue to best fulfil our vision to be a leading service provider, through the provision of health related resources, activities and knowledge, supporting Tasmanian families, we first needed to consider what today’s membership want and need from an organisation like CHAT. Over the past almost 100 years, I believe CHAT has evolved very well and it was important to consider how we could again adapt to the changing needs of our members and Tasmania families in general. It has been a privilege to be a part of the most recent evolution of the

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organisation in the last few months. !Perhaps most excitingly, in August 2014 we launched a new logo, new website and new publication. This fresh face of CHAT reflects us as an organisation that is modern, relevant and providing our members with 24/7 support, resources and information. !Our new logo was inspired by the riddle of the little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside. The star with its seedpods is the symbol for the many aspects of CHAT that our membership seek out and value in their coming together. It represents a safe haven, the centre, the heart of health, nurture and sharing. The seedpods are as a nursery, or new beginnings, a lovely reflection of the reason we are all here - the health and wellbeing of Tasmanian children and their families. !I built our new website with the aim of providing easily accessible information about who we are and what we offer. Being a member of CHAT offers so many benefits, from financial savings, to fantastic resources, to meeting new people and forming special friendships with others going through the same journey. I’m proud to acknowledge some of our very long-term and loyal CHAT members have been with the organisation for decades, and although their children have long grown up and in a lot of cases, had their own children, still count friends they made through CHAT as their closest. A lot of these special members give so much back to CHAT today, through fundraising and supporting communities in need. !Our new publication, The Apple, replaces the much-loved CHATTER newsletter that was produced quarterly. The Apple will be published every month with the exception of January and July, and provides our members with updates and information on what has happened during the last month, and what is coming up. It contains regular columns on topics of interest for our families, member newborn announcements and always has interesting feature stories. !Another big event for CHAT this year was welcoming Hobart Mums Network (HMN) to the organisation in July. HMN has

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touched the lives of so many southern mums (and their families) and provided amazing support and resources since it was founded by Christine Jolly in 2011. We feel HMN fits perfectly into CHAT, and has been a significant help in us broadening our scope. !The year has also seen almost half the CHAT staff change. While staffing in the Family Food Patch and Growing Families Programs remains the same, all core staff are new. !This new team have been working incredibly hard to ensure that CHAT continues to provide strong and supportive services for our members. We have introduced new longer-term membership options to save our members time and money. We have been talking with the many existing CHAT groups and branches, and working to re-establish our fantastic Retailer Discount Program and regular information sessions with our existing partners, Kidsafe Tasmania. I have commenced discussions with various other organisations such as Royal Life Saving Tasmania, Bears of Hope and a First Aid organisation around future partnerships and provision of resources and services that we might be able to offer into the future. !Christine Jolly commenced in the Southern Regional Coordinator role in April, bringing with her, experience of running Hobart Mums Network and great insight into what today’s mums want and need. !For the first time in two years, we have a North West Regional Coordinator, Kelly Rechtin. Kelly started with CHAT in April and has settled in extremely well. She has been doing amazing work establishing and re-establishing relationships in the region, and providing that extra level of support to our remaining groups in the area. !While our Northern Regional Coordinator position has been vacant for 9 months, I am pleased to report we are currently undergoing the recruitment process. It will be wonderful to expand the CHAT team to again include someone dedicated to providing support, services and a local point of contact in the northern region. !

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Our financial systems are looking better than ever, with a great deal of hard work and attention by the Board and administration of CHAT over the year. !We delighted to finalise a Memorandum of Understanding with Waverley Primary School in the north, and would like to thank them for providing us with office space in their school, which is where our Finance/Admin Officer, Matthew Smith, works. !I have spent a great deal of time creating and implementing a number of new operational policies, procedures and protocols with the aim of streamlining processes across the organisation and improving our records, both for our own purposes and also to ensure we appropriately meet our insurance requirements. !I’m pleased to report that I have worked really hard to build an open and supportive relationship with our various funding bodies (DHHS and Anglicare) in the last few months, and to reassure them that CHAT is a strong and sustainable organisation with a bright future. I would like to thank Disability and Community Services and Population Health (both Department of Health and Human Services) and Anglicare for their ongoing support. !Our Family Food Patch program has had another hugely successful year, running two training programs resulting in a further 26 Family Food Educators graduating. The program has also run Oral Health workshops and played a big role in the Tassievore challenge. The program has continued to provide thorough and essential support, resources and training to Family Food Educators across the state. !Unfortunately future funding of this program is under threat, with the cessation of the National Partnership Agreement on Preventative Health effective 1 July 2014. We have been working extremely hard since the Federal Budget was handed down to lobby both Federal and State Governments about the importance of this program and have been able to successfully raise our profile in the media and in State Parliament. We will continue to fight for the future of this worthwhile program and do our best to ensure we have

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ongoing funding. !Our Growing Families Program, funded through Anglicare’s Communities for Children project, has also continued to run its various programs well. Our CHAT’n’Munch program remains very popular and our George Town Dad’s Group has good attendance. While our Mowbray Dad’s Group numbers are small, we are currently considering ways to engage with Dads in the area to grow our numbers. !It has also been very rewarding to see Growing Families run two pilot programs in the last year, in Feed Me a Story and Men Exploring New Directional Strategies. !At this stage the Growing Families program is funded until the end of the year, and I am working closely with Anglicare to secure funding into 2015. !CHAT was successful in obtaining two specific grants last year. Our Southern Office is the proud home to a new photocopier/printer/scanner. This new machine gives us the capability to undertake much of the printing we have had to previously outsource. !I also worked closely with Oral Health Services Tasmania to oversee the development of a new educational resource, an Oral Health Flip Chart. I would particularly like to acknowledge and thank Jenny McKibben, who spent countless hours of her own time developing the chart. These charts are designed to present evidence based oral and general nutrition health messages for pregnancy and parents of 0-4 year olds. We are currently planning the launch of the Chart in October, and will be disseminating them throughout Child and Family Centres, CHaPS and into early education programs. !More recently, I have coordinated several ‘collection’ drives to support to the C U @ Home Program. This program is run through the Child Health and Parenting Service (CHaPS) for young, first-time mums between the ages of 15 – 19. CHAT continues to share a close working relationship with CHaPS and it has been great to be able provide important support for this program on several occasions, all thanks to the

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kindness and generosity of our members in donating much needed items. !I would like to take this opportunity to extend a huge thank you to all our volunteers. Without the support and hours of dedicated service our volunteers provide, CHAT would not be able to do what we do. It is also at this point I would like to again thank the Board, all of whom are volunteers and have dedicated many hours to the organisation over the last 12 months. !As a not for profit organisation, we face challenges every day to ensure we can provide the very best support, services and education we can on a small budget. I remain very excited by our re-energised organisation and that we can not only continue to deliver the resources, services and support we have offered for such a long time, but that we can build on them, and continue to strive to better achieve our vision for CHAT. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Alison Wood State Executive Officer

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m e m b e r s h i p

!!!!!!!!2013-2014 Membership 23 Pram Walking 217 Family Food Patch 397 Other (including CHAT groups and branches) 637 Total

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c h i l d h e a l t h a n d p a r e n t i n g

s e r v i c e

There have been a number of changes during 2013-14, the most significant being the change in government, with Jacquie Petrusma the new Minister for Human Services and Minister for Women. Minister Petrusma believes that vulnerable babies are an area of great importance, and this is reflected in the Government’s ‘Vulnerable Baby Strategy’, a major election commitment and priority. !Child and Family Centres are working well and attendance rates during the year are indicative of the effectiveness of the services provided. The George Town Centre is envisaged to be open in the near future and will provide a particularly vital service to the local area. !Work has continued on developing electronic child health records and developing a new IT platform system, providing nurses with client information electronically around the state and enhancing data integrity. !The Right @ Home Research Project is entering into its second year. Program feedback to date suggests parents and babies are benefiting from the home visits being conducted. Data collected has also shown that there is minimal drop off rate. !Nurses state-wide have been undertaking Signs of Safety (SOS) Training alongside their colleagues within Children Youth Services (CYS). Although the approach is centred around child protection practice, its principles and associated skills required within the approach are relevant and transferrable to all services working with vulnerable children and families. !This year has seen state-wide unplanned and extended sick leave, as well as challenges associated with a restricted economic environment. These factors have impacted at times on the ability to maintain staffing levels and to meet service delivery targets. Any decisions to reduce services have aimed at directing limited resources to the youngest and most vulnerable client groups. !The Chief Nurses Office has commenced a process of facilitating the development of a more contemporary way of

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working with a revised approach to service delivery, given the difficulties encountered resourcing the Model of Care that was developed in 2011 and introduced in 2013. This process will look at how staffing relief can be factored in to assist maintaining an acceptable service delivery level. CYS Management are continuing to monitor workloads and staffing levels. !There have been a number of significant staffing changes across centres during the year. CHaPS farewelled five retiring long term Child Health Nurses, Rosemary Smart and Marie McCoy from the North West, Joan Walters and Cecily Lawrence-Harmey from the North, and Susie Drew from the South, all of whom have contributed significantly over many years. !In addition to the Child Health Association’s hard work, and ongoing commitment to promoting the health of Tasmanian children, there have been a number of instances where CHAT fundraising and donations have enabled local CHaPS centres to renew facilities for clients. Children and Youth Services is looking forward to a successful year ahead in collaboration with the Child Health Association Tasmania. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Leonie Watson Area Director - Child Youth Services, North

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s o u t h e r n r e g i o n

2014 has brought so many significant changes to our organisation. With Hobart Mums Network (HMN) joining Child Health Association Tasmania (CHAT) and our new branding, there is a real excitement here in the South about what CHAT can deliver when it comes to supporting the wellbeing of Tasmanian families. !Public Presence We had a very successful stall at New Town’s Baby & Kids Market in August and have a solid relationship with Robyn Crew, the market organiser. With the agreement that we will promote the market each time, she is giving us a prime location at the entrance of the market free of charge. We hope to do this at each market and will have copies of The Apple, our promotional material, a basket of apples to giveaway, and balloons for the children. !In early September, we had the opportunity to take part in Braveheart’s Family Fun Day. Using apples as our theme, we had a table set up with our promotional material and two stations of apple spiral slicing and coring, this was great fun and a huge hit with the kids !In October, we will have a similar interactive table set up at Playgroup Tasmania’s Teddy Bear Picnic at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. We are really keen to increase our volunteer engagement and interaction to help us out at these types of events, to ensure we can provide an interactive station where kids can participate in the apple activity, while the parents and families can learn more about who we are and what we offer. !We have been invited by Hobart City Council (HCC) to have a presence at the parenting pavilion at The Taste Festival. We can have a table featuring our promotional material and the opportunity to schedule information sessions during the festival at this location. !Hobart Children and Families Network We have a very close working relationship with HCC and friendly open communication with relevant officers in the other regional councils. One way that I work closely with HCC is by participating in the quarterly Children and Families

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Network meetings. In these meetings, children-focused interest groups, businesses, and organisations collaborate together to bring about a better city for children and families. Our monthly publication, The Apple, is forwarded to everyone on the network’s email list ensuring that we have the broadest scope of influence possible. !Hobart Family Expo In April, HCC and HMN launched the first Hobart Family Expo featuring over twenty different organisations and businesses that promote the wellbeing of Tasmanian families. Located inside and outside Mathers House behind the State Library, we enjoyed over 200 visitors during the day despite the weather. It was also a great opportunity to get TV news coverage. CHAT hopes to partner with others in the Children and Families Network to bring another Family Expo next year and many years after that. !Communication In addition to our new publication The Apple, Southern members of CHAT also receive a weekly email newsletter about what’s on in our region. The newsletter features upcoming information sessions we are hosting, that week’s pram walking schedule, locations of our three playgroups in the South, Hobart Mums Choir rehearsal times, Hobart Mums Fitness times and locations, a featured business who is participating in our Retailer Discount Program, and any other relevant news or items of interest to our Southern members. !Social media has also proven a great tool to help bring CHAT into the newsfeeds of Tasmanian families. By building on Hobart Mums Network’s popular Facebook presence, we have tapped into thousands of southern families. This union has boosted our membership and increased our scope of influence. The CHAT Facebook page has grown in reach over the last few months and is used to communicate effectively to the public about our information sessions, pram walks, relevant media links covering our various programs, and regional weekly newsletters, along with attracting new members. !Information Sessions In August we relaunched our Kidsafe Information Sessions.

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Thirteen families came along to the Parenting Centre in New Town for the hour long session, resulting in better informed families and some new members for CHAT. These information sessions (when possible) will be free for our members and a low cost to non-members. !We also hope to offer regular training for our members in water safety and first aid and many other topics. !Playgroups CHAT currently offers three playgroups across the South: Lauderdale, Lindisfarne and Kingston. We are always open to helping families connect in other areas to start new playgroups. Throughout the year, as Southern Regional Coordinator I intend to visit each playgroup and pram walking group to show my support and to keep them up-to-date with our organisation’s purpose and vision. !Pram Walking Groups The pram walking groups continue to go strong, led by dedicated volunteers Katy Prior and Fiona Ringrose. These groups roam our Southern region visiting new walks. These walks are regularly promoted in our weekly “What’s on” newsletter email. !There is interest in other regions, including Huonville and Blackmans Bay, to start pram walking groups in the near future. !New Parents Groups Now that we have updated promotional material, I am ready to go strong with visiting new parent groups run by Child Health Nurses to promote Child Health Association Tasmania as a way of maintaining the connection between the group families and the wider community. !The Haven The Haven has been at its “new” location since October 2013. Since moving from Murray Street to just behind St. Davids Cathedral to a warm, bright, welcoming facility our visitor numbers have increased greatly. On average we receive 10 visiting families a day. Most visitors are members who access the facility for free or are happy to become members of CHAT during their first visit.

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The purpose of the Haven is to provide a place in Hobart’s CBD for families to connect. While children and babies happily play and read stories, mums and dads and carers can help themselves to a cuppa and chat to others. Many new friendships have resulted from random visits to The Haven. !Our regular events include Australian Breastfeeding Association meetings, craft sessions, Southern Tasmanian Babywearers meetings, Business Connect morning teas, clothing swaps, one off events like the launch of picture book and music album Where the Platypus Sleeps and a workshop for separated families. !It is a popular venue for Tasmanian families and we are currently looking at extending our days of operation to Monday through Friday. !HMN Chat HMN Chat is a free public service of Hobart Mums Network and Child Health Association Tasmania. Our aim is to connect local mums to one another and the wider community by providing a safe place online to interact. Group moderators are Stelle Carmichael, Luella Mageean, Fiona Mason, and Amy Isham. !Launched in 2012 with the aim to connect, encourage, and inspire local mums, the Facebook group has grown to nearly 2500 Southern Tasmanian mothers. The moderators are committed to maintaining a positive group. !Partnerships Our social media pages are a great way to gauge how local mums might wish to connect in meaningful ways. In 2014 we have partnered with two local business to help make these connections happen. Neither receive funding from Child Health Association Tasmania, instead we help them promote their programs. !CMW Music organizes Hobart Mums Choir. Rehearsals are held Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings each term. Wednesday mornings babies and small children are welcome to come along giving the rehearsal a playgroup feel. !

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Linx School of Performing Arts offers mums two exercise classes to do with their little ones. One is a Zumba class after school hours and the other is a morning aerobics class. Each session has both mums and children in mind creating a fun environment. !Retailers Discount Program Our Retailer Discount Program is growing as our membership increases in the South. One way the list has grown is that many of our members are actually business owners themselves participating in our group Business Connect. !Business Connect Business Connect, initially a subgroup of Hobart Mums Network, has over sixty members, and is continuously growing as the most active CHAT group in the South. !Business Connect offers CHAT members who are mothers with their own business monthly professional development seminars, monthly networking morning teas, a monthly interview in The Apple featuring a member, social nights, and fundraising activities like Liptember. In 2015, Business Connect will review the idea of a member event such as a market to showcase our members or a professional development conference for all Tasmanian mothers and business owners. !Conclusion Finally, Child Health Association Tasmania has experienced some exciting changes this year. Southern families, local governments and organisations all have the confidence to work alongside us and make Tasmania a greater place to live for families. !!!!!!Christine Jolly Southern Regional Coordinator

n o r t h e r n r e g i o n

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It has been a relatively quiet time in the northern region in the last few months, with the Northern Regional Coordinator position vacant. Since stepping into the acting State Executive Officer role at the end of April this year, I have, in the absence of a coordinator in the region, been contacting and following up with the CHAT groups and branches in the north. !While some groups have stopped meeting due to things such as maternity leave finishing, we still have a total of nine groups and branches running in the region. All of these groups are very keen to have new members join. !These groups have a variety of set ups, from playgroups, to Dads groups, to pram walking groups, along with a long-standing branch that focuses on fundraising and provides amazing support through CHAT to various community groups and the wonderful Child Health and Parenting Service. !While things have been quiet in the region, plans are underway to organise an information session in the north with our partner, Kidsafe Tasmania, before the end of the year. We are also hoping to roll out some new group options and additional information session topics in the new year. We also plan to start an online chat Facebook group in the region, modelled on the successful groups running in the south (HMN Chat) and north west (NWMN Chat). !CHAT will be at future Launceston Baby and Kids Markets, with a stall full of information on who we are, what we offer, what is available in the region, and with balloons and apples for the kids! We plan to be out and about at more public events in the region throughout the coming year, including New Year on the Royal and Festivale. !I am very pleased to report that we are currently in the process of recruiting a Northern Regional Coordinator. With this position having been vacant for a good nine months, we cannot wait to welcome a new member to the CHAT team, and to once again provide that greater level of support and contact to our members in the northern region. !We thank our members in the north for being so patient over the last few months, and can reassure you that you will be seeing a lot more of CHAT over the coming months!   !Alison Wood Acting State Executive Officer

n o r t h w e s t r e g i o n

Since accepting this role in April 2014, much has happened in the North West region in terms of contact and relationship building, resource familiarisation and CHAT promotion. While there has not been any new group formations in this initial four month period, the two prior existing groups in Rosebery and King Island are doing well. !Being new to Tasmania and with this role having been vacant since 2012, it has taken some time to network with other organisations. Despite this, the following has occurred: !I initiated contact with North West CHAT groups on our database and introduced myself, updated contact and group information, and member involvement levels. !I obtained itemised CHAT inventory lists from each of these groups, and provided each them with updated electronic and paper based forms for attendance, events and incident reports. !I have dedicated a lot of hours to establishing a closed Facebook page for North West Mums – the North West Mums Network (NWMN). It is modelled on the Hobart Mums Network Facebook page and is a free public service provided by CHAT for the community. The NWMN page is moderated by me at this time, with plans to hand it over to volunteer members in the future. I currently have one volunteer moderator, Katrina Kruse, her involvement so far has been small but appreciated. !I have created a weekly e-newsletter update, highlighting recent discussions and events that occurred on the Facebook page, and featuring a "what's on" list of events for each upcoming week in the North West region. !In July, I moved to Hobart temporarily and was able to be a part of the CHAT re-launch event in August. I helped plan, organise, shop, set up and promote the launch. !Whilst in Hobart, I am staffing The Haven on Thursday afternoons and have enjoyed learning about this great space, its working processes, and connecting with CHAT volunteers and families. In the future I would like to explore the feasibility

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of setting up a similar space somewhere in the North West. !I met with Family Food Patch Program Manager, Emily Rataj. I learned about the Family Food Patch program and I plan on attending a 5 week training in the future to expand my knowledge base in the area of nutrition and physical activity and to be able to share those skills with others in the community. !I established a connection with Devonport Child and Family Centre and promoted CHAT to the Director. !I have established a relationship with Alex Morse, Music Therapist, who runs various music therapy groups throughout the North West coast including at the East Devonport Child and Family Centre. !I have established relationships with North West CHaPS Area Manager, Cheryl Smith and North West Director, Jeanette Kelly. We discussed plans for next year’s new parent group sessions. CHAT will be responsible for running the third session of each new mum group in the upcoming year. !I have also made contact with all North West CHaPS nurses via email, introduced myself and asked for topic recommendations for the new mum groups for the upcoming year. While I have not received any replies to date, I plan on attending a CHaPS staff meeting in the new year and meeting with the child health nurses face to face. I hope this will increase topic suggestions and foster a sense of connection and trust. !I established a relationship with Dr Michelle Towle, the North West Health Promotion Coordinator. Dr Towle will be a key promotional contact for future upcoming promotional events. !I established a relationship with Active Tasmania Project Manager, Rachel Grantham, and have commenced discussions around the possibility of implementing free family friendly exercise programs in the upcoming future. I am awaiting the Active Tasmania assessment report of the North West before we can proceed further. I have been named as a key contact in the North West associated with this potential

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health promotion activity. !I attended a planning and grant writing workshop at the Burnie LINC. I look forward to utilising these new skills as grant opportunities come up in the future. !I attended Australian Breastfeeding Association meetings and established connections with several ABA Leaders. I am also regularly invited to their events and am a Facebook friend of the North West groups. I have also established a relationship with the Breastfeeding Coalition of Tasmania. I have attended quarterly meetings via video conference link up. As a Lactation Consultant, I have found it disturbing to learn of the extreme lack of services available to women on the North West coast. An updated summary of Breastfeeding and Lactation Support Services in Tasmania is due to be released in the next few weeks. CHaPS Breastfeeding data from the last 12 months is scheduled to be released shortly as well. !I also established a relationship with Damian Collins, Community Sustainability Coordinator from the Devonport City Council. We have discussed venue options for possible future events. !Groups The two established CHAT groups in the North West region are: !Rosebery Playgroup meets every Wednesday from 10:30-12:30, and is run by Jo Powell at the Rosebery Memorial Hall. Attendances are strong and steady. !King Island Playgroup meets every Thursday from 10:30-12:30 at the King Island Racecourse in the ground floor building. The group is run by Rose Hoyt. It is a well established playgroup on King Island.

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Conclusion CHAT is in a major re-building phase in the North West with a current focus of establishing and re-establishing relationships with various North West community groups and stakeholders, and making key connections. Plans for promotions are under way now that the new CHAT Logo has been launched. Once the CHAT name and logo have been promoted and re-established in the community, it is hoped that membership numbers and CHAT groups in the region will increase. !I look forward to progressing the support and services that CHAT offers to our North West members over the coming year. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Kelly Rechtin North West Regional Coordinator

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f a m i l y f o o d p a t c h

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Family Food Patch (FFP) continues to be funded by the Australian and Tasmanian Government, as a joint initiative under the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health (NPAPH). The funding agreement had been extended until 2018 but is currently in limbo following the abolishment of NPAPH in the Federal budget. We hope that we will be as busy as ever this time next year and continue to have the fantastic support of Population Health Services. !Management Committee The Management Committee currently consists of Alison Wood (CHAT) and Kacey Rubie (Population Health). The Program Team (Emily Rataj – Program Manager, Emma Rowell – Program Officer, Carole MacGregor and Pen Clark – Program Dietitians and Claire Burke – Physical Activity Policy Officer) provides program updates to the Management Committee at regular videoconference meetings. During the financial year, Management Committee meetings were held every 6 – 8 weeks, with a total of 8 meetings held. !Reference Group The Reference Group continues to have input into program direction, including Family Food Educator (FFE) professional development opportunities and health promotion campaigns. The group meets twice each year by videoconference and two meetings were held during the reporting period. Quarterly program updates were sent to Reference Group members by email to keep them up to date on program activities and plans and to provide opportunities for members to comment on activity plans. !The Reference Group currently has representatives from the following: FFEs, Population Health Services, Child Health Association, Tasmanian Breastfeeding Coalition, Tasmanian State Schools Parents and Friends, Child and Family Centres, Move Well Eat Well, Move Well Eat Well Early Childhood, Tasmanian School Canteens Association, Lady Gowrie, Eat Well Tasmania and Oral Health Services. !Educator Database As at June 30 there were 223 FFEs on the database, 91 in the South, 78 in the North and 54 in the North West. During the 2013/14 financial year the Program Team had direct contact (phone, email or face to face) with 72 (33%) FFEs. In the

previous financial year (2011/12) the Program Team had contact with 41% of FFEs. !Training Two training programs were conducted during the financial year, training a total of 26 FFEs. !The first training was held at the Ptunarra Child and Family Centre in New Norfolk, an area with a SEIFA score of 1. A range of parents and community members from the Derwent Valley and greater Hobart region graduated from this training. !The second training was held at the Burnie Child and Family Centre, an area with a SEIFA score of 3. Parents and community members from East Devonport, Latrobe, Ulverstone, Burnie, Wynyard and Smithton completed this course. !Training Waiting List There continues to be a high demand for the FFP training within the community. There are currently twenty expressions of interest for the FFP training course. Half of these are from individuals and the other half are from organisations. Six are in the North, eight in the South and six in the North West. !FFE Support During the financial year, 27 FFEs submitted 41 requests for support, including resources, activity planning, networking and co-facilitation. Of the 41 requests, 10 were from the North West region, 22 were from the South and 9 were from the North. !As part of the FFE support, a post-training catch up session was held with the New Norfolk and Burnie training groups. These sessions are an opportunity for the FFEs to re-connect with each other and the Program Team. The FFEs are able to share what they had been up to since the training and chat about any successes and challenges. !Oral Health Workshops, May 2014 Oral health workshops with Jenny McKibben from Oral Health Services were held at Ravenswod Child and Family Centre

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and West Moonah Community House. 9 FFEs attended the half day sessions which incorporated information and resources around children’s oral health promotion, culminating with cooking a shared lunch. Several FFEs requested the resources by post as they were unable to attend the sessions. !Tassievore Challenge, March 2014 Tassievore is an initiative to promote local, sustainably grown, seasonal produce to Tasmanians and it was selected as the FFP health awareness focus for 2013/2014. FFP created a three pronged approach to raising awareness of the Tassievore theme: !1. Educators were invited to tell us what their favourite

Tasmanian fruit or vegetable is and why to receive a pack of 12 Tassievore recipe cards. We also include a copy of the Farm Gate Guide 2013/14, created by the Fruit Growers Association Tasmania.

2. To help connect the challenge with the youngest in the Patch we compiled Growing Activity Packs to give to Child Care Centres/Early Years services nominated by FFEs. These resources were an ideal way for Educators to connect their centres with Move Well Eat Well Early Childhood, supporting healthy eating and active play policies.

3. We mailed out a copy of the ‘I support’ & ‘We support’ Tassievore Challenge poster (double-sided) with the autumn newsletter and invited Educators to post a photo of themselves or businesses that are local food friendly onto our Facebook page – the winning entry to receive a copy of the Hobart Mum’s Network Inspired Cooking recipe book. !

A total of seventeen Educators participated in the FFP Tassievore March Challenge. !Requests for FFEs During the financial year, the Program Team received 21 requests for FFE assistance. Of the 21 requests, 8 were from the North West region, 9 were from the South and 4 were from the North. 52% of requests from organisations were filled by FFEs or the program team, with the majority of other

requests covered via resource support. !Policies The FFP program policies are reviewed annually and include:

• Food Safety Policy • Resource Development Policy • Communication and Marketing Policy • Program Transfer Policy • Volunteer Policy Recruitment and Training Policy • Data Management Policy • Requests for FFEs Policy • Program Team Roles and Responsibilities • FFP Roles and Responsibilities • FFE Support Policy • Policy on Supporting External Projects • CHAT and Population Health Services Memorandum of

Understanding !Newsletters The quarterly FFP newsletter includes updates on the program and requests for FFE involvement; it promotes resources, upcoming events and health awareness events; and it seeks feedback on resource development. The newsletter is often tailored to each region (South, North and North West) and five editions were sent to each region during the financial year. On occasions additional information is also sent out to FFEs in between the quarterly newsletters. !FFP contributed articles to three editions of Eating Matters (Eat Well Tasmania) and two editions of CHATTER. !Resources During the past twelve months the program team have been creating informative video clips on each of the FFP training topics. The clips are being uploaded to our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB1cquEpGBcspH-K1H6hpNQ) as they are finalised. The channel had 191 views as at June 30. !Online Marketing The FFP website (www.familyfoodpatch.org.au) has received a steady increase in the number of unique visitors each month

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and now consistently has in excess of 380 visitors each month, an increase of at least 130 visitors per month from last financial year. !The FFP Facebook page provides an informal avenue for the program team to promote upcoming events, resources and health awareness themes to FFEs. The Facebook page has 256 members, 206 more than last financial year. !FFP now has a Twitter account, with twenty-four followers. The account is primarily used for the program team to follow like-minded groups and organisations. !Evidence Base for FFP During May 2014 the program team generated a media response to the abolishment of the NPAPH program. FFEs rallied for the cause, with 25 contributing testimonials to be used to advocate for FFP. Letters incorporating the testimonials were sent to State and Federal politicians and a media release was generated through CHAT. !Funding Family Food Patch is a partnership program between the Child Health Association Tasmania and Population Health Services (DHHS). This initiative is funded by:

• the Tasmanian Government through the Department of Health and Human Services

• the Australian and Tasmanian Government, as a joint initiative under the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health. !

The funding agreement is currently under review. !Program Planning, Evaluation and Reporting Annual program plans are developed and they incorporate detailed information about evaluation. The January and July service delivery reports were submitted to DHHS within the specified timeframes. !The FFP Program Team would like to acknowledge the Child Health Association and Population Health Services for their ongoing support of this initiative. !!!Emily Rataj Program Manager, Family Food Patch

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g r o w i n g f a m i l i e s

The 2013/14 year has been one of change, uncertainty, opportunity and reflection, but above all, one of commitment and growth for the Growing Families team. We faced a myriad of challenges including financial instability, changes to federal and local requirements and the risk of funding ceasing at the end of the financial year. I am proud to report that these challenges have only strengthened the resolve of the team to deliver their programs and achieve real outcomes for those they have the privilege of working with. !Growing Families, funded through Anglicare’s Communities for Children program, has a greater emphasis on reaching those in our communities who are at times marginalised and excluded. We have an increased responsibility to ensure our sessions are inclusive, supportive, informative and of course fun and engaging. The Growing Families team, Kathryn Ervin, Jason Maxwell and Simon McCullough, deliver four core programs in George Town and the Northern Suburbs of Launceston, CHAT’n’Munch and Mobile Nutrition Sessions (Kathryn) and two Dads CHAT groups (Jason and Simon). !CHAT’n’Munch is a weekly nutrition session, held at the Memorial Hall in George Town. It focuses on the preparation of healthy meals/snacks; food hygiene; sharing of food with children and encouraging new foods; healthy eating options/strategies for fussy eaters; recipe ideas and tips for fast healthy food. It also includes themed food days, outings during the school holiday programs, physical activities and play. !The Mobile Nutrition Sessions have been held at a variety of community venues, schools and events, providing participants with a snap shot of the topics from the CHAT’n’Munch groups. !Dads CHAT groups are held weekly at the Mowbray branch of the Northern Suburbs Community Centre and the George Town Neighbourhood House. Participants engage in educational sessions around: nutrition; oral health; sexual health; management of anxiety; financial education and assistance; conflict resolution; appropriate play with children; setting appropriate boundaries; hygiene; finding learning opportunities for children in everyday activities and engage in

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the school holiday program. !The George Town Dads group have revitalised the Community Garden adjacent to the Neighbourhood House. The fathers have tended to the garden outside of the groups meeting time with impressive result for their families and the wider community. The produce grown has been shared between the fathers for their own use with surplus produced given to Second Bite for distribution from the Neighbourhood House. It is also sold to local restaurants, with the proceeds assisting to fund the items required to maintain the garden. !Donations have gratefully been received from local feedlots and vineyards, community members and the Scottsdale Timber yard in the way of soil, compost and gravel, netting, baths and timber to support the growth of the garden. I would like to say a special thanks to these individuals for their contributions and support! !This year we also had the opportunity to trial two new programs, Feed Me a Story (FMaS) and Men Exploring New Directional Strategies (MENDS). These are both strong examples of the kind of training that can be delivered in the community, by the community, once trust and engagement has been built through ongoing group connections. !It would not be possible to run these groups without the support we receive from so many people. While this report doesn’t provide the space to name everyone, in particular I would like to thank Denise and the staff of the Northern Suburbs Community Centre and Simone and the staff of the George Town Neighborhood House. Without their support, the groups would often be quite cold, wet and rather uninviting! I would also like to thank the staff at the Ravenswood Child & Family Centre staff and Ravenswood Launch into Learning and Ali from the George Town Linc for their support of the FMaS pilots. !I would like to offer my gratitude to the incredible Growing Families team, Kathryn Ervin, Jason Maxwell and Simon McCullough for their enduring optimism, commitment and excellence in continuing to deliver their programs with passion and care during this time, and sincerely thank the CHAT Board, Communities for Children team, Anglicare Tasmania and the Department of Social Services for their support. !Diane Martin Manager - Growing Families

t r e a s u r e r

My first term as Treasurer of the Child Health Association Tasmania (CHAT) has been a challenging time. The significant changes to staffing meant I was launched into CHAT with many operational matters to oversee while developing my understanding of governance through a fiscally responsible lense. Although showing losses from the prior year, the Balance Sheet has always looked quite strong. !A significant job has been to work out the access we have to assets and to try and understand how they fit into the structure of CHAT. !I believe that although challenging for a new board and administration team, we have worked well to gain a good understanding of how the balance sheet fits into the day to day activities, and to determine the liquidity of the assets (i.e. how quickly we can convert to useable cash). !We have also formed a subcommittee to evaluate the buildings we hold, which will result in decisions being made regarding the assets over the coming months. !Our significant outgoings are insurance, wages and the costs associated with running our community activities. We have no plans to increase membership fees. !Overall, it has been an improved year financially, and there is a lot of positivity around the years ahead. !!!!!!!!!!!!Georgina Sertori Treasurer

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f i n a n c i a l a u d i t