REPORT 2010 - Telethon Speech and Hearing

Telethon Speech + Hearing 2010 Annual Report
The first initiative was the SODA group (Social Support
of Oral Deaf Adults) which relished the opportunity to use
the new venue to organise social events for a growing
number of deaf adults, many of who are TSH alumni.
The Centre has consistently returned annual operating
surpluses since 2004 and this year saw us deliver
another better than budget financial result. Although
the Centre still relies to some extent on fundraising, the
ability to meet our expenses from guaranteed sources
of recurrent income continues to improve. Ideally
fundraising should be the icing on the cake so we
continue to plan for a future where operating expenses
are covered by income.
For some years Telethon Speech & Hearing has
partnered with sister centres in the other Australian
states and in New Zealand in a loose alliance of
professional sharing, collaboration and collegiality.
In 2010 this became a more formal agreement and
was re-badged as the First Voice Alliance. Launched
by Her Excellency, the Governor-General, Quentin
Bryce at Admiralty House in Sydney, First Voice began
life as the federal election approached. Two years of
patient lobbying in Canberra came to fruition with the
commitment made by the Gillard Government to a
new portable funding package for families with hearing
impaired infants. The new Better Start for Children with
Disabilities package will offer support to children with
Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Fragile X, Vision
Impairment and Deaf/Blindness. With the re-election
of the ALP this new funding will become available across
the nation from 1 July 2011. First Voice was instrumental
in getting this onto the election agenda and is working
closely with Department of Families, Housing, Community
Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCHSIA) in Canberra
to facilitate its implementation. First Voice has arrived as
a major player on the national stage.
The Centre now enters a pivotal period of 18 months to
two years at the end of which we will see an expanded
role emerge for Telethon Speech & Hearing. We will
offer programs and services to both urban and regional
WA, a new world-class headquarters in Wembley,
enhanced community awareness and heightened profile
and - most importantly – more and more children and
families benefitting from the support of our outstanding
professional staff who are responsible for our welldeserved
reputation for professional excellence.
In closing I send my sincere thanks and congratulations
to all our staff for another year of passionate commitment
to excellence. To my executive colleagues I extend my
personal appreciation of your hard work, initiative and
support as we build our way to an exciting future of
even greater opportunity and achievement.
Paul Higginbotham
Chief Executive Officer
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