Read the full annual report - Queensland Council of Social Service

ANNUAL REPORT 

2010-11

Our members 

QCOSS is a member-based organisation. Our members include peak bodies, 

advocacy and consumer groups, service providers, mutual support and self-help 

groups as well as individuals. Associate members include for-profit organisations 

and government departments that commit to supporting our purpose. 

A full list of members is provided on page 46. 

Funders and sponsors 

QCOSS acknowledges and thanks the funders and sponsors who have 

supported us in 2010-11. 

Gail Slocombe, David Abbott and Myles 

McGregor-Lowndes at the QCOSS AGM 2010. 

At the 2011 QCOSS budget breakfast were from left: 

Noel Muller, Wallis Westbrook, Rod Goodbun and 

Melody Edmondson. 

Major funders 

• Queensland Department of Communities 

• Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and 

Workplace Relations 

• Queensland Department of Health 

• Queensland Department of Justice and the Attorney General 

• Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development 

and Innovation 

• Australian Energy Market Commission (Consumer Advocacy Panel) 

• Queensland Gambling Community Benefit Fund 

• Natural Disaster Resilience Program 

Major sponsors (Conference and Events) 

• Queensland Government 

• James Cook University 

• Health and Community Services Workforce Council Inc. 

• My Community Directory 

• HESTA Super Fund (Qld) 

• Cairns Regional Council 

Cover image: Abbie McEwen on the balcony of her 

flood-damaged home on the outskirts of Grantham. 

(c) Newspix, photographer Mark Cranitch.

QCOSS would like to thank its Board, members and staff for 

the dedication and commitment that have brought about the 

achievements listed in this annual report. 

We thank and say a special ‘Goodbye’ to Director Jill Lang, 

and give a warm ‘Welcome!’ to new Director Mark Henley. 

For more than 50 years now we have been spearheading 

collective action that has changed the face of our sector and 

our society. During the 2010-11 summer, we witnessed the 

Queensland community services sector at its best: tenacious, 

reliable, proud – and a lifeline to those in need. 

With your help we will continue to build a fairer Queensland. 

iii 

Annual Report 2010-11

Contents 

Vision, purpose & values......................................................2 

President’s report.................................................................3 

Key outcomes.......................................................................4 

Director’s report....................................................................5 

Disaster response.................................................................6 

Policy advocacy highlights..................................................8 

Low income consumer advocacy........................................10 

Sector development.............................................................12 

Working respectfully together on homelessness................13 

Communications & member engagement...........................14 

A conference to remember..................................................15 

Growing stronger children’s services..................................16 

Early intervention where child protection must begin........17 

Coalition ensuring Indigenous access................................18 

Committing to reconciliation................................................19 

Leadership, governance & management............................20 

Governance committee report.............................................22 

Treasurer’s report.................................................................23 

Financial reports...................................................................24 

Members...............................................................................46 

1

Vision, purpose & values 

Our vision 

A fair, inclusive and sustainable Queensland 

Our purpose 

The Queensland Council of Social Service Inc.: 

• Provides a voice for and with Queenslanders affected by poverty 

and inequality. 

• Leads on issues of significance to the social, health and community sectors 

state-wide. 

• Contributes to a national voice on these issues through membership of the 

nation-wide network of state and territory councils and the Australian 

Council of Social Service (ACOSS). 

Our values 

QCOSS shares the values outlined in the Queensland Community Services 

Sector Charter. 

We value: 

Human rights: we uphold and advance the fundamental rights of people in 

Queensland. 

Individual and community wellbeing: we are committed to advancing the 

wellbeing of individuals, communities and our society as a whole. 

Diversity: we embrace all forms of diversity, including cultural and linguistic 

diversity. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination: we stand for 

self-determination and an end to disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait 

Islander peoples. 

Cooperation and participation: we foster active participation by our members 

and communities, and cooperation within and beyond our sector. 

Excellence: we value the commitment, knowledge and skills of our workers and 

volunteers, and strive for excellence in our organisation and our sector. 

Independence: we affirm the importance of our autonomy from government, 

commercial interests and political parties. 

2 


President’s report 

When natural disasters hit homes and communities throughout Queensland this 

year and we witnessed trauma, loss and grief, we also witnessed the extraordinary 

responses of individuals, community organisations and government. 

I will always remember the community spirit that came with knowing that in a 

disaster of this size displacement and trauma were to be expected and were no 

one’s fault. In those initial days there was no judgement, no discrimination, just a 

desire to ensure that each person could be safe, supported and understood. The 

lines of responsibility between government and non-government sectors were 

shared. There was cooperation between politicians, government departments, 

non-government organisations and citizens that focused only on getting the job 

done. I would love to see this way of working outside our silos filter through to our 

daily work in addressing poverty, discrimination and injustice. 

The year also saw QCOSS move into a transition process with Jill Lang leaving 

and Mark Henley commencing as the new Director. Jill will be missed by many but 

remembered for the achievements and contribution she made as a leader and for 

positioning QCOSS as a respected and active organisation in the sector and with 

government. 

Karyn Walsh - President 

Jill developed a strong team around the organisational strategic plan. The work of 

Linda Parmenter and her low income consumer advocacy team, the leadership 

of Ros Walker in guiding people through the health reforms and the amazing job 

Tanya Hall has done on the homelessness community plans stand out, while 

the continued work of the Indigenous Professional Support Unit, the media 

and communications team, enhanced IT capacity, and an effective finance and 

administration team all contributed to a job well done. 

I would like to thank the Board members who participated in the recruitment of a 

new Director and consultant Patrick Herd, who assisted us. However it was the 

senior management team of Jenny Whitworth, Sarah Coles, Jody Tunnicliffe, and 

John Mikelsons and the IPSU manager, Roslyn Von Senden, whose additional work 

and willingness to take on responsibility ultimately ensured a smooth transition. 

Thanks especially to John for his coordination and hard work as Acting Director. 

I would like to thank the many Minsters who have been open to receiving 

information and input from QCOSS and our members, as well as the 

Directors-General, policy makers and program directors who met with us on a 

regular basis. I particularly acknowledge Linda Apelt and the senior executive 

team of the Department of Communities for their continued work with QCOSS. 

As always, I thank Board members for their contribution and QCOSS members for 

their input and feedback. I thank Jill for all the work and commitment that she has 

given to QCOSS, as well as the way in which she enabled the Board to undertake 

our role and responsibilities. On behalf of the Board I welcome Mark Henley as 

Director and look forward to working with him in the coming years. 

Karyn Walsh 

President 

3

Key outcomes 

During 2010-11, QCOSS initiatives made a real difference for individuals experiencing 

poverty – and for the sector that works with them: 

Action to reduce hardship 

• The first edition of our Cost of Living Report saw the government initiate 

improved reporting on concessions. 

Mt Isa 

QUEENSLAND 

Cairns 

Emerald 

Dalby 

Toowoomba 

Townsville 

QCOSS at work 

Bundaberg 

Brisbane 

With staff in nine locations we held forums and 

development activities across Queensland. 

IPSU professional development activities delivered 

QCOSS staff locations 

Flood visits/consultations 

HCAP forums/consultations 

Network support delivered 

Access to interpreter forums 

• We influenced improved consumer protections for disadvantaged people in 

the electricity and gas market, and improvements in support available. 

Making gains for the community sector 

• In 2009, we contributed to influencing improved wages for many sector workers 

and we continue to lobby for improved wages and funding for the sector. 

Disaster response 

• Our special eNews series communicated important and timely recovery 

information. 

• We made 15 visits to disaster-affected areas to hear first hand about issues. 

• We made a submission to the Floods Inquiry and a supplementary budget 

submission outlining recommendations for recovery. 

Homelessness coordination 

• We were responsible for coordinating focused and improved outcomes 

through collaboration between NGOs and governments. 

• The sector identified opportunities to improve homelessness responses 

within existing resources. 

Better services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 

• Our Indigenous Professional Support Unit provided professional development 

for staff of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s services as they 

navigate the new early years learning and quality frameworks. 

• We worked alongside the Qld Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Human 

Services Coalition in its aim to reform the services system. 

• We launched and began implementing our Reconciliation Action Plan. 

Practical help for the sector 

• We hosted the Community Door website which saw traffic increase by over 

50 per cent. More than 830 users now interact in its ‘Network Spaces’. 

More professional presence on the world wide web 

• QCOSS launched its new website in June 2011. 

Quality work, continued demand 

• QCOSS’s reputation and position, and the quality of its work, clearly 

contribute to our ability to secure projects that will improve the lives of 

vulnerable Queenslanders – this year we have gained funding for: 

- The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Human Services Coalition’s 

Access all Areas campaign and their Sector Development funding. 

- Our Community Indicators project under the Natural Disaster Resilience 

Program. 

- Consumer Advocacy Panel projects focused on our Energy Advocacy work. 

4 


Director’s report 

It was very sad to leave QCOSS at the end of June 2011 but I was really proud to 

look back on what had been an incredible year for the sector and for QCOSS. 

Our members did such a wonderful job during the floods and cyclone and they are 

still doing it in the aftermath. It will be a long road to recovery but I know they can 

do it. QCOSS was proud to work with the sector to identify local community needs 

immediately after the disasters and we advocated strongly for additional funding and 

a more effective recovery response. 

Although flood and cyclone recovery dominated the year there was more to be 

proud of in 2010-11. Our list of outcomes (left) attests to that. 

For me one of the year’s great achievements was being able to re-establish 

our regional presence through the creation of our homelessness planning and 

coordination team. While the floods forced us to postpone our regional engagement 

forums, we were fortunate to have our homelessness coordination workers spread 

across the state, working directly with the sector. 

Jill Lang - Director 

QCOSS effectiveness 2010-11 

Overall performance as a peak body 

During the year we did the groundwork to ensure QCOSS remains relevant and 

provides excellent advocacy for those experiencing poverty and disadvantage. 

A new management structure, financial stability and a new strategic plan all came 

together to hopefully give you greater clarity about the outcomes we seek to achieve 

and assurance that we will achieve them. 

At the advocacy level, the year was dominated by our advocacy for flood relief. And 

government now actively engages with QCOSS on this, as well as the multiplicity of 

issues faced by people experiencing poverty. We will continue to advocate for the 

great work that the community services sector does and can do in the future. Our 

views are highly sought by the media, and increasingly we are invited to community 

and business forums or briefings with politicians and senior bureaucrats. We are 

asked for our opinions and our proposals are influential. 

While it was sad for me to leave QCOSS, the Board has recruited a new Director Mark 

Henley. And of course there remain the excellent staff team and Board to back him up. I 

wish QCOSS members, staff and Board all the very best for the future. 

60% 

50% 

40% 

30% 

Jill Lang 

Director 

20% 

10% 

0% 

Very 

Effective 

Quite 

Effective 

Not 

Effective 

Don’t Know 

Not Sure 

QCOSS Member and Stakeholder Survey 2011 

5

Responding to a 

summer of disasters 

Floods throughout much of Queensland, followed by Cyclone Yasi, made this year 

one of the toughest on record for the state’s community service organisations, their 

clients and a number of other people who had not previously required support from 

service organisations. 

At QCOSS we were relatively lucky. Unlike many of our sector colleagues and 

thousands of businesses and homes in Queensland, our premises in Brisbane and 

Townsville escaped major flood damage. Our staff in Toowoomba, Hervey Bay and 

the Sunshine Coast were more severely affected. 

Exhausted and muddy, QCOSS staff Tanya Hall, 

Jody Tunnicliffe, Jill Lang and John Mikelsons after 

clearing valuable archives from the basement of 

our Brisbane office. 

A mother receives support at the Cyclone Yasi 

evacuation centre in Tully. 

Photo courtesy Jack Tran, Australian Red Cross. 

Once we were fully operational again there was an important role for QCOSS 

to play in the recovery. Immediate responses included establishing regional and 

government contacts, discussing with the Victorian Council of Social Service what 

had worked and what hadn’t during their response to the 2009 Victorian Bushfires, 

and producing four special editions of eNews containing information on government 

and other support available. 

We developed a Flood and Disaster Impact Response Plan to map out our role and 

guide us through the first hectic months of activity. Our first step was to research the 

impact of the disasters on community sector organisations and people experiencing 

poverty and inequality. Our staff visited 15 flood-affected regions and interviewed 36 

organisations to gather information so that our advocacy for systemic changes to 

disaster planning, relief and recovery reflected the voices of our members, and the 

sector generally. Finally there was support to our members and the sector around 

disaster management planning and relevant knowledge or skill gaps identified 

through our research. 

What we learnt through these first few weeks of the year was significant and timecritical. 

We developed an urgent supplementary submission to the Queensland 

Government’s budget process. This submission pushed for a re-prioritisation of 

resources and stressed the importance of long-term recovery plans to address 

societal as well as physical recovery needs – plans that would create fairer, more 

cohesive and resilient communities. 

Based on the Victorian Bushfire Case Management Service model we called 

for early intervention workers to support families and households. We called for 

community development workers for areas hardest hit. We called for a reduction of 

red tape to give community services organisations the flexibility they needed for their 

vital contribution to recovery. And we called for ongoing and additional funding to 

extend existing financial counselling services and provide additional services for the 

expected two years’ duration of the disaster recovery. 

6 


This St Vincent de Paul Society store in Bundaberg was one of many sector operations hit by the floods. 

Our research contributed to our submission to the Queensland Floods Commission 

of Inquiry, stressing the same issues and making more specific recommendations 

regarding community service workers, financial counsellors and mental health 

workers to deal with long-term issues in affected communities. We coordinated 

a flood inquiry response on behalf of the Community Action for a Multicultural 

Society network, reflecting the perspective of people from migrant and refugee 

backgrounds. 

We continued our advocacy on all of these issues after gaining representation 

on the Human and Social Recovery sub-committee, reporting to the Queensland 

Reconstruction Authority. New State and Federal Government funding included 

a community recovery and wellbeing package to support community recovery 

and build resilience and future disaster preparedness. This included $20 million 

for community development and recovery, $10 million for a mental health disaster 

recovery package and $5.8 million for financial counselling. 

A strong focus on disaster recovery was included in planning for the 2011 

QCOSS conference in Brisbane in August, with the theme Resilient Communities: 

Fairer Queensland. 

Najem Sujad and Sharif Omar from the Afghan 

Community Association set up a barbeque in a 

Brisbane park to feed flood volunteers. 

7

Policy advocacy highlights 

Campaigning for a fairer Queensland 

There are signs that our campaign for a Fair Queensland Plan is gaining traction and 

the government is listening to our messages and plans to take action. 

Several high level meetings were held with the Department of the Premier and 

Cabinet and the Premier was presented with the concept and an ‘example’ 

plan during a visit to the QCOSS office in August 2010. We also presented the 

department with examples of practice excellence and advocated at a high level to a 

range of other departments on the benefits of a Fair Queensland Plan. 

After discussing a Fair Queensland Plan with QCOSS 

management and Board, Queensland Premier Anna 

Bligh with QCOSS staff, from left: Lyndall Hulme, 

Jody Tunnicliffe, Sarah Coles, Robyn Spelman, Jill 

Lang, Garth Morgan (Queensland Aboriginal and 

Torres Strait Islander Human Services Coalition) and 

Linda Parmenter. 

We held a virtual launch of our call for a Fair Qld during Anti-Poverty Week, ahead of 

the launch of our submission to the Queensland state budget in November 2010. 

Our submission to the 2011-12 State Government budget process focused on 

key priority areas for funding a Fair Queensland. We brought Christine Davies, UK 

authority on early intervention, to Queensland for the budget submission launch 

where 70 people heard about her organisation’s work as an example of what might 

work well in Queensland (see also page 17). 

We delivered our annual budget breakfast to more than 200 people in June, hearing 

from the Treasurer and a number of key ministers. We distributed our budget 

analysis to all members. 

Following the floods and cyclones a supplementary budget submission was compiled 

to take into account the significantly altered financial position of the state and the 

urgent need to fund additional support services such as early intervention workers, 

community development workers and financial counsellors (see also page 6). 

A number of our policy papers were updated this year as we moved towards more 

targeted updating and release of this material in conjunction with related events and 

opportunities. 

Health reform’s big year 

Our health policy work this year has focused on identifing opportunities provided by 

national health reform to improve links between the health and community services 

sectors. 

To do this we: 

Lisa Toh from QCOSS addresses the Queensland 

Accessing Interpreters Working Group forum in 

Nambour as part of a strategy to involve community 

services and language service providers in 

addressing barriers to accessing interpreters. 

Photo courtesy Ethnic Community Council 

of Queensland. 

• Developed a communications strategy about health reform and opportunities 

to link with Medicare Locals and Local Health and Hospital Networks. 

• Held a forum to build relationships. 

• Made submissions to Queensland Health and the Federal Department of 

Health and Ageing in response to various health reform discussion papers. 

• Established and chaired the Community Health Services Network. 

• Strengthened our relationships with key partners and developed new 

relationships with emerging partners as part of the national reforms. 

• We expanded our health focus to include oral health and developed an 

oral health policy to focus on addressing the poor state of oral health in 

Queensland. 

8 



Developing well-articulated policy positions 

Coordinated action for a multicultural society 

We included regular information on improving access for migrants and refugees to 

services in various QCOSS newsletters and email updates and continued to chair 

the Queensland Accessing Interpreters Working Group, with a renewed membership 

and advocacy focus. The group held advocacy forums in Nambour and Brisbane 

and collected more than 40 case studies on experiences in accessing interpreters. 

We also made a strong contribution to the development of the Queensland 

Multicultural Policy as a member of the review working group. We supported the 

Community Action for a Multicultural Society network by coordinating its submission 

to the Floods Inquiry. 

Community indicators and resilience 

Community Indicators Queensland is an exciting partnership project between 

QCOSS, Griffith University and all levels of government that seeks to shift our 

measures of progress from economic to a more dynamic, community-based set of 

wellbeing indicators. During the year we continued to advocate for ongoing funding 

and a permanent home for the project. 


We secured new funding through the 2010 Natural Disaster Resilience Program for 

a project to develop ‘resilience profiles’ based on community indicators for three 

diverse communities – the Atherton Tablelands, Rockhampton and the Western 

Downs (with a focus on Chinchilla) – in the context of disaster recovery. 

Future outlook 

Representing disadvantage issues 

to government 

State-wide forums will be held from July to November 2011 to get member input for 

our policy work. 

We will develop an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Strategy in line 

with our Reconciliation Action Plan (see page 19). 

We will lead the development of strategies to improve connections between the 

health and community services sectors at all levels and advocate for health equity 

and access. 

We will work with the government and sector on implementing the government’s 

new multicultural and language services policies and continue to connect service 

organisations with resources to improve migrant and refugee access to services. 

We will finalise the Natural Disaster Resilience project including conducting focus 

groups at each pilot site, undertaking a community survey to gather data on the 

human and social elements of resilience, developing a website to make data 

available, revisiting pilot communities and producing a final report. 


9

Low income 

consumer advocacy 

Ensuring a basic standard of living 

A major piece of work this year was the QCOSS Cost of Living Report released in 

May 2011. This generated exceptional media coverage and widespread interest 

throughout the sector and within government. 

The report drew an immediate commitment from government to annual reporting of 

state-based concessions and subsidies. This will include estimates of the number of 

households eligible for concessions and the annual take-up rate. 

Electricity 

Speakers at the Cost of Living Report launch were 

QCOSS author Roger Church (left) with Chris Wilson 

and Joanne Merrigan of the Kyabra Community 

Association. 

We continued to raise awareness of rising electricity prices, the need for consumer 

assistance and the high disconnection rates for non-payment of electricity bills 

in Queensland. This led to the government undertaking research on causes and 

solutions. 

We influenced the government to focus on energy efficiency for low income 

households through the new Queensland Energy Management Plan and we 

contributed to improvements in the recently finalised national consumer protection 

framework for electricity and gas customers. 

Water 

We established relationships with new water entities, the Queensland Water 

Commission and other stakeholders, culminating in workshops in Brisbane and 

Ipswich. 

Our submission to draft water and waste-water codes influenced improvements 

to the codes and resulted in opportunities to work with the Queensland Water 

Commission on future improvements. 

Customer hardship 

We encouraged some water and energy retailers to improve their customer hardship 

practices and, through submissions to the Australian Competition and Consumer 

Commission, contributed to improvements in the self-regulation of door-to-door 

energy marketing. 

We attracted additional resources through the Consumer Advocacy Panel to buy 

expert advice and assistance with submissions to the Queensland Competition 

Authority on matters such as pricing and tariffs, and to undertake special research 

projects such as establishing indicators for retailer performance reporting of 

customer hardship. 

Working together 

Our advocacy on behalf of low income households was characterised by working 

with and advocating to government and private enterprise across a range of issues. 

We had input into the development of energy and water consumption protection 

regimes through submissions on legislation, guidelines, program development and 

reviews across a range of consumer issues. We worked with industry to hold an 

energy affordability forum in December 2010. We were represented on multiple 

committees and were part of regulatory/ombudsman schemes and Government/ 

Ministerial committees. 

10 


QCOSS President Karyn Walsh fields questions from the media following the release of the QCOSS Cost of Living Report. 

Generally 

Discretionary 

Extras 

The 

Essentials 

All things are not equal 

in the CPI basket 

Data for Brisbane for the last 5 years 

Flat or falling 

Clothing & footwear 

Household appliances 

Motor vehicles 

Audio, TVs, computers 

Rising fast 

Food 

Rent 

Electricity, gas, water 

Public transport 

Insurance 

% 

Change 

+4% 

+3% 

0% 

-52% 

% 

Change 

+23% 

+35% 

+63% 

+48% 

+40% 

Overal CPI Basket +19% (over 5 years) 


We will continue to advocate for a full review of Queensland’s concession 

framework. 

In a further three-year-funded project for energy advocacy we will continue to 

seek improvements in the consumer supports available for people who have 

difficulty meeting their energy needs and costs. We will work with the Office of 

Climate Change and Office of Clean Energy around energy efficiency and demandmanagement 

strategies that assist low income households. 

We will work with the Queensland Water Commission to further review the customer 

water and wastewater code. 

As part of a network of state-based consumer advocates, we will seek 

improvements in the national energy market and new national consumer framework 

and will identify opportunities for revenue from the carbon price to be directed to 

household and community sector support. 

Issues in the media 

The launch of the QCOSS Cost of Living Report in May 2011 generated 

considerable public interest in the plight of low income households. The report and 

the issues it raised were mentioned in more than 175 media items across all forms 

of media and received national coverage on ABC radio, Channel 10 and numerous 

regional radio stations. 

Coverage on the related issues of electricity pricing and disconnections, and rising 

water, food, rent and transport costs, featured heavily among the 516 media items 

recorded for QCOSS by Media Monitors for the year. With syndication and the web 

not recorded, this is an under-estimate of the actual media coverage. 

Our Anti-Poverty Statement and our Fair Qld online campaign released in October 2010 

as part of Anti-Poverty Week (see page 14) also generated considerable coverage. 

Our Regional Conference in Cairns (see page 15) received excellent coverage 

in local radio and print as well as in Indigenous print media, with six conference 

presenters being interviewed. This with other media coverage on our Reconciliation 

Action Plan, IPSU activities and the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 

Human Services Coalition’s Access All Areas campaign (see page 11) increased our 

presence in Indigenous media. 

11

Sector development 

Leading and advocating for the sector 

Following the summer of natural disasters we engaged with organisations across the 

state to ensure sector and community experiences and learnings were incorporated 

into our submission to the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry and a special 

supplementary budget submission to the Queensland Government (see page 6) 

QCOSS staff join a national pay equity rally in 

Brisbane on June 8, 2011. 

Photo courtesy Australian Services Union. 


Representing sector issues to government 


90,000 

80,000 

70,000 

60,000 

50,000 

40,000 

30,000 

20,000 

10,000 

Visitors to community door 

2008-09* 2009-10 2010-11 

*The figures for 2008-09 have been extrapolated from 

12,575 actual visits over the five months QCOSS was 

managing the website. 

We conducted a survey of the community sector’s experiences of contract 

management and a report was submitted to the Department of Communities to 

inform their internal review of these processes. We participated in consultation on 

the One Funding System for Better Services Bill, a significant reform impacting 

on the funding relationship between the sector and all government departments. 

We were successful in ensuring the principles of the Queensland Compact were 

subsequently embedded in the principles of the Bill. 

Supporting the sector and building capacity 

Usage of the Community Door website continued to grow, with an 89 per cent 

increase in visitors to the site. The new Network Spaces social networking platform 

drew more than 800 users, allowing networks in the sector to store documents, 

calendars, photo galleries and provide information about and discuss issues 

affecting them. 

Through a literature review the Local, Diverse, Strong project examined the 

relationship between organisational size and outcomes for clients and the 

community. The review informs ongoing work on sustainability and organisational 

effectiveness. 

In partnership with the Australian Council of Social Service we continued to 

advocate for equal pay at the national level and for funding to match. 

QCOSS self-funded the development and testing of an easy-to-use unit costing tool 

to support organisations in the transition to output-based service agreements. 

The tool was completed and due for launch in September 2011. It gives powerful 

information about an organisation and the cost of its services that is essential for 

negotiating service agreements. 

Through ongoing support to the Community Services Futures Forum we helped 

the sector consider state-wide strategic issues and respond to them collaboratively 

and proactively. Likewise, support was provided to sector representatives of the 

Compact Governance Committee. 

Regional networks were supported on an ongoing basis to build capacity to 

respond to client and community needs. 


Thanks to our unit costing tool we will be able to support organisations to more 

confidently negotiate output-based service agreements and to measure and 

understand the full cost of service delivery. We will also support the measurement of 

compliance and use this data to advocate for systemic changes that reduce red tape. 

We will maintain our focus on measuring social impacts and client outcomes and 

support the sector in examining and understanding how it can work better to meet 

client and community needs. 

We will increase the use of Community Door as a tool to enhance collaborative 

practice and increase user-generated content. 

12 


Members of the QCOSS Homelessness Planning and Coordination Unit come together with government and other stakeholders at a meeting in Brisbane 

in October 2010. 

Working respectfully 

together on homelessness 

Thinking outside the box – looking at how to do things differently within existing 

resources – was a recurring theme for the QCOSS Homelessness Planning and 

Coordination unit as it worked in seven Queensland regions to develop action 

plans to reduce homelessness. 

In a great example of how to engage in ‘hard to engage’ spaces, the project 

brought together people from vastly different backgrounds to work respectfully for 

a common outcome. 

Regional homelessness planning forums were held in the seven regions of 

Brisbane, Caboolture (including Morayfield and Deception Bay), Cairns, Hervey 

Bay, Gold Coast, Mt Isa and Toowoomba. Local cross-sectoral governance groups 

were established to help shape the development of the plan for each region and 

oversee its implementation in coming years. 

Hundreds of people attended the forums, contributing ideas and input to local 

plans. The Brisbane consultation alone resulted in more than 600 inputs including 

more than 100 from service users. 

The process, working in close partnership with the government, brought 

together and engaged new stakeholders, including community services outside 

homelessness and housing, the private sector and broader community. 

Many common themes emerged from the plans, including the need for better service 

system coordination; early intervention to maintain tenancies; support for children 

and families to help break the cycle of homelessness; opportunities for education 

and employment; and the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

Despite the negative impact of the floods that swept Queensland at a critical time 

during the project, draft plans were produced on time. They are due for finalisation 

during October 2011, with implementation to begin immediately and continue 

through until 2013. 

13

Communications and 

member engagement 

Supporting our members 

The QCOSS vision was supported by 642 members during the year. 

We focused on delivering timely, high-quality information through our weekly eNews 

and our quarterly member magazine FQ. 

To further improve member access to information we revised and re-launched the 

QCOSS website in June 2011. The website now gives us greater capacity to be 

interactive with members – using social media and newsfeeds. Over 86 per cent of 

respondents to our satisfaction survey accessed the website during the year. 

Getting our message across 

At our annual budget breakfast were the 

Director-General of the Department of the Premier 

and Cabinet John Bradley with Minister for 

Community Services and Housing and Minister for 

Women Karen Struthers, QCOSS President Karyn 

Walsh and Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser. 

19% 

Members’ fees ($201,278) 

were invested in: 

3% 

6% 

6% 

66% 

Policy advocacy (66%) 

Leadership governance & management (6%) 

Combined voices campaign (3%) 

Sector development (6%) 

Community and member engagement (19%) 

Our ‘end poverty’ messages were communicated through an increasing number of 

channels – events, social media, launches and video – and we generated significant 

interest in the mainstream media. 

In July and August 2010 we focused on regional awareness and action around poverty 

and disadvantage, with our Cairns regional conference receiving excellent coverage in 

local radio and print as well as in Indigenous print media. (see also page 11). 

In September and October we participated in the organising committee for Anti- 

Poverty Week and developed our annual poverty statement. The media coverage 

achieved exceeded previous years and also exceeded the coverage achieved by all 

other states. 

In November we launched our Pre-Budget Submission at Parliament House where 

we screened our Fair Qld video and showcased international early intervention 

expert Christine Davies. QCOSS members were able to network and directly 

advocate with several government and opposition MPs and numerous policy 

advisers (see also page 8). 

To support our submission, we stepped up our long-standing campaign for a 

Fair Qld with community interviews asking what Queenslanders thought a fair 

Queensland would look like. The resultant Fair Qld video was uploaded onto 

YouTube and received 300 views. Our FaceBook and Twitter presence increased 

awareness in the broader community. 

December through to February focused on disaster-recovery communication 

through QCOSS eNews. Our special edition of FQ Magazine incorporated an extra 

four pages of recovery stories and lessons from the Victorian bushfires. This edition 

also reflected the voices and stories of 18 community organisations across 25 

different regional locations. 

Across March, April and May we developed and launched the QCOSS Cost of 

Living: Ensuring low income households a basic standard of living report resulting in 

our largest media coverage on a single product (see also page 10). 

In June the Queensland Treasurer and three government ministers spoke at the 

QCOSS annual budget breakfast held in conjunction with our sector partners. This 

year more than 200 people attended the breakfast. They all benefited from receiving 

QCOSS’s analysis of the state budget that highlighted areas of interest for the sector 

and for people experiencing poverty. 

14 


Dianne Roberts OAM, a keynote speaker at the IPSU conference. 

A conference to remember 

The combined QCOSS Regional Conference and Indigenous Professional Support 

Unit (IPSU) Conference in Cairns during August 2010 was an enormous success, 

drawing 329 presenters and delegates to the three-day event. 

More than three quarters of the evaluations received rated both the keynote and 

workshop sessions as good or very good, while a similar number of respondents 

declared themselves highly satisfied with the quality of the conference in terms of 

value for money and meeting their expectations. 

Key speakers at the QCOSS section of the conference 

were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social 

Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda, QCOSS President 

Karyn Walsh and ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie. 

Monty Boori Pryor tells his story at the IPSU 

Conference. 

The theme for the first day Building a Better Future focused on improving service 

delivery for regional and remote communities and drew speakers of the calibre of 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda and the 

Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Council of Social Service Cassandra Goldie. 

Mick outlined how the principle of equality lies at the heart of access to services 

and how service providers carry a lot of the responsibility to enable all Australians to 

realise the full potential of their lives. Cassandra emphasised these messages with 

examples from the Northern Territory Intervention showing the damage caused by 

blanket approaches and lip-service consultation. 

Margaret Hornagold, CEO of the Darumbal Community Youth Service and Garth 

Morgan, Executive Director of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 

Human Services Coalition then took the discussion to the practical level of building 

relationships to help deliver services. 

Days Two and Three were the IPSU Conference Strong Communities – Deadly 

Future and saw the interactivity cranked up a notch with inspirational speakers 

such as Aunty Diane Roberts OAM, Marcus Pedro, Monty “Boori” Pryor, John 

Bradley and Maggie Dent. 

The workshops too were highly interactive and treated delegates to profound 

cultural perspectives with an emphasis on the importance of the early years in 

life. Speakers shared their journeys, discoveries, triumphs and tribulations and 

challenged delegates’ thoughts on how they work and how they connect with 

people throughout Queensland. 

15

Growing stronger 

children’s services 

In 2010-11 the QCOSS Indigenous Professional Support Unit strengthened 

connections with communities, developed new resources and implemented new 

approaches to professional development as part of its work to support Aboriginal 

and Torres Strait Islander children’s services across Queensland. 

Despite flood and cyclone disruptions, IPSU provided 790 professional development 

opportunities for its 77 eligible services, 512 of these delivered in remote or very 

remote areas. 

The Yarning Circles framework became an important tool for professional 

development around the new national Early Years Learning Framework, with 

sessions held in Bamaga (2), Cairns (2), Woorabinda and Brisbane. 

Children and staff at the Kutjala preschool, playgroup 

and kindergarten in Charters Towers, from left Holly, 

Archie, Erica, Tye, James, Tanesha, Chanel, Mahava 

and Telsten. 

Child care worker Loyla Mark from New Mapoon 

at work in Bamaga. 

Child care workers at a professional development 

day at Umagico in the Bamaga region. 

Regional forums were developed according to identified local needs and broad 

sector changes. Attendance at Townsville was affected by floods and the 

Woorabinda forum had to be cancelled, but forums in Bamaga drew 65 participants 

from services across the Northern Peninsula and Torres Strait Island communities. 

The Mt Isa forum was attended by 33 people. 

Our first Management Celebration Forum in Cairns focused on governance aspects 

of children’s services’ sponsor bodies and was aimed at enhancing and extending 

the capacity and expertise of boards and management committees. It was attended 

by 32 people including 20 representing 13 children’s services. 

We trialled an extended remote community service visit on Horn Island, providing 

role modelling for staff over a one-week period and continued our Building Strengths 

Program in which we assisted staff from two services in the Bamaga region to visit 

centres in Cairns for a week. 

Other special events included a Thursday Island Professional Development Day 

for 20 educators at which Macquarie University’s Sandra Cheeseman presented 

an introduction to the Early Years Learning Framework using the Yarning Circles 

approach. 

Macquarie University continued to use our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 

child care resource book Our Place Our Dreaming as a second year text and we 

continued to make a range of cultural activities and games developed by the IPSU 

team available to support educators in our allocated services and as resources for 

mainstream services. 

Our self-publishing workshops provided an opportunity for 127 people to learn 

strategies for creating books with children, families and communities. They were 

held at the IPSU Conference in Cairns, at Kowanyama and at the Secretariat of 

National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Conference in Alice Springs. 

IPSU continued to build strong relationships with other organisations and with the 

Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations through regular 

contact, conference attendance and working together on numerous projects. 

The year saw a number of staff changes, including the appointment of Roslyn Von 

Senden as the new manager. Roslyn is from the Kalkadoon tribe and was born in 

Mount Isa. 

Priorities for 2011-12 include extending the Building Strengths Program, working 

on the National Quality Standards and becoming part of the newly-formed national 

IPSU alliance. 

16 


Christine Davies (right) at the budget submission launch with Minister for Child Safety Phil Reeves and QCOSS President Karyn Walsh. 

Early intervention 

Where child protection must begin 

Expert advice 

Christine Davies illustrates a point during one of her 

Brisbane seminars. 

QCOSS flew in UK child development and children’s services expert Christine Davies 

for the launch of our submission to the Queensland Government budget process in 

November 2010. 

The Executive Officer for the UK Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and 

Young People’s Services (C4EO) brought a strong message on the importance of early 

intervention to the people at the launch, many of them government decision-makers. 

Bringing together the most recent international research and her own experience, her 

message was strong and simple: that it is no longer a case of whether we should invest 

in early intervention but how best to do so. She urged governments to recognise that 

true early intervention occurs before children have been notified to child protection and 

not to cut back on early intervention in times of austerity. 

While in Brisbane, Christine also delivered government executive masterclasses to 14 

people, spoke to 58 at a seminar showcasing best practice, helped 13 more at a data 

and performance workshop and addressed nine academics at a special breakfast. 

Combined Voices for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children 

and families 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are almost eight times more likely than 

non-Indigenous children to be removed from their home. The figure increases every year. 

QCOSS continued its strong commitment to the Combined Voices campaign, alongside 

the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak, the 

Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Human Services Coalition, PeakCare, 

and CREATE Foundation. 

The campaign was launched in August 2009 and immediately resulted in the Child 

Safety Minister establishing a taskforce. Twelve months later, intensive work by the 

sector and government had resulted in Together Keeping Our Children Safe and Well: 

the Comprehensive Plan to Reduce Overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait 

Islander Children in the Child Protection System. QCOSS has worked closely with 

other peaks to present a joint community sector position on the plan’s implementation. 

We were also involved in the Child Protection Partnership Forum raising the need to 

consider family support outside the secondary and tertiary intervention framework. 

17

Coalition ensuring 

Indigenous access 

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Human Services Coalition launched a 

major initiative in 2011 to break down the barriers that prevent many Indigenous 

Australians accessing human services such as health, housing, education and 

employment, legal services and early childhood development services. 

Access All Areas was launched on April 12 with a goal to increase awareness 

of services, alter community perceptions and work with service providers to 

ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are treated appropriately and 

with respect when they use the services. Eight ambassadors were appointed to 

represent the campaign and they attended four community events between May 

and June. Work also began on ‘Kooka Books’ – online and printed directories of 

services. 

Senator Mark Furner (second from right) and Coalition 

Executive Director Garth Morgan with Access All 

Areas ambassadors Jody Currie, Roberta Monoghan 

and Karen Dorante. 

The Access All Areas website began, as did plans for Facebook, Twitter and 

LinkedIn accounts and digital and physical art competitions to raise awareness. 

In 2011-12 the project will extend from its South East Queensland beginnings to 

include Townsville, Cairns and Mt Isa. 

In a related project the Coalition is working with UnitingCare Community 

(Queensland) on the issue of culturally appropriate service delivery for its Aboriginal 

and Torres Strait Islander staff and clients. While the Coalition believes communitycontrolled 

services are usually best placed to provide services to Indigenous people, 

it recognises the universal services system has a key role in closing the gap. 

The Coalition is hoping to embed the experiences of the UnitingCare Community 

project in a change management framework that could be applied to other settings. 

Better pathways out of homelessness 

In the Brisbane suburbs of West End, South Brisbane and Fortitude Valley, the 

Coalition mapped client pathways to community services for Aboriginal and Torres 

Strait Islander peoples experiencing homelessness. The insights, patterns of service 

utilisation and gaps found will inform the Inner Brisbane City Project, which will 

develop and implement a service delivery model to better address the needs of 

homeless people and those in danger of becoming homeless. It will integrate a 

range of services from housing, health, justice and substance misuse to enable 

service providers to jointly manage and assess interventions for clients. 

Local disaster networks 

In response to the summer of disasters the Coalition began establishing a 

local disaster response network of coordinators to act as points of contact to 

improve information flows among Indigenous peak bodies, service providers and 

governments in the event of disasters. 

Contribution to policy 

The Coalition continued to contribute to federal and state policy on Indigenous 

service delivery through position papers and consultations and it is strategically 

positioned to influence policy through representation on committees. 

18 


Artwork for our Reconciliation Action Plan by Luke Mallie 

Our vision for 

reconciliation is an end 

to poverty and inequality 

among Aboriginal and 

Torres Strait Islander peoples, 

achieved through respect, 

understanding and working 

together with a common 

purpose. We stand for a fair, 

inclusive and sustainable 

Queensland and 

self-determination for 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait 

Islander peoples. 

Auntie Virginia Wyles at the RAP launch in Townsville. 

Committing to reconciliation 

QCOSS’s vision for reconciliation was cemented in April 2011 with the launch of our 

Reconciliation Action Plan by the Board at a special meeting in Townsville. 

Our RAP explicitly embeds in QCOSS many of the practices that have existed in the 

organisation for some time. It backs up our vision for reconciliation with planning, 

measurable targets and reporting – and above all it makes reconciliation part of our 

everyday agenda. 

The three-year plan was developed in consultation with key Aboriginal and Torres 

Strait Islander stakeholders and staff, in line with our strategic plan and aligned with 

our planning cycle. It will be refreshed annually alongside our operational plan. 

Key partners to successful implementation are the Queensland Aboriginal and 

Torres Strait Islander Human Services Coalition, the Combined Voices campaign 

and community-controlled organisations in Queensland. With their help, work 

has already begun on developing a new model for consultation with stakeholder 

organisations and communities. 

The plan contains key targets around staffing, engagement and cultural awareness. 


Work during 2011-12 will include: 

• Building on lessons from the Homelessness Planning and Coordination 

Initiative and establishing meaningful relationships with a long-term focus on 

addressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander homelessness in each of the 

seven regions covered by the initiative. 

• Identifying and using government consultation processes on reform to 

advocate for the important, legitimate and on-going role of communitycontrolled 

organisations in the service system. 

• Working on relationships with Indigenous media and continuing to distribute all 

media releases to these outlets. 

• Increasing involvement of the 21 per cent of our staff who identify as 

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in planning and implementing projects 

outside their usual team. 

• Ensuring 90 per cent of our staff attend cultural awareness training annually. 

• Embeding RAP implementation responsibilities in all staff performance plans 

and appraisals. Our managers will report on progress to each Board meeting. 

The RAP will be included in our Quality Management System and audited 

annually for compliance. 

• Developing a membership brochure appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres 

Strait Islander organisations. 

19

Leadership, governance 

and management 

Governance and quality management were high on the agenda during 2010-11 with 

the development of the new 2011-13 Strategic Plan, a quality management system 

and the launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan. 

During the year we increased our income to $4,904,760 and achieved a surplus of 

$31,297, increasing our equity to $1,014,420. Our auditors gave us an unqualified audit. 

We gained new Commonwealth funding for a range of projects for the Aboriginal 

and Torres Strait Islander Human Services Coalition, new funding for our low 

income consumer advocacy work and new funding for the resilience project we are 

undertaking in conjunction with Griffith University. 

Improved technology included a replacement telephone system, the roll-out of new 

PCs in our Townsville office, the development and launch of a fresh-look website as 

well as an intranet and an IT helpdesk system. 

Lacreicha Major and Kate Lowah-Bond undertook 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traineeships 

with QCOSS during 2010-11. 

IT experts Leonard O’Sullivan and Dietmar Frick in the 

QCOSS server room. 

We invested a record $42,400 in staff training and development, with all staff 

undertaking some development activities and 13 per cent undertaking a traineeship 

or supported university study. 

We had two identified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traineeships and three 

other traineeships. 

There were no industrial disputes. 

Our staff numbers rose by 24 per cent during the year. We now have a record 52 

employees working in Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Ravenshoe, Mt Isa, Wide Bay, 

the Gold Coast, Toowoomba and Caboolture. 

We developed a new policy to support staff experiencing domestic and family 

violence and implemented a new capability framework. 

We continued to implement the 2009 Queensland Industrial Relations Commission 

Pay Equity Decision, rectifying the historic, gender-based undervaluation of the work 

of community sector workers. 

There were no workplace injuries resulting in compensation, a new workplace health 

and safety officer was appointed and workplace health and safety representatives 

were elected for Brisbane and regional workers. Comprehensive occupational health 

and safety audits were conducted in our Brisbane and Townsville offices. 

The staff survey revealed 87 per cent of staff understand QCOSS goals and how we 

are seeking to achieve them (up 9 per cent), 97 per cent of staff are interested and 

involved in our work (up 8 per cent), 78 per cent have clear priorities and a program 

of work (up 9 per cent) and 95 per cent of staff have a performance plan in place 

(up 23 per cent). 

20 


The management team from left: Jody Tunnicliffe, John Mikelsons, Jill Lang, Sarah Coles and Jenny Whitworth. 


In the coming year we look forward to accreditation of our quality management 

system to ISO 9001 and the roll-out of new customer relationship management and 

human resource information systems. 

We will develop business continuity plans for future natural disasters and undertake 

a coordinated review of suppliers to ensure we are getting value for money. 

A new human resources information system will be rolled out and our Certified 

Agreement will be renegotiated early in 2012. 

Gail Hanger and Andrea Porter map out their 

vision for a positive future for QCOSS at the annual 

planning day. 

Anne Curson and Kim Adams put their views forward 

at the annual planning day. 

21

Governance 

committee report 

This has been another busy year for the leadership, governance and management 

of QCOSS. I am proud of the efforts of the Governance Committee, the Board 

and the entire QCOSS team to make us a well managed, effectively governed 

organisation, and am pleased to report on our progress. 

During the year we undertook a search and selection process for our new Director, 

Mark Henley. The appointment of a Director is one of the most important tasks that 

the Board undertakes, and one that we took seriously. The process involved an 

international search, working closely with a consultant, and a selection process led 

by the Executive and ultimately involving all Board members in the decision. I am 

proud of both the fair and transparent process we undertook, and the result, and 

look forward to working closely with Mark to ensure we remain a well-managed and 

effectively governed organisation. 

Kristine Van - Secretary and Governance 

Committee Chair 

The QCOSS Board 

Back: Peter Emery, Geoff Rowe, Louis de Beer 

and Mark Tucker-Evans 

Middle: Margaret Hornagold, Jane Felton, 

Cath Bartolo, Helga Biro and Ken Morris 

Front: Louise Judge, Karyn Walsh, Kristine Van, 

Belinda Drew and Leeanne Enoch. 

Absent were: Geoff Walters and Elizabeth Fritz 

The QCOSS vision for reconciliation is “… an end to poverty and inequality 

among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, achieved through respect, 

understanding and working together with a common purpose”. This year, we 

shaped this vision into a Reconciliation Action Plan, developed in partnership with 

the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Human Services Coalition and 

Reconciliation Australia. This document is an important governance tool that will 

help guide our efforts to build respect, develop relationships and find opportunities 

to make our shared vision a reality. I look forward to seeing some real and tangible 

outcomes. 

There is a lot on the agenda for the Governance Committee in the year ahead. We 

plan to review the numbers and composition of the Board, the Constitution and 

the Board Charter. We plan on achieving accreditation of our Quality Management 

System to ISO9001 after more than a year bringing it in line with the standard. We 

also plan to continue our process of Board succession planning, developing our 

skills and knowledge, and building our capacity to lead QCOSS into the future. 

It’s a big agenda, and one I am confident we can achieve. 

Every year we survey Board members to gauge perceptions of skills, effectiveness, 

control, performance and other indicators. I am completely unsurprised that QCOSS 

Board members overwhelmingly report that they are well supported, appropriately 

skilled, engaged and contributing to the success of the organisation. I would like 

to reflect on how pleased I am at the high quality support provided by the Director, 

senior managers and the organisational services team to our processes and decision 

making. Over time we have developed an extraordinarily mature relationship between 

the Board and staff, based on understanding of responsibilities, robust and respectful 

interaction and shared commitment to the important work and success of QCOSS. 

I would like to record my personal thanks to all Board, management and staff for their 

work over the past year and I look forward to working closely with them next year. 

Kristine Van 

Secretary & Governance Committee Chair 

22 


Treasurer’s report 

I hereby present the Independent Auditor’s Report for the financial year ending 

June 30, 2011. 

Commencing this year for a three-year period, the Board decided that QCOSS 

would invest some of the reasonably large surplus it had accrued to ensure that 

we had the right staffing and management structure in place to properly pursue 

the purposes of QCOSS – advocating for and with Queenslanders affected by 

poverty and inequality, and leading on issues of significance to the social, health 

and community sectors state-wide. For the 2010-11 year we budgeted for a small 

deficit, but due to prudent financial management, revenue growth of approximately 

18 per cent, a focus on cost control and effective investment of surplus cash, 

a surplus was recorded of $31,297. This means that our equity has grown to 

$1,014,420 and the investment of previous years’ surpluses was not required. 

This year we have again reduced many of our administrative costs, and this focus 

on cost control has allowed us to continue to work on investing our resources in the 

things that matter – our advocacy on behalf of Queenslanders experiencing poverty 

and inequality and the sector that supports them. In the forthcoming and future 

years we will need to continue this vigilance as additional cost pressures weigh on 

our budget, to ensure we remain in a sustainable financial position into the future. 

Louis de Beer - Treasurer 

19% 

Expenditure by strategic 

outcome area 

8% 

6% 

52% 

The impact of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission Pay Equity decision 

continues to impact on our operations. QCOSS is proud to have championed 

this important change for our sector, and our capacity to recruit and retain skilled 

and effective staff is stronger than ever. We know that the decision was good for 

workers, for the community sector and for women. That said, our organisation 

has received no supplementary funding from the Queensland or Commonwealth 

Governments to meet these additional costs and our wages costs are growing 

significantly faster than growth in our staff numbers or revenue. We are, however, 

managing these additional cost pressures and have used a range of financial 

and workforce strategies to ensure that we are continuing to meet our strategic 

objectives, including our aim to be a strong, sustainable organisation that is an 

employer of choice and has an effective and committed Board and workforce. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing Director Jill Lang and 

her staff for their effective support to me, the Finance Committee and the Board in 

managing the financial and other resources of the organisation. Aside from being a 

powerful advocate, Jill has been an effective leader and prudent manager, and I wish 

her all the best in her future endeavors. I look forward to working with our new Director 

Mark Henley to maintain the strong financial position we have built over many years. 

15% 

Louis de Beer 

Sector development (52%) 

Community and member engagement (6%) 

QATSIHS Coalition (8%) 

Leadership, governance and 

management (19%) 

Policy advocacy (15%) 

Treasurer 

23

Financial Reports 

24 


26 


28 


30 


32 


34 


36 


38 


40 


42 


44 


Members 

Membership of QCOSS is open to all interested organisations and individuals 

who support the aims of the organisation. Members contribute directly to our 

ability to advocate on social policy issues. They are our first point of contact with 

the concerns and issues affecting disadvantaged and marginalised people in our 

community. 

The following represents a list of all current financial members of the organisation. 

Honorary life members 

Rev Colin Arkell 

Vera Raymer 

Dr Margaret Steinberg 

Organisational members 

139 Club 

4 Walls Ltd 

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Service QLD South 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Womens Legal Advocacy 

Abused Child Trust 

Acacia Ridge Community Support (Community Dev. Program) 

Access Inc. (Woodridge) 

Access Recreation 

ADRA Services South Queensland 

Aged Care Queensland 

Amparo Advocacy 

Anglicare CQ 

Anglicare NQ Ltd 

ARAFMI Queensland - Association Relatives and Friends 

Asperger’s Syndrome Support Network Queensland 

Assert Services Incorporated 

Aunties & Uncles Queensland Lions Club 

Australian Association of Social Workers (Qld) 

Australian Community Services Employers Assoication 

Australian Institute of Welfare and Community Workers 

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union 

Australian Pensioners’ & Superannuants’ League 

Australian Red Cross 

Australian Services Union (ASU) 

AWARE Dogs QLD 

Bahloo Womens Youth Shelter Assoc. 

Barcaldine Shire Council (Rural Family Support) 

Bay Islands Community Services 

Bayside Adolescent Boarding 

Bayside Initiatives Group 

Bayside Respite Care Association 

Beaudesert Shire Health and Welfare Assoc. 

Beenleigh Adult and Youth Service 

Beenleigh District Community Development Association 

Benarrawa Community Development Association 

Better Centenary Village Alliance 

Blackall Community Services 

Blair Athol Accommodation & Support Programme 

Blue Care South West Queensland 

Bohlevale District Community Centre 

Booval Community Service 

46 


Bowen Neighbourhood Centre 

Boystown 

Bravehearts 

Bravo Disability Support Network 

Bribie Island & District Neighbourhood Centre 

Bric Housing 

Brisbane City Council - Community Development Services 

Brisbane Rape & Incest Survivors Support Centre 

Brisbane Youth Service 

Bundaberg & District Neighbourhood Centre 

Burdekin Community Association 

Burdekin Flexible Support Service 

Burdekin Neighbourhood Centre 

Caboolture Family Haven 

Caboolture Kilcoy Bribie Area Mental Health Support Service 

Caboolture Neighbourhood Centre 

Caboolture Regional Domestic Violence Service 

Cairns & District Child Care Development Association 

Cairns Community Legal Centre 

Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service 

Caloundra Community Centre 

Cape York / Gulf RAATSICC Advisory Association 

Capella Tieri Middlemount Community Support Network 

Capricorn Community Development Association 

Capricornia Respite Care Assoc 

Career Keys 

Carers Queensland 

Carina Youth Agency 

Catholic Justice & Peace Commission 

Catholic Prison Ministry 

Caxton Legal Centre 

Centacare (Community Support Services) 

Centacare (Cairns) 

Centacare (Mt Isa) 

Centacare (Townsville) 

Centacare Catholic Family and Community Services 

Centacare Disability Services 

Centacare Sunshine Coast 

Centacare Toowoomba 

Central Queensland Regional Tenants Group 

Centre Against Sexual Violence 

Centre for Social Response 

Cerebral Palsy League 

Chameleon Regional Community Housing 

Charleville & District Community Support Association 

Charters Towers Neighbourhood Centre 

Children By Choice 

Chisholm 

Choice Support Service 

Churches of Christ 

Civic Solutions 

Coast2Bay Housing Company 

Collinsville Community Association 

Common Ground Queensland 

Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centres 

Communify Qld 

Community Access & Transition Services 

Community Accommodation and Support Agency 

Community Action In Carole Park 

Community Cathay Association Brisbane 

Community Centres and Family Support Networks Assoc of QLD 

Community Connect Fraser Coast 

Community Development Office (Burleigh Heads) 

Community Development Services (Stanthorpe) 

Community Focus Association 

Community Living Association 

Community Rent Scheme Association Townsville 

Community Resource Unit 

Community Services Tablelands 

Community Support Centre (Innisfail) 

Conflict Solvers 

Connections 

Cooktown District Community Centre 

Cooloola Community Housing Assoc 

Cooloola Family & Community Development Committee 

Cooloola Youth Service 

Cooroy Family Services 

Council On The Ageing Queensland 

Credit Commericial and Consumer Law Program 

Crestmead Community Association 

Cystic Fibrosis Queensland Ltd 

Dalby Crisis Support Assoc. 

Darumbal Community Youth Service 

Deaf Services Queensland 

Deception Bay Neighbourhood Centre 

Dental & Oral Health Therapist Association of Queensland 

Domestic Violence Prevention Centre Inc (Gold Coast) 

Domestic Violence Resource Centre 

Domestic Violence Resource Service (Mackay & Regions) 

Douglas Shire Community Services Association 

Drug Arm Australasia 

Dysart Community Centre & Support Group 

Eacham Community Help Organisation 

Early Childhood Australia (Queensland Branch) 

East Brisbane Community Centre 

East Creek Neighbourhood Centre 

Eating Disorders Assoc. 

Edon Place Women’s Domestic Violence Service 

Emerald & District Social Development Association 

Encompass Family and Community Pty Ltd 

Enoggera Respite Centre 

Epic Employment Service 

Epilepsy Queensland 

Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland 

Family Day Care Association of Queensland 

Family Planning Queensland 

Far North Queensland Regional Tenants Advisory Group 

FEAT INC. Supported Accomodation (Townsville) 

Financial Counsellors Association Qld 

FNQ Independent Living Support Assoc 

Focal Extended 

Foodbank Queensland Ltd 

Footprints In Brisbane 

Foresters Community Finance 

47

Fraser Coast Housing Service - Coolooli Mens Shelter 

Fraser Coast Housing Service 

Fraser Coast Regional Council 

Freedom 

FSG Australia 

Gailes Community House 

Gateway Community Group 

General Practice Queensland Limited 

George Street Neighbourhood Centre 

Girls Time Out - Young Womens Support Service 

Gold Coast Drug Council 

Gold Coast Housing Company 

Gold Coast Institute of Tafe Childrens Centre 

Gold Coast ISA 

Gold Coast Project for Homeless Youth 

Graham House Community Centre 

Granite Belt Support Services 

Grantson Street Local Tenant Group 

Greek Orthodox Community of St George (Brisbane) 

Griffith University (School Of Human Services Logan Campus) 

Gundoo Day Care 

Gurriny Yealamucka Health Services 

Gympie & District Women’s Health 

Gympie Community Place 

Harlaxton Neighbourhood Centre 

HEAL building, Milpera SHS 

Health and Community Services Workforce Council 

Hinterland Community Development Association of Caloundra 

Home Support Association 

Homelife Association 

Homes West Association 

Immigrant Womens Support Service (IWSS) 

Inala Community House 

Inala Family Accommodation and Support Service Inc. 

Inala Wangarra 

Inala Youth Service 

Inclusion Works 

Independent Advocacy Townsville 

Ingham Family Centre (Early Learning Centre) 

Inner Northern Community Housing 

Innisfail Youth & Family Care 

Integrated Family and Youth Service - Maroochydore 

Ipswich Community Youth Service 

Ipswich Independent Youth Service 

Ipswich Regional Advocacy Service 

Ipswich Regional Tenants Group 

Ipswich Women’s Centre Against Domestic Violence 

Ipswich Women’s Shelter 

Istar Networks (Brisbane) 

Jabiru Community Youth and Children’s Services Assoc 

Jimboomba Community Care Association 

Kalwun AICCA 

Karakan Hostels 

Keystone 

Kingfisher Adult Learning Programs 

Kingston East Neighbourhood Group 

Koongoora 

Kyabra Community Association 

Laidley Crisis Care & Accommodation 

Laidley Shire Community Care Centre 

LANDS Community Services 

L’Arche Brisbane 

Life is More 

Lifelong Learning Council Qld 

Lighthouse resources 

Link In Association Sunshine Coast 

Link Up (QLD) Aboriginal Corperation 

Lions Emergency Accommodation Centre 

Logan East Community Neighbourhood Assoc. 

Logan Women’s Health & Wellbeing Centre 

Lowanna House 

Lymphoedema Association Of Queensland 

Lyons House 

Mackay & District Respite Care Assn. 

Mackay Advocacy Inc 

Mackay Community Visitors Association 

Mackay Regional Tenant Group 

Mackay Womens Centre Inc 

Mackay Youth Support Program 

Macleod Accommodation Support Service 

Mamre 

Mangrove Housing Association 

Maranoa & Regional Support Services 

Mareeba Information & Support Centre 

Mareeba Shire Job Training Assoc Inc 

Marlin Coast Neighbourhood Centre 

Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre 

Maybanke Association 

Mental Health Association (QLD) 

Mental Illness Fellowship of Qld 

Mercy Disability Services 

Mercy Family Services 

Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE Mansfield (Library) 

Micah Projects 

Mission Australia 

Mission Australia (Roma House ) 

Mobile Attendant Care 

Monto Community Development Council 

Mookai Rosie Bi-Bayan 

Moranbah & District Support Services Association 

Mount Isa Community Development Assoc. 

Mount Isa Family Support & Neighbourhood Centre 

Mt Gravatt Community Centre 

Multicultural Centre for Mental Health and Well-Being 

Multicultural Communities Council (Gold Coast) 

Multicultural Development Association 

Multilink Community Services 

Multiple Sclerosis Society of Queensland 

Mundubbera Community Development Association 

Murilla Community Centre 

48 


Murrie Watch A.T.S.I Corp 

Nambour Community Centre 

Namtec 

Neighbourhood Centre Maryborough 

Nerang Neighbourhood Centre 

New Farm Neighbourhood Centre 

Nextt Health 

Ngurri Ngurri Shelter 

North East Community Support Group 

North Queensland Combined Women’s Service 

North Queensland Community Services 

North Queensland Domestic Violence Resource Service 

North Queensland Womens Legal Service 

Northwest Youth Accomodation Service 

NPA Family and Community Services ATSI Corp 

Nundah Community Support Group 

Oasis Peer Support Group 

Older Womens Network Queensland 

Open Doors Youth Service 

Open Minds 

Othila’s Young Women’s Housing and Support Service 

Out There Kowanyama 

Ozcare 

Ozhelp Queensland Ltd 

P.V.S. Workfind 

Parent To Parent Queensland Association 

Parkinsons Queensland 

Peakcare 

Peirson Services 

Phoenix House 

Picabeen Community Association 

Pine Rivers Community Assisted Transport 

Pine Rivers Disability Program 

Pine Rivers Neighbourhood Association 

Playgroup Association Of Queensland Inc 

Port Douglas Community Services Network 

Port Kidz Child Care 

Pregnancy Help Queensland 

Presentation Congregation Queensland 

Prison Transport Group 

Prisoners’ Legal Service 

Public Trustee of Queensland 

Quality Lifestyle Alliance 

Queensland Advocacy 

Queensland Aged and Disability Advocacy 

Queensland Alliance for Mental Health 

Queensland Association for Healthy Communities Inc 

Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services 

Queensland Baptist Care 

Queensland Childrens Activities Network 

Queensland Children’s Services Library 

Queensland Community Housing Coalition Ltd 

Queensland Council Of Unions (Queensland Branch) 

Queensland Homicide Victims Support Group 

Queensland Independent Education Union 

Queensland Injectors Health Network Ltd 

Queensland Narrating Service 

Queensland Network of Alcohol and Drug Agencies 

Queensland Parents For People With a Disability 

Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture 

Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House 

Queensland Shelter 

Queensland Social Enterprise Hub 

Queensland Voice for Mental Health 

Queensland Women’s Health Network 

Queensland Working Womens Service 

Queensland Youth Housing Coalition 

Queensland Youth Services 

Queenslanders With Disability Network 

Ravenshoe Community Centre 

RD Counselling and Consulting 

Redcliffe Community Association 

Regional Housing Limited 

Regional Social Development Centre 

Relationships Australia (Queensland) 

Rights in Action (Cairns) 

Rockhampton Women’s Shelter 

Roma Neighbourhood Centre 

Rope Association Inc. 

Roseberry Community Services 

Rosies Youth Mission 

Rural Lifestyle Options Association 

Ruth’s Women’s Shelter 

S.C.O.P.E. Inc 

Sandgate & Bracken Ridge Action Group 

Save The Children 

Scope - Regional Domestic Violence Service 

Self Help Queensland 

Sequal Association 

Sera’s Women’s Shelter 

Share Bayside 

Sharehouse Youth Accommodation Program 

Shelter Housing Action Cairns 

Sherwood Neighbourhood Centre 

Silky Oaks Children’s Haven 

Sisters Inside 

Sisters of St Joseph 

Smithfield Child Care Centre 

Social Ventures Australia 

Social Work Department - Princess Alexandra Hospital 

Somerset Region Community Support Association 

Sonshine Sanctuary Association 

South Burnett Community Development Program 

South Burnett CTC 

South West Brisbane Community Options Project 

Southern Cross Care Community Services 

Speaking Up For You 

Special Transport Assistance Redlands 

SPIRAL Community Hub 

Spiritus Care Services 

Spiritus Social Service 

Spot Community Services 

St Davids Neighbourhood Centre 

St John Ambulance Australia (QLD) 

49

St Marks Anglican Social Services 

St Vincent De Paul Society Queensland 

Stanthorpe Specialist Employment Service 

Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Support (QLD) 

SunnyKids (Formely Known As Najidah) 

Sunshine 60 & Better Group 

Sunshine Coast Family Networks Association 

Sunshine Coast Independent Living Service 

Sunshine Coast Regional Tenant Group 

SWARA 

Tableland Respite Care Association 

Tableland Sexual Assault Service 

Tablelands Womens Centre 

Tambo Multipurpose Centre 

Tamborine Mountain Community Care Assoc. 

Tara & District Family Support Committee 

Teen Challenge Queensland 

Tenants Union of Queensland 

Tenants Union of Queensland (North Queensland) 

The Advocacy & Support Centre 

The Aid & Recreation Assoc for the Disabled 

The Benevolent Society - Brisbane 

The Brook Recovery Empowerment & Development Centre 

The Chermside & District Senior Citizens Centre 

The Community Place 

The Compassionate Friends of Queensland 

The Salvation Army - Pindari Homeless Persons Hostel 

The Salvation Army (South Queensland DHQ Social Program ) 

The Smith Family 

Toowoomba Community Housing Service 

Torrens Road Community Child Care Centre 

Town & Country Community Options 

Townsville Community Legal Service 

Townsville Housing Resource Unit 

Townsville Multicultural Support Group 

Tully Support Service 

Undoonoo Child Care Centre 

United Synergies 

Uniting Care Centre For Social Justice 

University of Queensland (SSWAHS) 

Vietnamese Community in Australia (QLD) 

VITAE 

Volunteering Gold Coast 

Volunteering Queensland 

Wandarrah Neighbourhood Centre 

We Help Ourselves 

Wee Care Family 

WEEROONA 

Welfare Rights Centre Inc 

West End Family Care Services 

Whitsunday Community Services 

Whitsunday Crisis & Counselling Service Inc 

Wide Bay Burnett Regional Tenant Group 

Wide Bay Sexual Assault Assoc. 

Windana Support Centre 

Winton Neighbourhood Centre (Community & Individual Support) 

Women’s Health Centre 

Womens Centre Cairns 

Women’s Health Awareness Group of Gladstone 

Women’s Health Queensland Wide 

Women’s Legal Service 

Working Against Violence Support Service Inc. 

Worklink Employment Support Group 

Worklinks 

Wuchopperen Health Service 

Wwild Sexual Violence Prevention Assoc. 

YACCA 

Yoorana Women’s Domestic Violence Resource Service 

Young Care 

Young Parents Program 

Young People Ahead 

Youth Advocacy Centre 

Youth Affairs Network of Queensland 

Youth and Family Service (Logan City) 

Youth Care Pine Rivers 

Youth Emergency Services - Windsor House 

Youth Empowered Towards Independence 

Youth Health & Education Service (YHES HOUSE) 

Youth Housing Project 

Youth Service Providers (Youthlink) 

Youthcare Hervey Bay 

YWCA of Queensland 

Zig Zag Young Womens Resource Centre 

Individual members 

Amanda Nielsen 

Andrew McMicking 

Angela Ballard 

Angela Yin 

Anita Groos 

Ann Lee 

Anne Reddell 

Ann-Marie O’Brien 

Belinda Drew 

Ben Brauer 

Carmel Daveson 

Carol Gratton-Wilson 

Carol Humphries 

Carolyn Mason 

Cath Bartolo 

Chris Connors 

Claire Moore 

Clint Ferndale 

Connie Allen 

Craig S Warn 

Curt Singleton 

Cynthia Dunn 

Darryl Lynch 

Dean Wells 

Denise Dillon Bollard 

Ed Nixon 

Elizabeth Fritz 

Elizabeth Grant 

Elizabeth Kolaitis 

Flora Warrior 

Frank Gower 

Gavan Sheppard 

Geoff Rowe 

Geoffrey Walters 

Greg Kerswell 

Gretchen Young 

Hannele Nupponen 

Heather Lord 

Heidi Cardinal 

50 


Helen Delaney 

Helen Twohill 

Helen Wallace 

Helen Wlossak 

Helga Biro 

Irene Opper 

Jackie McClenaghan 

Jan McLucas 

Jane Felton 

Jane Markotsis 

Janice Bailey 

Jasminka Djajic 

Jatinder Kaur 

Jennifer Woodforde 

Jill Byrnes 

Jill Lang 

Jin (Maggie) Zixuan 

Joanne Lambden 

Joe Humprhries 

John Anderson 

John Anderson (Cr) 

John Mikelsons 

John Morrison 

Judy Gregory 

Julie Conway 

Karen Doolan 

Karen Larsen 

Karen Marshall 

Karen Wing 

Karyn Walsh 

Kathleen Ford 

Kathryn Rendell 

Katrina Spies 

Ken Morris 

Kerryann Harman-Schufft 

Kerryn Newton 

Kristine Anderson 

Kristine Van 

Leeanne Enoch 

Linda Gray 

Linda Harnett 

Linda Ray 

Linda Shallcross 

Lindy Nelson Carr 

Louis De Beer 

Louise Judge 

Louise Lloyd 

Lynn Lovett 

Lynn Walmsley 

Madonna McCourt 

Margaret Hornagold 

Marilyn Casley 

Mark Andrew Hurley 

Mark Tucker-Evans 

Mary Rose-Miller 

Max Vardanega 

Michael Cook 

Michael Devlin 

Michael Henning 

Michelle Boles 

Michelle Kerley 

Myrtil Butler-Woodall 

Naomi Armstrong-Beard 

Nicole Alston 

Noel P Muller 

Paige Armstrong 

Pamela Gower 

Pamela Searle 

Pamela Spall 

Patrick Herd 

Paula M Wolter 

Peter Emery 

Phillip Bates 

Rachel Watson 

Ray Ferguson 

Reza Ghanavi 

Robert Turner 

Robyn Spelman 

Roland Chan 

Rosalie Chant 

Sandra Lennox 

Sarah Coles 

Shirley Duckett 

Sian Tooker 

Simone Xouris 

Steph Vajda 

Stephen Levan 

Sue Cumming 

Sue Howard 

Sue Kentlyn 

Susan Beattie 

Susan Hickey 

Susan Kopelke 

Suzanne Demosthenous 

Ted Jones 

Tony Stevenson 

Tracey Smith 

Tricia Shantz 

Valmae Rose 

Veronica Cox 

Victor Camp 

Victoria Lister 

Wael El-Sayed 

Wendy Skitch 

Associate members 

Banana Shire Council 

Blackall-Tambo Regional Council 

Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian 

Department of Communities 

Department of Communities (Windsor Service Centre) 

Department of Communities (Strategy, Policy and Performance) 

Department of Communities - Logan CCSQ 

Department of Education & Training - Community Services 

Gold Coast City Council - (Social Planning and Dev Branch) 

Moreton Bay Regional Council 

QUT - Social Work and Human Services 

Redlands City Council 

Rockhampton Regional Council - Community Development Section 

Sandbox Pty Ltd 

Selectus Salary Packaging 

Corporate members 

Centacare Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton (Rockhampton) 

Unitingcare 

The Salvation Army (Social Program Department) 

51

Ground Floor 

River Tower 

20 Pidgeon Close 

West End 

QLD 4101 

PO Box 3786 

South Brisbane 

QLD 4101 

P (07) 3004 6900 

F (07) 3004 6999 

www.qcoss.org.au

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