Our mission is to enable people to stay healthy and access rehabilitation and assistive technology from local services through trained personnel.
That is why our projects focus on helping local organisations meet the needs of children, adults and older persons with disabilities or chronic health conditions in their communities – focusing on rehabilitation and assistive technology.
In everything we do, we value people and communities, partnerships and collaboration, taking a fresh and innovative approach, best practice and professionalism.
Our 2018-19 Annual Report celebrates the progress we have made, working alongside our partners throughout this year. We hope the stories and highlights inspire you to share the work of Motivation Australia with your networks. In doing so, you will help raise awareness and boost our support base, better enabling us to continue our work into the future.
We also warmly welcome you to contact us at any time if you would like more information or to find out how you can get involved.
Kylie Mines
Chief Executive Officer
Dr Lloyd Walker
Chairperson
2019 at a glance
Our projects
Our project work is guided by four principles:
- Focus on rights
- Respond to service users’ priorities
- Act for equitable, practical, sustainable outcomes
- Seek feedback, reflect and learn
Tonga rehabilitation and mobility device project
Our partnership with the Tongan Ministry of Health to build their rehabilitation and mobility services has seen fabulous outcomes this year.
Two Tongan graduates in orthotics and prosthetics returned to the rehabilitation service; and staff have participated in in-country training and mentoring in rehabilitation, diabetic foot management and wheelchair services. These training inputs combined with increased access to resources and the opening of the newly renovated rehabilitation building at Vaiola Hospital have contributed to a growth in the skills of the local rehabilitation team and a wider scope of services.
A major milestone was achieved with the initiation of prosthetic and orthotic services in Tonga for the first time ever!
Simipata was the first person to receive a prosthetic leg through the new prosthetic and orthotic services.
A teacher, Simipata lost his leg due to diabetes. He is determined to get back into the classroom and is working hard with the rehabilitation team to build up his strength and walk with confidence!
Pacific Mobility Device Service project
The Pacific Mobility Device Service (MDS) project concluded this year, after three, very successful years! The project, a partnership with nine service providers in Fiji, Kiribati, PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu focused on strengthening existing service providers, building on their skills, knowledge and experience in providing services to people who need rehabilitation and assistive technology.
In this final year of the project, 98 personnel received training and mentoring in mobility device service provision. More importantly, these services provided over 1,600 appropriate mobility devices!
We acknowledge and thank all partners for their hard work and commitment to providing quality services for the people in their community.
As most Pacific rehabilitation services are in urban centres, people living on outer islands or in remote areas are disadvantaged.
This year the National Orthotics and Prosthetics Service in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, responded to a request to provide a wheelchair for Jack, who lives in the remote north of Enga Province. Even better, a link has now been established between NOPS and Jack’s community, and more outreach is planned to meet the mobility needs of people from this area.
Pacific Assistive Technology Procurement Study
A region wide study into the challenges and potential solutions for increasing access to assistive technology; the Pacific Assistive Technology Study gathered the shared experience of accessing and providing assistive technology from more than 120 people across 11 Pacific Island countries.
Study partners including Motivation Australia, the Pacific Disability Forum and the Nossal Institute for Global Health (Melbourne) are looking forward to the report being published by the World Health Organization in early 2020. To learn more, email Kylie Mines.
Mataiti from the Cook Islands lost his ability to speak after fish poisoning. During the Study, Mataiti shared his challenges in finding communication assistive technology. He was frustrated with the very basic free text to speech app he was using, reporting it as ‘very slow, very hard’.
After meeting with Mataiti, Motivation Australia accessed a grant from a private trust to fund a better communication solution for Mataiti; which he says has helped him tremendously in his life and work as a disability advocate.
Training in Assistive Products project
We are thrilled with the progress of the World Health Organization Training in Assistive Products (TAP) project this year; and proud of our contribution in the development of the modules.
TAP is an online platform for community personnel to learn how to provide basic assistive products.
This year we worked with WHO and our partners in Papua New Guinea to pilot vision and mobility TAP modules. Everyone involved was excited at the potential TAP has in supporting training of many more health and other personnel in how to provide basic assistive technology.
We are delighted that since the pilot, the participating urban health clinic has continued carrying out the simple TAP vision screen, provision of reading glasses, and referral of people with more complex vision problems to the eye clinic at the main hospital.
Pacific rehabilitation and mobility conference
In April 2019, 89 delegates from 12 countries gathered in Fiji for the first ever Pacific Region Rehabilitation and Mobility Conference; co-hosted by Motivation Australia and the Pacific Disability Forum.
Read the full report, including what Pacific service providers, service users, government and disabled persons organisation representatives see as the most important next steps in strengthening rehabilitation and access to assistive technology in the region.
Measuring progress
To make sure we keep learning and improving our work, we measure our progress and impact in different ways.
Our ‘Mobility Device Service Data System’ is one area of this work. Customised for each of our partners, the data system is making a BIG difference in tracking and reporting service delivery; understanding who is benefiting from our joint efforts and where we need to work harder or smarter.
We also want to learn from the changes our activities have on people’s lives. We take the time to talk with children and adults who need rehabilitation and assistive technology, to hear their views and stories. You can find the results of some of these conversations in this report – and more on our website!
Nisha coordinates the children’s wheelchair service at Frank Hilton Organisation in Fiji.
She says: “Our data system enables us to provide reports and track how well we are doing. It helps us plan our work – for example we can see if boys and girls are accessing the service equally and if not, we can work on that. We can also see where the higher demand is, which networks are referring to us, and which ones we need to let know about our services.”
Our team
We are proud of the Motivation Australia team, and thank them for their work this year. Read about this amazing group of people here.
It was a collective honour when our CEO was awarded an Order of Australia Medal this year.
Kylie said: “It is a lot to live up to, and makes me even more determined to do the very best I can to lead Motivation Australia and collaborate with our partners to continue the good work.”
Our board
Our board members are an able and multi-skilled group of dedicated professionals who volunteer their time, expertise and guidance to support our strategic direction and governance.
Our Board Members in 2018-19:
- Lloyd Walker, Chairperson
- Nas Campanella
- David Constantine
- Mona Girgis
- Deb Hartley
- Kylie Mines
- Evelyn O’Loughlin
- Tania Sargent
- Peter Stewart
Our partners
Motivation Australia’s work does not happen without our partners.
This year we have continued to work with many of the incredible organisations that make up the Pacific community of disabled people’s organisations, government and non-government health, disability and rehabilitation service providers. Thank you to you all!
We also value the collaborative partnerships we have with other organisations enabling us to deliver excellent results.>/p>
Our supporters
Everything we do is powered by those who, like us, want to make a positive difference.
Thank you to our:
- 9 Grant funders
- 5 Corporate sponsors and partners
- 111 Members
- 5 Volunteers who contributed a total of 306 hours to help us make a difference
- 24 Fundraisers who hosted a #Dinner4thePacific or other event
We cannot achieve our mission without you!
Corporate sponsors and partners
Grant funders
- Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints
- Western Pacific Regional Office of the World Health Organization
- Government of the Kingdom of Tonga, Ministry of Health
- Government of Canada, through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives
- New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Go Baby Go Charitable Trust
- Suzanne Elliot Charitable Trust
- Eleanor Walker Education Support Fund
Volunteers
- Michael Wilson
- Debbie Wilson
- Kate Nicholson
- Lori Roberts
- Emma Winter
- Reference Group members
Fund raisers
A massive thank you to all our #Dinner4thePacific hosts this year; and others who ran fund raising events for us.
Motivation Australia is a registered charity; and proud member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID). We are a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct, which is a voluntary, self-regulatory code of good practice.
We are committed to fully adhering to the Code’s high standards of governance, public accountability and financial management. For information on the Code, including how to make a complaint, contact ACFID at www.acfid.asn.au or email code@acfid.asn.au.
Summary of financials
Year in review
Motivation Australia began our 2018-19 year with total equity of $870,793. Throughout the year we received a further $1,513,004 which enabled us to spend a record high of $2,018,866 in the year. 87% of our expenditure was on our international programmes, programme support and education.
Summary of closing balances
At the end of June 2019, we had an operating deficit of $533,679, as we spent more funds than we received within the financial year. This was possible as we began the year with $870,793 equity, the bulk of which was funds held for expenditure on planned programmes.
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial year were $608,632. Of this, 39% is held in reserve and restricted to funding our international programmes. The balance of total equity (excess of assets over liabilities) as at 30 June 2019 was $337,114.
Where did our funds come from?
Motivation Australia aims to secure the funds to support our work from a range of different sources. The range of funding sources for our 2018-19 income of $1,513,004 demonstrates this in practice.
We received $360,313 (24%) from Australian Government grants, $12,098 (1%) from other Australian grantors (Suzanne Elliot Charitable Trust and Eleanor Walker Education Support Fund) and $961,973 (64%) from overseas grants. These included grants from The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, World Health Organization, the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga, Government of Canada, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Go Baby Go Charitable Trust. The largest overseas grant received was from the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga, to implement the Tonga Rehabilitation and Mobility Project (TRaM). This project is part of the Tongan Ministry of Health Disability Inclusive Development initiative, and is funded by the Australian Government under the bilateral aid programme.
The balance of our income in 2018-19 was received from suppliers of donated goods (including Netsuite, Ossur Australia, Law Comfort and Paralogic) and volunteer time worth $66,971 (4%); $35,092 (2%) from the sale of sports wheelchairs in Australia and New Zealand and urinary management products to our partners the Motivation Charitable Trust for their work in Tanzania; the continued support of our members and supporters worth $56,061 (4%); $12,091 (1%) in interest earned on cash at bank; and $2,747 in other income.
Income categories are a proportion of the total. The categories are from our summary financial statement and are based on the ACFID Code of Conduct definitions.
How were our funds spent?
Motivation Australia spent $2,046,681 this year (including cost of wheelchairs and urinary management products sold). As noted above, this is the largest amount we have spent in one financial year and represents an investment of over $1,700,000 (85%) directly on our international programmes. These funds were spent in strengthening rehabilitation and assistive technology services in: Tonga (57%), Kiribati (2%), Fiji (10%), Solomon Islands (7%), Papua New Guinea (6%), Vanuatu (6%), as well as on regional (8%) and global actions (4%).
The remainder of our aid and development expenditure was invested in programme support and education activities (2%), administration (7%) fundraising (2%), commercial activities (2%) and non-monetary expenditure not directly attributable to programmes (2%).
Expense categories are a proportion of the total. The categories are from our summary financial statement and are based on the ACFID Code of Conduct definitions.
Summary statement of income and expenditure for the year ended June 30th 2019
Summary statement of financial position at June 30th 2019
Full financial statements
For a more detailed understanding of our financial performance also read our full financial report here, or request a copy by email info@motivation.org.au.
Our financial statements are prepared in accordance with the requirements of the ACFID Code of Conduct.
Auditors report
