We have begun the financial year with a number of new contracts the most notable of which is the Family Relationship Centre that has opened at Ashmore on the Gold Coast. The services offered by the centre seek to minimise the emotional distress caused by family break up and separation and also limit the need for dispute resolution by the Courts. The Federal Attorney General, Philip Ruddock will officially open the centre in September.

Our childcare business is growing slowly but surely. The childcare centre at Coomera has just celebrated its first birthday and our second new centre will open, again at Ashmore, in August. From there it is planned to open two or three centres each year for the foreseeable future. All indications are that our model of care focussed on the needs of children is proving to be a successful one.

Across our range of government funded services, we continue to experience significant pressures from government in terms of accountability and compliance. While such pressures are perfectly understandable and reasonable given community standards, at times these demands become service prescriptions that have the capacity to hinder our work and damage the autonomy of Centacare and our community based services. At every opportunity we are raising this issue with government agencies.

While there are challenges with compliance, I am pleased to report that all accreditation and licensing needs are being met across the board and our performance in this regard is continually monitored. This process is made easy by the commitment of all Centacare staff to quality outcomes and as always, I sincerely thank everyone for their efforts.
 

Peter Selwood
Executive Director
Centacare Brisbane