2017 ANNUAL REPORT Our Vision About To enable all children who come through Stewart House to: Stewart House • Experience a wide range of rich and rewarding experiences • Be inspired to see beyond their present circumstances Our Strategy • Have real hope and positive aspirations for their future Stewart House withdraws up to 1800 public school children annually for twelve days respite care in a safe haven at no cost Our Values to their parents. Our core values of Excellency, Integrity We provide these children and Compassion are manifested in: with dental, optical, hearing • Our leadership and medical treatment and screening. • Our independence • Our cooperative external We involve them in educational relationships programs and excursions Our responsible management of designed to develop their • funds social and emotional skills, build self-esteem and improve • The recognition, dignity and respect their overall well-being. we accord to our clients, supporters, staff and volunteers Our Policy Our Commitment To change the lives We are committed to providing of children in difficult services that are: circumstances and to give them hope and aspirations • Well planned, accountable, for the future. evaluated, efficient and effective; • Professional and of high quality; and • Based on the needs of children in our care and responsive to changes in those needs. 2 About Stewart House What is Stewart House Stewart House is first and foremost a children’s charity servicing public schools across NSW and the ACT since 1931. Stewart House is a Company Limited by Guarantee and this annual report outlines our financial situation for the calendar year ending 31 December 2017. We are classified as: A school funded and operated by the NSW Department of Education is part of Stewart • an Affiliated Health Organisation, in respect House. to child health screening under Schedule 3 of the Health Services Act. Health Services are provided by: • a public benevolent institution (PBI) with • Northern Sydney Local Health District deductible gift recipient (DGR) status for • University of NSW School of Optometry the purposes of advancing health, social or • Macquarie University School of Audiology public welfare and other purpose beneficial • Teachers Health Fund to the community. • Life Education NSW All children who stay with us have a right to feel and be safe. Our first priority will always be the safety, Our well-being and welfare of all children participating in our programs. We provide a secure and nurturing commitment environment where all children are valued and made to feel safe and comfortable whilst participating in Stewart House sanctioned activities. to children Stewart House is a trauma informed organisation and all staff are trained in the core principles of trauma informed care and practice. This includes: • understanding trauma and its impact • promoting safety • ensuring cultural competence • supporting student control, choice and autonomy • integrating care Our Student Wellbeing Manager, Residential Programs Manager and Principal are the primary points of contact to provide advice and support to children, parents, employees and volunteers regarding the safety and well-being of children at Stewart House. About Stewart House 3 How is Stewart House governed? Stewart House is governed by a Board of Directors. The number of Directors on the Stewart House Board Directors are appointed by members of the Stewart can range from a minimum of three to a maximum of House Company. twelve. Representation on the Stewart House Board is The Board appoints the Chief Executive Officer, who is sought from stakeholders including NSW Government an executive director accountable to the Board for the Departments, NSW Teachers Federation and interested delivery of the Stewart House program. philanthropic individuals. Please refer to our Corporate Governance statement in No income or property of Stewart House may be paid this annual report. or transferred, directly or indirectly to any Company member and no remuneration or other benefits are paid or given by Stewart House to any non-executive Company Directors. Board Committees in 2017 Audit Risk & Compliance Governance & Compliance Program Ken Dixon – Chair Jan McClelland – Chair Tom Croker – Chair Barry Johnson Marilyn Walker Jason Baldwin Marilyn Walker Barry Johnson Ken Boston Michelle Reincastle Graeme Philpotts Barry Johnson Tom Croker Graeme Philpotts Graeme Philpotts Mark Stamopoulos Richard Hoskins (co-opted) (co-opted) Sarah Mercer Murray O’Donnell (co-opted) (co-opted) Delphine Annett Amanda Bisset (co-opted) (co- opted) Pauline Kotselas (co-opted) Neale Waddy (co-opted) GRAEME PHILPOTTS MURRAY O’DONNELL Director Company Secretary 4 Stewart House Board Chief Executive Officer Chief Operating Officer Board of Directors BARRY JOHNSON toM CROKER Deputy Chairman Chairman Chair, Program Committee KEN DIXON MICHELLE REINCASTLE JAN MCCLELLAND Director Director Chair, Audit Risk and Compliance Director Chair, Governance and Nominations MARK RICE ANTHONY DOMBKINS MARILYN WALKER Director Director Director CHERYL BEST KEN BostoN JASON BALDWIN Director Director Director Chairman’s Report Over the past 86 years we have set the bar very high in terms of our service provision and care for students enrolled in our We remain committed to : programs. What we achieved in 2017, for 1628 children, came about through the hard work and dedication of a unique group ■ the safety and wellbeing of all children who access of individuals committed to providing free support to children any of Stewart House’s activities, programs, from public schools in an inspiring setting at South Curl Curl services or facilities. where our service philosophy has always been based on a holistic, wellness and personal development model of care ■ providing children with positive and nurturing (as opposed to an illness or disability model). experiences. This report outlines major outcomes accomplished only ■ providing Stewart House staff with the necessary through the financial and in-kind support received from support to enable them to fulfill their roles. educators, school staff, philanthropic and corporate ■ an organisational design that supports and develops organisations, associations and individual donors. Stewart House staff in their roles. Stewart House is a child ■ communicating honestly and openly with families and home schools about the wellbeing and safety safe organisation of their children. The Stewart House Board requires all staff, including the ■ transparency in decision-making. directors, company members, senior executive, paid staff, teachers, supervisors, volunteers and sessional workers, ■ professional development, opportunity for reflective staff of service providers, agency staff, students or anyone practice and regular management supervision for working on behalf of Stewart House to practise in a way that all staff. protects children. ■ maintaining an environment in which children are We recognise that the health and wellbeing of children in safe and feel safe. the care of Stewart House is paramount and that that some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact ■ using best practice standards in the recruitment, of previous experiences, their level of dependency and screening and employment of staff communication needs. Our staff value these children, listen to and respect them. Our child protection and child safe practices are clearly outlined as documented procedures, in position descriptions Teaching and learning and a code of conduct for staff and volunteers. We have an Children in the care of Stewart House attend an on-site effective safety policy and related procedures.We recruit staff specific purpose school funded by the NSW Department of and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are Education. A separate Annual School Report is produced made. We record and store information professionally and each year for the school in accordance with government policy. securely. Our teachers and residential supervisors are committed to the We maintain an anti-bullying environment and ensure that development of an integrated program across the twelve days we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively of a child’s stay. with situations which may arise. We have effective complaints measures in place and I am pleased to report that these were Our financial position not required throughout 2017. The Company’s financial statements are included in this We ensure the provision of a safe physical annual report and I encourage the reader to review these environment for our children, staff and volunteers, statements and accompanying notes as they disclose a by applying workplace health and safety measures wealth of information about Stewart House. I am very pleased in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance. to announce a small surplus for the ninth consecutive year coinciding with the nine years of the company’s operations. For the year ended 31 December 2017 we report a net operating surplus of $5,967. While this decreased by over 6 Chairman’s Report $142,814 from the previous year there were a number of Over 30% of these children were from an Aboriginal factors that impacted this result. background. More than 85% of our clients experienced profound poverty and lacked the opportunity to participate Our total revenue decreased by $116,000. Income from in excursions and extra-curricular activities through family NSW Department of Education workplace giving decreased circumstance. 90% had