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Recent Perth Media Results

• Statewide media campaign for ICPA recently secured articles in the Mid West Times, Kalgoorlie Miner, a monthly segment on Radio West for 2016, ABC Country Hour live cross, ABC Geraldton and ABC Kalgoorlie, and Esperance Express.
• Media campaign for Perth Tech company, Captivate on Hold, secured a segment on ABC radio, talking business and a story in WA Business News.
• https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Captivate-wins-Foroya-contract
• Farming Champions' Farmer on Your Plate (sponsored by Perth Media) secured ABC 720 radio interview on Saturday morning with Tracey Vo interviewing spokesman/cricketer Brad Hogg and page 3 in The West Australian.
• https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/31128748/passionate-farmers-bring-out-the-best-in-cattle/

ICPA WA 44th Annual State Conference in Perth on March 18

ICPA WA President Liz Sudlow

PRESS RELEASE

MARCH 9, 2016

ICPA WA 44th ANNUAL STATE CONFERENCE IN PERTH ON MARCH 18

Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association WA: ‘Every Connection Counts’

 PERTH: The Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association WA (ICPA WA) expects more than 70 delegates and guests from all over Western Australia to attend its state conference at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Perth on March 18.

 ICPA WA president Liz Sudlow said regional representatives and members will travel vast distances to attend the conference and it was a great opportunity to brainstorm ideas on regional education, as well as debate important issues.

 “Attendees will hear interesting speakers, receive vital practical support to help them parent in remote areas, as well as make vital connections,” she said. “There are almost 100,000 children living in rural and remote areas of Western Australia.  This does not include regional towns in the Southwest.  ICPA WA continues to lobby State and Federal governments, on their behalf, as it has done for the past four decades.”

 “The organization provides many levels of support including assisting with the applications for state and federal allowances, teacher training and student travel. We help parents of children aged from early childhood through to primary, secondary and on to tertiary. The ICPA believes it is important to facilitate high education access to all children in the bush, and that is in the nation’s interests as a brighter Australia will be a more prosperous one. Making connections is also vitally important to help this country innovate now and in the future.”

 Mrs Sudlow said all regional children should have access to equitable education but this was still, sadly, not currently available.

 She also said, in times of budget tightening, it was important that cuts were not made to regional schools and educational services. “The ICPA is continuing to lobby the Federal Government for a Distance Education Teaching Allowance and oppose proposed cuts to Schools of the Air, ” Mrs Sudlow said.

 Conference presentations will include representatives from: NBN speaking on the launch of SkyMuster, Telstra Countrywide, WA Department of Education update, as well as information for Community Groups on Communication and using LinkedIn.  The conference will be opened by the Hon Sue Ellery.   The main event sponsor is Telstra Country Wide. 

For more information go to:

http://www.icpa.com.au/events/view/67/2016-wa-state-conference

 Contact:

ICPA WA

President Liz Sudlow

tony.lizsudlow@bigpond.com, 0427362025

 Perth Media

Cate Rocchi

cate@perthmedia.com.au; 0428431699

ABOUT ICPA WA

Established in 1971, the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA) is a national organization representing rural students and their families at all stages of education and has a large network of branches throughout Australia.

ICPA WA is a state organization, providing support and assistance to rural and regional families in Western Australia. It supports families to access education at all levels from early childhood to primary, secondary and tertiary. This includes small rural schools, regional primary and secondary schools, both government and non government schools, distance education/School of the Air, agricultural colleges, TAFE and apprenticeships, and universities.

ICPA WA can assist with: state and federal allowances, information and communications technology, special needs education, boarding facilities, teacher training, tertiary access, early childhood education and student travel.

ICPA WA has been instrumental in successfully achieving many benefits for WA regional families including: the Assistance for Isolated Children Allowance; State Boarding Away from Home Allowance; and funding for travel to and from boarding schools.

The national ICPA conference will also be held in Perth at the Duxton Hotel from August 10-11, 2016. It is the first time in 6 years that the event will be in WA.

http://www.icpa.com.au/events/view/65/2016-icpa-45th-federal-conference

http://www.icpa.com.au/

ABOUT ICPA WA President Liz Sudlow

ICPA WA president Liz Sudlow lives in the Northampton area of the Mid West (Western Australia), where she is a partner (with husband Tony and family) in a mixed enterprise farm – grain, Angus cattle and sheep.

Liz is a former teacher and the mother of four children. She taught her children at their local primary school, before they attended high schools in Perth.  Liz joined ICPA WA Council in 2011. She has been a committee member, state secretary and is the current state president.  Liz also represents ICPA WA on the Rural and Remote Education Advisory Council (RREAC), which advises the Minister for Education and Training on the education and training needs of rural and remote Western Australians.

Liz is a fierce advocate of the importance of family. She believes a rural upbringing in a pro-active family sets up students with the potential to develop important skills such as resilience, team building, community participation and leadership. Liz is also involved in a number of other community organisations in her local community.

Every child should have access to the best possible education, regardless of where they live, the income of their family, or the school they attend.  Gonski, Feb 2012.

 Educational attainment continues to lag in rural areas, with remote and Indigenous

communities recording the lowest rates of school attendance and completion. While there have been increases in young people pursuing higher education across the country, students from rural areas continue to be underrepresented. Distance imposes greater cost to access services, employment and education, as lengthy travel or relocation is often required.

Disadvantage experienced by rural communities as a whole also has an impact on young people, as businesses, schools and services have limited resources and reduced capacity to respond to their needs.  Ann Davie, Engaging Young People in Rural and Remote Australia, Apr 2015.

 FACTS:           Almost 100,000 children live in regional and remote WA

It is estimated that more than 96,629 children, aged between 0 and 19, live in the Wheatbelt and Outback areas of WA.  These are figures from ABS 2013.    

 More about ICPA

 ·       ICPA is a national organization that represents rural students and their families to access an appropriate education.  Like our government, it operates at national, state and branch level.

·       ICPA WA supports regional families throughout WA and works within the community to advocate for rural students, at all levels of education.

·       ICPA WA has approximately 300 family memberships in WA and over 2,500 throughout Australia.

·       There are 12 branches located throughout regional Western Australia.  They include:  Central Wheatbelt North, Esperance, Gascoyne, Goldfields/Eyre, Hyden, Kimberley Air, Lakes, Lones (for those not living near a branch or who live in the city), Meekatharra Air, Midwest, Pilbara and Yalgoo.

·       Membership is decided by the various branches and varies from $65 to $100, depending on the location.

·       ICPA WA holds an annual state conference and AGM annually in March, where members can highlight issues for discussion and council lobby.

·       Members are kept abreast of issues via a quarterly national magazine, a tri-annual state periodical and monthly newsletters from both state and federal councils.

Top 2 National Issues:

·       Seeking an Increase to the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC):

The AIC was introduced in 1973 and was initially determined by the average cost of boarding less the cost of caring for children at home.  Over time the cost of boarding has increased more than the rate paid under the scheme.

Currently approximately 4,500 students across Australia qualify for the basic boarding allowance of $8,015 pa.  There is also an additional allowance of $1,533 for families who earn less than $54,000 pa.  Approximately 11,000 students qualify for this.  Many rural families across Australia are currently significantly out of pocket when they access a boarding school for their child.  ICPA would like to see a significant increase to the AIC – ideally by 50% to bring it back into line with what was intended.

·       Seeking the introduction of a Distance Education Tutor Allowance (DETA):

ICPA would like to see the government recognize the contribution made by remote families - in the form of an allowance, when they home tutor their children, who learn via distance education methods, by assisting with their daily tuition.  Distance education requires a classroom to be established in the home.  It impacts on the Home Tutor’s ability to work in other paid work or family business.  Schemes such as the Nanny Pilot Program and In Home Care do not provide for in-school care or supervision.

Top 2 State Issues:

·       Seeking an Increase to the WA Boarding Away From Home Allowance (BAHA):

The BAHA is paid to WA families to assist geographically isolated families with the cost of boarding/education charges for primary or secondary school age children.  The allowance for 2015 is $2,105 on the proviso that you have received the AIC Allowance or Second Home Allowance for all of the year.  The last increase to this allowance was by $50 in 2010.  The average cost of boarding fees at government, catholic and independent schools in WA in 2016 is approximately $19,636 while the average cost of tuition at non-government secondary schools is $16,318.  Typically the fees rise on average between 4 – 8% per annum.

 There are 8 Government Residential Colleges located around regional Western Australia who provide accommodation for students attending government and in some cases, non-government schools.  The average cost of boarding is $13,510. For some families, Perth is the most suitable option as it is the most convenient for travel arrangements.  The only government residential college in Perth, located at City Beach, is for gifted and talented students. 

ICPA WA would like to see an increase of at least $2,000 to the BAHA.

 ·       Assurance that schools in rural and remote WA are not further eroded:

The Student Based Funding Model (SBFM) introduced by the government in 2015 combined with the shift to greater autonomy for schools, may work well in the city, but it is having a negative effect on rural and remote schools around Western Australia.  It does cost more to educate students in remote areas of the state.  Many rural and remote schools now find it difficult to attract Principals.  Many schools are not able to offer a range of suitable subject choices.  The decline in the health of rural schools is contributing to population decline in WA.

ICPA would like to see:

-        Greater effort to attract and retain Principals and quality staff in rural and remote schools.  Once employed, better support networks in place from the Department of Education for Principals and teachers.

-        Acknowledgement by government, that if a school cannot offer a suitable curriculum, students be eligible to attend an alternative school and access the AIC and BAHA allowances.

-        At the 5 Schools of the Air, the Locality Allowance (which is part of the SBFM) be student based and paid according to where the student resides, not the school location.  In many cases this can be up to 800 km difference.

It is vital for rural and remote Western Australian communities - and especially for our country students - that opportunities to engage in quality education programs and rich social interaction, continue to be a priority of all government schools.

Captivate On Hold products to Roll Out on the Faroe Islands: Perth Tech Company Expands Global Reach

Perth Technology Company Captivate on Hold has done a deal with Foroya Tele, near Iceland. Picture: Supplied.

PERTH: In a WA technology first, Captivate On Hold, has an reached an agreement, worth potentially more than $20,000, with the remote Faroe Island-based telecoms company, Føroya Tele, near Iceland.

Føroya Tele has initially purchased the unique Captivate On Hold enhancement for Music/Messages on Hold in Hosted PBX/Hosted VoIP/Hosted Voice platforms for use in their own business.  Føroya Tele will then offer the product to more than 200 of its clients on the islands.

 Captivate On Hold CEO Mark Horwood said: “The Faroe Islands deal is important as it is the first telco in the world that has come to the decision that they should go exclusively with Captivate.

 “In a crowded market, it takes considerable time to get the message across to large telcos on the other side of the world. But this proves that our Australian technology is the best and that Australia is a reliable and safe provider. At Captivate On Hold, we are hopeful that getting this deal will give confidence to the more than dozen telcos in North America and Europe with whom we are currently working, and they too will eventually trust our world-leading, innovative products, developed right here in Perth. Products which have been proven to keep people on hold and therefore increase the sales of companies’ goods and services.”

The team at Captivate On Hold first met representatives from Føroya Tele at a Global telecommunications trade show in Phoenix Arizona and the deal was agreed this month.

Background Faroe Islands: The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It comprises 18 rocky, volcanic islands between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean and is known for its outstanding natural beauty.

Contact:

Captivate On Hold

CEO Mark Horwood, mark.horwood@captivateonhold.com; + 61 (08) 9368 7511 Mobile +61 418 921044

Perth Media, Cate Rocchi, cate@perthmedia.com.au; +61 (0) 428431699

Aussie Blokes Building Toilets for Girls in India: We Cant Wait

Aussie Blokes Build Toilets to Help Girls Stay at School in India

A GROUP of Melbourne businessmen are building toilets in India and, apart from improving public health, it is helping more girls stay in school.

Melbourne-based Mark Balla – founder of the charity We Cant Wait – said it was vital toilets in schools were built as, if they were not available, the girls would stay at home when they reached puberty. Mr Balla has just returned from an extraordinary visit to Nasik (north-east of Mumbai). He said, after a certain age (often between 10 and 12), girls were too embarrassed to go to the toilet in the open.

“In some of the poorest schools, going to the toilet outside, is often the only option and the girls choose to stay at home rather than humiliate themselves in public,” he said.

“Lack of toilets can have a terrible impact on the education of girls, as they will often drop out of school, if toilets aren’t available.”

Nasik was the site of We Cant Wait’s first project completed in March, 2015. The charity raised the funds for 15 toilets to be built in a school and this immediately changed the lives of some 500 children in the current generation.

For We Cant Wait’s second major project, Mr Balla says that funds have already been for the construction of some 150 toilets, which will help more than 5000 children. He said the response during the recent visit was unbelievable. “We visited six schools in and around Nasik, and were received by all the kids like rock stars – I signed at least 150 autographs and stopped for more selfies than I could count! We played cricket with the kids at one of the schools. Australia had a team of four and India had a team of around 200. Suffice to say we were overwhelmed by India, both in cricket and emotionally.”

During the recent trip Mr Balla also visited Dharavi, a slum of a million people and the place where he first learned about the sanitation crisis in India. Furthermore, he met with Bollywood star Vidya Balan who is a sanitation ambassador for the Indian government and a truly remarkable social activist.

Mr Balla has been featured on the cover of Indian Weekly, dubbed the ‘Toilet Warrior’, and has also met with officials from the water, sanitation and hygiene division at UNICEF.

After the next project is completed, We Cant Wait has a much larger goal – to build toilets for at least 25000 children by the end of 2016.

For more information go to: www.wecannotwait.org or Like Facebook We Can’t Wait.

Contact: We Can’t Wait,Mark Balla

mark@balla.com.au; 0414244448

Perth Media, Cate Rocchi

cate@perthmedia.com.au; 0428431699

BACKGROUND: WE CANT WAIT

Not-for-profit We Cant Wait was established in 2013. Its board members are Stephen Niwa (chairman), William Heine, Trevor Ludeman and Mark Balla.

The charity began after Mark Balla met Fahim Vora in an Indian slum two years prior, in 2011.

Fahim told Mr Balla that many of the girls didn't continue their schooling, if there was not access to toilets as they did not want to go to the toilet in the open.

The picture (above) is of Fahim with some of the kids at the Jila Parishad Prathamik school in the town of Sinnar. Mark Balla, founder of We Cant Wait, said: “Around four years ago Fahim and his
friend, Tauseef, introduced me to the sanitation crisis in Indian schools. That changed my life forever. The thrill of introducing Fahim to some of the children, whose lives we are now changing, was indescribable. Fahim, I am forever in your debt."

In total the charity has raised more than $165,000 (including a donation from Reece’s Plumbing of $15,000) and built 15 toilets, while construction of a further 150 more toilets has begun and are expected to be completed in the first few months of 2016. These projects are being run in conjunction with a number of Rotary Clubs, in particular Box Hill Central in Australia and Nasik Road in India. A number of other Australian, India, New Zealand and American clubs are watching the projects with great interest and it is expected that they will help bring about rapid expansion of this exciting work.

BACKGROUND: MARK BALLA (FOUNDER OF WE CANT WAIT)

MELBOURNE-based Mark Balla is a philanthropist, TEDx speaker, entrepreneur, publisher and adventurer. He has a Bachelor of Arts from La Trobe University (Honors in linguistics) and first worked as  a writer for Lonely Planet. Mr Balla has had a varied and interesting career including establishing MultipliCD, which was later sold to Regency Media, and he also owns ImagineBooks. In the course of his business activities,  Mr Balla began visiting India and has been there more than 30 times. He said We Cant Wait is the most important thing he has done in his life and he is regularly moved to tears. He has been called the ‘The Toilet Warrior’. He is pictured (above) with Bollywood star Vidya Balan.

TEDX link:                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3xr13xFfto

TOILET FACTS

·      One third of the world’s population don't have access to safe sanitation.

·      One billion people defecate in the open everyday.

·      4000 children, under the age of five, die from water-borne diseases every day.

·      More people in the world have mobile phones than toilets.

·      23% of girls in India drop out of school on reaching puberty, with half reporting that lack of toilets was the reason for leaving.

·      25% of girls in India skip school when they have their period, with almost all reporting lack of toilets was the reason for skipping school.

·      Huge numbers of girls in India don't drink water during the day, even in the height of summer, because they are afraid they will need to use the toilet.

·      100 million homes in India don't have toilets.

·      In some states in India, up to half of the reported sexual assaults to women, happen after dark when women are going to the toilet.

COMPLETED INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT: New English School in Nasik

The New English School is a school of 515 students in Vihitgaon (a district within the Indian city of Nasik in the state of Maharashtra, about 180km north-east of Mumbai). The school had no toilets and was the site of We Can’t Wait’s first major infrastructure project.

Around 50% of the students at this school have toilets at home. The school has a long-standing relationship with the Rotary Club of Nasik Road in Nasik and had for some time been requesting assistance with this issue.  The school already has a basic sanitation education program which is currently being upgraded and the teachers and students are all very pleased that they now have toilets at their school. We Can’t Wait worked with the Rotary Club of Box Hill Central in Australia and the Rotary Club of Nasik Road in India to provide infrastructure and an appropriate education program to the school. The early stages of an education program are already informally underway. The initial focus is to run small discussion groups of mothers with their adolescent daughters, female staff members and a female member of the Rotary Club of Nasik Road. The purpose of these discussion groups is to talk to girls and their mothers about the difficulties that adolescent girls face at school when there are no toilets. It is very important to involve the mothers in this conversation as well so that they understand and support the fact that it will be fine for their daughters to go to school when they have their periods, now that toilets have been installed in the school.

Experts Say Rule Change Presents Opportunities for Accountants Advising on Self Managed Super Funds

“A Limited Licence offers accountants independence in the way they continue to operate their business. They will not be interposing a faceless institution between themselves and their client, for example a bank or a bank-owned dealer group. They retain full control on how they operate their business, the type of clients they choose and how they use their referral arrangements and networks." - Melbourne lawyer, Andra Lazarescu, of Seven Peaks

SEVEN PEAKS

PRESS RELEASE

Experts Say Rule Change Presents Opportunities for Accountants

Advising on Self Managed Super Funds

2 December 2015

MELBOURNE/ADELAIDE:  FINANCIAL services lawyer Andra Lazarescu, compliance expert Jenny Basnec and business coach Gary Jenkins have joined forces to provide Australian accountants with an independent, professional team to guide them through an upcoming law change.

From 1 July 2016 – 22 years after the introduction of Self Managed Super Funds – the law is changing requiring SMSF advisors, including accountants, to be appropriately licensed with ASIC.  While the regulatory change is one of the biggest in decades and accountants will need to ensure they are compliant, the new laws also highlight wide-ranging opportunities for new business.

“ASIC has reportedly rejected almost 50% of applications for limited licence received so far,” Ms Basnec said. “This 50% is likely to be re-submitted, potentially clogging up the process even further. ASIC has told accountants clearly now – if you want your licence by 1 July 2016, submit it to them by 1 March 2016.”

The group claims, while dealer groups and some accounting bodies are looking to provide alternative authorisations for accountants under umbrella licences, they believe the ‘Limited Licence’ presents a viable business opportunity.

Mr Jenkins considers that the Limited Licence will provide accountants with an enhanced revenue stream.

“Whilst revenue for compliance will still be there, there will also be the opportunity to generate an additional advice revenue stream,” he said.

“Undoubtedly the costs to accountants of giving advice in the SMSF space will increase under the new regime. Separating the cost of the strategy advice – which presents real value to the client – from the cost of compliance is a great opportunity for accountants to further move into the value-based fee space.”

The group believe independence afforded to accountants by the Limited Licence is important to remember.

“A Limited Licence offers accountants independence in the way they continue to operate their business,” Ms Lazarescu said. “They will not be interposing a faceless institution between themselves and their client, for example a bank or a bank-owned dealer group. They retain full control on how they operate their business, the type of clients they choose and how they use their referral arrangements and networks. They will be able to sell and expand or contract their business as they choose, and also appoint other accountants to work under their licence. By comparison, an authorisation under someone else’s licence doesn’t usually offer the same level of autonomy.”

The group said accountants did not need to rush into authorisation arrangements with other licensees.

Ms Lazarescu said there have been suggestions that accountants cannot deal with the new compliance regime, and cannot integrate new processes into their operations by 1 July next year, but the reality is that accountants already live in a world of compliance.

Ms Basnec said: “We expect that with the right tools and guidance most accounting practices will be able to manage these requirements on their own with limited external compliance assistance along the way.”

However, the team said it was a good time for accountants to get their house in order.

“Our view is that if you are considering your own licence, act now,” Ms Lazarescu said. “Get some independent advice, check out if you have the right industry training and start the process. Time isn’t waiting and neither will ASIC, or your competitors for that matter.”

For more information contact:

Andra Lazarescu

Mobile:   0401 825 988

ruxandra@sevenpeaks.net

www.sevenpeaks.net

https://au.linkedin.com/in/ruxandralazarescu

BACKGROUND:

Accountants are currently exempt from licensing by ASIC and are able to advise their clients on Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF). This will change when the exemption expires on 1 July 2016.  A new type of Australian financial services licence called a ‘Limited Licence’ has been introduced to deal with advisors, including accountants, who only want to advise on SMSF and related strategies, without giving advice on specific financial products such as shares, unit trusts etc.  In addition, those accountants credentialed with public accounting bodies (CAANZ, CPA or IPA) who meet the ‘recognised accountants’ definition, will not need to prove their prior experience in a licensed environment. This is usually a critical element of any licence application to ASIC.

About Andra Lazarescu

Andra Lazarescu is a financial services lawyer working from Melbourne, for clients all over Australia and internationally.  For the last 16 years, she has advised business ranging from blue chip listed investment companies, brokers, asset managers, fund managers and financial planners, and guided them successfully on their licensing quest with ASIC. She also advises on a range of other legal issues commonly faced by businesses in this space, including authorisation agreements between licensees and authorised representatives. 

Jenny Basnec

Jenny, based in Adelaide, is a compliance expert with more than 30 years experience in the financial services industry, including nine years in-house for a boutique dealer group. Her ability to integrate compliance requirements into practice management is outstanding and well proven.

Mobile: 0417 430 038

https://au.linkedin.com/in/jenny-basnec-32158311

Gary Jenkins

Gary has been in the financial services industry for 35 years. During that time he has held a wide variety of roles including AFSL Dealership General Management. Gary has spent the past 12 years as an independent mentor and coach to financial planners, business development teams, practice management teams and AFSL holders. Gary has an excellent non-conflicted platform to guide advisers along the pathway to building a strong, sustainable future for themselves and their clients.

Mobile: 0400 089 013

Email: gary@practicemanagementdirect.com.au

Two Public Sector Stars: Leadership WA Award Winners Announced - Frank Daly and Colleen Hayward

Leadership WA award winners Frank Daly (Acting chief executive of the Child and Adolescent Health Service)  and Colleen Hayward - head of Kurongkurl Katitjin, Edith Cowan University's Centre of Indigenous Education and Research. 

MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release 25 November 2015

Two Public Sector Stars Take Out Leadership WA’s Most Prestigious Awards

Winners Announced: Perth Children’s Hospital head Professor Frank Daly and ECU’s Professor Colleen Hayward

TWO of Western Australia’s brightest public sector stars were awarded the state’s most prestigious leadership honours, at a Leadership WA ceremony in Perth last night.

Professor Frank Daly – acting chief executive of the Child and Adolescent Health Service and responsible for leading the $1.2 billion Perth Children’s Hospital Project – took out the Distinguished Fellow Award for 2015. While Professor Colleen Hayward – head of Kurongkurl Katitjin, Edith Cowan University’s Centre for Indigenous Education and Research – received the Honorary Fellow Award.

The awards acknowledge leaders who have shown exceptional levels of leadership, community contribution and support of the work of Leadership WA. 

Michael McNulty, chairman of Leadership WA, said: “The Distinguished Fellow Award and Honorary Fellow Award winners both embody the core values of Leadership WA – ethical leadership, respect for diversity, accepting and guiding change, and community service.”

Mr McNulty said was delighted to recognise Professor Frank Daly as the Distinguished Fellow. “Frank is responsible for leading the $1.2 billion Perth Children’s Hospital Project which is underway and due to open next year,” he said. “It is also my privilege to name former Leadership WA board member Colleen Hayward as this year’s Honorary Fellow. Colleen is an exceptional woman and has been formally recognised many times for her long-standing work on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.”

Professor Daly said he was not sure he deserved to be singled out, as so many Leadership WA fellows provide inspirational leadership to WA communities. “Leadership WA is important to me personally – the Signature Program 2010 gave me the confidence to take on greater leadership challenges and to understand the value that leadership can provide,” he said. On leadership lessons learnt, Professor Daly said: “Great things will happen when your personal values are aligned to the values of the team you are leading. Bring energy and an open mind to problems. Think about people. Be prepared to be courageous and take risks, there are times when resilience is important.”

Professor Colleen Hayward said being awarded the 2015 Honorary Fellow was unexpected and truly humbling. “Nowadays we hear lots about leadership, but too often the development of leadership capability is left to chance or we rely on a mentor as though a single person could be all things on the question of leadership,” she said. “The programs offered by Leadership WA leave nothing to chance. They are tailored to need and each is challenging – causing people to really assess their thinking, to reflect on their views and to sharpen all they do in the leadership space. They do this while introducing participants to new experiences, the likes of which they would be unlikely to otherwise get. That the programs are supported by so many high-profile and accomplished leaders speaks volumes for the support Leadership WA enjoys. I have long been a supporter of Leadership WA and all it does.”

Leadership WA is now assessing applications for its Rising Leadership Program 2016. Go to www.leadershipwa.com.au

Media Enquries
Coralie Bishop, Marketing and Business Development Manager
coralie.bishop@leadershipwa.org.au

9369 6777 or 04025 775 757
leadershipwa.org.au

Cate Rocchi, Perth Media, cate@perthmedia.com.au; 0428431699

About Professor Frank Daly

Professor Frank Daly works for the Department of Health in WA and has been the acting chief executive of the Child and Adolescent Health Service and Perth Children’s Hospital commissioning since May, 2015. CAHS comprises three areas of service delivery: child and adolescent community health; child and adolescent mental health; and the Princess Margaret Hospital. He is also responsible for leading the $1.2 billion Perth Children’s Hospital project which is due to open in 2016.

Prior to this role, Frank was chief executive of the South Metropolitan Health Service. He is also a trained doctor and has worked as an academic at the Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine, University of Western Australia and Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research.

His leadership journey started when he established the first clinical toxicology services in WA more than a decade ago and subsequently became head of the Emergency Department at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) from 2006 to 2008. His other roles have included leading clinician engagement in health service innovation, quality and safety and service improvement.  He was director for Clinical Reform at RPH and the state Executive Clinical Lead for the Western Australian Four Hour Program.

Frank completed the Leadership WA Signature Program in 2010. Since then he has worked with Country Arts WA, the Conservation Council of WA and mentored a number of young leaders.

David Russell-Weisz, director general of the Department of Health of WA, nominated Professor Daly for the award.

He said Professor Daly led major reconfiguration of health services in the south metropolitan area. “He ensured patient safety and the smooth transition of services and staff across multiple hospital sites,” said Mr Russell-Weisz. “This was a mammoth task, which saw him working in the frontlines with staff after hours and at weekends, supporting them at difficult and critical moments in the transition program. The system has great confidence in Frank, so much that he was chosen to lead the complex commissioning of the Perth Children's Hospital and running of the Child and Adolescent Health Service.”

“Although Frank is an experienced doctor, he continuously seeks to improve his leadership and knowledge of administration. In 2014, Frank completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors Program as well as an international study tour of US high performing health services with the Kings Fund (UK).”

About Professor Colleen Hayward

Professor Colleen Hayward is a senior Noongar woman with extensive family links throughout the south-west of WA. She comes from a teaching family, with both her parents and two siblings having been teachers – her father was the first Aboriginal teacher, and principal, in WA. She is Head of Kurongkurl Katitjin, Edith Cowan University’s Centre for Indigenous Education and Research and concurrently holds the position of Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Equity and Indigenous across the University.

For more than 30 years, Colleen has provided significant input to policies and programs on a wide range of issues, reflecting the needs of minority groups at community, state and national levels. She has an extensive background in a range of areas including health, education, training, employment, housing, child protection and law and justice. In much of this work, she draws on her qualifications which include a Diploma of Teaching, a Bachelor of Education, a Bachelor of Applied Science in Aboriginal Community Management and Development and a Post Graduate Certificate in Cross Sector Partnerships from Cambridge University.

Among her many achievements, Colleen has been recognised for her long-standing work for and on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia by being named a finalist in the national Deadlys Awards in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health (2008) and by winning the 2008 National NAIDOC Aboriginal Person of the Year Award.

Colleen is also a recipient (2006) of the Premier of WA’s prestigious Multicultural Ambassador’s Award for advancing human rights and anti-racism in the community and is the 2009 inductee into the WA Department of Education’s Hall of Fame for Achievement in Aboriginal Education. In 2011, she completed her term as a foundation member of the inaugural Board of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.

In 2012, Colleen was inducted into the Western Australian Women’s Hall of Fame, was recognised as a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia and made a Western Australian Ambassador for Children and Young People. In 2015, Colleen was named as one of WA’s 100 most influential West Australians and was a finalist in the Aboriginal Award category of the 2015 Western Australian of the Year Awards and the Australian of the Year (Western Australia) Awards. Furthermore, in 2015, Colleen awarded one of Murdoch University’s Distinguished Alumni for her work in the areas of Equity and Social Justice.

Colleen recently co-authored a book entitled:  Teaching Indigenous Students: Cultural awareness and classroom strategies for improving learning outcomes, released by Allen & Unwin.

Background: Leadership WA Awards

The annual Leadership WA Awards acknowledge leaders who have shown exceptional levels of leadership, community contribution and support of the work of Leadership WA.

Distinguished Fellow Award is for Fellows of Leadership WA who have actively engaged and made a significant contribution to the Western Australian community. In order to be eligible nominees must meet the following criteria:

·       be a graduate of a Leadership WA program and maintained Fellow membership status for five years or more;

·       have made an outstanding and enduring contribution to the Western Australian community; and

·       embody the core values of Leadership WA; ethical leadership, respect for diversity, accepting and guiding change and community service.

2013 Distinguished Fellow Award – Justine Colyer, CEO, Rise Network

2014 Distinguished Fellow Award – David Thomas, General Manager, R2R Services

Honorary Fellow Award is for Western Australian leaders who have made a significant and enduring contribution to Leadership WA.

In order to be eligible nominees must meet the following criteria:

·       be a leader living in Western Australia;

·       have made a positive impact on the work and/or governance of Leadership WA over five years or more;

·       embody the core values of Leadership WA; ethical leadership, respect for diversity, accepting and guiding change and community service; and

·       nominees need not be graduates of a Leadership WA program.

 2013 Honorary Fellow Award – Dr Walter Cox

2014 Honorary Fellow Award – David Rose, Independent Consultant, David Rose Consulting

New WA Rom Com - The Naked Wanderer - Sponsored by Perth Media

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Two Perth Doctors Launch Book to Rewire Chronic Pain

Dr Stephanie Davies and Dr Nicholas Cooke

October 2015

Rewire Your Pain Perth Book Launch on October 15

Top Tips on How to Reduce Chronic Pain

‘A Daily Walk as Good as Antidepressants’

TWO Perth doctors will launch a book to help people with chronic pain at Bethesda Hospital, 25 Queenslea Drive, on Thursday, October 15, from 4-8pm.

Rewire Your Pain: An evidence-based approach to reducing chronic pain – a joint collaboration from Dr Stephanie Davies, Dr Nicholas Cooke and Julia Sutton – is packed full of transforming tips on how to manage pain and get the most out of your life.

Many suggestions are based on movement, healthy lifestyles and positive thinking, rather than increased medication and the book is the result of decades of experience in pain management. Dr Davies attributes the insights and skills in the book to the many discussions she has had with people in pain, and the enthusiastic healthcare professionals that she has worked with for the past 25 years.

“The book offers simple and effective ideas about managing pain that can have a dramatic and positive impact,” said Dr Davies.

It is a hopeful book for those suffering. She said thousands of patients have tried her approach and simple daily habits could make a profound difference.

“People can learn techniques that give them a greater sense of control, which in turn reduces the threat value of pain, and calms down the nervous system,” Dr Davies said.

“Healthy habits such as a daily walk are as good as antidepressants. A walk will stimulate the brain so thoughts are clearer. It can make you feel better and therefore calm your nervous system. Some may have to start small, even with a trip to the letterbox or around the corner, but it is important to build up the activity and form a habit.”

Eighty per cent of people will experience ongoing pain during their life, while 15% feel pain every day. The 144-page book’s RRP is $30. The book can be purchased from October 15th 2015 at:

Australia Wide:      APMA via website store:  www.painmanagement.org.au/shop/books.html

NSW:       PainAustralia: 1 Miller Lane Pyrmont NSW 2009: Ph (02) 9694 0993

Vic:           Arthritis & OsteoporosisVictoria, 263 Kooyong Road, Elsternwick Vic 3185: Ph 03 8531 8000

SA:           Arthritis SA 118 Richmond Rd, Marleston SA 5033: Ph (08) 8379 5711

WA:         WA Specialist Pain Services, Unit 5/136 Railway St, Cottesloe, Perth: Ph 0412 933419

Black Swan Health Ltd: 137 Main St, Osbourne Park Ph 08 9201 0044

Arthritis & Osteoporosis WA: 17 Lemnos St, Shenton Park, WA 6008: Ph 08 9388 2199          Imaging Central: 345 Stirling Hwy, Claremont WA 6010 Ph (08) 9284 6900                                                     Dr John Salmon: 2/89 Forrest St, Cottesloe WA 6011 Ph (08) 9284 6005

Specialists Pain Medicine Clinic: 6/65 Grand Boulevard, Joondalup Campus Ph 08 9400 9020                  Movewell Physiotherapy – see www.rewireyourpain.com for locations

Distribution requests for healthcare practices and retail bookshops can be directed to admin@wasps-pain.com.au. For more information go to: www.rewireyourpain.com

For the event, email RSVP to sbryant@bethesda.org.au or fax to: (08) 9340 6399

Information on the Media Release please contact: Cate Rocchi Perth Media (cate@perthmedia.com.au), 0428431699

About the Book

Rewire Your Pain: an evidence-based approach to reducing chronic pain – written by Perth doctors Dr Stephanie Davies and Dr Nicholas Cooke with help from Julia Sutton – offers life-changing insight into how you can manage chronic pain.

The book introduces you to ways of thinking and daily habits that can make a huge difference. Its recommendations may look simple, but the effects can be profound. People in pain can transform their lives by learning techniques that give them a greater sense of control.

Medications are only a small part of the puzzle and small changes (or habits) can be very useful for people in pain. That pain may be lower-back pain, sciatica, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain, headaches, pain following an injury or operation (nociceptive pain), arthritis (inflammatory pain), immune-responsive pain or neuropathic pain.

Ongoing pain is something you can change. This book is about rewiring your pain and winning back your life. The 144-page book’s RRP is $30. Distribution requests for healthcare practices and retail book outlets can be directed to admin@wasps-pain.com.au.

www.rewireyourpain.com

Top Tips to Help Manage Pain for People in Pain, and their carer’s

1.      Turn down the ‘alarm’ in the central nervous system. A painful experience triggers a danger message in your brain’s alarm system, the sensitivity can be hard to dial back down to normal. Each day you can gently coach your brain to a peaceful place.

2.      Focus on some minor everyday actions such as a sip of water or a snack. When ongoing pain disrupts your life, introducing new small daily actions can make big changes to it.

3.      Avoid stirring up the nervous system by overdoing physical activity, being stressed or angry or focusing on negative thoughts.

4.      Make good habits part of your daily life. These could be short or long walks (depending on what you can manage). Walking boosts your mood, helps you think clearly, aids digestion, helps you sleep, improves fitness, gets sunlight on your skin, reduces inflammation and calms your nervous system.

5.      Mindfulness meditation is a simple daily habit you can teach yourself and offers relief from tension and a way to reduce pain.

6.      Train yourself to worry less. Deal with your worries in a step-by-step approach. Solve problems, resolve issues and conflicts and dissolve your worries. Sometimes sharing with friends helps dissolve them.

7.      Say No to things you can no longer manage.

8.      Structure in fun activities to look forward too. This could include music, visiting special places or even gardening.

Ongoing pain affects a lot of people:

·       80% of people will experience ongoing pain during their life.

·       70% of people can’t trace the start of their ongoing pain to a single event.

·       15 to 20% of people have pain most days.

 About the Authors

Dr Stephanie Davies

MBBS, FANZCA, FFPMANZCA
Dr Stephanie Davies studied medicine at the University of Western Australia and trained in Anaesthetics in Perth. During her Anaesthetic training she also specialised in Pain Management and worked as a consultant in the United Kingdom, before returning to Perth in 1999.

Subsequently, Dr Davies has devoted her career to pain management and clinical research. She was
Head of Service for the Fremantle Hospital Pain Medicine Unit from 2008 to 2014, and established the Self-Training Educative Pain Sessions (STEPS) program there. Dr Davies has supported the replication of the STEPS program locally and nationally. She was the co-lead, with Dr Helen Slater, in establishing www.painhealth.csse.uwa.edu.au with the Western Australian Department of Health and founded www.mylibrary.net.au and www.researchaustralia.net.au.

Apart from being a founding director of Perth-based WA Specialist Pain Services (WASPS), Dr Davies is also an Adj. A/Prof at Curtin University’s School of Physiotherapy; senior lecturer, UWA, School of Medicine and Pharmacology; chair of the State Wide Pain Services (SWPS); co-chair of the Pain Health Working Group (PHWG) and a director of CoCare.io.

She is also developing a webapp, www.tobepainless.com. The app’s aim is to achieve personal engagement in behavioral strategies that improve pain and also health, and support the reduction of harmful opioids in our communities. 

Dr Nicholas Cooke
MBBS DRCOG MRCGP(UK) FRACGP

Dr Nicholas Cooke trained and studied at Guys Hospital, London, and completed his GP training in the United Kingdom, before immigrating to Australia. He has been a general practitioner for 20 years and brings a generalist approach to pain management.

He became interested in pain management through his work in orthopaedics and rheumatology. Furthermore, Dr Cooke is concerned with the accurate diagnosis of the multiple facets of persistent pain and focused therapy. He particularly promotes the bio-psycho-social model of pain management, rehabilitation and the involvement of physiotherapists, clinical psychologists and other allied health providers.

Julia Sutton
BBus (Com) Grad Dip (Com Dev)

Ms Sutton is a writer who helped manage her daughter’s pain after she developed a painful medical condition in her early teens. What followed was a steep learning curve about the impact of pain on an individual and those around them. This experience has led to a passionate interest in creating accessible pain resources. Ms Sutton initiated a consumer driven campaign for a dedicated multi-disciplinary children’s pain unit in Perth. She is also founding editor of jointpainrelief.com.au, a website for parents of children who live with ongoing pain.

Leadership WA Welcomes US Futurist Dr David E Martin

Leadership WA CEO Robin McClellan and US futurist Dr David E Martin. Picture: Perth Media.

‘Creativity Needs to be Harnessed so WA Economy Can Move Forward’

A GLOBAL business executive and futurist says Western Australia will need to embrace a cultural shift in thinking over the next five to 15 years.

Dr David E Martin said Western Australia had always been focused on producing commodities.

“There is a particular social view that one takes when you are essentially pushing commodities into the global market and typically that means you have to be responsive, and ultimately beholden, to things that live outside your control,” Dr Martin said.

He said commodity-sourcing enterprises see themselves and build themselves into high responsivity but they do not necessarily have high vision.

“One of the challenges for Perth and Western Australia is to take a step back and say – rather than having people dictate to us what they need – I think the real challenge and real emergent property around leadership is around letting creativity grow,” Dr Martin said.

Perth had a global, cosmopolitan population. “This global pulse could give rise to a new generation of leadership in Perth which can start articulating unique values from this place rather than be responsive to demands from other places,” he said.

“I think culturally there needs to be a big shift and that is possible. But it brings about some interesting identity issues because, when you have had to be relatively conservative to be accommodative to the supply chain, there is a huge challenge as people need to move into visionary leadership roles from what has traditionally been functional leadership.”

Dr Martin predicts there will be a big pivot in the way of thinking in Perth over the next 5, 10, 15 years. “It is a cultural shift – you can’t put together a 10 step self-help program to get there, you actually have to take some new narratives and new structures,” he said. “And those are the things that are going to be what makes Perth exciting going forward.”

Leadership WA CEO Robin McClellan, who organized for Dr Martin to take part in Leadership WA’s Leader in Residence program, met him on a recent visit to Antarctica. That trip was held by The Unstoppables, a group of Australian entrepreneurs who are committed to development that is purposeful as well as profitable.

 “Dr Martin was one of the most inspiring figures on our expedition – he is an innovator, communicator, and catalyst and his insights will deepen our discussion of the Leadership WA theme of natural resources and sustainability,” Ms McClellan said.

 Leadership WA is now assessing applications for its Signature Leadership Program. Go to www.leadershipwa.com.au

About Dr David E Martin

Dr David E Martin lives in Virginia, US. From the halls of Parliaments and Congress to HBO comedy, Dr David Martin – founder and Chairman of M•CAM – takes on some of the world’s most complex economic and social themes with solutions that he’s deployed in over 160 countries. Described as a futurist, fulcrum ninja, economist, and global business executive, David disarms the most ardent pessimists with the evidence that, with the right perspective, we can tackle any perceived problem and achieve extraordinary outcomes.  In a televised speech in 2006, David correctly forecast the US housing financial crisis and identified it as a catalyst for the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.  

David says in Perth he is unusually adopting a public profile, in light of the Leadership WA Leader in Residence program and the film screening of Future Dreaming in Perth.

$199,476 Grant to support problem gambers

Nicky Howe (Chair of Linkwest) and Jane Chilcott (CEO of Linkwest). Picture: Cate Rocchi

NEDLANDS-based not-for-profit community support organization – Linkwest – is proud to announce it has obtained a grant for $199,476 to facilitate help for problem gamblers in Western Australia.

Linkwest CEO Jane Chilcott said: “About 115,000 Australians are classified as problem gamblers with a further 280,000 people at moderate risk and many families, from all walks of life, need urgent community support.

“This grant will enable Linkwest to work with eight community centres throughout the state that are dealing with the fallout from problems caused by gambling in our community.

“Problem gambling causes a wide range of issues including marital and family breakdown, homelessness, suicide, job loss and bankruptcy.”

Mrs. Chilcott said that the social cost of problem gambling is estimated to be at least $4.7 billion a year. Linkwest chairperson Dr Nicky Howe said the gambling grant – provided jointly by the WA Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor and Department of Local Government and Communities will provide significant, grassroots opportunities to tackle the problem.  

Linkwest’s Our Ace Community – Beyond Gambling project will include community workshops, an awareness raising campaign and training for frontline staff. Linkwest is proud to be delivering the project in partnership with ConnectGroups, Centrecare, WA Association for Mental Health and Relationships Australia WA.  Eight WA community centres will be running the 30 Days 30 Ways community workshops, which will offer alternatives to social gambling and opportunities to bring communities together in creative ways. 

Linkwest is the peak body for community, neighbourhood and learning centres in Western Australia. It offers targeted and relevant training and support to those working in small community-managed, not-for-profit organisations. Linkwest, with a staff of six, offers crucial support to more than 75 members, including 35 regional and remote organisations. More than 70,000 Western Australians currently use these centres. The centres provide a friendly, welcoming place where local people can meet to learn, gain new skills, make friends and feel part of their community. They also provide a safe, affordable space for playgroups, community and support groups to gather. 

For more information contact:

Linkwest CEO Jane Chilcott
Jane.chilcott@linkwest.asn.au
(08) 9485 8929
Mob: 0404 995 944

Perth Media
Cate Rocchi
Mob:  0428 431 699