DOG GUIDE HANDLERS AUSTRALIA (Inc)

ANNUAL REPORT 2017 – 2018
Dog Guide Handlers Australia (DGHA) is a national association which provides a voice for Australians who are blind or vision impaired who are dog guide handlers.
DGHA is an independent association of dog guide handlers, and is not affiliated with any dog guide school.

KEY OBJECTIVES.
DGHA strives to foster, represent, promote, enhance and protect the interests of Australians who are blind or vision impaired who are dog guide handlers.
DGHA draws on the experiences and varied knowledge of its members, to provide peer support, advocacy and information to dog guide handlers throughout Australia.

Members of the DGHA Committee are:
Nadia Mattiazzo – President
Kevin Murfitt – Vice-President
Greg Madson – Treasurer
Joyce Jones – Secretary
Erika Webb – Social Media
Warwick Best – General Committee Member
Bev Best – General Committee Member
Roger Leal – General Committee Member
Jamie Kelly – General Committee Member
Rowena Dowling – General Committee Member
Annette Ferguson - General Committee Member
Karen Passmore - General Committee Member

PRESIDENT’S REPORT:

This year, like many others has been very busy, but also one of important growth and development of DGHA.  Many of you have now become part of the significant changes across the disability sector which have been taking place and as My Aged Care (MAC) and National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) reforms continue to roll out, I believe this dynamic environment is set to continue for some years to come. We acknowledge the importance of this evolution and the significance these reforms have for our members and all dog guide users.

I would like to sincerely thank the other members of the Executive Committee for their willingness to contribute to DGHA’s pursuit of its principal objectives advocating for all of us as Dog Guide Handlers.  

Of most pressing demand and a major undertaking that has dominated the Organisation’s thinking and resources has been the reviewing of our Strategic Plan and the work towards finalising our Constitution to be in line with new legal requirements. 

In line with our continuing efforts to organise our third biennial National Conference, most of this year has been taken up with working hard to identify a venue and organise this event. In August this year, after much searching, we were very pleased to secure a venue for the Conference which will be held in Sydney In mid-November. We are hoping that this Conference will be as well attended as our previous ones and I believe we will have an exciting and stimulating program to ensure maximum attendance.

In terms of our advocacy work, we have continued to provide feedback and input into the issues of airline travel and dog guides, as well as the significant issue of the appropriate accreditation of assistance animals. We were also invited to present at the 6th Australisian Orientation and Mobility Conference held in Melbourne on 6 and 7 April 2018. Both Rowena and I attended and presented to approximately 80 Orientation and Mobility Practitioners on the role which DGHA can play and how to strengthen the relationships between DGHA and service providers. Feedback received indicated the presentation was well received.

I would also like to acknowledge Rowena Dowling for her work to develop a DGHA Position Paper on consistent use of terminology which she presented to the Board of Orientation and Mobility Australia where she has the role of client representative.

I would like to thank our current Committee for their tireless work in ensuring the continuing success of DGHA as the peak body of dog guide handlers and look forward to being involved in our future growth and development.

As our current Constitution limits the number of years a person can be a committee member, both Rowena Dowling and Greg Madson will not be restanding for Committee positions. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the roles which both of them have played in ensuring that DGHA continues to exist and grow.

I will also be standing down from the DGHA Committee as required by the Constitution, however I will continue to be involved as a member as I feel it is up to us to make DGHA a strong and effective mechanism for representation of dog guide handlers.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the work that the Committee has done in this past year. Kevin, Greg, Joyce, Erika, Bev, Warwick, Jamie, Roger, Annette and Karen have all played a vital role in our continuing work. It is also very important to note that all of the DGHA Committee members are volunteers and therefore we often need to make hard decisions regarding the work we do which is often constrained by our limited resources.

There are a variety of ways you can provide further support and momentum to your Organisation.  Committee participation is a good opportunity, and so is simply providing feedback, suggestions, topics for consideration, guest speakers you’d like to hear or specific policy initiatives – the ways you can add value for all of us are boundless.    In short, by getting involved in whatever way you can, strengthens our organisation and benefits us all and allows us to support more members in more ways.

I wish the future Committee every success in growing and extending the reach of DGHA.

Nadia Mattiazzo
President

MEMBERSHIP REPORT:
Total DGHA Members up to 30 June 2018
Full:  88
Associate:  19

SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT:
Social Media Manager: Erika Webb.
DGHA social media activity between 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017 has been as follows:

• We have 378 Facebook members, up from last year’s 124.
• We follow via Twitter 1784 people and groups, down from last year’s 31.
• We have 1478 Twitter Followers, up from last year’s 19.
• We have tweeted 738 times, up from last year’s 188.

TREASURER’S REPORT:
DGHA Financial Statement 1 July 2017 - 30 June 2018

ANZ Account Balance on 1 July 2017:  $1,481.55

ANZ Account Incoming from 1 July 2017:

11/09/2017
TRANSFER from PAYPAL Account:	$3,500.00
3/10/2017

Memberships:						$30.00

Total Income into ANZ Account:  		$3,530.00

Outgoing from ANZ account since 1 July 2017: 

11/09/2017
Payment to DFACSIA grant remainder:	$122.07

1/02/2018
Website Aussie Broadband: 			$10.00

12/02/2018
Yearly Gravity Forms Plugin payment:	$38.42

5/03/2018
Website Aussie Broadband:			$10.00

4/04/2018
Website Aussie Broadband:			$10.00

2/05/2018
Website Aussie Broadband:			$10.00

31/05/2018
Website Aussie Broadband:			$10.00

25/06/2018
Conference Venue Deposit Novotel:	$2684.45

Total Outgoing from ANZ:  			$2,894.94

Balance of ANZ Account as of 30 June 2018:  
$2,116.61

DGHA PayPal Account

PayPal Account balance on 1 July 2017:	 $3,832.19

Incoming into PayPal Account from 1 July 2017:

Memberships:						$50.00

Total income into PayPal:  			$50.00

Outgoing from PayPal Account from 1 July 2017

9 Sep 2017  
Transfer to ANZ Bank account:		$3,500.00 

PayPal Fees:						$2.20

Total Outgoing from PayPal:  			 $3,502.20

PayPal Account Balance as of 30 June 2018:	
$379.99

Total balance for Accounts as of 30 June 2018:

ANZ Account:						$2,116.61
PayPal Account:					$379.99

Total Balances:					$2,496.60

Greg Madson
Treasurer