S1: Hello everyone. I'm Sam Colley and welcome to this special
S1: edition of Talking Vision, where we take a look back
S1: at the highlights of the Vision Australia Annual General Meeting
S1: for 2023. This year, the AGM took place at the
S1: Vision Australia head office in Kooyong at 10 a.m. on
S1: the 26th of October 2023, which also happened to be
S1: my birthday, so happy birthday to me. Company Secretary Justine
S1: Heath began by opening proceedings and began by describing the
S1: room to people in person. Zoom video streaming and online
S1: via YouTube. This was then followed up by an acknowledgement
S1: of country, before Justine returned to outline the protocol behind questions.
S1: At the meeting, before taking a roll call and listing
S1: the apologies. Justine then handed the floor to outgoing chair
S1: Andrew Moffatt, who welcomed everybody in attendance, and after announcing
S1: the confirmation that the meeting had reached a quorum, formally
S1: declared the meeting open. Andrew commenced formalities by noting that
S1: the notice of Annual General Meeting has been sent to
S1: all members, and took the notice as read. Andrew then
S1: took the opportunity to welcome his fellow directors, as well
S1: as co-opted committee members and senior management, and invited the
S1: directors to go around the room and introduce themselves. Following
S1: the conclusion of those introductions, Andrew briefly returned to further
S1: extend these welcomes, and ordinarily, in past years, this was
S1: the time for Andrew to make some informal observations about
S1: the year just gone. However, things are a bit different
S1: this year as Andrew is now stepping down as chair
S1: of Vision Australia, so you'll certainly hear from Andrew later
S1: on in the program. But before that, Andrew introduced somebody
S1: with whom he has had a very close personal and
S1: professional association over the past decade, vision Australia CEO Ron Hutton,
S1: who you'll hear from right now. Thank you very.
S2: Much, Andrew, and good morning, all. It's really nice to
S2: see familiar friends back. And I add to Justine's and
S2: Andrew's welcome. My welcome to you all during the financial
S2: year for the end of June 2023, vision Australia provides
S2: services to 37,341 people. That's all been in pursuit of
S2: its mission to support people who are blind or have
S2: low vision to live the life they choose. The focus
S2: of our services every single one of our services is education, employment,
S2: independence and social inclusion. Everything we do contributes to one
S2: or more or all of those aims that we have
S2: for people who are blind to have low vision. As
S2: an organisation, we divide our organization's goals up into three parts.
S2: We have goals for service excellence, goals for an engaged
S2: workforce and for business performance. Because we can't forget the
S2: head part of our organisation. These three are interconnected. What
S2: we understand very clearly is that we can only provide
S2: excellent services with the best possible clinical people in our organisation,
S2: and we have marvellous people in our organisation. Many of
S2: you will have encountered them. Those engaged people like to
S2: work on the best possible services and deliver the best
S2: possible quality of service to their clients. When we get
S2: those two pieces right, business performance follows. Over the next
S2: few minutes. I'm going to comment on those areas in
S2: just a couple of our strategic initiatives that we're very,
S2: very proud of. I mentioned before that we provided 37,341
S2: people with service, and that's underpinned by an absolute focus
S2: on quality. Our clinical governance approach ensures that we deliver
S2: services to that high, very high quality that people deserve
S2: and need. Levels of client satisfaction for our services exceed 95%,
S2: and that's been consistent over the last five years that
S2: we've been measuring. We've also met every single quality standard,
S2: every compliance standard from the NDIS aged care system system,
S2: any other system that audits us every single time, we
S2: do brilliantly. And I think that's a tribute to the
S2: service providers we have, but also the service excellence team
S2: that we have who do a remarkable job making sure
S2: that we do a remarkable job for our clients. We
S2: have a brilliantly engaged workforce. As I mentioned before, we
S2: couldn't deliver the high quality services that we do without
S2: that engaged workforce. Culture is a vitally important part of
S2: our current and our future success. Very proud to report
S2: that the Net Promoter Score for our organisation, the Employee
S2: Net Promoter Score is plus 31 zero, is considered about par.
S2: And that feels really good to have that incredibly strong
S2: commitment to Vision Australia and our mission amongst our team
S2: that are delivering those services. Another thing in the engaged
S2: workforce area that we're very, very proud of is that
S2: approximately 14% of our workforce is blind or has low vision.
S2: That's 119 people in our organization. They bring value lived
S2: experience to our strategy, to our thinking, and to our
S2: service delivery. This isn't a token thing. Every single one
S2: of them has got a very real job in our organization.
S2: They're paid competitive salaries for what they do. And there
S2: are a really important element in our success because those
S2: people provide advice, they provide guidance. They provide the deepest
S2: possible insight you could possibly have in how we shape
S2: our services. So I'm very, very grateful to have that
S2: part of our workforce very prominent, and 119 people probably
S2: makes us the largest open employer of blind and low
S2: vision people in Australia. In terms of business performance. I
S2: describe Vision of Australia as an ambitious organisation. We're very
S2: proud to sustain, year on year, the level of services
S2: that we provide to the blindness and low vision community
S2: in an environment where inflation has gone through the roof.
S2: There are many organisations who have decided that the approach
S2: to break even is to cut services. I'm delighted that
S2: we've taken a different approach. Our ambition comes at a cost, though.
S2: We work very, very hard to break even and this
S2: year we nearly got there. So we had a small deficit,
S2: a deficit of $900,000. But that in the context that
S2: our net assets as an organisation increased by $11.6 million,
S2: and we have now 269,000,000in net assets. So we're a
S2: safe and secure and strong organisation from a financial perspective
S2: that's still able to deliver those services at the same
S2: or better level of quality and volume, year on year.
S2: The next few years, there's going to be some really
S2: big headwinds. No one seeing inflation disappearing any time soon,
S2: and we're going to struggle for that financial sustainability. But
S2: what I know in our organisation is that we're going
S2: to put services first. We're going to make sure that
S2: we get as many services out to as many people
S2: at a preserved level of quality as we possibly can.
S2: Cyber security has probably been on the minds of many
S2: people over the last few years. It's been very much
S2: a focus for our organisation in terms of attention and investment.
S2: We've been working very, very diligently to protect the information
S2: that we hold on behalf of clients, our staff and
S2: our donors. We meet all of the government standards for
S2: cyber security. We've implemented cyber defence capabilities, cyber management capabilities,
S2: including impressive surveillance of of our borders, and also governance
S2: processes that are very much commensurate with how we operate
S2: as an organisation and our risk profile. We don't think
S2: for a moment the cyber journey is over. That will
S2: never be over. But we're very, very vigilant about how
S2: we operate through the year. We deliver a project that
S2: both Andrew and I are very, very proud of. It's
S2: called The Life Ready Program, and it's a program that's
S2: very much about children. It's a program that's been three
S2: years in the making and focuses our services for children
S2: on building a range of skills. These skills are defined
S2: in a concept called the Expanded Core curriculum. That's nine
S2: areas of life skills that a person who is blind
S2: or has low vision needs to succeed. And it's across
S2: three life stages preschool, primary school, and secondary school. Our
S2: aim is that every single child in Australia gets the
S2: benefit of our services and is able to develop the
S2: skills that they need to be successful in education, in employment,
S2: in independence and social inclusion. The Life Reading program focuses
S2: a lot on employment and building employment skills from a very,
S2: very young age. In fact, if we had the opportunity
S2: to talk to a parent on the day that their
S2: child was born and it was discovered that they had
S2: blindness or low vision, we would probably somehow in that
S2: conversation about hope and future progress, would build a comment
S2: about jobs, because we think that the best way to
S2: solve the problem that we have today of half the
S2: blindness and low vision population in Australia being unemployed, is
S2: to actually get it right for the kids. And then
S2: very shortly, I'll be talking about the next stage, which
S2: is getting it right for the adults. The Life ready
S2: program that we have is also supported by a digital platform.
S2: It's a first, and what it does is connects all
S2: of our clients and all of our families with an
S2: amazing set of resources and communication into our therapists, and
S2: is basically a platform for binding people into the services
S2: and providing them with the support that they need through worksheets,
S2: through videos, through games, through all sorts of tools that
S2: those families can use. As I mentioned, the next stage
S2: is career ready. Career ready is the extension of the
S2: Life Ready program to encompass adults. Now, many would probably
S2: say that the expanded core. Curriculum that includes things like
S2: orientation and mobility. Accessible technology skills is equally applicable to
S2: Australians of a working age, and I think that's absolutely
S2: the case. We've started our adult employment program under Amelia Utqiagvik,
S2: and what we're going to be doing over the next
S2: three years is developing a really, really sophisticated and beneficial
S2: program for people who are blind to have low vision,
S2: who are seeking a job or seeking to advance in
S2: their current job. I'm very pleased to report that through
S2: the course of the year, we completed our first Reconciliation
S2: Action plan, our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan. We completed 30
S2: of the 31 actions and the 31st action is under
S2: underway at the moment. Reconciliation Australia, the organisation that governs
S2: Reconciliation Action plans, has approved the next stage for us
S2: our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan and our commitment remains ever
S2: strong to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Australia.
S2: Our services in Alice Springs have continued on, as I
S2: reported last year. In Central Australia, we have a service
S2: provider who works very closely with the Congress organisation there
S2: and is firmly embedded in their service delivery. We've also
S2: commenced services and Broome with the Lions Outback Vision organisation
S2: and providing services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
S2: communities through that organisation. Well in turn to some thank
S2: you messages. As I conclude, our clients and our client
S2: reference group are an absolutely essential part of our organisation.
S2: We highly value every single one of our clients, and
S2: I'll talk a little bit later about the client Reference group.
S2: But some of you are represented here today. Our appreciation.
S2: My personal appreciation is very high for the contribution you
S2: make to our organisation. We have donors who contribute generously.
S2: We fundraised somewhere north of $40 million last year, which
S2: makes this a very large fundraiser in the sector and
S2: we're pleased to be able to bring that level of
S2: investment from Australians into the blindness and low vision community,
S2: because the need is very definitely there. We have a
S2: fantastic group of volunteers, so we have around about 2000 volunteers.
S2: They come in all shapes and sizes in terms of
S2: their roles, radio and seeing our dogs are very prominent
S2: and particularly our puppy raisers. And through seeing our dogs.
S2: 2 million volunteering hours are contributed every single year. So
S2: thank you to our volunteers. I have 850 fabulous colleagues
S2: in our organisation and I rate every single one of them.
S2: We work as a team to deliver on our mission,
S2: and I want to pass on my thanks to every
S2: single one of my colleagues in our organisation who do
S2: a fantastic job. And finally, to our board, we say
S2: farewell to Andrew today and we welcome Amber and I'm
S2: delighted by that. Sad to see you go, Andrew, very,
S2: very much. But I'll talk about that a little bit later.
S2: Our board is nine people, and the workload for volunteering
S2: on our board is very significant. We have long, arduous meetings.
S2: We're running a complex organisation. We're a big organisation, and
S2: I can only pass on my incredible gratitude for, first
S2: of all, the commitment, because every single one of our
S2: board members is absolutely committed to our mission. Every single
S2: one of them is incredibly professional and in the capability
S2: that they bring to the board. And really, I think
S2: my final comment would be I couldn't think of having
S2: a better board. So thank you very much to all
S2: of you. It's very much valued.
S1: That was Vision Australia CEO Ron Hooten there. After we
S1: heard from Ron, Vision Australia chair Andrew Moffat returned to
S1: continue the formal business of the meeting by firstly tabling
S1: the minutes of last year's meeting dated the 27th of
S1: October 2022. The next formal matter of business was the
S1: receipt and consideration of this year's annual report, and the
S1: financial statements for the financial year just ended 30th of
S1: June 2023. Andrew then invited Ron to open up the
S1: floor for questions. However, there were none forthcoming. As such,
S1: the meeting returned to company secretary Justine Heath, who announced
S1: the election of directors, including the real action of Bill
S1: jolly and so banks. It was further announced that following
S1: the conclusion of Andrew Moffat's term as chair, that Bill
S1: Joly would become the new chair of Vision Australia. And finally,
S1: Justine was pleased to announce the election of a new
S1: board member, Amber Collins, who you'll briefly hear from right now.
S3: Thank you everyone. No, I'm being told to come over here. Closer. Yeah, okay. Here.
S3: I don't know how. Come on my back to people.
S3: But anyway, thank you very much. It's lovely to meet
S3: you all, and I look forward to getting to know
S3: more of you in the future. But as a little
S3: sort of potted history of me, I'm a Melbourne person,
S3: born and educated here before I spent my career in
S3: the UK and the US. My career has been predominantly
S3: in the advertising, branding and marketing sectors, very much focused
S3: on retail and logistics. I have three children here in
S3: Melbourne where we've resettled. My eldest son was born with glaucoma,
S3: very limited vision and subsequently lost his vision in 2000 2019.
S3: I have a daughter who's up in Anu and a
S3: young one doing VCA. I've spent my entire career focused
S3: on customers, in this case clients. I'm absolutely obsessed on
S3: improving outcomes that every single experience and interaction that people
S3: have with this organisation. I've been a customer of Virgin Australia,
S3: and I've been a customer of various other organisations in
S3: the sector in the NDIS. NDIS. I understand the problems
S3: that people, many people face. So I feel like I
S3: can hopefully bring not just my passion and commitment for
S3: the sector but also a very, very much a client
S3: based view on on how it feels to be served
S3: by organisations such as Vision Australia. I'm super, super proud
S3: to be part of it. I'm thrilled that Andrew and
S3: Bill have put their faith in me, and I'm hoping
S3: that I can contribute widely and deeply on a number
S3: of issues and serve my board colleagues who I hold
S3: in great regard. Well, I look forward to meeting you
S3: over the years ahead. Thank you very much.
S1: That was newly elected board director Amber Collins, who you
S1: heard from just there. Andrew returned very briefly to introduce
S1: the next speaker, Client Reference Group member Paul Hedley, after
S1: you hear from Paul, Andrew will be back briefly before
S1: handing over to Ron to discuss the Bursaries Career Start
S1: program and this year's Vision Australia Awards. But before that,
S1: he is Paul right now.
S4: Hi everyone. I'm Paul Hedley. I joined the client reference
S4: group about six years ago. Banner Vision Australia, a client
S4: of Vision Australia, for nearly probably eight years. And you know,
S4: I thought, well, when someone said there was a client
S4: reference group, I thought, well, I might go and join
S4: that because then I can have a say about some
S4: things and, and hopefully help Vision Australia become a better organisation.
S4: I guess what I've learned over the time is that
S4: and you know, I'll stand corrected. I guess my original
S4: thoughts of what I was going to do as part
S4: of the client reference group have really been blown away.
S4: And I stand here six years down the track, having
S4: really gotten involved in the business of Vision Australia and
S4: and truly understand how hard Vision Australia works to make
S4: things happen and the complexity of all the funding sources
S4: like the NDIS and my aged care, you know, and
S4: their constant changing and all that sort of stuff and
S4: vision Australia has to adapt and change all the time,
S4: and I just really applaud the amount of effort by
S4: the staff and the management and the board that goes
S4: into ensuring that they can still provide the best products
S4: and services and support for all the clients. So a
S4: lot of the time when I first joined, I thought, well,
S4: I didn't really know what I was going to be doing.
S4: And I walked in here six years ago and I
S4: was a bit nervous and all that sort of stuff. Anyway,
S4: over the course of the last six years, I think
S4: the CRC has evolved, I think, between the and the
S4: board and the management. We've both realised that there's a
S4: great opportunity to really use the lived experience of the
S4: CRC and our greater client base to look at making
S4: everything work a lot better, to get the lived experience,
S4: the feedback, to really use that information to work like
S4: a co-design situation, to just improve things and be agile
S4: and provide the best service. And for what I've been
S4: involved in, like this year, there's been some strategic projects,
S4: and the CRG gives lots and lots of its time to,
S4: I guess, give their input and feedback to help Vision
S4: Australia make sure the projects succeed. One of the first
S4: projects that we got involved in this year was that
S4: it was on Employment, and Vision Australia, were in an
S4: ideation workshop down here in February, and while the CRG
S4: attended and quite a few other stakeholders, and it was
S4: a two day event and I can tell you we
S4: worked really hard. But it was an amazing experience and
S4: I know there was a lot of good outcomes from that.
S4: And since then there's been another workshop and quite a
S4: few focus groups and all that sort of stuff in
S4: the new employment program that is being developed is going
S4: to be sensational. I guess I'm a real advocate for it.
S4: I lost my vision eight years ago, pretty late in life,
S4: and I work full time. I'm an engineer and I
S4: didn't know how I was going to keep working, and
S4: that's why it's close to my heart. I managed somehow
S4: to retain my job and keep moving forward. But there's
S4: many people. I mean, I do a lot of quality
S4: living groups and peer support, and I meet many people
S4: that have lost their sight later in life, and they
S4: just don't know how to get a job or retain
S4: their job. And unfortunately, there's many that just don't. And
S4: so I think the importance of this new employment program
S4: is so good. I think it's going to make a
S4: huge difference to the blind and low vision community. Some
S4: of the other things that we've been involved in is
S4: around emotional support. As Ron mentioned, there's the new program
S4: that's come out for the kids. There's a lot of
S4: work being done around older Australians where they're developing, trying
S4: to share the quality living process with peer support through
S4: the aged care providers and help the older Australians deal
S4: with vision loss. There's lots of things around, emotional support
S4: and again, it's very close to my heart. As I say,
S4: I'm very involved in quality living and the impact of
S4: vision loss is huge and we all need the support
S4: when we need it. Just just to round out, I
S4: guess I'm moving into the last year of my tenure
S4: on the Client Reference group, and this year we've had
S4: three new members join. That's Kim Brown Alps and Sam Byrne.
S4: You know, I've got to know them over the last
S4: couple of days. And one of the key attributes that
S4: you need to be part of the client reference group
S4: is passion. And these guys exude passion. And when I
S4: do finally step away from the client reference group at
S4: the end of this time next year, I'm sure I'll
S4: be leaving the group in good hands with those guys.
S4: So I'd just like to welcome them officially to the
S4: group and wish them all the best in the future.
S1: That was Sage member Paul Hedley there. And now you'll
S1: hear from Andrew and Ron again, starting off with Andrew,
S1: who then will hand over to Ron shortly thereafter.
S5: Thank you Paul. It was interesting hearing you say when
S5: you first arrived in the Client Reference group six years ago,
S5: you didn't know what you were going to be doing
S5: and you felt nervous, but it evolved. And I share
S5: that feeling in my time horizon, in my role. I'm
S5: really pleased. Amongst the things that you highlighted was something
S5: that that Ron no doubt was thinking about, but didn't
S5: explicitly namecheck earlier when he was talking about how incredibly
S5: important our 2000 volunteers are to delivering our mission. And
S5: I know Ron highlighted that significantly, that volunteer group is
S5: is very visible in terms of in terms of dogs
S5: and in terms of radio. But so many things where
S5: we're trying to deliver our mission and help people, the
S5: support of their peers is incredible in, in technical skills, in,
S5: in emotional adjustment and in terms of simply not feeling isolated,
S5: not feeling I'm the person, the first person to have
S5: gone on this journey. So Paul, it was a very
S5: timely reminder, and I know your personal contribution to that.
S5: Peer support staff has been invaluable. And and I know
S5: that will continue to be very core part of our
S5: service operating. And just to also describe when I said
S5: that Ron was nodding. So I'd also whilst we're whilst
S5: we're on the side, I'd also like to acknowledge and
S5: thank Nadia Matthias. So who I think Ron would like
S5: to say a few more words, so I will now
S5: welcome back to the podium for Ron to talk about
S5: the bursaries and the career start graduates and and also
S5: the Virgin Australia Award recipients. Thank you.
S2: Thank you Andrew. Nadia, I can see you online. Can
S2: you hear me? Give me a wave. Outstanding. Look, it's
S2: a sad farewell. Though I'm sure we'll still remain friends
S2: to farewell. Nadia. She's been a member of the CIC
S2: since 2016 and initially held a Seeing Eye dog portfolio.
S2: But it's quite clear to me that her her value
S2: is much, much broader than being a seeing eye dog
S2: handler and advising us on that. Nadia, you brought a
S2: huge expertise to our organisation. You're a you're a disability
S2: professional in your own right. You're a chief executive in
S2: your own right. You provide expertise and leadership within the
S2: disability sector every single day. And to have that on
S2: our side is just absolutely a remarkable gift, and we
S2: thank you for that. We're also, Nadia, very, very grateful
S2: for you being a regular participant in our induction days.
S2: So we run very special induction days. And they're about
S2: inducting people to the culture of our organisation. And Nadia's
S2: role in those induction days quite often is to come
S2: along and kind of be a target for a whole
S2: bunch of questions that people want to ask about blindness
S2: and low vision. And I haven't sat in one of
S2: those sessions, but they're actually more highly rated than my
S2: own session. Nadia, in the induction. Because what they get
S2: is real life stories matched with just a whole lot
S2: of humour and that wicked sense of humour. Nadia, I'm
S2: certainly going to miss because we have a lot of
S2: fun together. So thank you very much for your participation
S2: in the SIG, and I look forward to seeing you
S2: at the footy some time soon. But it turned to
S2: bursaries each year. Vision Australia, over the last 27 years
S2: has presented bursaries to students of all ages, beginning their study,
S2: beginning in the tertiary. Studies. We've done 486 bursaries in total.
S2: They're up to about $10,000, and they fund the accessible
S2: technology that's needed for students to complete their studies. And
S2: they level the playing field between a person who is
S2: blind or low vision and their sighted peers. We're delighted
S2: this year to award 16 bursaries, and those are supported
S2: by generous donors right across the country. The names of
S2: the bursary recipients are going to be recorded in the minutes.
S2: We also have a really important career start graduate program.
S2: It's called the Ian Paul Career Start Graduate program, after
S2: a gentleman who supported us philanthropically for many years and
S2: left us a great deal in his estate. He provided
S2: the initial seed funding for for this program and just
S2: has made a remarkable contribution. We've had well over 40
S2: people through this program over the over the ten years
S2: that's been operating, and there has only been one person
S2: out of those who has not completed the program. Graduates
S2: spend their first nine months working at Virgin Australia and
S2: then do a three month placement with another organization. We've
S2: we've probably employed about ten of the 40 back end
S2: division in Australia because they're just that good. And the
S2: remainder have gone on and got great jobs. So we
S2: congratulate Tristan Browne, Tristan Bowen, sorry, Joe Lennox, Olivia Mitchell,
S2: Jessie Much Raju and Grace Hobbs on being part of
S2: our graduate program. And I was talking to the Pet
S2: Barn people the other day and even about six months
S2: ahead of Olivia, being eligible to go out to them.
S2: They're already planning about how they're going to bring into
S2: their organizations. So she's absolutely rocked her, her interview. So
S2: congratulations to all of you. I'd like to turn now
S2: to the Vision Australia Awards. We present each year, Vision
S2: Australia Awards to people who have made a significant contribution
S2: to the blindness and low vision community. And we do
S2: these in three categories. We have individual awards, we have
S2: youth awards and we have organisational awards. This year we
S2: have three awards and I'm going to announce these now.
S2: Andrew's kind of let the cat out of the bag
S2: a little bit by saying that he's he's going to
S2: get hers. So he'll have to wait till last to
S2: get his. The first Vision Australia award is to a
S2: gentleman called Richard Lyle. Richard Lyle is a part of
S2: the black and white committee of double Bay, and they
S2: have for 85 years raised funds for predecessor organisations consistently
S2: for children who are blind or have low vision in
S2: the New South Wales and broader Australia. Richard Lyle has
S2: volunteered for the Black and White Committee for 55 zero
S2: of those years, and that is pretty much a remarkable
S2: contribution as a regular. He's a regular master of ceremonies,
S2: and pretty much every event that I go into, and
S2: probably every event you go to Larry because you've done
S2: a few of those. You, Richard, is the person running
S2: the events. Richard can't be with us today. They're running
S2: in one of their regular lunches at Otto's in Sydney
S2: in a few weeks time, and I'm going to present
S2: him his Vision Australia award at that event. Our second
S2: award today is for Lara. Natalie. Lara, you're in the
S2: audience here. Are you going to come up? Why don't
S2: you come on up? Kate's going to put a microphone
S2: in your hand. Because I might just get you to
S2: say a few words. Lara, you're a role model for
S2: so many young Australians who are blind or low vision.
S2: I've known you for, I think, seven years now, and
S2: I've seen you grow, which has been absolutely fantastic. You're
S2: an accomplished performer. You've been on Carol's by Candlelight last year,
S2: and you're going to be performing again this year on
S2: Carols by Candlelight.
S6: Yeah.
S2: You're you're going to graduate very shortly. I think you
S2: told me just before that. Was it yesterday that you
S2: completed your Masters of degree in music therapy?
S6: Yes, it was shortly.
S2: And you and I, we've had a great relationship over
S2: the years as as friends and colleagues. And I'm delighted
S2: to present you with a Vision Australia award, which I
S2: think I have right here with me. That's. Andrew's behind you, Lara.
S2: Right here is your Vision Australia award.
S6: Oh, wow. Congratulations. Thanks so much, Ron. And thanks so
S6: much to everyone at Virgin Australia for supporting me over
S6: the years. I've been a client since the age of
S6: six and I've received various services such as OT employment.
S6: Um and I used to attend the school holiday programs
S6: when I was at school, so we did like different
S6: activities and outings and things like that. Um, and I'd
S6: also like to thank my amazing parents for, um, supporting
S6: me throughout my life. And thanks to Duncan and Wendy
S6: from Platinum Creative, um, for being. I'm very supportive managers.
S6: For Duncan's my manager, and they're both here today, so
S6: thank you.
S2: Well done. Lara, thank you very much. Sarah Waters to Andrew,
S2: Moffat and Andrew. This is, of course, a quite emotional moment,
S2: I think, for both of us. And as I was
S2: reflecting on what I was going to say and I
S2: didn't really work this out this morning. This award is
S2: not just for you being Vision Australia chair and a
S2: director for 12 years. It's about 25 years of service
S2: to the blindness and low vision community in Australia and
S2: the United Kingdom, which has been quite exceptional. It's about
S2: the role model that you create for so many people,
S2: and I know that you're not part of the conventional
S2: blindness community, but what you are is, I think, probably
S2: an elite sportsperson. Anybody who rides a bike at the
S2: speed that you do with the site you have, there's
S2: got to be a lead in something. But I think
S2: you mentioned to us last night that you also fenced
S2: for Australia, so that probably puts you up there. But
S2: you've also had a remarkable career, first in investment banking,
S2: and now you're one of Australia's most respected commercial mediators.
S2: And to my mind, that inspires many, many to, to
S2: to achieve to the same, same level. You have you
S2: provided remarkable leadership to our organisation. We've been through the
S2: last ten years, you and I together. But you've been
S2: on the board 12, and I can't imagine a time
S2: ever where organisations like ours have gone through quite such
S2: a dramatic change. We had the NDIS come along, we
S2: had a pandemic wander all the way through. We've as
S2: an organisation grown incredibly and delivered some great products and
S2: built our organisation over that time, and you have been
S2: an enormous part of that, that success. Our fundraising people
S2: wanted to me to pass on their grateful thanks for
S2: how good a fundraiser you are, an absolutely remarkable networker
S2: at events, and probably the characteristic that I'd like to
S2: bring out most is, is that we never, ever are
S2: going to wonder about you in terms of what you
S2: think and, and also also your your absolute commitment to
S2: our organisation, the enormous enthusiasm you put into everything, your
S2: willingness to to talk to anybody. If I was to
S2: ring up Andrew and say, hey, we've got a five
S2: year old boy who lives in Alice Springs who'd like
S2: to have a chat to someone who's an investment banker.
S2: Andrew would probably fly there to have that conversation as
S2: opposed to on the telephone. So, Andrew, your willingness to
S2: contribute to our community has just been remarkable over the
S2: last 12 years. And I'm sure for the other 13
S2: years that you were part of action for blind people
S2: in the United Kingdom. I'm going to stop there because
S2: it's just becoming a fraction emotional for me. I present
S2: you with your business award, and you can now talk
S2: for as long as you want.
S7: Thank you very much. Thank you.
S5: Ron, thank you very much. Now I. As people have
S5: probably gathered, for the most part, I really have enjoyed
S5: being chair of Vision Australia. And I'm going to look
S5: at Darren here. I think constitutionally, constitutionally, what I'm about
S5: to say is probably legally not quite correct. But practically,
S5: I think I can stay as chair for as long
S5: as this meeting lasts, which is until the conclusion of
S5: my speech. So can I encourage you all to get
S5: some lunch and make no sorry. Only kidding. So I,
S5: as some of you will remember when I was first
S5: chair these Vision Australia Awards. So this one, for those
S5: of you who can't see, is basically the Vision Australia
S5: logo turned into a piece of perspex that would break
S5: your foot if you dropped it. It used to be
S5: a cylinder that looked like a kind of unexploded bomb,
S5: and the first couple of times when I was chairing,
S5: I was giving a Vision Australia awards. I don't know
S5: whether any of you remembered I tried to milk such comedies.
S5: I could get from describing audio description, which was accurate,
S5: but possibly not entirely absence of sarcasm, but I'm not
S5: sure what I can say about this, actually, other than
S5: I will be asking somebody like Bill next time I
S5: see him to check that the Braille is actually in
S5: accordance with the handwriting, which I shall be reading with
S5: my magnifying glass, but I'm very thrilled to get it.
S5: So yeah, look, deeply emotional moment for me. And there
S5: are some things that I would like to say. When
S5: I arrived, there was some fairly obvious recent, I think, trauma,
S5: it's fair to say, within the board and across the organisation.
S5: And there was also some, some real uncertainty about what
S5: the NDIS might mean. So I think I joined at
S5: a at a time when there was, I mean, as always,
S5: in an organisation like this, there's an opportunity to make
S5: a difference. But there really was in this particular case,
S5: fairly shortly after I joined the board, decided we need
S5: a change of executive leadership. And through a process, Ron
S5: joined us. An extraordinarily energetic and an extraordinarily energetic man,
S5: as we discovered a great listener. But at the time,
S5: if anyone can remember, I know lots of staff have
S5: been here. We're very good at retaining wonderful people. So
S5: I know a lot of the staff were were listening
S5: to Ron when he first joined in this bizarre mixture
S5: of kind of military jargon and hospital clinical speak, and
S5: then a few IT terms put in, all delivered in
S5: a New Zealand accent, which was very bewildering. But, you know,
S5: we worked through that. What we did discover from Ron
S5: is the speech was a bit odd, but the listening
S5: was incredibly acute. And Ron spent a lot of time
S5: understanding the staff, understanding our clients, understanding our mission, and
S5: fairly soon we started to see the fruit of of
S5: that listening. And so there was a, I think, a
S5: very energetic, receptive discussion between Ron and the board and
S5: the management team. And we started to see, I think,
S5: the fruits of that quite quickly, in fact. So there
S5: was some some practical stuff, the most obvious one being
S5: as the NDIS was initially rolled out to to two
S5: and then three trial sites, I thought a fantastic next
S5: step of creating Vision Australia test sites that were in
S5: those trial locations, so that we had an ability to
S5: work with the very first wave of people who were
S5: blind or had low vision in Australia, who were within
S5: the NDIS and within those test sites. The staff were,
S5: I guess, liberated from the normal structures and processes of
S5: the rest division in Australia and encouraged to try stuff,
S5: including stuff that might not work. And I thought that
S5: was outstanding and very much, I think the foundations of
S5: what have been embedded today, in many cases can be
S5: seen from what we've learned in those places. So that
S5: was the first thing. There was a strategic element as
S5: well that has been initiated back then and has really
S5: stood the test of time, and that is as a
S5: result of a long period of, again, intensive listening to
S5: clients and working with staff and what have you, which
S5: the board was intimately involved with also, and that that
S5: confirmed that where we should focus at what was important
S5: for our clients were those four domains that still drive,
S5: I think, our strategic thinking today. So focusing on employment,
S5: focusing on education, focusing on independence and on social inclusion.
S5: And just to remind everybody who was here at the time,
S5: we didn't go in with those as foregone conclusions and
S5: then suffer from confirmation bias by trying to get people who.
S5: That that's actually that makes sense to them. Actually. We listened.
S5: And in fact, the the emphasis on social inclusion, which
S5: has been a very important driver in everything we've done
S5: since then, that emphasis was materially more from our clients
S5: than we'd expected going in. So we had we had,
S5: of course, some kind of ideas of what might come
S5: out of it. But we listened and we realized that
S5: actually our clients would like us to focus slightly differently
S5: than than we might otherwise have decided to do. So
S5: that was the strategic element. And then the third aspect
S5: was the the cultural element I still have sitting on
S5: my desk in my office in the city, a Virgin
S5: Australia mouse mat, which, like all good mouse mates, has
S5: little circles on with things written on them and the
S5: five values that that drive everything we do today. And again,
S5: they were they were extraordinarily catalytic things. They weren't the
S5: normal stuff, you know, integrity and whatever. You know, the
S5: normal waffling motherhood statements that lots of organizations tend to
S5: adopt as values, they were real. They drove change. So
S5: stuff like agility, customer focus, accountability, these kind of things.
S5: They have, again, provided a clear message for our staff
S5: where we see them working with clients, with the organisation.
S5: And those cultures have been clear enablers for us, for
S5: everything we've done since. So that's the foundation now then,
S5: you know, rolling forward over the coming ten years. What
S5: do I think are the defining features of a Vision
S5: Australia firstly, and Ron spoke about it before ambition. Now
S5: the ambition I think is a virtuous, challenging but a
S5: virtuous cycle. Our message to our clients, some of you
S5: in this room, but all the others to our message
S5: to our clients, is you may be blind or have
S5: low vision, but you can be ambitious for yourself in
S5: whatever area in which you choose to live your life.
S5: So we are empowering and encouraging and enabling our clients
S5: to be more ambitious, but in order to be able
S5: to then support them in fulfilling those ambitions, we in
S5: ourselves have to be more ambitious. We have to do
S5: more and better in more places, with more people in
S5: different ways. And so that ambition is constant. So somebody
S5: I'm getting lots of people asking me how I feel
S5: about leaving the place. And the answer is, yeah, it's
S5: it's emotionally challenging. But one of the things is there
S5: is no concept at Vision Australia to say, well, we've
S5: got it all sorted now. I've known for well, I mean,
S5: it didn't occur to me when I joined the board
S5: that I'd ever be chair, but but even if I
S5: had known that, I would have known 12 years was
S5: the maximum. But there's no concept to say, okay, Andrew,
S5: put your skates on, work out, work up to October
S5: 2023 and have everything fixed. Because as soon as we
S5: achieve one thing, we find ourselves striving to do more
S5: and better in furtherance of our mission than we have
S5: done before. And I think that's a wonderful thing. I
S5: think Amber talked about it, and you can see, I
S5: think every single utterance, I hope from everyone at Vision
S5: Australia that that ambition is felt at an organizational level,
S5: but also at a personal one. The second characteristic I'd
S5: like to talk about is a willingness to make decisions.
S5: And that should be something we take for granted. But
S5: it was astonishing when The Andrew and Ron Show first
S5: went on the road and we started talking to other
S5: organizations in our sector and other organizations in the disability
S5: sector in particular, as the NDIS was starting, and we think, okay,
S5: you know, we've worked on this. We're bringing the finest
S5: minds we have and our best hypotheses, but it would
S5: be really good to to get understandings. And it was astonishing, Ron,
S5: wasn't it. Every single one of them was saying, oh,
S5: we don't know. We're just going to wait to see
S5: what happens. I think really we were we were sitting there,
S5: we were saying, okay, what do we think might happen
S5: in the future? What are the doors we need to
S5: keep open? What are the doors we should close? What
S5: are the risks that we need to prepare for? We're
S5: not willing to just be blown around by fate and wait,
S5: subject to whatever decisions might happen. Because the people who
S5: will suffer from that are fundamentally not Vision Australia. It's
S5: all our clients. And if we just sit passively and
S5: wait to to see what happens for a whole lot
S5: of people, the uncertainty will fall on them. And I
S5: think in that case, we fail to make our deliver
S5: our mission. So one thing I think with Vision Australia
S5: that I have noted I am proud of and I
S5: believe I've been part of, is ensuring that we make decisions.
S5: We look at the facts, we we look at our mission.
S5: We gather as much information as we can, but we
S5: still haven't managed to have a crystal ball, Ron, have we?
S5: We're taking expectations about the future and making plans, but
S5: we are making decisions and implementing those decisions vigorously until
S5: such time as we discover we get different data and
S5: then we we adjust our decisions. And I think that's important.
S5: And for those of you who've been involved in other organisations,
S5: I'm hoping you will. You will see that that's something
S5: that Vision Australia stands out in, because certainly lots of
S5: lots of organisations in the in the not for profit
S5: sector and indeed in the commercial sector struggle with decision making.
S5: And I think, I think Australia, Australia is struggling with
S5: that at the moment even as a nation. So one
S5: of the other things I'd like to say is we
S5: we've also one of our characteristics is to be opportunistic.
S5: It's funny opportunism. It seems to be regarded. It's used
S5: as a kind of term of abuse. You're being opportunistic.
S5: But actually I can't imagine what you do with an
S5: opportunity other than take it. If it was a good one.
S5: It's never made any sense to me. Why that seems
S5: to be a corporate insult, but we've looked at opportunities
S5: when they've come up. So in every case, tying back
S5: to remember the four strategic priorities that we've identified and
S5: the overarching mission that drives everything and how we respond.
S5: So we're an organisation that's ambitious, we're organisation with that's
S5: well led, and we're occasionally an organisation that's lucky and
S5: I think that's a good thing. We should embrace that.
S5: Of course I need to thank some people. I mean
S5: actually I need to to thank a list of people
S5: that's way longer than Justine's roll call and fraught with danger,
S5: because no matter how many people I try and thank individually,
S5: I'll miss somebody. And that would be inadvertent, but I
S5: understand that would be wounding. So therefore I'll go the
S5: other way. I'm only going to namecheck two people here.
S5: The first is Ron as as Ron mentioned, he and
S5: I have worked very closely since he joined. It was
S5: an odd day when Ron joined because I wasn't there
S5: was a there was a board subcommittee that was charged
S5: by the board with choosing the chief executive, and they
S5: weren't quite as consultative as the rest of the board
S5: thought they were going to be. So my first meeting
S5: with Ron was, yeah, we're going to bring the candidate
S5: in for the board meeting, but you've only got 20
S5: minutes because he's signing his contract in HR upstairs thought, okay,
S5: it's that kind of consultation, I get that. Tough, tough
S5: way to start, Ron. But we've we seem to have
S5: got into a rhythm one way or other over the time.
S5: My my relationship with Ron is a very organic one.
S5: So we we we have I think over the years,
S5: as you would expect, a pretty good idea of the
S5: areas where we can benefit from consulting each other. We
S5: tend not to kind of arrange chats. We simply call
S5: each other. And if I missed a call from Ron
S5: or he's missed a call from me, we'll call back.
S5: And it might be at 7:30 a.m. or 9:09 p.m.,
S5: but that that tends to be okay, because my assumption
S5: is that if Ron calls me, it's not to discuss
S5: the weather and vice versa. So we speak often organically,
S5: and I think that's been wonderful. We challenged. Each other
S5: a lot. There have been times when people have suggested
S5: that we. We look like we agree with each other
S5: too much, but actually in reality, you know, the, the,
S5: the proverbial swan, you know, cruising smoothly on the surface
S5: and kicking like mad, invisible under the water. So we
S5: test our thinking with each other. Eye test on behalf
S5: of the entire board. Ron's thinking on topics, and Ron
S5: has become very comfortable testing his thoughts on Vision Australia.
S5: You know, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. And
S5: through that process that I think has driven the messages
S5: that Ron is sending back to the management team and
S5: how the organization is managed and, and very much then
S5: the messages that the board needs Ron to have and
S5: that needs Ron to be thinking about. I think that's
S5: worked really well. So it's been extraordinary. I'm going to
S5: miss it very much. It has been, I suspect, well,
S5: certainly the the closest and probably longest relationship I've had
S5: in my, in my commercial life. And, and I very
S5: much hope and I believe that it's been one that
S5: has worked well for the organization and its mission. But, Ron,
S5: I'm going to miss it. And I wish you hadn't
S5: said about being emotional earlier, because that doesn't help. The
S5: second thing, second person that I'd like to namecheck, of course,
S5: is Bill now. So Bill's governance career at Virgin Australia
S5: very much interconnects with mine because of course I'd met
S5: Bill in my early time on the board. But Bill
S5: first joined our formal governance structure when I was chair
S5: of the audit, Finance and Risk Committee, and Bill joined
S5: that before he became a director eight years ago. So
S5: Bill and I have worked very closely on the audit,
S5: Finance and Risk Committee bill, as we all know, is
S5: a formidable intellect, incredibly knowledgeable about the blindness world, but
S5: also incredibly open minded as well. And it's a rare
S5: privilege for us as an organization to have somebody who
S5: can be so aware of history but not constrained by it.
S5: So it was only natural that when the board asked
S5: me eight and a bit years ago, whether I would
S5: consider taking over the chair entirely unexpected, my first response was,
S5: and Ron was my was. Ron was right to say,
S5: I don't see myself in any way and have not
S5: been a member of the blindness community. So I was
S5: very keen to make sure that Vision Australia's. Message reputation
S5: status in the blindness community was not undermined by having
S5: somebody who's got some kind of vision, at least standing
S5: at the lectern like this. So I spoke to Bill
S5: in good Bill and Andrew Way over a beer at
S5: the Keong Lawn Tennis Club across the road, and asked Bill,
S5: put this on the table. I said, Bill, you know,
S5: I've been asked about this. The only scenario under which
S5: I would consider taking the chair is if the blindness
S5: community would would be very supportive of that. If it
S5: makes it look like the organization's focus is drifting away
S5: from our core mission, then I'm doing the organisation a
S5: disservice by taking that role, and Bill assured me I
S5: can't remember the precise words he used, but but broadly speaking,
S5: the blindness organisation like the organisation, the blindness community, like
S5: the organisation as a whole cares about my ability and
S5: the fact that I can also see a little bit,
S5: you know, isn't necessarily seen as a disqualifier. And so
S5: Bill and I have had a fabulous organization, a fabulous
S5: relationship for the whole time I've been on the chair.
S5: Bill has been a person who's been my go to
S5: when I need counsel about the blindness community when we
S5: have fires, fires to fight, which happened from time to time.
S5: I have always been very comfortable asking Bill advice. Bill
S5: has always been very comfortable imposing advice on me, even
S5: if I didn't ask for it. And that has been
S5: fabulous and foundational. And and Bill, I couldn't be more
S5: pleased to to pass across leading the organization to you.
S5: And I look forward to keeping in touch over the coming,
S5: the coming years, so that you'll be relieved to know.
S5: Nearly brings me to the end of my discussion. Of course,
S5: I'd like to thank all the other people who went
S5: to name so my fellow directors who are on the
S5: board now, and those people who've been on the board
S5: during the rest of my tenure, of course, the staff,
S5: all of our volunteers, our clients who've engaged with me
S5: very generously in lots of. Ways our donors. I'd like
S5: to thank everyone. It has been a wonderful process and
S5: I've always felt very, very welcomed. And I've always found
S5: I've had very energetic discussions and I've been getting a
S5: tsunami of emails and texts over the last day, which
S5: which every time brings a lump to my throat. Finally,
S5: I would like to address the future and what gives
S5: me enormous confidence about Vision Australia going forward. I mean,
S5: apart from all the other stuff that I've been talking
S5: about the last few minutes. But Ron's right. So I
S5: have apparently about 15% vision and yes, he's right, I
S5: fence and and I cycle. I haven't been cycle racing
S5: for a few years, but at various points in my
S5: life I cycle race and not on the back of
S5: a tandem on the front of a bike, of course. So.
S5: And people who who know me socially, who are aware
S5: of them socially or professionally, who are aware of that,
S5: they look at me and they think something doesn't make
S5: sense because you don't seem like a complete idiot, but
S5: you do this stuff. Now, just to be clear, I
S5: am not remotely in the same league in terms of
S5: lunatic risk taking as Kevin Murphy or Chris Edwards. Okay,
S5: different level, but I'm asked this quite often, how do
S5: you do that? And my message is. Actually, if you're
S5: riding a bicycle reasonably quickly. If you know the direction
S5: you're intending to head. If you look as far enough
S5: ahead as you can, then. You encounter something? Something, you
S5: hit a pothole or whatever, then. What you have to
S5: do is hold your nerve. If you break suddenly. If
S5: you try and swerve. You'll probably crash. Sometimes you'll crash anyway. But.
S5: You know your direction. You get back and you continue. Okay,
S5: now that has got me here. Cycling for most of
S5: my life. A few days short of my 57th birthday.
S5: So that's been my strategy. And if I turn that
S5: strategy to Vision Australia, I think it maps perfectly. Vision
S5: Australia knows its mission. Absolutely. It looks far ahead. It's
S5: it's looking to looking ahead where it needs to go,
S5: making the decision that it needs to get there. Armed
S5: with a group of people who know that there will
S5: be uncertainties that come up in our way, and obviously
S5: Covid was one of them, but only one, there will
S5: always be more. And when those uncertainties come, don't forget
S5: the direction you're needing to head. Deal with the obstacles
S5: you have and pick up. And I think Vision Australia
S5: is better equipped to do that than any other organisation
S5: I can imagine, in any sphere, anywhere in the world.
S5: So I know I leave the blindness community in good hands.
S5: So thank you.
S1: Congratulations and best wishes to outgoing chair Andrew Moffatt there
S1: as he concludes his time as Chair of Vision Australia,
S1: recognised there with a Vision Australia award for his years
S1: of service to the organisation and finally returning to official
S1: matters of the AGM. Andrew finished up by thanking all
S1: who attended and noting that the formalities of the annual
S1: General Meeting had now officially concluded, and therefore declared the
S1: 2023 Annual General Meeting closed. And that concludes this talking vision.
S1: Special highlights of the 2023 Vision Australia Annual General Meeting.
S1: The recording of the entire AGM will be available shortly
S1: on the Vision Australia website. Vision australia.org that's Vision Australia
S1: or one word.org. Remember as well that you can tune
S1: in to Talking Vision each week on a Vision Australia Radio,
S1: the Vision Australia Radio website as well as the Vision
S1: Australia library and wherever you find your podcasts. This has
S1: been a Vision Australia radio production. Thank you very much
S1: to Ed Gamble, Dale Simpson, Mark Ridout, Kate Davies and
S1: Sanjeev Rajendran for your invaluable organisation and production skills which
S1: make this program possible. On Sam Cully, it's been an
S1: absolute pleasure to be with you today, but until next
S1: time it's bye for now.