Our Philosophy
The Station Ltd believes in the right of people
to make choices in their own lives,
the right to dignity, respect, privacy and confidentiality.
The Station strongly believes in right to be valued as individuals.
Table of Contents
Scenes from Bingo at The Station
2
Who We Are
3
Our Aims & Objectives
3
Chairperson & CEO Report
4
Treasurer’s Report
5
Service Activities of 2012-2013
6
Emergency Relief Program
6
Housing Support Program
7
Mental Health
7
Drug & Alcohol
8
St Vincent’s Homeless Health Service
8
Homeless Persons Legal Service
9
Department of Human Services
9
Acknowledgements
10
Financial Report
Scenes from Bingo at The Station
Who We Are
The Station Ltd was established in 1978 by
community members of the in inner city of
Sydney. It is designed to meet peoples’
immediate needs while offering an
environment which enables service users to
make informed decisions for their long term
needs. While a large portion of our clients
benefit from the access to basic needs alone, a
significant proportion require multi-faceted
assistance.
The Station Ltd is currently funded by The
Department of Community Services under
the Supported Accommodation Assistance
Program (SAAP), Dept of Family &
Community Services, Dept of Health and
Ageing and NSW Health.
Our Aims & Objectives
To provide a range of services for people who
have difficulty attaining and sustaining
adequate and secure accommodation, health
status, personal autonomy and dignity due to
a range of factors including, drug and alcohol
problems, psychiatric, psychological, physical
or intellectual disability, and unemployment.
Chairperson & Chief
Executive Officer Report
The staff and management of The Station
continue to provide a high standard of
assistance to the homeless of Sydney. Over
the past year 31,110 men and 2,640 women
attended The Station. We provided over
40,000 meals to our service users, 4849 people
used our laundry and 10,853 used the
showers, using over 450kg of laundry
powder.
In addition, our dedicated staff
delivered a range of services aimed at
preventing homelessness and meeting basic
and emergency needs. This included welfare,
housing support, drug and alcohol services
and emergency relief.
During the year, management and staff
successfully completed all the necessary
requirements to ensure ongoing accreditation
with Quality Management Services. This is
important because it means all our policies,
practices and procedures are current and it
demonstrates to our funding bodies our
commitment to excellence.
As with past years, we continue to be
supported by volunteers attending The
Station and organisations donating supplies
and services. In particular, we would like to
thank HWL Ebsworth, Henry Davis York
Lawyers, St Vincent’s Mental Health – their
GP’s, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses,
DEXUS and Brett Spark for his uninterrupted
volunteering. We are very grateful for this
generosity of time and resources.
The three year Strategic Plan covering 20132015 has been implemented. The Station
Board and management have worked closely
over the last 12 months to ensure all our goals
have been met, all of which are focused on
improving the lives of our service users.
We would both like to formally thank the
Board and all the staff for their dedication
and commitment over the past 12 months.
Thanks to their efforts the homeless of
Sydney continue to receive the very high
standard of assistance they deserve.
There continues to be a continual increase in
service users attending The Station and the
weekend opening remains a very successful
initiative.
This increase means we will
continue
to
lobby
government
for
appropriate funding to meet our needs.
David Bryant & Mekonen Lemma
Chairperson & CEO
Treasurer’s Report
As the Treasurer during the 2013 Financial
Year, I am pleased to report that the Station
Ltd is in a sound financial position and we
are able to keep providing much needed
services to the homeless men and women of
Sydney.
Thomas Davis & Co audited The Station Ltd’s
financial affairs this year and this audit
confirms that sound financial management
practices are in place to monitor spending
and to ensure the efficient use of The Station’s
resources.
For the 2013 Financial Year, The Station Ltd.
earned a surplus of $66,433. While pleasing, it
should be noted that this surplus came about
after extraordinary income of $42,683 arising
from insurance proceeds and a Communicate
salary subsidy. We also were able to secure
grants of $26,600 towards much needed
repairs to the building. Without this
extraordinary income and grants, the Station
would have been close to break even.
Discussions on financial matters, resource
allocation and the provision of effective
services to our clients continue to occupy
Board meetings.
The 2013 Financial Year was a year of great
change for the Station Ltd. With the support
of the Federal Department of Health we were
able to move to operating seven days a week;
throughout the year we kept very tight
control of expenditure to ensure that seven
day working is financially sustainable.
I would like to record my appreciation to our
four funding bodies – the NSW Department
of Family and Community Services, the NSW
Department
of
Health,
the
Federal
Department of Health and the Federal
Department of Social Services – for their
continued support of the Station.
Grant Revenue for this financial year
increased 21.3% due to the Federal
Department of Health funding of weekend
working as well as from CPI and employee
expenses inflation increases. Total assets as at
30th June 2013 were $258,500; total liabilities
were $130,894 with a retained surplus of
$127,606.
I take this opportunity to thank the Directors,
Members, Volunteers, the Manager, Mr.
Mekonen Lemma, and the Station Staff for
their dedication and continued support of
The Station Ltd.
Barry Jackaman
Treasurer
Emergency Relief Program
THE STATION’S ACTIVITIES 2012-2013
The following information was collected
throughout the last financial year:
Males
31,110
Females
2,676
Breakfast
17, 267
Lunch
24, 394
Shower Facilities
10, 853
Laundry Facilities
4, 849
Laundry Powder distributed
480kg
Toothbrushes distributed
450
Hair Cuts
133
Art session attendance
128
Bingo Participation
143
The Emergency Relief Program is a
specialised service to assist families, single
men & women to maintain their home,
making it bearable during financial hardship
and when possible to reduce homelessness.
During the past financial year, throughout
Emergency Relief Program and other services
provided by the organisation such as Welfare
crisis
intervention,
Housing
support
program, D&A counselling and Mental
Health assistance, the Station has provided
427 instances of Emergency Relief assistance.
We have noticed a significant increase in the
number of people seeking assistance for their
power bills. Electricity and Gas are the most
affected areas this is where most people
severely struggles along with food on their
tables. Medical scripts, rental assistance, food
parcels and
clothes
have also
been part
of
the
program
that
has
assisted
many
of
those who
required
help.
Housing Support Program
Mental Health Program
2012-2013 has been another busy year
assisting our clients to achieve their aims of
being housed. Especially to those who have
been homeless for an extended period of
time.
The Station focuses on providing mental
health services to some of the most
vulnerable individuals in the community.
Service users present with a great diversity of
mental health related needs, and with a high
incidence of with multiple needs including:
co-morbidity, chronic treatment resistant
conditions, rough sleeping, physical health
concerns, brain injuries and disability.
During the past year, were 1,860 housing
related consults; among those consults 20
new applications were submitted. Only 34
offers were tendered to our client group, 21
leases were accepted. Some of the offers were
declined due to the lack of tracing back those
applicants while in few cases the offered
property was in an unsuitable area and/or
the property did not meet the client needs
due to their medical or health condition.
As part of the housing support program
home visits is an integral part of case
management to minimize the risk of client
failure to maintain tenancy, therefore 93
home visits were provided. For many of our
client group upholding tenancy and keepingup with the appropriate living skills could be
a very stressful
task in order to
live independently
There is a strong focus on holistic care,
reducing risk and promoting equitable access
to greatly needed treatment services that
thoroughly and appropriately address the
needs of our service users in meaningful
ways.
St Vincent’s Mental Health Service continues
to operate a weekly psychiatric and there
were 124 psychiatric consults during this
financial year.
Over the duration of the year there were 157
mental health service referrals, 44 referrals for
acute psychiatric services, a total of 1884
consultations were recorded, with 1540 of
these relating to service users with dual
diagnosis and 276 concerning primarily
mental health.
Drug & Alcohol Program
The Station’s Drug & Alcohol program has
continued delivering assistance to those who
required intervention through professional
assistance that aims to reduce the impact of
substance use on both individuals and the
community. The effects of both alcohol and
illicit drug use can have a significant negative
impact on an individual’s health, safety and
mental health risks. As in previous years,
alcohol was the most common principal drug
of concern.
In order to reduce the risks The Station offers’
a balanced approach in order to educate its
customers around harm minimisation and
safety and provide individualised support
alongside other interventions.
During the 2012- 2013 financial year many
service users have been supported to make
changes and work towards sustained
recovery from patterns of addiction. NADA
records have reported that during this time
103 clients were
supported
through
this
program, with a
total
service
contact episodes
of 824.
St. Vincent’s
Homeless Health Service Primary Care and
Mental Health Clinic
In early 2011 the Homeless Health Service
began a clinic on Monday mornings at The
Station. Upstairs a G.P. Registrar and
Registered Nurse attend to clients’ physical
health needs and downstairs a Psychiatry
Registrar assesses and treats clients’
psychological needs.
For some, the symptoms of their illnesses
and/or negative experiences with the health
system means they do not readily engage in
mainstream health services. Working in
partnership with the staff at The Station, a
supportive and safe environment is provided
to assist clients to address their health care
needs.
Jenny O’Mahony
Homeless Health Service Manager
St Vincent’s Health Network
Homeless Persons’ Legal Service
The Homeless Persons’ Legal Service (HPLS)
commenced at The Station in June 2004.
From 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013, the
volunteer lawyers who attend The Station
Ltd each Monday morning from 10.00am to
12.00 noon gave legal advice to 65 individuals
(56 men and 9 women). Several of these
people received ongoing legal assistance,
accounting for the total number of 92 visits to
the legal clinic during that financial year.
The lawyers assist with a variety of general
civil law matters, such as advising and
assisting with outstanding fines and debt,
victim’s compensation applications, motor
vehicle accidents, and helping to sort out
Centrelink and Housing NSW issues. The
HPLS lawyers also help in referring criminal
matters to the HPLS Solicitor Advocate
Jeremy Rea, who provided criminal advice
and representation to 7 clients at The Station.
Samantha Sowerwine
Senior Solicitor Homeless Persons' Legal Service
Public Interest Advocacy Centre Ltd
Department of Human Services
Service Zone Sydney Homelessness and
Social Inclusion Unit
The Department of Human Services offers a
range of health, social and welfare payments
and services through Medicare, Centrelink,
Child Support, CRS Australia and Australian
Hearing. A Department of Human Services
Community Engagement Officer (CEO)
provides a specialist outreach service at the
Station Ltd every week. The CEO works
closely with The Station Ltd staff and other
government and non-government agencies to
assist customers who have particular barriers
preventing them from accessing mainstream
services. The CEO continues to provide a
reliable and effective means of ensuring that
customers who are homeless or at risk of
homelessness have access to the income
support and other services provided by the
department.
In the 2012-13 period, the CEO assisted over
260 customers at Station Ltd with their
enquiries, entitlements and responsibilities.
The CEO will continue to support customers
at the Station Ltd to improve their capacity to
participate in education, employment and
other opportunities to assist them to become
self-sufficient.
Denis DJ Williams
Team Leader / Darlinghurst
Acknowledgments
The Station Ltd would like to thank the
following people and organisations for their
invaluable assistance through-out the past
year. We look forward to your continuing
support.
Anna M Parissi
Bakers Delight – Wynyard
Brand Promotions Pty Ltd
Brett Spork/Australian Stockbroker Foundation
Colgate-Palmolive Pty Ltd
Dexus Property Group
Homeless Persons Legal Service
HWL Ebsworth
Mukta Singh
Christie Madsen/Pacific Brands
Tania O’Donnell
T-Bone Production
Bankwest/Clarence St Sydney NSW
Henry Davis York
IMAX Australia
David M Immerr
Socius Wealth Management
Vigilante Crew,
Macquarie Bank
Made In Italy
Meghan Carruthers
Mrs J. Chapman
Occidental Hotel
Oz Harvest
Rotary Club Darling Harbour
Resimac Limited
St. Phillip Anglican Church
SydneyCare
Shoes for Planet Earth
The Grace Hotel
The Benjamin Andrew Footpath
Wash on the Rocks Pty Ltd
WestPac/Kent st Wynyard branch
Yvonne Lim/ RCG Corporation Ltd
82 Erskine Street
Sydney NSW 2000
GPO Box 2202
Sydney NSW 2001
Ph: (02) 9299 2252