From the CEO
I would like to give advance notice of our 2017 Annual General Meeting. One Door's AGM will be held on 5 November 2017.
As an association, we were required to hold the AGM within three months of the end of the financial year, but as a company limited by guarantee we now have up to five months. I hope to see many of you there.
There will be some significant changes as each Board Member now has a maximum term of three years. This will require a third of the current Members to retire each year for the next three years and that will then establish the ongoing cycle. There will not be an election of a Chair at the AGM as the Board Members now elect one of the current Members to act as Chair and there is no longer a requirement for a Deputy President, Treasurer or Secretary. The Company does have a Secretary, a Company Secretary, who is appointed by the Board and who is currently Steven Graham, General Manager of Corporate Services. However we will still have our lunch prior to the AGM, so some things will not change.
I wanted to report on our recent federal Parliamentary Friends of Mental Illness meeting hosted by our national body, MIFA. It was so encouraging to see over 50 politicians, Members of Parliament and Senators, from all parties attend this event and ask some probing questions. The meeting focused on Open Dialogue and the role that it is playing in mental health services. It was also an opportunity for me in closing the event to talk to the politicians about the importance of existing services such as Partners in Recovery, Personal Helpers and Mentors, Respite and Day to Day Living, all of which are transitioning funding to the NDIS. These services have made such a massive difference to both consumers and carers and must not be allowed to disappear.
Finally I would note that at One Door we are working feverously to engage in the NDIS despite the chaotic nature of the roll out and the impossibly low pricing schedule. We believe that people with a psychiatric disability deserve the same access as any other person with a disability. We are still disappointed in the high rejection rate of people living with mental illness but we will not give up. We will continue to fight on behalf of all people with psychosocial disability until they are supported effectively by the NDIS.
Rob Ramjan | CEO
To read more from the September 2017 eNews, click here.