From the General Manager

The MRC has consolidated its service expansion in key areas of need such as employment, housing, health, education and training with the assistance of its 124 identified stakeholders. In 2007 – 2008 16 new projects commenced. More than 50% of these projects were funded again in 2008-2009 in recognition of their need and success. We are beginning to understand the benefits of service developments by analysing their success factors. Funding bodies are realising the benefits of partnering with the MRC to provide services for diverse Tasmanians and are seeking our expertise in this area. We remain thankful for another successful funding year in light of the challenging global, national and state economic climates that have impacted on our stakeholders.

The MRC recognises and acknowledges that people are our biggest resource. On the staffing frontier we bloomed to 60 staff members in May 2010, averaging around 50 paid staff for the year or (28.23 full time equivalents). A total of 12 promotions were made during the course of last year, with a number of the new positions sourced internally. The MRC is actively implementing strategies aligned to the Community Sector workforce development initiatives. These include investing in training for staff and communities and creating new positions aligned to service improvement. Each manager now implements ongoing service improvement initiatives that are formed as part of the operational planning cycle. We are beginning to see the return on our investment in the position of Strategy and Development Officer created in 2007-2008, and the project and stakeholder management tools that have developed as a result. This role has delivered in excess of 10 major service improvement projects over the past 2 years. We are hoping that these improvements will provide sustainable long term programs of support to those in need and have invested in technology to compliment these initiatives. The MRC has consciously invested in excess of $100,000 of HR related initiatives in the last financial year. These initiatives were designed to improve staff satisfaction and retention.

For many years we have observed Tasmania’s new arrivals struggle in their efforts to seek appropriate employment. Appropriate employment has been one of the contributing stressors for effective settlement in Tasmania for our newly arrived communities. This has resulted in a lot of secondary re-settlement of people from refugee and migrant backgrounds to the mainland states. In order to address this situation, the MRC has received funding from the Department of Employment Education and Work Place Relations (DEEWR) to enable the creation of a new program area to focus on employment activities for CALD Tasmanians. This new program is called Emerging Communities Employment Support Services (ESS).

As a result of program growth we are looking at various strategies including moving out of our Molle Street premises. As a short term strategy, the Phoenix Centre has relocated and will now operate out of 191-193 Liverpool Street. The ESS program will operate out of 332-334 Main Road, Glenorchy. We will endeavour to consolidate all our operations and reunite all services within the next two to three years. We will engage with our stakeholders to guide and inform us of a likely MRC move in the next year and hope that we find a community space that is central to access for clients, communities, members as well as staff. There are many exciting possibilities ahead for us.

It has given me great pleasure to represent the MRC at a community level on a number of state and federal bodies. These include Chair of Mental Health Council of Tasmania, the peak state body for mental health and Treasurer of the Settlement Council of Australia, the peak national body for Settlement. We are thankful for the co-operative working relationship we share with MRC Northern Tasmania through Judy Brown Parker (Chair) and Jennifer Houston (General Manager). I hope this alliance will deliver statewide service improvements and produce new service offerings through knowledge sharing.

The management team of Anne, Geoff, Gillian, Monika, Marianne and Virginia has worked hard to consolidate our service presence and I thank them for their good nature in assisting me with the ongoing organizational improvements. Now more than ever I believe the management team and staff are equipped with tools to deliver positive and sustainable strategies of support to our clients and communities. I applaud our 53 staff and 150 volunteers for their integrity, determination and teamwork in delivering services that empower the lives of Tasmanian migrants. I thank our 124 identified stakeholders who have partnered with us on some outstanding projects for our CALD communities. I share with them the recognition that has been bestowed upon the MRC through the communities we collectively represent.

I am heartened by the fact that the relevance of our services is being informed and transformed through regular community consultations. The MRC seeks to embrace new movements in consumer and carer participation reform and has informed levels of Government throughout the years in this process. I embrace future partnerships on issues of multicultural significance for the State of Tasmania, and where possible seek to link into existing frameworks and networks. I thank our members who continue to provide a united and strong voice as true champions for culturally and linguistically diverse causes across Tasmania.

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