BUSHkids 90th YEAR CELEBRATIONS

Category: Brisbane

BUSHkids 90th YEAR CELEBRATIONS

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90th Year Celebrations at Parliament House

Our 90th year celebrations kicked off last night with a reception for 120 guests at Parliament House hosted by the Queensland Premier’s Department.

We were delighted that our staff, board members and supporters were joined by our patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM, Governor of Queensland, and Professor Graeme Nimmo RFD.

Alongside a number of MP’s and Ministers at the event was the deputy premier of Queensland, The Honourable Jarrod Bleijie MP who spoke about the organisation’s contribution to improving the lives of children over the last 90 years and the great work BUSHkids is doing in Rural, Regional and Remote Queensland today.

Our special thanks go to our friend and supporter Stephen Bennett MP, Member for Burnett, for hosting the Evening Reception on behalf of the Premier.  You’ll be able to find a video recap of the evening below.

To coincide with the Parliament House event, Brisbane City Council also honoured our work last night by lighting up key Brisbane landmarks in the BUSHkids colours of red, orange, white, and blue. The Story Bridge, Victoria Bridge, Kangaroo Point Bridge, and the Reddacliff Place sculptures were all lit up in BUSHkids colours.

90th Year Celebrations at Government House

On Thursday 13 November BUSHkids supporters, staff, Board Directors, and Friends of BUSHkids volunteers were invited to a reception at Government House with the organisation’s Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM Governor of Queensland.

The event, celebrating BUSHkids’ 90th year was also the official launch of a book about the life of BUSHkids’ founder Sir Leslie Orme Wilson. Written by Dianne McInness with a forward by BUSHkids’ Board Director and Sir Leslie’s grandson, Charlie Wilson, the book details Sir Leslie’s fascinating life through his service in the Boar War, Great War and as a Member of the British Parliament as well has his Governorships of Bombay and Queensland. Fittingly, his lasting legacy remains The Royal Queensland Bush Children’s Health Scheme which he founded 90 years ago this year. Sir Leslie Orme Wilson A Life of Honour is available from Amazon.

All of us at BUSHkids would like to thank Her Excellency Dr Jannette Young for hosting the reception at Government House. It was a memorable evening.

 

BUSHkids Acknowledged in State and Federal Parliament

Member for Burnett, Stephen Bennett State addressing State Parliament – Matters of Public Interest Sept 2025

Member for Hinkler, David Batt addresses Federal Parliament – House of Representatives Chamber Oct 2025

BUSHkids Annual Report 2023 – 2024

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Approaching 2025, when BUSHkids will celebrate 90 years transforming the lives of children, families, and communities in regional, rural, and remote Queensland, it’s worth reflecting on our inspiring past 12 months.

Across the generations, BUSHkids has continuously adapted. Tapping into the famous ingenuity of bush communities to help solve problems, we’ve worked together to make a brighter future.  Our deep community roots, combined with our team’s professional expertise, allow us to effectively meet the evolving needs and unique challenges faced by local families.

As we look towards the celebration of a remarkable 90-year milestone in 2025, BUSHkids remains committed to improving outcomes for children, families and communities, ensuring that our legacy of care and support continues to flourish. Within this year’s annual report, you will find stories that highlight the significant differences we make in the lives of children and their families.

You can read and download your own copy of this years Annual Report (pdf) BUSHkids 2023-24 Annual Report

Flipbook version available here

Text only transcript of the annual report (pdf) BUSHkids 2023-24 Annual Report TEXT-ONLY TRANSCRIPT

 

BUSHkids Annual Report 2022 – 2023

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BUSHkids supports Queensland children and families living in regional, rural and remote communities to thrive and achieve their potential.  In 2023, we focused on revitalising our services and growing our people to ensure BUSHkids continues to provide exceptional support to children and families into the future.  We have continued to work with other who share our vision that “All Queensland children achieve their potential regardless of where they live”.

You can read and download your own copy of this years Annual Report (pdf) BUSHkids 2022-23 Annual Report

Flipbook version available here

Throughout this year BUSHkids has made great strides along the path towards Reconciliation.  BUSHkids has received news from governing body Reconciliation Australia, that our proposed first-stage (“Reflect”) Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) has been officially accredited and BUSHkids formally accepted as a member of the nations-wide RAP Network.

For more information on BUSHkids Reconciliation Auction Plan, please visit here.

SUN SHINES ON OFFICIAL OPENING OF BABIMIM JHARR

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Today was a day of celebration at BUSHkids as we officially opened our new teleBUSHkids Centre, Babimim Jharr, which enables us to remotely provide a full range of support and therapies to communities across Queensland and allows kids and families in remote locations who find it difficult to travel into one of our centres to receive the support they need.

The new centre was officially opened this morning by Queensland’s Deputy Premier, Steven Miles.

“We are delighted that the Deputy Premier was able to take time from his busy schedule to officially open the centre for us today,” said BUSHkids CEO Carlton Meyn. The plans for the new centre only become a reality in June 2021 when the Queensland Government contributed nearly half a million dollars to the project through a grant from the Community Infrastructure Investment Partnership (CIIP) program. This allowed us to start construction work in September 2021 and we invested our own money, fundraised and received many kind donations from our friends and supporters to ensure the project could be completed late last year. It was fantastic that so many of our supporters could come together today and celebrate the official opening”

The new centre has been named Babimim Jharr meaning family place in the First Nations Jagera language. The name was decided upon following consultation with representatives from the local Jagera community. “We think Babimim Jharr – family place – Connecting our children, families and communities, is a highly appropriate name for a centre which will do so much to help families across Queensland,” added Carlton.

BUSHkids would like to thank everyone who has helped make the new teleBUSHkids Centre a reality, especially those who attended todays wonderful opening event.

Opening of Babimim Jharr

BUSHkids To Provide Support To More Queensland Kids with New Telepractice Centre

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BUSHkids will be able to provide free support to more families in regional and remote Queensland with the opening of its dedicated telepractice centre in Toowong. The centre, which has been under construction since September 2021, will be officially opened on Wednesday 31 May by The Honourable Dr Steven Miles MP who is also Minister for State Development and Infrastructure.  The centre was constructed with the help of the Queensland Government who contributed $481,090 to the project through a grant from the Community Infrastructure Investment Partnership (CIIP) program.

“The new centre is an invaluable asset for us,” said BUSHkids CEO Carlton Meyn. “It will greatly improve our ability to support kids and families in regional and rural communities across Queensland, particularly those who live in very remote areas.”

Telepractice is a form of telehealth allowing for the provision of allied health services such a speech therapy, developmental support and psychological support remotely using technology such as videoconferencing.  For more information on BUSHkids telepractice, please visit our telepractice page here.

Celebrating BUSHkids 10 Years On.

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Reflection on BUSHkids’ organisational transformation

BUSHkids has a long, proud 86-year history of serving Queensland communities to support children to achieve their potential. Whilst the way we deliver services has changed, the original vision and purpose of the organisation remains true.

From this strong value base, through the implementation of robust policies and procedures, cultural realignment of the workforce and through the development and successful operational delivery of our 2015–2020 Strategic Plan, BUSHkids is now widely regarded as an industry leader – across Queensland and around Australia.

To help celebrate, BUSHkids CEO Carlton Meyn reflects on BUSHkids’ organisational transformation over the past 10 years.  Read or download your copy here: Reflection on BUSHkids Organisational Transformation 2021.

 

Valé and thank-you to our Deputy-Chair Gloria Ryan

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BUSHkids Council member Gloria Ryan was legally trained and enthusiastically contributed to all aspects of our contracting matters, supporting BUSHkids with legal input, comprehensively advising on the Scheme’s Policies and Procedures and navigating our trademark’s 12-month registration process – just some of Gloria’s many professional contributions voluntarily given to support our organisation over more than a decade of service.

Council member         •         June 2009

Deputy Chair         •         November 2014

Passed away         •         April 2021

 

“Gloria certainly made a great contribution to BUSHkids over a number of years. She was a lovely person, always greeting you with a welcoming smile.

“Gloria was one of those people who did not seek thanks or acknowledgement. She once told me she had a very soft spot for BUSHkids – clearly an understatement.

“I feel privileged to have shared experiences in the 12 years we served together on BUSHkids’ Council. So generous with her talent and time, Gloria will be sorely missed.

“Her empty chair at our Council Meetings will be a sad reminder of the friend we have lost.”

Allison McLean  B.Bus. GDPA CA
Honorary Treasurer

Valé, Gloria

BUSHkids’ Expresses our Condolences to the Queen

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BUSHkids Expresses our Condolences to the Queen.

Our Chairman, Dr Neil Bartels OAM, made a special visit to Government House this week to sign the condolence book for HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on behalf of BUSHkids.

BUSHkids has a long association with the royal family stretching back to 1959 when Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, officially opened our newly built home in Yeppoon.

Since then there have been numerous royal visits to BUSHkids and in 1973 the queen officially consented for the prefix ‘Royal’ to be added to the organisations name; allowing us to proudly call ourselves called the Royal Queensland Bush Children’s Health Scheme. Most recently two members of our Warwick team were introduced to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and his wife Kate during their visit to Australia in 2014.

All of us at BUSHkids extend our deepest sympathy to the queen and the members of the royal family for their loss.

BUSHkids Annual Report 2019 – 2020 now available.

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2020 has been one of the most difficult years in BUSHkids’ history—with continued drought, devastating bushfires and the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic—BUSHkids has come through it alongside the Queensland communities we are proud to be a part of.

This year’s annual report chronicles our journey through this turbulent year and includes heart-warming stories from the kids and families we were able to continue supporting through this difficult time.

Find our 2019-2020 Annual Report flipbook edition of our report here

You can also open and or download your own copy of our annual report (pdf) here

BUSHkids is also proudly releasing our new Strategic Plan for 2021 – 2026.  It can be found within the Annual Report and also here

(Video) BUSHkids is here for you.

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BUSHkids is here for you during the coronavirus crisis.

Our regional teams have recorded messages to let their communities know that BUSHkids is here for them during the coronavirus crisis.

While our Service Centres are currently operating via phone and teleHealth, be assured we are still here to support children and families in regional, rural and remote areas of Queensland.

If you need our support you can contact your local BUSHkids Centre – click here for details or call our Brisbane Office on 3870 7288, or email info@bushkids.org.au.

Our local teams are here for you during the coronavirus crisis, click on the name of the centre below to see their message.