CATSINaM Annual Report 2022-2023

Acknowledgments

The Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of our many lands and recognise their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and to their Elders and Ancestors.

CATSINaM is a public company limited by guarantee.

CATSINaM is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

Chairperson: Marni Tuala (RM)

CEO: Professor Roianne West

July 2022–November 2022

CEO: Dr Ali Drummond

Acting CEO: November 2022–April 2023; CEO: May 2023–June 2023

Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives ABN: 64 085 000 120

Auditor: Peter Irving

Reporting period: 1 July 2022–30 June 2023

Acronyms

ACNC Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission

AHCWA  Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia

AGM  Annual General Meeting

Ahpra  Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

AIDA  Australian Indigenous Doctors Association

ARC  Australian Research Council

ASQA  Australian Skills Quality Authority

BDAC  Bendigo & District Aboriginal Co-operative

CATSINaM   Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives

CPD  Continuing Professional Development

DRAW  Diabetes Reversal in Aboriginal Women

CSSG  Cultural Safety Steering Group

GP  General Practitioner

GENKE II  ‘gettin em n keepin em n growin em’: Strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery education reform (2022)

IAHA  Indigenous Allied Health Australia

LINMEN   Leaders in Indigenous Nursing and Midwifery Education Network

NACCHO  National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

NAATSIHWP  National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners

NHMRC  National Health and Medical Research Centre

OCNMO  Office of the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer

P4JH  Partnership for Justice in Health

PIA  Partnership Investment Agreement

QAIHC  Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council

RANZCOG  Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

VET  Vocational Education and Training

WHN    Women’s Health Nurse

President’s Message

The 2022–23 financial year was the final year for the CATSINaM 2018–23 Strategic Plan, and closes a significant chapter in the organisation’s history. In 2018, CATSINaM set four strategic priorities that would define our work over the subsequent five years:

• develop and support recruitment and retention strategies

• inform national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and education policy

• inform best practice in culturally safe learning and service delivery environments

• provide a cultural hub for resilience and leadership development.

In each of these priorities, CATSINaM has demonstrated a strategic and adaptable approach to achieving national reform.

This year saw the launch of the ‘gettin em n keepin em n growin em’: Strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nursing and Midwifery Education Reform report (GENKE II), at the CATSINaM 25th Anniversary National Conference. Following on from the original 2002 report, GENKE II is central to CATSINaM’s focus on recruitment and retention, and sets out clear and comprehensive strategies to privilege Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery knowledges, and embed cultural safety across all domains of nursing and midwifery education.

GENKE II also recognises the need for strong and accountable partnerships with key stakeholders in the nursing and midwifery sector to inform both national health and education policy, as well as best practice in cultural safety and service delivery. To these ends, CATSINaM has been proactive in strengthening our relationships with the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (CDNM) and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).

In an important signal of solidarity at the CATSINaM 25th Anniversary Conference, for the first time in national history, leaders in nursing and midwifery delivered an apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, for the hurt and harm caused by nurses and midwives. Professor Karen Strickland, Chair of CDNM, momentously delivered a sincere and heartfelt apology on behalf of the CDNM and its members. The CATSINaM Board welcome the CDNM’s commitment to work with us towards a strong and accountable partnership.

In June 2023, CATSINaM and the NMBA signed a Partnership Investment Agreement (PIA) on Ngunnawal country in Canberra. This agreement reflects an innovative and strategic approach to embed the recommendations from GENKE II. Through our PIA, CATSINaM and the NMBA are seeking to address systemic racism, enhance cultural safety, and empower the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives. CATSINaM’s members are its strength. The 2022–23 financial year has included several events that aimed to support our members’ cultural and professional development.

Our national conference saw a significant gathering of CATSINaM’s members on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. The cultural and intellectual strength of our membership was revitalising, as was the opportunity to reconnect and yarn with one another. This celebration, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the establishment of CATSINaM under the auspices of Aunty Sally Goold and our founding members, was a deeply sentimental occasion.

The national conference also featured the opening of the In Our Own Right: Black Australian Nurses and Midwives Stories national exhibition, which follows from Aunty Sally Goold and Kerrynne Liddle’s textbook, In Our Own Right, Black Australian Nurses’ Stories (published by Routledge in 2005). This exhibition was a powerful testament to the strength and tenacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives to care for their communities in spite of racism. Following its debut, the exhibition has been trialled in virtual reality form.

With the conclusion of the 2018–23 Strategic Plan, our Board and executive met on beautiful Bundjalung country in April this year to boldly envision the priorities that will shape the organisation’s strategic direction for the next five years. I am very excited to share the 2023–28 Strategic Plan with our membership in the coming months.

CATSINaM’s Board resolved in early 2023 to begin the process of Constitution modernisation, to ensure compliance with the Corporations Act 2001, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), Governance Standards, and our members’ expectations. Over the next financial year, CATSINaM will hold a series of webinars and face-to-face Q&A sessions to share the proposed changes with members. The Board has also spearheaded additional governance and leadership opportunities for CATSINaM’s membership, as a strategy to grow and support the succession planning of our organisational governance.

Finally, with a slightly heavy heart, 2023 marks the final year in my term as CATSINaM’s President, a position I have held since January 2019. It is with great humility that I step down from this position, confident in the leadership and strategic direction of CATSINaM to lead the nursing and midwifery sector to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

On behalf of the CATSINaM Board of Directors, thank you to our CATSINaM family, our Elders, members, and staff for your continued dedication to our organisation, our professions, and our peoples. CATSINaM’s major accomplishments this year were only made possible through our shared vision and collective efforts. It is truly through Unity and Strength through Caring that CATSINaM continued to make great strides forward in 2022-23.

Marni Tuala

CATSINaM

President Bundjalung

CEO’s Message

It is with great pride and gratitude that I provide this report highlighting the key events, activities, and milestones of CATSINaM through the 2022–23 period. This was a year of continuous effort and progress, with our focus firmly fixed on improving cultural safety within nursing and midwifery and within our heath care systems for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

As CATSINaM members, we are united as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives, championing transformative change to advance the conditions within which we learn and work. We are, of course, collectively driven by the greater aim of improving health care experiences and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. CATSINaM’s successes this financial year are testament to the deep commitment of our members, and the willingness of our partners, to pursue reform of the Australian health care and education systems and to increasing our workforce numbers and further develop our capability.

The continuous effort and progress by CATSINaM is highlighted by several key achievements across member support and recognition, advocacy, and partnership work.

• We hosted the 25th Anniversary National Conference, held on Gadigal Country. In August 2023, the conference celebrated 25 Years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery activism. We honoured individual trailblazers who reshaped education and practice, as well as collective action effecting positive change through launching the In Our Own Right: Black Australian Nurses and Midwives Stories national exhibition.

• The highly anticipated report ‘gettin em n keepin em n growin em’: Strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery education reform (GENKE II) was launched at the 25th Anniversary National Conference.

• CATSINaM led the formation of the Partnership Investment Agreement (PIA) between CATSINaM and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), which sets a new foundation for our mutual engagement.

• In May this year, CATSINaM partnered with Queensland’s Office of the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer (OCNMO) on the Our Ways – First Nations Nurse, Midwife and Student Workshop, held at QUT Kelvin Grove. The workshop focused on conversations about First Nations nursing and midwifery workforce, education, and leadership, and was preceded by a Student Plenary dinner for CATSINaM student members.

• We amplified the concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members and stakeholders through active participation in sector dialogue and consultations. CATSINaM provided ongoing leadership and advocacy on a targeted range of workforce and health matters, providing over 20 responses and submissions on matters affecting our workforce and peoples including inputs to numerous public consultations and national steering groups relevant to cultural safety and service delivery.

The work of CATSINaM throughout the year has been underpinned by our attention on the challenges of entrenched systemic racism in health care and our persistent promotion of cultural safety to uplift our workforce and peoples. We have consistently argued for placebased, relational-centred approaches to be implemented around the self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. To effect substantive change within health care, we have sought to identify ways forward for our professions in accordance with the Closing the Gap reform principles and the privileging of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing and being.

Looking ahead

CATSINaM will continue with great ambition to lead and advocate for transformative change in our spheres of influence and beyond; increase and improve our professional development opportunities; and reach further into our membership to support leadership development as well as to leverage our membership expertise. CATSINaM’s leadership and advocacy work will inform extensive national deliberations to review the midwifery workforce and to develop a national nursing workforce strategy. A forthcoming CATSINaM governance and leadership workshop will be followed by the CATSINaM Regional Congress 2023 in November. The Congress is set to deliver a range of unique professional development and networking opportunities responding to the needs of our members. We will also direct significant energy towards building key stakeholder partnerships to drive and achieve our mission. All our work will reflect CATSINaM Commitments to:

• honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing

• work to eliminate systemic organisational and individual racism

• commit to collective leadership and reciprocal relationships.

I would like to sincerely thank all CATSINaM members for your ongoing support and engagement, the CATSINaM Board for your representation, expertise and leadership, our CATSINaM Elders for your staunch commitment and guidance, and CATSINaM staff for your continuing efforts in delivering our organisational objectives.

Dr Ali Drummond Chief Executive Officer Meriam and Erubam le

and Wuthathi

About This Report

This annual report provides a summary of operational and financial performance and achievements for CATSINaM for the 2022–23 financial year. It reports on and highlights our activities to support and assist our valued Members and explains our work to support positive health experiences and outcomes for our communities.

About Us

CATSINaM is the national peak body that represents, advocates and supports Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives at a national level.

Our Vision

Our Purpose

The CATSINaM vision is that Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives play a pivotal and respected role in achieving health equality across the Australian health system for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. The particulars of individual board members are provided at the end of this report.

BOARD MEMBERS

CATSINaM honours a holistic and culturally safe approach to achieving optimal health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. We develop and promote strategies to ensure that this holistic and culturally safe approach is understood and applied by nurses and midwives working in Australia.

Marni Tuala (President), Queensland 01/07/22–30/06/23

Vanessa Browne, South Australia 01/07/22–30/06/23

Michelle Cutmore, New South Wales 01/07/22–30/06/23

Professor Karen Adams, Board appointed 01/07/22–06/03/23

Professor Juanita Sherwood, Board appointed 01/07/22–21/11/22

Kenton Winsley, Victoria 01/07/22–30/06/23

Emma Shanahan, Tasmania 21/11/22–30/06/23

Strategy Priorities

2018–2023

CATSINaM’s Strategic Plan 2018–2023 guided our work agenda and actions for 2022–23 and is reflected in the organisation’s key achievements for the year across the priority areas.

PRIORITY 1

Develop and support recruitment and retention strategies

PRIORITY 2 1 2 4 3

PRIORITY 4

Inform best practice in culturally safe learning and service delivery environments

Inform national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and education policy

PRIORITY 3

Provide a cultural hub for resilience and leadership development

Activities

Membership, Engagement and Growth

Membership

CATSINaM continued to drive membership recruitment throughout 2022–23, promoting the full range of our benefits particularly to potential Ordinary Members and Student Members. Membership with CATSINaM continued to grow through this period, with the membership total at 30 June 2023 at 2911. Overall, this represented a 12% increase in membership. The largest increase in members was in affiliate members. More information about membership types is available from the CATSINaM Constitution and website.

This year, the CATSINaM total membership of 2911 increased across all four membership categories (as at 30 June 2022):

1229

ORDINARY MEMBERS

9% INCREASE

Membership by State and Territory:

817 Student Members 7% increase

62 Associate Members 5% increase

22% INCREASE

803 AFFILIATE MEMBERS

INTERNATIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:

New Zealand 11 Niger 1

United Kingdom 1

Australian Capital Territory

The CATSINaM 25th Anniversary National Conference held on Gadigal Country honoured and celebrated 25 years of individual and collective activism and advocacy to improve the nursing and midwifery workforce and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It has been 25 years since the organisation was founded in 1997. In recognition of the Anniversary, the occasion was marked by celebrating the remarkable accomplishments of CATSINaM’s founders, who came from across the country.

and

The official national conference proceedings began on 18 August with a Welcome to Country by Michael West, from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Members honoured for their Acts of Activism

Kebi Kub Torres Strait Islander dance team

Buuja Buuja dancers

The 25th Anniversary National Conference was an apt setting for the release of the GENKE II ‘gettin em n keepin em n growin em’: Strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery education reform report, which outlines key strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery education reform. The GENKE II report was comprehensively supported by conference speakers and extensive discussion centred on its recommendations.

The national conference featured keynote speeches and video messages from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health leaders, including:

• Senator the Hon Malarndirri McCarthy, Yanyuwa woman, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health

• Pat Turner AM, Gudanji-Arrernte woman, CEO, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO)

• Pat Anderson AO, Alyawarre woman, Chairperson Lowitja Foundation, former Co-Chair Referendum Council Uluru Statement of the Heart

• Adjunct Professor (Practice) Alison McMillan, Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer

• Professor Karen Strickland, Chair Executive, Council of Deans Nursing and Midwifery.

Significantly, the national conference included a National Apology from the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery, delivered by Professor Karen Strickland, in relation to the role of nursing and midwifery education and research in contributing to the harm and ongoing suffering of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives. Representing CATSINaM, Dr Lynore Geia, Bwgcolman, provided a profound response to the Apology which marks a new chapter in nursing and midwifery relations. Moving forward, CDNM and CATSINaM will form new ways of working together through the PIA to consolidate our commitment to improving the educational

experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery students, and to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics and researchers.

The events also featured presentations from respected Elders representatives from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak health bodies and cultural performances by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians and dance groups.

The 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner wrapped up conference proceedings where Elders and trailblazers were honoured.

GENKE II Discussion Panel

In Our Own Right: Black Australian Nurses and Midwives Stories National Exhibition

The 25th Anniversary National Conference also launched the exhibition In Our Own Right: Black Australian Nurses and Midwives Stories curated by Kerinne Jenkins, who worked with Indigenous filmmakers Nicole Hutton, a Garawa woman, and Brittany Morris, a Wiradjuri, Dunghutti and Wonnarua woman. The exhibition is a visual and audio update of the book of the same title, published by Routledge in 2005. It features several audio recordings by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives, or their next of kin, who contributed to that volume, together with interactive installations combining video, projections, photographs, and artworks. The exhibition will energise contemporary Black activism within nursing and midwifery.

As CATSINaM Chief Executive Officer, Professor Roianne West, a descendant of the Kalkadoon and Djunke peoples, explained,

“ In Our Own Right: Black Australian Nurses and Midwives Stories National Exhibition is a ‘must see’ for every Australian nurse and midwife…. It’s an opportunity to see nursing and midwifery in Australia through the eyes of Australia’s First Nations nurses and midwives. ”

Dr Doseena Fergie OAM, a member of the CATSINaM Elders Circle, said the exhibition highlighted CATSINaM’s goal, since its inception, to increase the recruitment and retention of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery workforce. In the words of Aunty Doseena,

“ This exhibition pays tribute to the courage and strength of these trailblazers at the time, and professional role models since, who actively challenged the health system that ostracised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mob and who now advocate for culturally safe health services for Mob. The intimate, sometimes heart-wrenching, and unmitigatedly awe-inspiring stories told will stoke the fires of hearts and souls. ”

25th Anniversary National Conference Gala Dinner

Education and training

Murra Mullangari

Introduction to Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility – eLearning Program

Development of the Murra Mullangari: Introduction to Cultural Safety program, for enhancement of nursing and midwifery professional practice, progressed through the 2022–23 year. Ganeshan Rao, Learning & Teaching Design Consultant, continued to collaborate extensively with Benchmarque for the educational design and delivery of this program via the Access IQ online delivery platform. Work progressed the application for accreditation of the program by Australian Skills and Quality Authority (ASQA) as a course for the vocational education and training (VET) sector. The concept was approved by ASQA in July 2022. It is now being developed as a full application submission, including industry consultation.

The premise of the program is that cultural safety is as critical as clinical safety. The term ‘cultural’ is not about cultural identity/ethnicity or traditions. Rather, it’s about the culture and power. The concept does not require nurses and midwives to learn about the ethnicity of other people. Rather it requires them to look at and understand their own cultures, and the cultures of their workplace and health profession, and how these cultures influence their practice and impact on clients and professional practice.

The program was offered three times in the 2022–23 year: the first intake in July–September 2022 had 304 enrolments, the second in September–December 2022 had 76, and the third in March–June 2023 had 112 enrolments.

Leadership and Advocacy

Historic Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

On Friday 19 August 2022, Professor Karen Strickland, Chair of the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (CDNM), on behalf of the CDNM and its members, delivered a historic national apology, to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for the hurt and harm caused by nurses and midwives in Australia. The CDNM Apology was made on Gadigal Country at the CATSINaM 25th Anniversary National Conference in the presence of over 300 delegates, the majority being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practicing, retired, and student nurses and midwives. This was the first time in Australia’s history that national nursing and midwifery leadership has made a public apology to our workforce and our peoples.

Professor Strickland stated emphatically,

“ We express our deep grief that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been harmed by colonial practices of nurses and midwives, informed by the policies of previous government agendas, perpetuated through normalisation of professional behaviours and institutional racism, we are sorry. ”

As a national peak body, Council will work with and through its members to collaborate with CATSINaM and with the other nursing and midwifery peak bodies as well as regulatory organisations such as ANMAC and NMBA, to take a stand towards reconciling the harms done. We shall never forget, but together we can heal and build a better future for our nursing and midwifery professions. ” 1

Professor Karen Strickland, Chair of the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (CDNM) reading the Apology on behalf of CDNM.

On this auspicious occasion, A Response to the CDNM National Apology was delivered at the CATSINaM 25th Anniversary National Conference by Dr Lynore Geia on behalf of CATSINaM. The response conveyed the deep meaning and importance of the Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives.

Dr Geia shared her wisdom, stating,

“ Today, I believe the spiritual and the natural worlds converge, and a new door opens and old doors close. In our context, at this point of time is where we make a stand through responding to the CDNM Apology to move from the past way of doing nursing and midwifery, in relation to First Nations’ nursing and midwifery context, to breaking out into a new space to work in a new way together.

We are in seasons change, and there will be a transition time, and transitions are always uncomfortable and painful – but we are birthing something new here in this place, and the pain is all worth the while at the arrival of the baby and the celebration of the birth.

On behalf of CATSINaM – I thank you Professor Strickland for your gracious and courageous leadership in offering what has been long-awaited words of life to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives and to our people. ”

1 Council of Deans of Nursing & Midwifery, Australia and New Zealand, 2022, CDNM Apology – delivered at the CATSINaM conference on 19 August 2022, viewed 20 September 2023.

2 Geia, L.K. 2022, A Response to the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery National Apology Delivered at the CATSINaM National Conference, Friday 19 August 2022, Gadigal Country, Hyatt Regent, Sydney. Dr Lynore K. Geia on behalf of CATSINaM, viewed 20 September 2023.

Dr Lynore Geia, Bwgcolman, reading the Response to the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery National Apology.

Leaders in Indigenous Nursing and Midwifery Education Network (LINMEN)

CATSINaM is funded by the Australian Government to provide the Leaders in Indigenous Nursing and Midwifery Education Network (LINMEN), a collaborative peer support network for nursing and midwifery educators to develop, share and provide the highest quality education and training on cultural safety and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s health, history and culture.

The LINMEN members also honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing – and work in partnership with knowledge holders to translate these knowledges into our teaching and learning strategies. Working to eliminate systemic organisational and individual racism, LINMEN provides an opportunity to commit to collective leadership and reciprocal healing relationships.

A key LINMEN activity in 2023 included a workshop gathering in Boorloo, Perth, on the lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people on 7–8 February. Associate Professor Holly Northam (University of Canberra) and CATSINaM Acting CEO, Dr Ali Drummond, co-facilitated the event that involved 26 education professionals.

The workshop’s purpose was to discuss the strategic direction of the LINMEN network and to develop a 5-year Strategic Plan. A special thank you to Elder Barry Winmar for welcoming us to Country and opening our day with

warmth and support. We also wish to thank the participants for their ongoing commitment, time, and contributions to this important piece of work. The LINMEN 5-year strategic and communications plans that were developed are now under review with the Australian Government. We look forward to sharing the next steps with our members shortly.

LINMEN representatives contributed to the CATSINaM submission to the Australian Universities Accord Discussion Paper (February 2023). LINMEN members are represented in the recently formed Commonwealth Chief Nurse National Nursing Strategy Group.

Planning is well underway for a second LINMEN workshop to coincide with the Regional Congress in November 2023.

Participants at the LINMEN workshop

Elder Barry Winmar giving the Welcome to Country and opening at LINMEN workshop

Ume Project Research

The Ume Project is a Lowitja Institute funded collaborative research project between CATSINaM, the Queensland University of Technology and Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait Islander) health community leaders, focused on the health system and Indigenous models of primary health care. It is concerned with health equity, anti-racism and Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty over our health and health services. This is a qualitive research project that foregrounds Indigenous knowledge through the collection of stories emerging from unique and sovereign standpoints and worldviews.

Commencing in January 2023, the initial phases of the project focused on identifying members of the governance committee comprising Zenadh Kes health practitioners, administrators, and researchers as professional and cultural peer leaders. This leadership and governance committee will be actively involved within their communities to support Zenadh Kes health practitioners to share their knowledge and expertise and guide them to be sole and single authors of their own stories. These leaders will form part of both an editorial committee for writing outputs associated with the Ume project as well as provide key governance for all stages of the project.

Muliyan Consortium

Muliyan is a national consortium of nursing and midwifery practitioners, researchers and educators that was established in 2021, and sits within CATSINaM. Muliyan aims to eliminate racism in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and enhance cultural safety in nursing and midwifery education by:

• establishing a national leadership body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and cultural safety education in nursing and midwifery

• promoting the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and cultural safety nursing and midwifery educators and researchers

• promoting the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives including students

• ensuring research is led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities by promoting national research priorities in nursing and midwifery

• translating our research into policy and practice in nursing and midwifery that is of beneficial impact.

The Consortium met six times in the 2022–23 financial year, including one in-person meeting at CATSINaM’s 25th Anniversary National Conference.

In 2021, the Muliyan Consortium secured a 2-year Lowitja Institute Major Project Grant, and in March 2023 CATSINaM submitted its final reporting requirements as part of this grant. Research outcomes included two publications, a collaborative literature review, the development of Muliyan’s research priorities, and finally, a successful ARC Grant application, led by Monash University.

Governance, Leadership, and Investment

ARC Indigenous Discovery Grant

The successful Indigenous Discovery Grant, entitled “Achieving true representation of Indigenous people in nursing and midwifery”, intends to co-create an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurse and midwife theory and principles for practice. An anticipated goal of the research is to better understand how theory and practice can be

implemented in nurse and midwifery education (inclusive of clinical settings) and in regional and urban areas. The intended outcome is to improve cultural safety in nursing and midwifery, develop greater cultural safety for health consumers, and bolster recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives.

South Australia Health Continuity of Care Protocols

South Australia (SA) Health is in the process of developing and implementing Aboriginal Child and Maternal Health Continuity of Care Protocols (CCPs) across SA’s health systems. Continuity of care is about the quality of care over time, when there are multiple services, providers and sectors involved in the patient journey. Since mid-2022, CATSINaM has been involved in the development and testing of the SA CCP.

In Phase 1 of this project, CATSINaM contributed to this project through face-to-face meetings in Adelaide and online national meetings. CATSINaM has reviewed and commented on the contents of continuity of care briefs, and provided expert advice to the SA project team. Phase 2 has involved the testing stage of the protocol, and CATSINaM’s involvement has included attending meetings related to workforce, testing and co-design, as well as governance and steering matters.

CATSINaM submissions and responses

Forming part of CATSINaM’s essential leadership and advocacy work, we regularly prepare responses to external request and consultation activities. These include requests for formal advice, input, feedback, review, or participation from external stakeholders. CATSINaM provided over 20 formal responses to key matters of national nursing and midwifery workforce significance and relevance to improving cultural safety of health services for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples this financial year. Examples of CATSINaM advocacy submissions include:

• formal input to the Office of the National Rural Health Commissioner National on the Rural and Remote Nursing Generalist Framework in September 2022

• a 2023-24 Pre-budget submission to the Australian Government Treasury in January 2023

• a response to the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care consultation draft Increasing access to health and aged care: a strategic plan for the nurse practitioner workforce in February 2023

• feedback to the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care Nurse Practitioner Strategic Plan in March 2023

• formal submission to the Australian Government Department of Education Australian Universities Accord Draft Discussion Paper: February 2023 in April 2023

• endorsement of the Alliance for Perinatal and Reproductive Justice statement: Too many dead Indigenous babies and pregnant people – TIME FOR ACTION in May 2023.

Partnerships

CATSINaM is committed to building partnerships to achieve our mission, leverage resources and expertise, and to increase our impact for positive and lasting outcomes. Throughout the year, CATSINaM worked to build new approaches to strategic alliances with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nursing and midwifery allies, organisations, individuals, and communities to achieve common goals and address shared challenges. A key outcome was signing a formal partnership agreement between CATSINaM and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) setting new foundations for collaborative work.

CATSINaM and the NMBA Partnership Investment Agreement

CATSINaM’s GENKE II report, ‘gettin em n keepin em n growin em’, addresses the significant underrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives in the Australian nursing and midwifery workforce. GENKE II called for the establishment of a formal partnership agreement between the NMBA and CATSINaM to ensure consistent alignment across nursing and midwifery regulation and accreditation functions as they relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and nursing and midwifery education. The partnership would designate CATSINaM’s role in the co-design and co-production of the NMBA nursing and midwifery practice standards, codes, and guidelines and regulatory processes as they relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and nursing and midwifery education. Following the release of GENKE II, in June 2023 CATSINaM and the NMBA signed a Partnership Investment Agreement (PIA).

The central purpose of the PIA is improving health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Specifically, it will enable reform of the Australian nursing and midwifery regulatory framework to enhance cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including nurses, midwives, students and all care recipients.

Together, CATSINaM and NMBA will actively contribute to the design and delivery of the nursing and midwifery regulatory framework to improve cultural safety. Through this strategic PIA, CATSINaM and the NMBA will:

1. Engage in a co-design process to realise the vision for this PIA and its specific objectives and projects

2. Develop a national monitoring evaluation and learning framework

3. Review and critically analyse the nursing and midwifery accreditation and regulatory framework to ensure cultural safety, as it relates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including care recipients, nurses, midwives, and respective students.

‘Strengthening our Commitment’

Launch of the joint CATSINaM and NMBA Partnership Investment Agreement

On 1 June 2023, against the spectacular backdrop at the Margaret Whitlam Pavilion at the National Arboretum in Canberra, CATSINaM and the NMBA signed the milestone PIA to improve quality and safety for contemporary nursing and midwifery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The agreement brings together CATSINaM and the NMBA to support the delivery of strategies and recommendations made in the GENKE II report. This includes addressing systemic racism and enhancing cultural safety, as well as empowering the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives, engagement with education pathways and strengthening community.

Nursing and midwifery leaders from policy, research and service provision gathered to learn about the PIA and witness the historic signing by CATSINaM President Marni Tuala and CEO, Dr Ali Drummond on behalf of CATSINaM, and Dr Chris Helms (for Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey AM, Chair NMBA) and Chris Robertson, Executive Director Strategy & Policy, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra).

Speaking to the importance of the agreement, Dr Drummond said,

“ this Partnership Agreement is breaking new ground in terms of how we work together, with a common vision and joint initiatives to implement CATSINaM’s strategy which focuses on regulation and education reform for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives across Australia. ”

Nursing and midwifery leaders with Hon Ged Kearney MP, at the launch of the joint CATSINaM and NMBA PIA

Margaret Whitlam Pavilion, National Arboretum, Canberra: venue for the launch of ‘Strengthening our Commitment’, the joint CATSINaM and NMBA Partnership Investment Agreement (PIA), 1 June 2023

Launch of ‘Strengthening our Commitment’, joint CATSINaM and NMBA PIA, 1 June 2023, National Arboretum, Canberra

“ Those participating in the agreement acknowledge the different lived experience of Indigenous peoples, especially as racialised First Nations peoples in a colonial nation-state…

Indigenous voices can speak of the operations of colonial violence including racism and subsequently offer insights into new strategies to confronting the issues of inequity that Indigenous peoples are subjected to, ” said Dr Drummond.

Marni Tuala, Bundjalung, CATSINaM President, speaking at the PIA launch

Dr Christopher Helms, NMBA Board member, speaking at the PIA launch

Dr Ali Drummond, Meriam and Erubam le and Wuthathi, CATSINaM CEO, speaking at the PIA launch

Vogt, Executive Officer NMBA, speaking at the PIA launch

Tanya

Tuala,

The PIA is designed to create systemic, lasting change and will enable collaboration, innovation and shared decision making to effect change.

If CATSINaM and NMBA identify new parties that need to work in collaboration with this venture, CATSINaM will perform a partnership assessment to ensure that the new party is ready and able to be fully engaged in all aspects of the PIA, including governance, investment, collaboration, and change.

NMBA Chair, Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey AM, highlighted the importance of committing to the collaboration and co-design of what nursing and midwifery will look like for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives into the future:

“ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives are significantly underrepresented in the Australian health workforce and by working with CATSINaM and other peak bodies we hope to support the increase of these numbers...

We also hope to progress new strategies to enhance the delivery of Culturally Safe care by nurses, midwives and students for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. ”

This CATSINaM and NMBA PIA reflects an innovative and strategic approach to embed the recommendations from GENKE II. Through our PIA, CATSINaM and the NMBA seek to address systemic racism, enhance cultural safety, and empower the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives.

Marni Tuala, CATSINaM President and Dr Chris Helms, NMBA Board Member, signing the joint CATSINaM and NMBA PIA –‘Strengthening our Commitment’

Marni

CATSINaM President, speaking with the Hon Ged Kearney MP, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, at the PIA launch

Board

Members

Marni Tuala | President

Marni Tuala is a Bundjalung woman who grew up on country in Northern New South Wales and comes from a long line of healers. She is currently employed as the Director of Aboriginal Health for Healthy North Coast, which facilitates the Primary Health Network program across the North Coast of New South Wales. As the strategic lead for Aboriginal Health within Healthy North Coast, Marni draws upon her experience of the regional health landscape as well as national policy and program development to inform strategy at a local level.

Marni brings a unique perspective to her role, having studied both midwifery and the law. Marni holds a Bachelor of Midwifery and a Masters in Primary Maternity Care. Having worked clinically as the Aboriginal liaison midwife in a hospital-based model of care, Marni is passionate about improving the cultural safety of the broader health system and working towards the implementation of culturally safe models of care.

Marni is passionate about her responsibility to her community both culturally and to provide role modelling and mentoring, and enjoys contributing to the development of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce through nurturing the next generations and developing a safe system for them to work in. Marni continues to advocate for and influence systemic reform across both the health and education sectors at both a national and regional level.

Kenton Winsley | Deputy President

Kenton Winsley is a highly accomplished leader with extensive experience in government departments and health services across Victoria and Northern Territory. He holds key positions as the Regional Director of Public Health and Emergency Management at the Department of Health and works as a paramedic for Ambulance Victoria. Kenton has held senior leadership roles within the Northern Territory Government, including Director of Aboriginal Health and Area Service Manager. He has actively served on ministerial boards such as the Northern Territory Liquor Commission, Royal Darwin Hospital Board, Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission, and Mental Health Tribunal. Kenton’s commitment to place-based approaches is evident through his appointment as a Member of the Adult Parole Board. With his expertise in healthcare, emergency management, and public health, Kenton consistently strives to improve health outcomes and contribute to a fair and just society.

Board

Members

Professor Karen Adams

A Wiradjuri woman, Professor Karen Adams is the Director of Gukwonderuk, in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences’ Indigenous engagement unit at Monash University.

Professor Adams is ignited by the question: ‘how do you know if it’s working?’ fuelled by work in the early years of her career in community education within Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. This question led her to complete a Master of Applied Epidemiology, followed by a PhD which focused on social network analysis and child health. Today, along with her team, Professor Adams’ research aims to increase the number of Indigenous health professionals across the sector, and to educate healthcare workers to respectfully engage with Indigenous patients.

Professor Adams speaks of her research as a life-long learning journey and asserts that the path forward needs to be a staunchly anti-racist approach, involving increasing the capacity of Indigenous students and a robust Indigenous healthcare workforce. Professor Adams stresses that ‘healthcare learning and teaching needs to include what Indigenous health service consumers want. The voice of the consumer must be present during the education and training stage.’

A founding member of Muliyan, Professor Adams also convenes an Indigenous Health Graduate Research Circle. The Circle is comprised of a growing number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous PhD students researching in the Indigenous health space. Student research has an educational and social and emotional wellbeing focus, including in the areas of lateral violence; men’s groups; young urban people’s connection to culture; and the relationship between land-based practices and social and emotional wellbeing.

Professor Juanita Sherwood

A Wiradjuri woman, Professor Juanita Sherwood is currently the Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Engagement at Charles Sturt University. For more than 35 years, she has worked as a nurse, teacher, lecturer, and researcher to change health and education outcomes for First Nations peoples.

Professor Sherwood is widely credited for recognising colonisation as the primary determinant of First Nations health and increasing the uptake of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander centred research and decolonisation methods. She is one of the top five most productive researchers globally on the topic of decolonisation and her work has popularised the use of decolonising frameworks and praxes in teaching, research and health care across Australia.

Having lived and worked in diverse urban, rural and remote settings, Professor Sherwood has experienced and witnessed first-hand the damaging impacts of colonial racism –particularly in the health system. Her long-standing commitment to Indigenous health research as a social justice praxis is concerned with building local First Nations power in the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health sector as well as pursuing structural change in mainstream health settings to ensure greater cultural safety for First Nations patients and health workers.

Professor Sherwood is currently involved in several National Health and Medical Research Centre (NHMRC) funded projects toward these ends, including ‘Birthing on Country’, ‘Strengthening systems for Indigenous healthcare equity’ (STRIDE), ‘Decolonising Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care’ and the ‘National First Nations Research Network’. Professor Sherwood is a CATSINaM founding member, member of the Elders’ Circle, Board Director and Muliyan founding member.

Board Members

Vanessa Brown

Born in Adelaide, Vanessa is a proud Larrakia, Wulna and Chinese woman; she is also a survivor of Cyclone Tracey in Darwin.

Vanessa started her nursing career in 1993 as a Nurse Assistant in a nursing home while studying a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of South Australia. She worked in the Royal Adelaide Hospital for a couple of years before commencing study for a Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing at Flinders University. Vanessa then worked at Glenside Campus for around 16 years, moving between rural and remote acute inpatient unit, psychiatric intensive care, and emergency triage and liaison service. Vanessa also spent a year in New Zealand working in an acute mental health unit which included a rehabilitation and psychiatric intensive care unit.

In 2019, Vanessa completed a Masters of Nurse Practitioner at the University of South Australia and is now working in a community mental health service. She has been in the community for the past four years working towards increasing the profile of the mental health service and assisting community to navigate the systems, understand illness, symptoms and strive for wellness.

Vanessa is passionate about encouraging up-and-coming nurses to complete their nursing degrees and possibly consider mental health as a field of practice. She is a strong believer that with support and mentoring we can better encourage our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses to reach beyond their potential and help them to make a difference in the attitudes and stigma that is often experienced in mainstream services by our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and consumers/patients/clients/ community members.

Michelle Cutmore

Michelle is a Gomeroi/Gamilaroi woman from Moree in northwest New South Wales. Michelle is from a family of five children and was the only one to finish high school and achieve higher education. Michelle started as an Aboriginal Health Worker in 1993 but after realising that nursing would allow a greater scope of practice and management of the issues faced by her people, she completed a Bachelor of Nursing as a mature-aged student at the University of Western Sydney in 2008. She finished her university studies with the help of the NSW Health Nursing and Midwifery Scholarship and Cadetship program and has been a member CATSINaM (and previously Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses) since 2003.

Michelle’s passion has always been divided between providing grassroots care within the community as well as empowering and enabling more of her people to become nurses and midwives. These passions have seen her working in a variety of high-level roles to grow career pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives, ensuring a First Nations voice in health care delivery, and to contribute to curriculum development at universities in order to increase knowledge and awareness of issues pertaining to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Currently, Michelle is working as Nurse Navigator for Queensland Health, where she would like to create opportunities for sharing cultural knowledge and learning with colleagues, ultimately increasing cultural safety in the workplace for growing the representation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives in Queensland Health’s workforce.

Board Members

Emma Shanahan

Emma Shanahan is a Palawa women from lutruwita (Tasmania). She was appointed to the CATSINaM Board in November 2022. Emma currently works as a Registered Nurse in the emergency department within the Tasmanian health service. Her previous experience includes over a decade with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre as the Clinical Enrolled Nurse and Chronic Disease Care Coordinator, working closely alongside Aboriginal patients to access community controlled services and mainstream health care. Emma has represented her community at state and national forums, where she has advocated and created a voice within the health care sector for her community. Emma has undertaken additional qualification form Graduate Certificate in Chronic Disease Self-Management, Nurse Immuniser, Certificate 4 in Alcohol and Other Drugs, more recently Emma has commenced post graduate studies in emergency nursing.

Canberra Accountancy & Audit Pty Limited

Canberra Accountancy & Audit Pty Limited

ABN 51 164 308 052

DIRECTOR: Peter Irving CA

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

Independent Audit Report to the members of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited

Report on the Audit of the Financial Report Opinion

Independent Audit Report to the members of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited

We have audited the financial report of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited the registered entity, which comprises the statement of financial position as at 30 June 2023, the statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income, the statement of changes in equity and the statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies, and the responsible persons' declaration.

Report on the Audit of the Financial Report Opinion

In our opinion the financial report of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited has been prepared in accordance with Division 60 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012, including:

(i) giving a true and fair view of the Registered Entity's financial position as at 30 June 2023 and of its financial performance for the year ended; and

We have audited the financial report of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited the registered entity, which comprises the statement of financial position as at 30 June 2023, the statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income, the statement of changes in equity and the statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies, and the responsible persons' declaration.

(ii) complying with Australian Accounting Standards and Division 60 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Regulation 2022.

In our opinion the financial report of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited has been prepared in accordance with Division 60 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012, including:

Basis for

Opinion

(i) giving a true and fair view of the Registered Entity's financial position as at 30 June 2023 and of its financial performance for the year ended; and

We conducted our audit in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Report section of our report. We are independent of the Registered Entity in accordance with the auditor independence requirements of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (ACNC Act) and the ethical requirements of the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board's APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (the Code) that are relevant to our audit of the financial report in Australia. We have also fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the Code.

(ii) complying with Australian Accounting Standards and Division 60 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Regulation 2022.

Basis for Opinion

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Responsibilities

of Responsible Entities for the Financial Report

The directors of the Registered Entity are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial report in acc ordance with Australian Accounting Standards and the ACNC Act, and for such internal control as the responsible entities determine is necessary to enable the preparation of the financial report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial report, the responsible entities are responsible for assessing the Registered Entity's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the responsible entities either intends to liquidate the Registered Entity or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Those charged with governance are responsible for overseeing the Registered Entity's financial reporting process.

Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Report

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial report as a whole is free from material misstatem ent, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high leve l of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial report.

74 Lindrum Crescent, HOLT ACT 2615

Telephone : 0409666281

2615

Email: peterirving.canberra@gmail.com

Canberra Accountancy & Audit Pty Limited

ABN 51 164 308 052

DIRECTOR: Peter Irving CA

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

Canberra Accountancy & Audit Pty Limited

ABN 51 164 308 052

DIRECTOR: Peter Irving CA

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

Independent Audit Report to the members of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited

Report on the Audit of the Financial Report Opinion

Independent Audit Report to the members of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited

As part of an audit in accordance with the Australian Auditing Standards, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

We have audited the financial report of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited the registered entity, which comprises the statement of financial position as at 30 June 2023, the statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income, the statement of changes in equity and the statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies, and the responsible persons' declaration.

In our opinion the financial report of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives Limited has been prepared in accordance with Division 60 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012, including:

(i) giving a true and fair view of the Registered Entity's financial position as at 30 June 2023 and of its financial performance for the year ended; and

• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial report, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resultin g from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.

(ii) complying with Australian Accounting Standards and Division 60 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Regulation 2022.

• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Registered Entity's internal control.

Basis for Opinion

• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the responsible entities.

We conducted our audit in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Report section of our report. We are independent of the Registered Entity in accordance with the auditor independence requirements of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (ACNC Act) and the ethical requirements of the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board's APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (the Code) that are relevant to our audit of the financial report in Australia. We have also fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the Code.

• Conclude on the appropriateness of the responsible entities' use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Registered Entity's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Responsibilities of Responsible Entities for the Financial Report

The directors of the Registered Entity are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial report in acc ordance with Australian Accounting Standards and the ACNC Act, and for such internal control as the responsible entities determine is necessary to enable the preparation of the financial report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial report, the responsible entities are responsible for assessing the Registered Entity's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the responsible entities either intends to liquidate the Registered Entity or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Those charged with governance are responsible for overseeing the Registered Entity's financial reporting process.

Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Report

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial report as a whole is free from material misstatem ent, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high leve l of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial report.

For the Year Ended 30 June 2023

74 Lindrum Crescent, HOLT ACT 2615

Telephone : 0409666281

PO Box 158, Kippax, ACT 2615

Email: peterirving.canberra@gmail.com