Annual report 2023 | NSW & ACT

WELCOME

This year we assisted 67,202 children, young people, adults and families in NSW and ACT to secure a safe home, strengthen families and to improve wellbeing and independence.

We are honoured to serve our clients, who trust us with their stories and allow us to be part of their journey. We are inspired by their resilience, courage, and hope and look forward to continuing to provide them with the best possible service and support, tailored to their individual needs and goals.

There are many wonderful achievements to celebrate over the year, but a few of the highlights:

Expanding our youth Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) services, including officially opening the Wallawani rehabilitation service in Batemans Bay and securing funding for a new day rehabilitation service in Broken Hill.
Delivering integrated models of housing and support in partnership with MA Housing and other Community Housing Providers.
Launching the RESET4Youth program in Southwestern Sydney aimed at rapidly rehousing young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Strengthening cultural safety and our partnerships with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.
Advocating actively and collaborating to strengthen communities and improve service systems.

Our focus on the well-being of our people was more important than ever this year in light of increased demand and cost of living pressures. We delivered workshops on positive workplace culture across the state and rolled out priority training aimed at preventing occupational violence, promoting trauma informed care and strengthening psychosocial safety.

The impact we have would not be possible without the commitment of our leaders and frontline staff and the support of our partners, funders and collaborators.

Thank you and we look forward to your continued support.

Warm regards,

Nada's signature

State director profile Nada with copy

Together, we supported 67,202 Australians in NSW & ACT on their journey towards independence last year.

Homelessness

15,385 people assisted
through 37 services

Housing

3,915 people assisted
through 10 services

Aged care

230 people assisted
through 3 services

Alcohol & other drugs

820 people assisted
through 13 services

Children & families

10,469 people assisted
through 32 services

Community development

17,047 people assisted
through 13 services

Employment, education & training

10,561 people assisted
through 93 services

Family & domestic violence

870 people assisted
through 6 services

Financial wellbeing

3,228 people assisted
through 7 services

Mental health recovery

2,009 people assisted
through 20 services

Justice & corrections

959 people assisted
through 10 services

NDIS

1,358 people assisted
through 1 service

An Australia where all of us can have a safe home and thrive

In 2020, we launched Mission Australia’s 20-25 Strategy with a vision for an Australia where all of us have a safe home and can thrive. In the past year, we are proud of our progress in our four strategic focus areas. From the opening of two new Alcohol and Other Drugs facilities to our continued commitment to create strong, resilient and thriving communities, read more about our progress in FY23.

See our progress

Our work in action

Supporting people in need to thrive

In February, we celebrated the opening of Walawaani, a new 10-bed residential rehabilitation program for young people in the South Coast of NSW. The facility is spread over 17 acres of bushland and is a space where young adults can be nurtured through rehabilitation and given the best chance to break the cycle of addiction. The service welcomed its first residents in early February and will continue supporting young people to thrive.

See the new facility

Thank you for making our work possible this year

Driving excellence

Our award-winning Impact Measurement Program helps us understand how our services improve the lives of our clients and the communities we serve. We measure our impact by asking the people we help questions about their wellbeing when they start a service and when they exit.

Funded by the Department of Communities and Justice (NSW), our Family Preservation, Family Support and Intensive Family Support services work with families to reduce the risk of children and young people entering out-of-home care. Our impact measurement data shows that when people left the service, they were more satisfied with their personal wellbeing.

Bar chart of Reconnect average satisfaction with life as a whole showing there is an increase when they exit compared with starting

*Matched data collected from July 2022 to June 2023 (n=73) compared to Australian population normative range

¹Deakin University and Australian Unity Limited. (2021). Australian Unity Wellbeing Index - Appendices 38. Subjective wellbeing in Australia during the second year of the pandemic. Geelong: Australian Centre on Quality of Life, School of Psychology, Deakin University

Policy & Advocacy

Mission Australia continued our research, policy and advocacy work to support people in need to thrive. We boldy advocated to the Federal and State/Territory Governments on issues of importance to Mission Australia and the people we serve.

We made policy submissions on a range of topics including homelessness, social and affordable housing, and youth. Across the state and nationally, we met with Ministers and senior government representatives on policy priorities for people in need and furthered our community collaborations to advocate together on key issues.

We continue to advocate strongly for further investment in social and affordable housing, actions to end homelessness, adequate income support and other policy priorities to support people in need to thrive.

Explore our publications

View our media releases