I was delighted to present at the launch of our new ME/CFS Parliamentary Friends Group in Canberra on 13 June. It was a very well attended event at which MPs, their advisors and the ME/CFS community were well represented. It was particularly important for me as I hadn’t met many of the ME/CFS community representatives or stakeholders in person before. Our messages to MPs were aligned and it is my hope that future meetings of the Group will lead to greater engagement with the Federal Government and delivery of the key building blocks that will result in better outcomes for those with ME/CFS.
Our advocacy work has resulted in submissions to the RACGP regarding proposed changes to the HANDI Guide for ME/CFS and several submissions to the NDIA Review among a host of other submissions our team lodges on a regular basis.
We are very excited to let you know that within the next month or thereabouts we will be launching our newly built website together with our refreshed brand. Whilst our Development Team has been busy creating the architecture and framework associated with this work, our program staff have been extremely busy responding to the ever-growing number of calls coming through our Telehealth and Patient Support Service for which we are currently recruiting a social worker to join our team. This will be a significant milestone for Emerge Australia as we continue to build our mutli-disciplinary support team across the areas of social work, psychology, occupational therapy and physiotherapy
As with so many other organisations, funding remains a constant challenge, and we are indebted to the many philanthropic donors and you our supporters whose generosity together with our Federal and State Government support has meant we are able to plan for and deliver a holistic service to the community.
To that end I wish to give a huge shout out to all who helped get our tax appeal over the line. Minutes prior to 30 June, we reached our $58,000 target which is absolutely fantastic. Thank you everyone for a tremendous effort.
Our team at Emerge Australia is small and highly talented and it’s changing. Dr. Rochelle Lade has just gone on maternity leave for approximately eight months so we are currently recruiting for a person to take on her significant workload in her absence.
We are also recruiting for a GP Educator to spearhead clinical education and finally we are on the look-out for a Social Worker as well. These are very exciting but also challenging times for a tiny team that continues to punch way above it’s weight. I thank them all on your behalf for the tremendous work they do.
As always, on behalf of our Board and team, I thank you for all the kind words so many of you say to us about our work. We thank you for your financial support without which we would not exist.
Be assured that we see you, we hear you and we work tirelessly to ensure that the world knows that people with ME/CFS and long COVID matter!
Chief Executive Officer
