Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Australian Diabetes Council

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Type
  
Charity

Industry
  
Healthcare

Founded
  
Sydney, Australia (27 July 1938 (1938-07-27))

Headquarters
  
Glebe, Sydney, Australia

Area served
  
New South Wales, Australia

Key people
  
Dr Neville Howard (Chairman) Sturt Eastwood(CEO)

The Diabetic Association of Australia was formed in 1938 and is Australia's oldest and largest charity organisation assisting those living with and at risk of diabetes, and their carers.

Contents

In 1956 the Diabetes Federation of Australia was formed and New South Wales changed its name to the Diabetic Association of NSW (later Diabetes Australia - NSW).

In 2009 Diabetes Australia NSW resigned from the national federation and in 2010 changed its name to Australian Diabetes Council. It was re-admitted as a member of Diabetes Australia in April 2014 and is now known as Diabetes NSW.

Diabetes NSW is the peak consumer body for diabetes in New South Wales and is the NSW offshoot of the first diabetes organisation in Australia and is the third oldest diabetes association in the world.

The organisation provides support and services to people living with and at risk of diabetes, their families, carers, friends and allied health professionals in New South Wales. Diabetes NSW has 185,000 members in New South Wales.

Overview

Diabetes NSW operates under the proviso that ‘Diabetes can no longer be solved by medical intervention alone’.

Via its CLEAR (Challenge, Listen, Educate, Advocate and fund Research) strategy, ADC assists members with managing the condition and informs the community about diabetes and its complications. It does this by ensuring decisions in areas of policy, research, delivery of services and programs are made in the best interest of those living with and at risk of diabetes.

2013 marked the 75th Anniversary for Diabetes NSW.

Organisation

Diabetes NSW’s head office is located in Glebe, Sydney. The organisation has a number of offices based in regional centres of New South Wales, including Newcastle, Wollongong, Tamworth, Wagga and Port Macquarie.

Diabetes NSW raises funds and awareness through education, research through community events, corporate and individual membership, fundraising events and activities. It co-ordinates, runs and manages community and health-professional education programs, lifestyle programs, fundraising activities and events, corporate and individual membership as well as sponsorship.

Patron

Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC (the Governor of NSW) is the patron of Diabetes NSW.

Strategy

Diabetes NSW’s strategy is to:

  • challenge the community to take a role in the prevention and management of diabetes by running programs and events.
  • challenge governments at a local, state and federal level to deliver policy that improves the lives of those living with and at risk of diabetes
  • listen to its members, community, government, health professionals and to take account of its own staff’s experience to ensure the best resources and programs are delivered to those living with and at risk of diabetes.
  • educate its health professionals to have the highest level of expertise.
  • advocate at local, state and federal government levels so that policy is enacted to improve the lives of those living with and at risk of diabetes
  • advocate for the individual with diabetes to ensure that discrimination against people with diabetes is eradicated.
  • research diabetes to ensure improvements in treatments and prevention methods

    • Programs

    Diabetes NSW runs community education and prevention programs include a national customer care line, a statewide support group network. It also has diabetes prevention programs aimed at the general public.

    The majority of its funding comes via Diabetes Australia from the Commonwealth Government to manage the NSW component of the National Diabetes Services Scheme which is administered by Diabetes Australia.

    Awards

  • The Kellion Victory Medal program runs throughout each year and acknowledges those people who have diabetes and have lived with the disease for 50 years or more. The 50-year medal is silver, the 60-year medal is gold, and a 70-year award usually takes the form of an inscribed silver salver. The award also includes a certificate.
  • The Kellion Carer’s Award acknowledges the carers love, dedication and support.
  • The Sir Kempson Maddox Award has been awarded since 1985. It honours the work of Sir John Kempson Maddox, an Australian physician who set up one of the first cross-disciplinary diabetic clinics at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, was the founder of The Diabetic Association of Australia and was a pioneer in diabetes treatment in the 1930s. Sir John’s medical expertise in both diabetes and cardiology saw him knighted in 1968 for services to medicine.

    • The annual award is presented to a person who has made a significant contribution to the diabetes movement and towards helping to improve the lives of people living with diabetes. In 2013 the award was presented to Australian electronics engineer Stanley Clark for his work in inventing the portable blood-glucose monitor.

    References

    Australian Diabetes Council Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA