Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak about Royal Far West. Reverend Stanley Drummond established Royal Far West, in Cobar, which is located within my electorate, in the 1920s. The non-government organisation has since grown to service the whole of regional and rural New South Wales. The organisation has since increased the number of services it offers, from primarily providing recreational camps to regional children to providing a range of services, including health and education.   

Royal Far West's vision is for a healthy life for all country children, regardless of their circumstances. Royal Far West's mission statement is to make an outstanding contribution to the health and wellbeing of children in regional New South Wales. These are both extremely commendable and charitable goals and it highlights the common decency of Royal Far West and the volunteers that make up its organisation.

Currently, Royal Far West provides health, education and recreational services to over 1,300 rural families. During its current year Royal Far West has provided 27,060 occasions of service. This is an excellent use of resources, given that the organisation operates on a budget of slightly over $9.5 million. It must be noted that, for every dollar that is invested into Royal Far West by state or federal governments, the organisation is able to deliver $3 worth of public services to country children. These numbers stand testament to the amazing work and dedication of Royal Far West and its volunteers.

Health services delivered by Royal Far West are diverse and numerous. One such program is the Healthy Kids Bus Stop. Healthy Kids Bus Stop is a whole-of-child health screening, assessment and pathway to care program for children. It provides multidiscipline screening and pathways to care across a number of areas, such as physical health, immunisation and oral health. The program has been extremely successful at achieving its goals.

A recent report found that the program was successful in providing greater awareness of health needs for its target populations and was successful in identifying children with complex developmental needs. A second healthcare service provided by Royal Far West is an innovative and client-beneficial service of telecare services, which allows for children to be treated at home or at school. In 2012-2013, over 3,500 clients were treated by the service. This program helps overcome the tyranny of distance that is inherent in the provision of health within regional services. Both these programs are essential to many regional families, who, due to distance and economic commitments, are unable to access these services locally, especially dental and vision services.

The educational services provided by Royal Far West are mainly targeted at filling the void of services which are financially unsustainable to provide in isolated areas. These services include but are not exclusive to services for children suffering from development and learning difficulties; educational support programs; community educational programs for parents, teachers, carers and volunteers; and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, which has been to 12 towns and will have delivered health education to over 1,000 primary school children when it concludes in December 2014. By helping to provide these services to families in regional Australia, Royal Far West is helping to provide an outstanding contribution to the lives of many rural children.

The number of awards received by Royal Far West speaks to the important role it plays in the lives of many regional families. One such award is the New South Wales Premier's Award for Excellent Public Service. Royal Far West was awarded this prestigious honour for its efficient and effective service delivery. An award such as this shows that Royal Far West is fulfilling its mission statement of making an outstanding contribution to the health and wellbeing of regional children.

In conclusion, Royal Far West makes an outstanding contribution to the health, education and recreational services provided to regional children. Its operations have benefited children across regional Australia. Therefore, I wish to congratulate Royal Far West on its 90th anniversary and on its great work.