These are the summarised financials of Australian Red Cross from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015.
For our full financial statements, download the PDF Financials here
Message from the Chief Financial Officer
In this, our Centenary year, we celebrated the great Australian story of a century of people helping people.
During the year our volunteers and staff worked tirelessly to support those affected domestically by summer bushfires, cyclones, and floods. We raised over $7 million and $12 million for aid and relief from Cyclone Pam and the Nepal earthquake respectively. These monies were used for various activities in helping with the enormous task of re-building communities.
This year also marked the end of the five-year strategy (Strategy 2015) that has guided our work since 2010. The priorities established under this will continue for the next five years under our new strategy, focusing on being a strong, innovative and accountable organisation.
This financial year we have reported a net deficit of $8.7 million, $8.6 million of which is from the Blood Service, and $0.1 million from Humanitarian Services. This is a decline from last year’s surplus of $28 million. The significant decrease in the Blood Service surplus is attributed to forgoing capital funding of approximately $20 million while the decrease in the Humanitarian Services result is attributed to a reduction in government funding for our work with people seeking asylum and costs associated with our IT transformation.
Income and expenditure
Red Cross continues to fund the majority of its services and programs through strategically sought government funds. Government funding remained our main source of revenue and stood at 82% of our total gross revenue. This funding primarily supports our programs for people seeking asylum and the operations of the Blood Service.
In addition to our work in disasters, emergencies and services for asylum seekers, other everyday work with communities continued unabated. Support from the Australian community continues to grow year-on-year, to a total of $107 million, including disaster appeal monies in excess of $21 million.
This year’s total expenditure was $975.9 million, of which $568.5 million (58%) was spent on the Blood Service and $407.4 million (42%) on delivery of Humanitarian Services in Australia and further afield.
The financial summary over the following webpages reflects solely the finances of Humanitarian Services.
Community support plays a critical role in enabling both our everyday work and disaster appeals. The growth in community support for everyday work was underpinned by regular giving and bequests from generous supporters, which together accounted for more than $55.3 million, or 65% of donation income. These two areas provide a vital source of income for supporting vulnerable people in our communities. The Red Cross Board continues to invest in and develop these sources of income in order to underpin strong foundations for sustainable future fundraising.
Our other sources of income, such as retail shops and disability employment services continued to provide a reliable income stream to support our work.
The Blood Service Main Operating Program reported a surplus of $5.3 million, in line with the output funding arrangements. This surplus is net of a $28.2 million provision for return to the National Blood Authority.
Statement of financial position
As an organisation, we continue our keen focus on ensuring long-term financial sustainability. Our Strategy 2020 has renewed our focus on being a strong, innovative, accountable and sustainable organisation.
Our balance sheet remained strong and stable over the last financial year despite being impacted by a reduction in government funding for our work in programs for people seeking asylum.
The reduction in government funding for our asylum seeker programs has significantly affected our cash, receivable and payable balances but the organisation has displayed agility in responding to the change and maintained its positive net position.
The Blood Service moved the management of some of its cash to an investment portfolio with an investment manager along similar lines to Humanitarian Services.
The specific purpose funds increased in value by $4.4 million during the financial year. These funds are income from grants received by Humanitarian Services for future use that have not yet been spent. The increase in specific purpose funds is due largely to funds received in the last quarter of the financial year, a significant portion of which were carried forward into the following financial year.
Sandhya Chakravarty
Chief Financial Officer
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service produces its own set of financial statements. To understand the activities and financial affairs of the Blood Service, the annual report and full financial statements can be obtained at donateblood.com.au. For a more comprehensive view of the financial affairs of the Australian Red Cross Society, including the Blood Service, please refer to the full financial report available at redcross.org.au/files/Financials_2015.pdf.
