About this organisation
Summary of activities
In 2025, the LAA were able to achieve our core goals: increasing awareness, providing support, offering education, and advocating for our members. These pillars guide our work and ensure that we continue meeting the needs of our membership. Our membership has remained steady and we are incredibly grateful to members for ongoing support, especially during these financially challenging times. Membership plays a crucial role in allowing us to advocate for better services and funding, as it gives us a stronger voice when engaging with politicians and other organisations. On the advocacy front, the LAA had a successful year, reaching out to every federal and state politician to highlight the need for improved lymphoedema services and funding. We were encouraged by the level of response, which led to several productive meetings with government officials. Additionally, we were proud to participate in the Qld Government Lymphoedema Symposium and the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Lymphoedema and Lymphatic Regeneration launch. The LAA provides support in various forms. For some members, it comes through face-to-face or online support groups; for others, it s through our helpline, where individuals can express concerns and get direction. Our seasonal newsletter, Node News, and Information Days are also valuable resources that provide vital information and create a sense of community. The networking opportunities at these events foster support among attendees. Each year, we host Information Days in a different state, giving our members a chance to learn about the latest research, treatments, and products. While we offer hybrid options, we encourage in-person attendance to fully experience the hands-on demonstrations and networking opportunities. We also continued to offer Webinars for those who may find leaving home difficult or just have less time. These are recorded and provide a wealth of information on topics relevant to lymphoedema, and we re eager to continue adding more in the coming year. Our awareness campaign, Shine a Light on Lymphoedema, was a major success this year. We saw over 100 landmarks across Australia light up in blue to mark Lymphoedema Awareness Month, representing a fifty percent increase over last year. In addition, we expanded the campaign s reach through social media kits designed for landmarks, politicians, and organisations. Along the lines of raising awareness, we continue to circulate our GP guide for lymphoedema. It was created by an LAA working group during the 2023-24 financial year and is designed to help improve diagnosis and treatment within the general practice setting. This is a fabulous resource for the lymphoedema community. This document is endorsed by the RACGP.
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Outcomes
Outcomes are self-reported by charities
Programs and activities
Name: Sale of alert bracelets
URL: https://www.lymphaustralia.org.au/resources/online-shop/
Classification: Hospital care (Health > In-patient medical care > Hospital care )
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 65 and over
- People with chronic illness (including terminal illness)
- People with disabilities
Name: Sale of cooling towels
URL: https://www.lymphaustralia.org.au/resources/online-shop/
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- People with chronic illness (including terminal illness)
- People with disabilities
Name: Sale of the Lymphoedema Handbook
URL: https://www.lymphaustralia.org.au/resources/online-shop/
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- People with chronic illness (including terminal illness)
- People with disabilities
Name: Sale of "Lucie the Lymphoedema Lizard" Badge
URL: https://www.lymphaustralia.org.au/resources/online-shop/
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- People with chronic illness (including terminal illness)
- People with disabilities
Name: Lymphoedema Support Groups
URL: https://www.lymphaustralia.org.au/events/support-group-meetings/
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- People with chronic illness (including terminal illness)
- People with disabilities
Name: Webinar series
URL: https://www.lymphaustralia.org.au/events/calendar-of-events/
Classification: Education support (Education > Education support)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- Females
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Males
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- People with chronic illness (including terminal illness)
- People with disabilities
Finances
What is this?
This graph shows how much revenue (money in) and expenses (money out) the charity has had each year over the last few years. Charities have many sources of revenue, such as donations, government grants, and services they sell to the public. Similarly, expenses are everything that allows the charity to run, from paying staff to rent.
What should I be looking for?
First off, this graph gives a general indication of how big the charity is - charities range in size from tiny (budgets of less than $100,000) to enormous (budgets more than $100 million). You're also looking for variability - if the charity's revenue and expenses are jumping up and down from year to year, make sure there's a good reason for it.
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want revenue to be slightly above expenses. If expenses is reliably above revenue, the charity is losing money. If revenue is much larger than expenses, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
If a charity receives more money than it spends, that's a surplus (in business, it would be called profit). If it spends more than it receives, that's a deficit. This chart shows surpluses and deficits for the charity over the last few years.
What should I be looking for?
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want a charity to make a small surplus on average. A deficit means that charity lost money that year, which may indicate poor financial management or just a series of bad circumstances. If the charity always has a huge surplus, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
This chart compares the amount the charity receives from various sources, including donations (i.e. money given by the general public or philanthropy), goods and services, government grants, and other sources.
What should I be looking for?
Donations are an important source of revenue for some charities. Others rely more heavily on government funding, or on revenue from other sources. This is an indication of how much they need donors to accomplish their mission. Note that there is no 'good' or 'bad' amount of donations for a charity to have. It might be interesting to look at values over time - are they going up or down? A charity that gets less donations every year may be in trouble.
What is this?
Assets are things that the charity owns that are worth something. This could be anything from a car to investments. Similarly, liabilities are debts or obligations that the charity owes to someone else, like a loan or an agreement to pay for something.
What should I be looking for?
Firstly, in general a charity should have more assets than liabilities. If it doesn't, it implies that the charity might not be able to pay its debts, and you should look very closely at the charity's annual and financial reports to make sure they are taking steps to remedy this. Current assets should generally be above current liabilities - that means the charity can easily pay off the debts that are coming due soon. Beyond that, look for a large stockpile of assets. While a charity should have enough assets to keep it afloat in hard times (a 'buffer') if that stockpile gets too large the charity could be using that money more effectively. As always, if you have concerns check the annual and financial reports.
Transparency
Scoring detail
Details