Annual Reports
Message from the CEO & President
2020/21 marked the first
year of our three-year
strategic plan and we
commenced the year with
ambitious plans.
With a plan to lead the
way in diabetes prevention,
early detection, and
management of diabetes
we focused on the
development of an external
campaign titled Face the
Facts to bring awareness
to diabetes being one of
the most serious chronic
conditions in Australia
today, with 1 in 6 being
at risk of developing
type 2 diabetes.
Working with an Adelaide based
marketing and advertising agency
Bigwig, a public facing type 2
diabetes awareness and early
detection campaign was developed.
One of the key aspects of the
campaign was to encourage people
to assess their risk undertaking the
AUSDRISK test, a self-assessment
questionnaire that can indicate a
person’s risk for developing type 2
diabetes in the next five years.
Driven by South Australia having
one of the highest rates of
diabetes (6.4%) in the country
and undiagnosed type 2 diabetes
affecting 30% of South Australians,
we were motivated to get the
message into the community to:
- Raise awareness of the signs
and symptoms of diabetes, risk
factors and benefits of early
detection and early intervention
- Advocate for a multi-staged
screening protocol to identify
people at high risk or with
undiagnosed type 2 diabetes
- Provide and refer high risk
people to Diabetes SA services
for lifestyle interventions to
manage risk.
Parallel to this we ran face to face,
free, type 2 diabetes screening
events in ten regional locations
extending the reach of the Face
the Facts campaign and supported
by funding through Country South
Australia Primary Health Network
and Wellbeing SA. The success
of the campaign and screening
program has clearly shown us that there is more work to be done in
country locations as well other
at-risk groups. Our aim will be to
secure external funding to support
an ongoing detection program within
the South Australian community.
With evidence suggesting
that through lifestyle
changes this can reduce
the risk of developing type
2 diabetes by up to 58%,
the Association has worked
tirelessly to develop a
prevention program.
Following extensive reviews of
international, national, and state
programs we have developed a
prevention program that will go
to trial in late 2021. This year
long, clinically proven, community
based, type 2 diabetes prevention
program will recruit 600 South
Australians who are at high risk
of developing type 2 diabetes
or who have prediabetes
to determine the feasibility,
acceptance, effectiveness, and
cost benefits of a group-based
lifestyle change program called
AUS2PREVENT. Alongside of
this exciting work we have been
working to establish a partnership
with an international provider of
evidence-based, digital health
technologies that have been
clinically proven to improve
population health. We hope to
bring you further updates in the
coming year.
With greater than 113,000
people diagnosed with diabetes
in South Australia our focus on
the management of diabetes
has seen the Association focus
on strengthening awareness
of diabetes self-management
services and programs and codesigning
programs and services
with people living with diabetes
to ensure we meet their needs.
An integral role in the success
of this is our relationship with
health professionals ensuring
we work closely to build capacity
in the workforce.
Representing the needs of people
at risk or living with diabetes has
seen the Association contribute
to several forums, workshops
and projects and has provided
Diabetes SA with opportunities to
submit applications for external
funding some of which we have
been successful in receiving. Our
vision to fund research continued
with the first reports being
received from the three successful
applicants in the 2020 Diabetes
SA Research Grants Program
and the Board’s commitment to
the third round of grant funding
in late 2021. Furthermore, the
establishment of a Research
Advisory Committee will advance
the research agenda of Diabetes
SA by ensuring that research has
a real impact on people living
with or at risk of diabetes and
more broadly the health and
wellbeing of the South Australian
community.
During the financial year the
Board welcomed Lynn Bonython
and Christine Bell and we said
goodbye to Roslyn Hewlett who
had been on the Board since
2016 providing valuable insight
and expertise in the health sector.
We undertook a second Board
recruitment and filled two Board
positions taking the number
of Board positions to nine and
created an opportunity for a
young person living with diabetes
to join the Board in the role of
Board Mentee.
A focus on governance and risk
including cyber risk has remained
high on the Board’s agenda
along with sustainability of the
organisation. Board discussion
has centred on the need to
explore location and space
requirements for the conduct of
the Association’s business and
future business opportunities and
has resulted in the Building and
Development committee being
charged with the responsibility of
undertaking a feasibility study to
develop a clear view on the needs
of the Association.
As I reflect over the year, I can
see the vision created for the
Association back in 2017 is now
coming to fruition. All the hard
work and effort by the Board,
Sub-Committees, Management
and Staff have paved the way for
our future success.
Thank you to our Members,
donors, supporters, partners, and
collaborators as without you we
would not be able to achieve what
we have achieved so far.
Angelique Pasalidis, CEO
Peter Crouch, President