banner
           
The Rotary Club of
Mount Eliza
Chartered 1971
 
Club Information
Mount Eliza
Service Above Self
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM
Toorak College
Mt Eliza
Mount Eliza, VIC 3930
Australia
Phone:
0418 319 101
Dinner Meeting at Toorak College & Zoom Meeting Conference Number 82650442487
District Site Icon
District Site
Venue Map
Venue Map
Sponsors
Interested in being a sponsor?
Download the website sponsorship guide
Upcoming Events
Changeover Night
Jun 27, 2023
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
 
View entire list
Advertisement for ClubRunner Mobile

President's Message - John Welsh

 
 
 
President’s report 11th June, 2023
 
It is always interesting when we have a new member talk,” the member behind the badge”. We have some incredible experience within our ranks. Jenny Baker’s presentation didn’t disappoint last Tuesday as she told us of her life and business journey which has led to her currently working at Toorak college in a senior role. We look forward to her contribution to our club.

Suzie’s three-minute talk regarding mental health issues was very thought provoking and highlighted major issues in our community.

John Paterson’s funeral was well attended on Wednesday, we heard his life story from his three children and I said a few words about Rotary and my friendship with him. John was well thought of by the church community, Rotary, family and friends. We had a Rotary guard of honour outside the church. He was a good friend and will be missed.
 
As I mentioned on Tuesday, there will be a memorial service for Carol Wallace’s husband Peter at Peninsula school, Ansett Hall at 5.00pm. Peter tragically passed away on an overseas holiday a couple of weeks ago, he was well thought of in our community, he was a personal friend of our family and he will be sadly missed.

Sat 17th of June we will have a Bunnings sausage sizzle, Annette is currently setting up the rosters.

There will be a joint board meeting next Wednesday.

Next Tuesday is a zoom at 6.00 pm. We have Nadeeka Colby, giving us a Sri Lankan update
 
I hope you zoom in, look forward to seeing you then,
 
 
Regards
John
 
 
 
 
Stories
3 Minute Speaker
Three Minute Speaker:  Suzie Adam - Accessing Mental Health Services in Victoria
 
 
Attempting to access Mental Health services in Victoria has always been a hit and miss process.  I’ve actually sat on many committees in an attempt to improve services and am under no misapprehensions that anything is changing or getting any better.  While governments spend millions on Royal Commissions, Senate Enquiries and Expert Reference Groups, people are screaming out for assessable affordable mental health care.
 
I have experienced firsthand with family and with clients the issues that face them in accessing mental health services and treatments, but I want to bring to your attention, attention being the operative word about accessing services to gain the permits and therefore the medication necessary to support ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
 
Call Centres are reporting being flooded with those needing medications with numbers reaching nearly 30,000 in the last year.  Capitalising on the lack of services available, new ADHD Clinics have become a common occurrence and I understand why people resort to accessing these online and telehealth services.  I have clients who have been waiting 18 months for a Psychiatrist to prescribe the necessary permits they need to gain their medications. Psychiatric assessments have doubled in the last 3 years and these ADHD clinics are blatantly advertising $900,000 to recruit new psychiatrists and other allied health staff to join them, with the promise of a minimum income of $3800 per day and a $3000 signing up bonus.
 
Those on ADHD medication need a bi-annual review to obtain the permit needed for ongoing medication.  One instance is of a woman had not been able to access her usual psychiatrist as he had moved on without any replacement service available to her, which happens a lot in this industry. 
 
She had run out of her meds, which kept her able to function each day, and I mean the ability to actually get out of bed and hopefully do some work. She phoned many of these clinics - couldn’t even leave a message they were so busy.  She finally found one was told she would need a completely new diagnosis.  This was completely wrong as she had been correctly diagnosed and only needed her review. The session would be via telehealth and would cost her $1500 UPFRONT for 2 telehealth appointments. She had to then sign up for and then her ongoing “wellbeing services” which would also include a Psychologists appointment, a GP appointment and a dietitian.  The clinic was to gain around $17,000 for these appointments of which she would be between $4,300 and $12,000 out of pocket, depending on when her medicare safety net kicked in.  Some are being charged up to $4,000 for a single session to gain their medications.
 
One lovely psychiatrist I have worked with for many years, one of the rare individuals who doesn’t believe in making money out of human misery – his words – likens it to the fact that if you have a hammer everything looks like a nail.  He doesn’t believe that you can strictly diagnose ADHD via telehealth as he feels you are unable to collect the clinical nuances that you get with face to face.  He also thinks that single sessions is probably not the way for ADHD as it can fly in flock of many other disorders and could be confused with mood disorders, anxiety disorders or other serious psychotic disorders.
 
So, what are some possible solutions?  He believes there should be a cap on how much extra specialists can charge, as they are presently uncapped and specialists can charge whatever their new boat, golf club fees or children’s school fees need.
 
He believes ADHD care should be brought back into Primary Care though GP services.  This would mean that GPs would need extra training to be allowed to prescribe amphetamine, dextroamphetamine and lisdexamfetamine, which stimulate the Central Nervous System.  GP’s have been extremely apprehensive about this as the stigma of those just wanting a high are keen to use them and they are actively sold on the black market.
 
So let’s hope that this new Senate Enquiry into ADHD, beginning in September can at last give some sense and order to its explicit considerations to sensible cost, access, assessment and treatment of ADHD – I live in hope.
Read more...
This Weeks Speaker
Guest Speaker: Jenny Baker - Behind the Badge
Who am I and how did I get here – a nonstandard approach to a new member profile.
The early & formative years..
I was born at Randwick hospital in Sydney, but as a very young child we moved to Melbourne. As the family of a senior civil servant, we lived where my father’s work took us.
My childhood, in fact my whole life, has been very heavily influenced by my father. His early life was not a simple one, because as a nine-year-old boy, he left England and his beloved mother and sisters, to sail effectively unaccompanied to meet up with his father in Australia. Understandably, this had a profound effect on him, and when he was a father himself, he was very protective of his daughters - my two much older sisters and myself.
His two tenants in life were to place others before yourself, and whatever you are involved in, to do it to the very best of your ability …. do not settle for less. These were values that helped to make him the very successful man he became and the yardsticks by which I have lived my life.
In fact, his influence has been the making of me, but his protectiveness also inadvertently had the potential to derail my success in later life.
My schooldays were very happy. I embraced learning and as a result, I have had a lifelong love of reading. Toorak Central School provided me with the gateway to my senior school years at Macrobertson Girls High - a selective entry school on the edge of the city. Mixing with a significant cohort of students whose parents had lost whole families Europe, my eyes were opened as to how fortunate my life in Australia was.
My time at Macrob and the opportunity of a Commonwealth scholarship provided me with a very straightforward pathway to Law / Arts at Melbourne University.
An early marriage saw a deviation from my initial plans, as I moved from my very protective father to my very protective husband - both with the best will in the world, but not a good example for strengthening your sense of self. Paternalistic I suppose but for my father, always with the intention of sparing me the hurt he had experienced.
 
I continued with my university education, with my mother and mother-in-law providing care for my daughter Emma. My foray into external childcare, very limited in the seventies, however began and ended in one day at share house in Lygon Street, Carlton, redolent with the smell of marijuana.
At the same time, I was a very involved executive wife. But my very young high-flying husband had a suspected heart attack, and this was probably around the time I wondered if you could have it all … Just not all at the same time. My decision to defer my studies did, however, provide me with the luxury of being at home with my child, and strengthened the importance family has always played in my life and three years later my son Scott was born.
Our life had much to offer, but the stresses and strains of business success, constant travel, and much time apart over a number of years led us to consider if we were seeking different things from life. During these years I was also considering if I had the capacity to look after myself and my children financially should I need to.
We made the difficult decision to divorce, but fortunately my first husband has always remained a terrific father, and he and I are now firm friends again.
 
And so, at the age of 30, I started out on a solo career
I presented for the somewhat daunting first job interviews of my life. In a short space of time, I was offered a number of positions, but fortuitously accepted one which set me on the path to become an academic bookseller. The man who had the confidence to employ me was really taking a chance, given my lack of experience. When he asked me how he would know that I was serious about the job and wouldn’t leave in a month, in my naivety, I said why would I be applying for the job if I did not intend to stay! When he asked if I had any other observations about the interview, I also told him he was wearing odd socks! This same man became not only my employer, but my mentor and a friend of over 30 years.
Beginning my career at what is now Monash Frankston, I opened and operated their first campus bookshop, a small retail business, but one which offered me the experience I needed.
Sufficiently successfully it would appear, as some years later, I was approached to establish a similar operation at Frankston TAFE which also integrated their existing internal stationery supply arrangements. This also provided me the opportunity to qualify with a number of diplomas, keeping my academic interest alive. The business was rewarding but challenging and one which required much of my attention at nights and weekends.
As my son entered his final years at school, I made the decision to normalize my working life to allow me to be more available to him and I took a position at Deakin Rusden This gave me the chance to work with the small existing store and ultimately, to relocate the business, increase the turnover and more fully integrate it with the larger Deakin print business.
 
It was during this time that I married my second husband and increased my interest in snow skiing and motor sport. Much older than myself and someone who was less protective, and he saw no need for me to fall under his shadow.  My family was also growing as I became stepmother to two girls of similar ages to my own two children.
As fate would have it, my original employer and mentor sought me out to manage the now Chisholm TAFE businesses which Monash has just acquired. Consisting of stores at Frankston, Dandenong and Moorabbin, the brief was a larger one that I had undertaken before, but in his inimitable fashion when I questioned my capacity to do the job, he gaily said it would be fine, I would just be on a steep learning curve. I always felt that he had more confidence in my abilities than I had, but ultimately his faith in me was rewarded. He taught me that leadership produced positive results where often management failed.
The Chisholm businesses became part of a much larger retail umbrella, which ultimately included Monash stores at Clayton, Caulfield, Frankston and Gippsland as well as Australian Catholic University and the separate Holmesglen TAFE in Ashburton. With such a wide reach, the potential for my professional career to grow increased and with my children now away at university and independent, I took up a position at Monash Caulfield.
In each field of endeavor, I was always privileged to work with terrific people many of whom either moved with me or subsequently applied for positions at the sites where I was located. At Monash Caulfield I was working with George-Ann’s son-in-law Deni Mudigdo. Deni is a most unusual young man and one from whom I learnt a great deal, not only because of his financial acumen but also his calm wisdom and capacity to understand people and how to bring out their best. Ultimately, we worked as partners, he as General Manager of Finance and with me as General Manager of Operations and it was one of the most satisfying professional relationships of my career.
When Monash made the decision to entrust the retails businesses to a burgeoning organization MONYX, which would also encompass Monash catering and sport, another gateway for professional growth opened for me. When it obtained accreditation as a Retail Training Organization, I had the opportunity to increase my academic qualifications as well as my professional experience.
 
As you can imagine, managing businesses across so many sites, as well as undertaking studies, the workload and hours were significant. Unfortunately, in July 2005 this took its toll, and I was admitted to hospital for an aortic cardiac bypass. At 53, seemingly fit and healthy and in the prime of life, it was rather unexpected, but my family rallied in ways that I could not possibly have expected, and I will be forever grateful.
After nine weeks of recovery, I returned to work, ostensibly 3 half days each week initially. However, the workload soon returned to pre surgery levels, the direction form Monash changed and I made the decision that the time had come to “retire”.
My retirement was short-lived as I was asked to undertake some business development and bookkeeping work part time for a local hairdressing business. Not my milieu, but I accepted non the less. Some months later, I was also approached by Toorak College to work in their retail area, so my weekdays were now once again filled and my second career - life at Toorak College began.
After my first six months at Toorak College, the business manager was looking to make some changes to the purchasing system. As this was an area in which I had some experience and combined with the work I had done in change management at Monash, I left my foray into hairdressing and undertook full time work at Toorak ,managing and operating the purchasing system.
Once established, responsibility for the individual purchases was devolved to the cost centre managers, I continued to manage the process overall and I moved into the business office to oversee accounts payable. From the labour-intensive process I inherited we are finally implementing an electric system which I hope to be fully integrated by term four this year.
Employment at Toorak has provided me with the luxury of working just minutes from home, with civilized hours and the bonus of having three of my granddaughters as students here. My daughter is also a Collegian and, on the staff, so it is a real family affair – some have suggested a Dynasty!
I am very privileged that my twelve grandchildren are enthusiastic to be part of my life. With the adult children in particular, we share many similar interests, and it is wonderful to be able to enjoy things together.
 
 
Read more...
Farmers' Markets
Rowan Miller passed this lovely email on regarding the Farmers' Market
 
Well Done Us!!
Hello!
Just a quick shout out to you all! Today in the Herald Sun there was an article about Victorian Farmers Markets - and it's really worth a read.. but the good news is that Mount Eliza Farmers Market was included in the TOP10 farmers markets in Regional Victoria! YAY!!
 
So congratulations to all of you - who come out rain, hail and shine to be part of this great community event every month!
We really are a fabulous family.. I couldn't be happier!!
 
Please forward this to your teams, helpers etc..
 
Best wishes,
Leigh 
& the Chamber of Commerce team
 
 
Read more...
Club Meetings
June 13th    Zoom    Nadeeka Colby - Sri Lankan update
    Chairman    Jim Voss
    3 Minute Speaker    Bernie Edwards
        
June 20th    Program    Jimmy Lardner - Ireland today
    Chairman    Suzie Adam
    3 Minute Speaker    Judy Coultas
    Cashiers    Rhonda Vincent / Jim Young
    Fellowship     Annette Ferrier
    Furniture    Jim Voss
    Sergeant    Mike Weber or Ross Schweitzer
        
June 27th    Program    Changeover - Toorak College
Read more...
Brynton's Joke of the Week
Brynton's Joke of the Week
 
 
A chicken farmer went to the local bar, sat next to a woman, and ordered a glass of champagne.
The woman perks up and says "how about that! I just ordered a glass of champagne too!"
"What a coincidence,"; he said. This is a special day for me, I'm celebrating.
"This is a special day for me too and I'm celebrating also; said the woman.
What a coincidence; said the man.
As they clinked glasses he asked: what are you celebrating?

My husband and I have been trying to have a child and today my gynecologist told me I'm pregnant!!

What a coincidence. I'm a chicken farmer and for years my hens were infertile, but today
they're finally laying fertilized eggs.

That's great; said the woman. How did your chicken eggs become fertile?
He said I switched cocks

She smiles and says; What a coincidence!
Read more...
Changeover Dinner
Changeover Dinner
 
ROTARY CLUB of MT ELIZA
 
 
        CHANGEOVER DINNER
 
 
 
You are invited to celebrate the induction of Carolyn Such
as the President of the Rotary Club by Mt Eliza for 2023/2024
 
 
              Tuesday 27th June, 2023
 
            6.30pm for 7.00pm
 
               Toorak College Dining Room
 
                    $55.00 per head. BYO Drinks
 
  
  2 course dinner, tea/coffee and complimentary drink and canapes on arrival  
  Vegetarian or gluten free meal option also available.
 
 
 
Bookings via Humanitix by Tuesday 20th June please
                    https://events.humanitix.com/change-over-2023
                    place cursor in link, right click, select ‘open hyperlink’
 
 
Read more...
Please add mailservice@clubrunner.com to your safe sender list or address book.
To unsubscribe from future e-mails, click here.
P O Box 95 Mount Eliza 3930
We meet at 6:00 PM Every Tuesday at Toorak College