Governance

Story Dogs - Good Governance

Story Dogs makes reading fun but takes its Governance very seriously. Below are some of the ways we are looking after our volunteers, managing our risks and finances, and ensuring the future of our program.

Our Goals

Short Term Goals

To be helping 5000 children by the end of 2023

Where are we at?

In July of 2023 we were helping 3160 children every week, 63% of our goal achieved.

Long Term Goals

It is a big hairy audacious goal...To have a Story Dog in every primary school in Australia!

Where are we at?

There are 6223 Primary Schools in Australia (source Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority ACARA 2019) and the Story Dogs program is, as at July 2023, currently in 379 schools. That is only 6%. A long way to go, but we will give it our best shot.

Our Funding

Story Dogs aligns our major funding streams with our core business streams. In the financial year of 2022/23 the percentage of total income for each funding stream can be seen below.

Story Dogs receives no Government funding.

Our Board of Directors

see our Team here

Our Governance Structure

Story Dogs Ltd is an Australian company limited by guarantee.

ABN: 32 603 311 388

Registered by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) on 3/12/12. See our page here

Endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) beginning on 07/12/16.

The public company information and financial reports are available on the ACNC website here .

The Story Dogs Constitution states that our Objectives are to:

a) Ensure no child is left behind in literacy

b) Making reading fun for children so that they become confident lifelong readers

Chart of the Story Dogs Organisation:

Risk Management

Story Dogs is very aware of the potential risks when working with children and dogs. We would never want to see a child injured by one of our dogs and we will do everything we can to ensure this does not happen. We have gone to extensive lengths to minimise these risks. In the event that an injury does happen we have current Public Liability Insurance to $20 million dollars.

The following is a summary of the risk minimisation strategies we have embedded into our recruiting, training and placement procedures for our Volunteer Dog Teams:

No restricted dog breeds are used
A person must have owned or be closely associated with the dog for at least 12 months
The dog must be older than 12 months
Dog teams must pass a 10 point Dog Team Accreditation Test
We use only experienced dog trainers, who are external to Story Dogs, to accredit the Dog Teams
Multiple dog accreditors assess dogs if necessary
Volunteers are trained to look for the signs of their dog becoming stressed, a possible precursor for a dog bite
It is Story Dogs Policy that volunteers are not in the playground during break times. Volunteers are directed to enter and exit the school in times when children are in class and not in the playground where the dog can become stressed due to large amounts of noise and attention.
Volunteers never leave their dog unattended at school
The dog is on a lead at all times when at school
Volunteers use a Weekly Dog Interaction Review Sheet. This is a monitoring tool to determine whether the dog is showing signs of stress while at school.
Volunteers are trained in the Story Dogs Emergency Procedure if any incident happens at school. School staff are also informed of the Story Dogs Emergency Procedure, so they can give assistance if necessary.
Parental consent is required before a child can participate in the program. It is assumed that a child who is strongly afraid of dogs or who has behaviours which may be detrimental to dogs is not given permission.

Child Protection

Our Commitment:

Story Dogs is committed to promoting and protecting the interests and safety of children.

Everyone involved with Story Dogs is responsible for the care and protection of children and reporting information about child abuse.

Context:

Story Dogs works closely with schools, we are only on schools grounds by the permission of the school Principal. As such the children are in the care of the school at all times. Story Dogs acknowledges that is has a strong duty of care to the children when they are engaging with Story Dogs staff or volunteers. Story Dogs volunteers see children on a one on one basis each week for approximately 20 minutes per child. It is expected a bond or relationship will form between the child, volunteer and dog. However, this relationship should always be positive and fun and never become personal.

Risk Minimisation:

As part of Story Dogs commitment to the protection of children against abuse we have put in place a number of measures to minimise the risk. These are:-

All staff and volunteers of Story Dogs must have a current Working with Children Check issued from the State they are working/volunteering in.
All staff and volunteers of Story Dogs will be made aware of their responsibilities in relation to child protection. Specifically the Story Dogs Code of Conduct, Story Dogs Child Protection Policy and the Story Dogs Child Protection Volunteer Information and Procedures.
Story Dogs Coordinators are to support volunteer Dog Teams in all matters related to child protection.
The Story Dogs Board will support coordinators, volunteers and other staff members in all matters related to child protection.
Story Dogs volunteers have only the first name and no other information on the children we see. All permission forms and other information is held by the school. Reading levels collected are not linked to any specific children but are reported to Story Dogs by the school with only the child’s first name used.
The location of the reading sessions within the school are chosen so as to ensure volunteers are not alone and out of sight with the child. Reading sessions are to be in sight of school staff at all times.

In addition Story Dogs is currently working towards being an accredited Child Safe Organisation, with fulfillment of all aspects of the National Principles of Child Safety.

Dog Welfare

Story Dogs is very passionate about our dogs. We are an organisation of dog lovers, Woof Woof!

We have numerous strategies in place to ensure the welfare of our dogs:

Before starting volunteering with us every dog must undergo a health check from a Vet,
Every Dog Team must pass the Dog Team Assessment. This assessment looks at the way the handler interacts with and treats their dog,
The handler is expected to be calmly in charge of their dog,
Dogs are tested wearing either a flat collar with a 1-2m webbing lead, a Martingale collar, or a well-fitting harness,
No training collars, halties, muzzles, aversive collars or retractable leads are permitted,
Dog are not expected or required to sit if this is uncomfortable for them, especially greyhounds or other hound breeds,
Handlers are encouraged to talk to their dog throughout the test, reassure their dog and give positive reinforcement when appropriate,
Absolutely no yelling, harsh commands or physical punishment (eg. lead jerking) will be tolerated. Any harsh treatment, yelling, jerking on the lead will lead to a fail of the Dog Team Assessment,
The dog behaviour experts and dog trainers that we use to carry out the Dog Team Assessment are chosen for only using and promoting positive reinforcement techniques,
Volunteers are trained to look for the signs of stress in their dogs and are encouraged to retire their dog if they are showing signs of stress, pain or reluctance for engaging with the program,
Ongoing volunteer training in dog behaviour is available for all registered Volunteers,
Our Code of Conduct includes the RSPCA Five Freedoms of Animals,
All dogs must undergo a vet health check every year they are with our program,
All dogs must be regularly wormed and vaccinated (or have the appropriate levels of antibodies as per the Titer test),
Volunteers are trained to protect the dog at school from any potential harm, including the stress of students hugging our dogs. 'Pats not Hugs' is our mantra.

Volunteer Support

Nurturing, supporting, and respecting our volunteers is at the heart of Story Dogs. Our Volunteer Coordinators are the key supports for our Volunteer Dog Teams. As such we feel it is very important that our Volunteer Coordinators are also well supported, listened to and respected. Below are some of the strategies we use to support our volunteers.

Keeping the size of the region and number of teams that a Volunteer Coordinator looks after at a manageable level is vital to their welfare and to the success of the organisation as a whole.
Recognition and appreciation is given when appropriate and also officially at least twice during each year during National Volunteering Week and end of year recognition events.
Feedback forms are located on the Registered Volunteer online space for volunteers to raise concerns and or give feedback.
Access to the Managing Director via phone or email for all Volunteers to raise concerns or give feedback
All Volunteer Coordinators have access to an internal intranet full of information to help support and manage volunteers, to manage the growth of their region, to communicate effectively and freely with all other Volunteer Coordinators and to voice concerns and give feedback.
Grief counselling, from Rev Barbara Allen, is available to all our Volunteers at any time, for any reason