About this organisation
Description of charity
Diabetes Victoria is the leading charity and peak consumer body working to reduce the impact of diabetes in the Victorian community. Since our establishment in 1953, Diabetes Victoria has developed an international reputation for our innovative work in diabetes research, education, advocacy and support. We are an independent, not-for-profit organisation. Above all, we value and respect the lived experience of Victorians affected by diabetes.
Summary of activities
It has been another remarkable year filled with significant achievements, and Diabetes Victoria takes pride in continuing to support Victorians impacted by or at risk of diabetes. Throughout the financial year, Diabetes Victoria successfully delivered a variety of programs, courses, events, and campaigns under the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS). Over 400,000 Victorians are registered with the NDSS, an Australian Government initiative administered by Diabetes Australia, with Diabetes Victoria serving as the Victorian agent. As of May 1, 2025, Diabetes Victoria ceased providing services for the NDSS HelpLine. This change will not have a significant financial impact. Diabetes Victoria offered comprehensive and topic-specific education programs, basic information sessions, health professional training and upskilling programs, camps, peer support initiatives, and Type 1 Diabetes in Schools programs. As the coordinator of the Victoria Department of Health s Life! program, our primary focus has been on preventing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. To date, nearly 100,000 Victorians have completed at least the introductory session of the program, and we have exceeded the performance targets set by the Department of Health for the financial year. Evaluation reports indicate that participants in the Life! program have made significant progress across all targeted outcomes. Additionally, we have implemented several initiatives to increase outreach among priority populations, improve data quality, and maintain quality assurance standards. In partnership with Deakin University, the Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes (ACBRD) is continuing its vital research aimed at enhancing support for individuals living with diabetes. This collaboration has reached a new milestone, as the partnership with Deakin University has been extended to 2030. We are committed to promoting a circular economy, as evidenced by the ongoing growth of our collection of pre-loved goods. Our valued partnership with Savers Australia, which was initially focussed on Victoria, has now been expanded to include New South Wales. This extension enables us to enhance our impact further. The funds generated from this partnership directly support innovative diabetes research, driving advancements in prevention, treatment, and care for the disease. As of 31 March 2025, Diabetes Victoria is no longer a member organisation of Diabetes Australia. This decision enables both organisations to focus more effectively on their respective strategic priorities and individual missions. Diabetes Victoria has established a 10-year partnership with the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI), based at the University of Melbourne. This collaboration aims to enhance the application of research in clinical practice. ACADI is a national, virtual centre that brings together over 70 partners, including researchers, advocacy groups, health services, and industry
Mission or vision of the charity
Our mission is to support, empower and campaign for all Victorians affected by, or at risk of, diabetes.
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Outcomes
Outcomes are self-reported by charities
Programs and activities
Name: National Diabetes Services Scheme
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Early childhood - aged under 6
- Families
- Females
- General community in Australia
- 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
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Life! program
URL: https://www.lifeprogram.org.au/
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Females
- Males
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
Name: Camps
URL: https://www.diabetesvic.org.au/how-we-help?tags=Left-Mega-Nav%2FCamps%2F&bdc=1
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Families
- General community in Australia
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Support groups
URL: https://www.diabetesvic.org.au/support-groups?bdc=1
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- General community in Australia
Name: OzDAFNE
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- General community in Australia
Name: DESMOND
URL: https://www.diabetesvic.org.au/programs-and-services?bdc=1
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- General community in Australia
Name: Diabetes at School
Classification: Diseases and conditions (Health > Diseases and conditions)
Beneficiaries:- General community in Australia
Name: Diabetes Victoria Clinic
Classification: Health (Health)
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
- Unemployed persons
- Veterans and/or their families
- Youth - 15 to under 25
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.
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