Asthma Australia has announced the formation of Asthma Australia Ltd, the new national health charity to better serve the current and future needs of people with asthma and their treating health professionals.

Asthma Australia Ltd, is the merger of Asthma Australia and the ACT, NSW, Queensland, South Australian and Victorian state Asthma Foundations, to create a “stronger, united, more efficient and effective national health body”.

“We were perpetuating a range of different entities all seeking to achieve the same thing.  It makes good sense to consolidate and deploy our resources against our common purpose.  In an environment where it is increasingly challenging to raise funds, this is one way we can work smarter, remove duplication, and be able to realise opportunities not afforded to smaller entities,” said Asthma Australia Ltd CEO Michele Goldman.

“I am excited that we have overcome the barriers of operating as part of a federation, and will be able to work as a more agile and innovative health organisation focused on supporting those who matter most – people with asthma. Asthma is a national health priority and as a united health charity with national reach we have a tremendous opportunity to deliver services with a greater impact.”

Asthma is a lifelong chronic condition that currently affects one in nine Australians. In order to help people achieve clinically significant improvements in their asthma control, the new Asthma Australia Ltd State and Territory offices will provide even greater local support through pooling human capital, resources and providing coordinated service delivery.

Asthma Australia Ltd aims to continue to deliver services and programs to people with asthma including:

• 1800 Asthma helpline and The COACH Program – supporting individuals to more effectively manage their asthma including addressing specific lifestyle risk factors.
• Comprehensive online service – information, tips, resources, tools disseminated via website, social media channels, e newsletters.
• Community education – delivered to thousands of individuals, and targeted to those who have struggled to access meaningful support.
• Asthma first aid training–reaching tens of thousands of staff in schools, childcare and other settings.
• National Asthma Research Program – building the evidence base to inform programs, and providing early career grants and PhD scholarships to support next generation of researchers.

According to the 2014 Australian Charities Report, in December 2015 there were 54,000 registered charities in Australia. This makes the Australian fundraising landscape increasingly competitive.

“It is becoming more challenging to raise sufficient funds to enable both the continued delivery of existing services, and the development of new services to improve care into the future,” said Goldman.

“As a united, larger charity organisation, we are better placed to secure corporate support and increase funding opportunities through our national profile and consolidated fundraising initiatives.

“We are delighted to be announcing a new national corporate partnership in the coming weeks.”

The merger will allow Asthma Australia Ltd to become a state of the art, flexible, sustainable charity powered by past organisational and program success to expand its services and reach to support more people with asthma and their treating health professionals.