The past year has been a productive one for the Foundation. Our major disbursements totalling $407,000 were directed to activities named in honour of Sir Robert Menzies. Of that sum, $370,000, or rather more than 50% of our disposable income, was used to support the work of the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, the Menzies Centre for Population Health Research in Hobart and the Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies in London. I refer to other disbursements later in this report.

Still on the financial side, I am pleased to report that the year's operating results, as recorded in the Directors' Report for 1996, shows a net surplus of income over outlays of $349,318 (compared with the figure of $16,014 in 1995). This is due primarily to sale of several investments and is indicative of the satisfactory results achieved by the investment managers, Westpac Investment Management Pty Ltd. Following their advice, the Foundation has implemented a change to its investment strategy which has also led to returns higher than those earned in previous years. This restructuring of the investment portfolio has resulted in an unrealised capital gain of $1,162,140 in the market value of the Foundation's investments.

Looking ahead five years, the indications are that the Foundation will have the capacity to lift the level of its disbursements. The Board therefore created a Policy Reassessment Working Group to explore avenues to develop some new initiatives that will not only enhance the Menzies name but will also expand the Foundation's work to the benefit of the wider community. The Group's report will be considered by the Board and the ensuing new proposals will be included in my Report next year.

The year has brought a number of changes in the Foundation Board. Four directors, Mr John Clemenger, Sir Edward Hughes, Sir Laurence Muir and Mr John Tomlinson all retired during the year. All were members of long standing and all, in their differing capacities, served the Board exceptionally well. I report with sadness that Mr Tomlinson died later in the year.

We have also changed our administrative arrangements by reducing the frequency of Board meetings. The full Board, which now includes four members of the Menzies Alumni Association, meets once each year in December, with intervening meetings of a smaller Executive Committee held as and when necessary. This has resulted in a reduction of $10,000 in our travel costs. The Executive Committee met twice in 1996.

I reported last year that, following the death of Dame Pattie Menzies, we had received, on loan from the Menzies family, a number of signed photographs, citations and other items of Menzies memorabilia, about which we were taking advice on presentation and display. Although we have not yet reached finality, we have made substantial progress in this important historical task, and I hope that I will be able to announce a successful outcome in my next Annual Report.

Early in the year we were given the privilege of completing a memorial book to commemorate the life of the late Sir John Bunting. One copy has been prepared for each member of his immediate family and one extra copy is now, most appropriately, on permanent display in Clarendon Terrace in "The Bunting Room".

Later in the year we published the history of the Trust and the Foundation in a small book "The first fifteen years: 1979-1993". Copies have been sent to Parliamentary, University and major State libraries; to organisations associated with Sir Robert; to almost all the persons still living who are named in the book; to past and present Directors and members of the Alumni; to donors to the original Appeal; and of course to members of the immediate Menzies family.

Our second conference on the "Health Consequences of Ozone Depletion" was held in Hobart from September 9-11. The meeting was noteworthy since it was the first occasion when a member of the Alumni (Professor Silagy) delivered a paper to a Menzies Conference. The 25 scientific papers have been published in a special edition of Cancer Forum (Volume 20, No. 3) and are also available through the Foundation's Home Page on the Internet. We budgeted for an expenditure of $29,000 for this conference, but received some financial support from the Australian Cancer Society, the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia and the Co-operative Research Centre for Southern Hemisphere Meteorology. This generous assistance, together with registration fees, reduced our costs to $15,000.

Last year I reported the restructuring of the postgraduate scholarship program so that, for the first time, two scholarships were awarded in Law as well as one in the Allied Health Sciences. This pattern continued in 1996. In addition there was one exciting new development. In association with the National Health and Medical Research Council, we have been able offer a new NHMRC/R G Menzies Fellowship as one of that Council's highly prestigious CJ Martin awards. The first award was made in 1996 and the successful candidate will hold that award and our annual supplementation from 1997 to the year 2000. This will increase our expenditures on scholarships from $94,000 in 1996 to $149,000 in 1997.  

Administrative matters are rarely reported, but one advance in our administrative capability deserves comment. In May last year, the Foundation created its own "home page" on the Internet and that site has been substantially expanded during the year to include information about Sir Robert and about the Foundation.  

It also includes the full prospectus for the Law and Allied Health Sciences scholarships. Following study of each prospectus, any intending candidate can "download" the actual application form on to his or her computer and the form can then be completed on that computer, thus saving time and considerable trouble. We think that we are the first non-government organisation to make scholarship application forms available in this way.  

The scientific papers presented at the Hobart conference on the health consequences of ozone depletion can also be accessed through our home page which, during 1996, was visited by almost 1,000 persons.

Finally, I wish to thank Mr Bob White, our Deputy Chairman, for acting in my place on so many occasions in the past few years whilst I have been overseas. He has brought to this task his vast experience as well as his leadership skills. On a personal note, I acknowledge with pleasure his strong support, whilst on behalf of the Foundation, I offer him our sincere thanks. At the end of the year, he asked to be allowed to stand aside as Deputy Chairman. This was accepted and I am delighted to say that he has agreed to remain as a Director. The new Deputy Chairman is Mr Mike Codd who has been a Director since 1993. I congratulate him on that appointment and look forward to a long association with him in his new and challenging role.

Ninian M Stephen
Chairman

March 1997