Crisis talks loom for St John Ambulance as details of national lottery plans surface

St John Ambulance Queensland has signed a deal to join a national lottery with its counterpart in South Australia as part of plans to save dozens of jobs.

St John Ambulance Queensland has plans to join a national lottery. Picture: St John Ambulance

A deal to join a national lottery may hold the key to survival for one of the state’s largest charities, St John Ambulance Queensland, which went into crisis mode last week as it renegotiated multimillion-dollar government contracts.

Details of the lottery agreement, signed with the organisation’s South Australian counterpart recently, were likely to be discussed at a series of top-level meetings scheduled at the organisation’s Nundah headquarters next week.

Staff in Queensland were told last week the lottery partnership was expected to generate $600,000 in revenue in the 2025 financial year and help raise the organisation’s profile in the community.

St John Ambulance in South Australia has been running a successful lottery, similar to the Mater Prize Homes, since 2020.

The deal with Queensland would allow the venture to become a national lottery.

In an internal message to staff last week, St John Ambulance Queensland chair Judy Morgan moved to reassure staff who were left reeling after they being told earlier this month that more than 75 jobs could be in jeopardy.

St John Ambulance Queensland chair Judy Morgan. Picture: St John Ambulance annual report.

“There are opportunities to work with our St John cousins in other states to share best practice and share services where it makes sense,” she said.

“There are also opportunities to improve our relationships with all levels of government.

“The potential for us to be our best and make the most impact in the community is there and we have already proven we can deliver, despite challenging circumstances.

“The board is, and will, continue to explore and evaluate options to reset the organisation to truly reach our full potential.”

Another revenue-generating initiative proposed by the board included receiving funding of up to $15,000 as the recipient of a “workplace giving program”.

This week’s meetings were also expected to discuss the fate of hundreds of staff and volunteers, along with future government contracts for the provision of transport services for those over 65.

Turning around the organisation’s flagging financial statements and cutting employee costs, largely blamed for an $800,000 budget blowout in the past financial year, would also be under review.

St John Ambulance chief executive Paul Peter Maher took the reins last week. Pictures: Contributed

The organisation went into damage control on Friday after news that major government contracts were due to expire in weeks, amid claims that some contractual obligations were not being met.

Staff making their way into the charity’s new headquarters at Nundah on Friday refused to speak to media.

But volunteers said the mood inside was grim, with employees concerned about job losses.

They were angry there had been no response, as of Friday, to a staff letter sent to the board of directors calling for them to step down last Tuesday.

Volunteers, who did not want to be named, said they had not been told of the lottery deal.

Staff who had been informed of the raffle ticket cash-raising plan called it “farcical” and the $15,000 workplace giving plan an “insult’’.

Under terms published online for the South Australia lottery last year, St John Ambulance issued about 189,000 tickets for purchase.

There was a one-in-14 chance of winning a prize in the main draw, which included a house valued at $4.7 million, a Premium wine cellar valued at $60,000, a Porsche Cayenne worth $165,000 and $250,000 cash. The total Grand Prize Package value was listed as $5.2 million.

The winner also had the option of a $4.5 million cash deposit into an Australian bank account.

St John Ambulance staff drive thousands of people to medical appointments.

Chief Financial Officer Andrew Walker highlighted St John Ambulance Queensland’s financial problems in last year’s annual report, published in October, which showed a net operating deficit of more than $800,000.

Despite total revenue rising by nearly $2 million and a 25 per cent increase in grants for Community Services over that year, the charity experienced a 17 per cent increase in total expenditure resulting in the $800,322 operating deficit.

In his report, Mr Walker blamed a 35 per cent increase in the cost of training instructor fees and a 14 per cent increase in the cost of employees.

“Whilst ($800,322) this is a significant deficit, there are several factors that influenced the result,” Mr Walker said.

“The executive team has been replaced, the bad debt provision was increased based on the ageing of the outstanding debt and redundant stock written off.

“There was also a substantial increase in employee costs during the year.”

Originally published as Crisis talks loom for St John Ambulance as details of national lottery plans surface