Do not-for-profits need their own conceptual framework?

This paper raises the issue of whether not-for-profit (NFP) organisations require a conceptual framework that acknowledges their mission imperative and enables them to discharge their broader accountability. Relying on publicly available documentation and literature, it suggests that current conceptaul Frameworks for the for-profit and public sectors are inadequate in meeting the accountability needs of broader NFP-specific accountability and the formulation of NFP-appropriate reporting practice, including the provision of financial and non-financial reporting. The paper thus theoretically challenges existing financial reporting arrangements and investes debate on their future direction.

Toowoomba torrent no one knew was coming

"It came without warning and, within minutes, the sea of murky brown water that swept through the main street of Toowoomba was gone."

Take my brother first : heroic final act saves sibling

"A schoolboy who begged rescuers to save his little brother first is among a dozen people drowned."

Phone call was lost as Grantham dad swept away

"As a wall of water crashed towards his Grantham home, pensioner Bruce Marshall frantically phoned his daughter Fiona for help."

Women who cheated death thank their saviours

"Two women who survived the Murphys Creek flood have thanked the passers-by who hauedl them from the maelstrom."

Amazing tale of teen's survival in torrent gives hope to families of the missing

Flailing in a maelstrom of muddy water, a teenager being swept along Toowoomba's shopping strip has become a reason for hope for the loved ones of the 12 people still missing in the devastating Queensland floods...

Toowoomba's 'miracle girl' surfaces after being feared drowned

Musician Hannah Reardon-Smith is the woman who came back from the dead after she and her mother were plunged into last week's catastrophic flash flood in Toowoomba...

Child's body in tree adds to Lockyer Valley death toll

"Two more bodies, including a that of child discovered in a tree, were retrieved in the Lockyer Valley at the weekend, reinforcing the grisly complexity of the search for the missing."

Stunned survivors say farewell to their families

"Flanked by her husband, Matthew, and her two surviving children, Maddison and Jacob, Stacy Keep yesterday began the heart-wrenching task of burying her family."

Flood inquiry : Grantham victims’ patience wears thin

"Grief and loss are giving way to anger and frustration among flood survivors of the rural towns in the Lockyer Valley as the Queensland Flood Commission hears from senior police, disaster management staff and flood survivors. For bereaved families in the public gallery waiting for answers to why 22 people died in the catastrophic flash flooding in the Lockyer Valley on January 10, patience is wearing thin."

Warning signs to disaster

"As the inquiry into Queensland’s worst ever floods begins in Brisbane today, the families of those killed by the extreme flash flooding in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley are still severely traumatised by their experiences. The $15 million inquiry will examine the disaster, government preparedness and the emergency response."

Flood victim’s heartbreak : ‘don’t be complacent about the risk’

"No one had higher stakes in the findings of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry than Grantham father Matthew Keep, whose mother, mother-in-law and baby daughter, Jessica, died at Grantham that terrible day in January. For seven months he has read every statement, submission, running log, disaster management plan and media article available. As he has comforted his grieving wife, Stacy, helped care for his two young children Madison, 5, and Jacob, 4, who amazingly survived the flood, and welcomed a new baby into the family, Matthew has searched for answers for himself and his community. Why were authorities not able to warn people in seven towns in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley that the worst flash flooding in at least a century was about to strike, killing 22 people? How could such a sudden and catastrophic flood claim three members of his family within minutes?"

Qld flood inquest : ‘I could see his arms moving, he was trying to swim’

"Despite the 10 months of grieving for those lost in Queensland’s January floods, new evidence produced during the coronial inquest into the 22 deaths and three disappearances has revealed new shocks for the bereaved families. Brisbane Coroner’s Court yesterday was introduced to a series of high-tech Google Earth animations backed by funereal music, explaining the scope of the unfolding tragedy, which swept away husbands, wives, children and grandparents in less than three hours on the afternoon of January 10 this year. The court was also told of the extensive search for human remains, of 131 kilometres of creeks and rivers from Spring Bluff to Brisbane and hundreds of dams that were searched three times by police divers, 250 army personnel and 200 police."

Qld floods inquest : stories of courage, sacrifice in emotional replay

"The last acts of courage and sacrifice by parents desperately trying to save their children as a deadly flash flood ripped through south-east Queensland in January fell like repeated emotional hammer-blows on survivors in the public gallery of the Brisbane Coroners Court yesterday. The speed with which the disaster tore lives and homes apart on January 10 was replicated by the speed at which police summarised the circumstances of the deaths for the coroner. After months of investigation by hundreds of police, the final desperate minutes of 14 people’s lives were summed up for the court before the morning tea break, in as little as three minutes each."

Queensland flood inquiry recalled as victims left in limbo

"The recalling of the Queensland Flood Commission of Inquiry for another nine days of hearings from today has renewed fears of Grantham residents that the review has not had sufficient time to properly investigate the causes of the 12 deaths in the town on January 10 last year. Grantham businesswoman Lisa Spierling, who has been liaising with the families of the flood victims, says recalling the inquiry to determine what operational strategy was being used by Wivenhoe Dam managers in the days before Ipswich and Brisbane flooded last year, is more than four times the entire sitting time that was allocated to the Lockyer Valley. The inquiry heard less than two days of evidence in April last year about the events in the Lockyer Valley, including Grantham."