New Southside community foundation will support local solutions to local problems

Victoria’s newest community foundation is starting to make waves in its bayside Melbourne home, with plans to begin its first grants program in coming months.

Pictured above L-R: Sarah Hardy, project manager Bo Stocker, John Spierings and Lorraine Grove.

Southside Community Foundation (SCF) is based in the City of Port Phillip, which includes St Kilda, Balaclava, Ripponlea, South Melbourne, and most of Port Melbourne. (The foundation is not affiliated with Port Phillip Council.)

It is the first community foundation to be established in Victoria in eight years and joins the growing movement of more than 2000 similar organisations worldwide and more than 50 in Australia.  

Southside’s first grants are guided by a Vital Signs report recently produced by the foundation. The report found that there are key local challenges across homelessness, poverty, food insecurity, poor mental health, climate change and creative industries.

Grants will support local organisations in these areas and local First Nations communities to come together and identify needs, priorities and how the local community can be more engaged.

Currently, Victoria is home to 23 community foundations. The first to be established in Australia was the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation in 1923, over 100 years ago.

The Interim Chair of SCF, John Spierings, has a long connection with the Port Phillip area. 

“Independent, democratic and transparent, community foundations are increasingly important as communities fragment and economic disparities grow,” Dr Spierings said.

“Many communities are innovative in responding to these challenges and community foundations are essential to enabling more of this to happen. They provide crucial social infrastructure and community capital for the long-term health and sustainability of civil society and local charities.

“They are a growing part of the philanthropic sector in Australia, and we are thrilled to launch Southside in Victoria.”

Dr Spierings said the Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) had been enthusiastic and supportive about forming a new foundation from the outset.

“More than a decade ago, two key figures involved in ACF, Marion Webster and Trudy Wyse, looked at the feasibility of a Southside community foundation,” he said. “It’s taken a while, but Southside is now a living entity thanks to that early research and all the crucial advice, enthusiasm, and practical assistance from the ACF board and staff over the past eighteen months.”

Andrew Binns, ACF CEO, says the partnership is a great example of ACF’s backend support for emerging philanthropic initiatives.

“Our support through ACF Advisory has ranged from undertaking compliance and acquittal logistics through to advice about long-term sustainability and planning,” he said.

Southside board member Sarah Hardy said that while Port Phillip is home to a number of affluent suburbs, an estimated 9000 locals live in poverty, and the city has one of the largest food banks in Victoria.

A third of renters are in housing stress, meaning more than 30 percent of household income is spent on rent. Rental housing affordability and quality are major issues for the area.

Some other key findings of the Vital Signs report are:

• Renters make up half of all residents, one of the highest proportions in Australia
• Only 6.4% of dwellings are classified as social housing, a low proportion for the inner city
• More older men (over 30) are homeless compared to Greater Melbourne 
• Of 9000 people experiencing food insecurity, 60% are women
• One in three residents live with a long-term health condition
• More than 10% of the adult population report experiencing very high levels of psychological distress
• Loss of tree canopy cover on private land is outstripping gains on public land, and 
• One in five arts and recreation jobs from 2016 no longer exist.

But the area has great assets, including very high levels of financial and social capital, and cultural and natural capital. 

It is a generous community too, with more than $60 million donated to DGR 1 charities last year – however most donations target causes and organisations outside of Port Phillip, Ms Hardy said.

How will the Southside Community Foundation work? 

Southside is a sub-fund of Australian Communities Foundation. All donations over $2 are tax-deductible.

It is established in perpetuity and is committed to developing long-term community capacity and adaptability. It is a great option for individuals, families and businesses considering their estate and financial planning and who wish to give back to a community that has given them so much.

As demonstrated by its first grant round, Southside is listening closely to the community to anticipate future needs, and fund longer-term systemic interventions.

 “The Southside Community Foundation aims to build a long-term financial asset for giving and responding to need in Port Phillip,” Ms Hardy said. “It’s an exciting new way to help donors be more effective by ensuring every dollar donated, whether large or small, is leveraged to achieve greater impact at a local level.” 

Who is on the Southside Community Foundation board?

The interim board comprises

• John Spierings (Interim Chair), whose career has included higher education, local and federal government, philanthropy and consultancy. 
• Gina Fiske, who has a background in community and human services sector program management and direct service delivery. Her work has led to improvements in the lives of children, youth and families. 
• Lorraine Grove, who has worked in infrastructure finance, investor relations, and as a technical writer/editor. She volunteers at Port Phillip Community Group and PBSfm community radio station.
• Sarah Hardy is the CEO of the Ross Trust, and is skilled in governance, finance, strategy and risk, grant making, communication, fundraising and executive leadership.
• Elizabeth Jennings, former Chief Financial Officer at Victoria Legal Aid, Head of Strategic Finance at World Vision Australia, and the Director of Corporate and Community Services at the Shire of Yarra Ranges.
• Aaron McNeilly, the Engagement and Advisory Lead at the Australian Communities Foundation (ACF), has also held roles with the Enterprise Network for Young Australians, the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance, The Prince’s Charities Australia, The Prince’s Trust and Arts Centre Melbourne. 

Briony Stocker, who has a background in higher education, most recently at Monash Business School, is Southside’s part-time Project Manager.

A skills-based board will continue to be built early in 2025.

SCF is keen to hear from individual donors, families, businesses, community organisations and civil society interested in supporting, knowing more about the foundation or alerting Southside to local needs. 

Anybody interested in knowing more can email [email protected]

The Southside Community Foundation recognises that Port Phillip is located on the lands of the Kulin Nation and has been inhabited by its peoples for more than 40,000 years. We pay respect to Elders, past and present, and acknowledge that lands have never been ceded.