Q&A with Penny Dakin, outgoing CEO of ARACY: ‘Philanthropy’s willingness to be brave and bold will be key’
Philanthropy and government have come together to improve the wellbeing and opportunities of children and young people in what could be the largest ever structured collaboration between the sectors in the country’s history. The Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children is shaping up as an unprecedented, long-term, integrated approach to support young people and their families to thrive – with community and First Nations voices to be at its heart. ARACY - Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth is acting as the Strategic Convenor of this important initiative.
Read moreInvestment Dialogue for Australia’s Children gets under way at Canberra roundtable
Philanthropy and government have come together in what could be the largest ever structured collaboration between the sectors in the country’s history. Formalised this week in Canberra, the Investment Dialogue’s collective aim is to improve the wellbeing of children, young people and their families by working with communities to reduce intergenerational disadvantage in Australia. The initiative is shaping up as an unprecedented, long-term, integrated and community-led approach to supporting children, families and communities to thrive.
Positive, but more to do on Double Giving: our response to Productivity Commission’s draft findings
Philanthropy Australia thanks the Productivity Commission for the open and consultative approach it took in developing its draft report, ‘Future foundations for giving’. The report recommends some important reforms, including the expansion of Deductible Gift Recipient status to more charities and the establishment of an independent philanthropic foundation controlled by, and for the benefit of, First Nations communities. However, the final report will need to recommend a stronger suite of high-impact reforms if Australia is to achieve a step-change lift in our culture and practice of giving.
Paul Ramsay Foundation’s $5m boost to data social enterprise set to create more jobs for neurodivergent people
A significant expansion in career pathways for neurodivergent people in data and engineering is set to open following a $5 million boost to one of Australia’s fastest growing work-integration social enterprises from philanthropy. The Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF) announced this week that it would partner with Australian Spatial Analytics (ASA) to provide a blended finance package incorporating $2.5 million in grant funding and $2.5 million in impact investment to the social enterprise’s national scaling plans.
Why charities need robust cybersecurity now
When a cybersecurity breach exposes confidential data such as customer personal details, sponsors and donors data and funding details, there will be significant consequences whether the victim is a large profit-making business or a small charity.
Five questions to consider when scaling for impact
Dr Neela Saldanha, Executive Director, Yale Research Initiative on Innovation & Scale (Y-RISE), visited Australia at the invitation of Social Ventures Australia to give the keynote address at SVA’s summit on impact at scale. She explained why successful pilots often don’t achieve the same results ‘at scale’ and provided questions to consider when expanding a change program. These issues will be explored further in the upcoming sold-out Replication and Scale event hosted by Philanthropy Australia and Zurich Insurance Group.
From Brave to SEED: ‘Our country needs healthy families’
As origin stories go, Bernadette Black’s is highly compelling. Her drive to establish Brave Foundation as its first CEO – an organisation supporting young parents into education or work – was grounded in her own experience as a pregnant 16-year-old trying to navigate Centrelink. She found the experience profoundly unwelcoming and unhelpful, and it created a deep determination to one day change the system. Thirty years on, she’s doing that with SEED.