The Foundation joined forces with the suicide prevention charity R U OK? to develop the nationwide ‘Are They Triple OK?’ Campaign (ATTOK?), launched in November 2019. The campaign’s free resource materials, originally developed in response to a Beyond Blue nationwide “Answering the Call” study into the mental health and wellbeing of Australia’s police and emergency services workers, became highly regarded and widely distributed during and following Australia’s horrific 2019 / 2020 bushfire season.

In FY22 ATTOK? will continue to prompt conversations and encourage early intervention by providing the family and friends of front line responders with the skills and tools to begin an R U OK? conversation. This next phase is built around four key pillars of Awareness, Education, Engagement and Action, to help ensure effectiveness of the campaign year-round.

This approach will include a new Conversation Guide tailored to Family and Friends (social support), webinar series, free e-learning modules, social media assets, advertising and a content series to highlight real world examples of conversations in detail.

It will be further supported by a peer support “champions” model; recruiting and providing a guide to enable internal champions to drive positive change within their immediate working environment. Further support will also be provided to head office teams to enable and equip them to embed the campaign within existing programs (case studies, training materials/presentations).

The Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal (FRRR) are the only national foundation specifically focused on ensuring social and economic strength in remote, rural and regional Australia. They do this by connecting good will, with good purpose and aligning government, philanthropic and local community purpose and investment.

The partnership with FRRR and Pinnacle Charitable Foundation is being implemented across three core programs to help rebuild and strengthen regional communities including:-

• Future Drought Fund – support community organisations to develop locally generated initiatives that build strong social connectedness, strengthen social capital and support transformative activities to be more prepared for, and resilient, to the impacts of drought
• Disaster Resilient: Future Ready program – support and strengthen the capacity and capability of remote, rural and regional communities to thrive and be resilient to the impacts of climate, natural disasters and other disruptions.
• Strengthening Rural Communities – provides small, localised grants to grassroot, community led initiatives that directly and clearly benefit local communities including recovery from national disasters such as Australia’s Black Summer bushfires

All three of the programs align closely to the Foundation and Pinnacle’s interest in helping to drive effective social and environmental change, to secure and maintain the overall health and wellbeing of communities. This helps ensure that they can not only survive, but thrive in changing and challenging circumstances.

Domestic violence and sexual assault are by any measure the most common – and one of the most insidious – crimes committed in Australia. Enormous personal, social and productivity costs are associated in every instance. Frequently referred to in the media as the “shadow pandemic”, the pressures and stresses of the last 18 months have greatly exacerbated the environments in which abuse can occur and remain hidden from view.

For more than five years the Foundation has partnered with the NSW based Full Stop Foundation (FSF), the fundraising arm of Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia (R&DVSA).

The Full Stop Foundation is about stopping sexual assault and domestic violence – Full Stop. Funding continues to help FSF employ a Legal and Policy Officer to assist clients to access, understand and navigate a multitude of complex court and legal processes, and reach out for assistance in matters relating to criminal justice, family law and victims of crime legal matters. Equally important has been the enhanced ability of FSF to review and participate in legal reform discussions, leading to powerful submissions contributing to law reform across state and federal jurisdictions – including the recent historic reform of NSW sexual consent laws announced by the state government in May 2021.  Critically, this has also allowed “the voice of the victim to be brought to the table” – often for the first time in a meaningful way.

The role also provides internal training, and the capacity for FSF to transcribe widely sought after training modules into accessible online programs, to ensure their continued public access and availability.

Additional one-off funding from the Foundation in FY22 will also allow the establishment of Australia’s first nationwide survivor advocate program for people with lived experience of sexual, domestic and family violence from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds. Its goals will be to drive meaningful changes to policy, practice and law reform in a safe and supported way.

Numerous reports and studies indicate that prevention and early intervention strategies to address mental health concerns in young people, are critically important in preventing these escalating and becoming crippling. Following Antipodes’ establishment of a link with ReachOut through contributing as a fund manager to Future Generation Global Investment Company (FGG), the Foundation is proudly supporting ReachOut together with Antipodes for the fifth year.

ReachOut is Australia’s most accessed youth mental health service and is trusted by young people to help them get through tough times. More than 3.6 million Australians turned to ReachOut for support in 2020, and the organisation continues to lead the way in developing modern, innovative mental health and wellbeing programs that deliver the support young people need.

One of the priorities for ReachOut in FY22 is a shift in strategy to better integrate into the everyday existence of young people, and how they operate and chat online. In pivoting from being a resource website that leads with information – to becoming an intuitive, integrated and personalised digital service that connects people to the conversations and communities they need – ReachOut will remain relevant and ready to support young people, and their families.

Funding will focus around creating a digital ecosystem that connects young people to the conversations and communities they need, including a pilot model of 1 to 1 peer support that connects young people to other young people with lived experience. This model is a first for Australia and ReachOut research shows that young people are looking for options to connect safely with other young people who have ‘walked in their shoes’ when they aren’t yet ready, able or willing to talk to mental health professionals or crisis services.

batyr, meaning hero, is named after the famous talking elephant in Kazakhstan, and “exists to give a voice to the elephant in the room – mental health”. Employees across Palisade have a strong belief in addressing issues around youth mental health – especially in regional locations – and in fostering education as a pathway to future wellbeing.

batyr is an ideal partner as the organisation draws on young facilitators with “lived experience” of mental health challenges to deliver peer to peer messages in schools and universities around resilience, hope and action within communities. Programs aim to engage, educate and empower participants.

The Foundation and Palisade are together supporting batyr for a fifth year to continue building networks and delivering batyr@school programs in the Central West region of NSW. batyr’s presence, reach and impact across the region has been steadily increasing, with these experiences and learnings now being adapted to other communities in regional NSW struggling with the effects of drought, bushfires and coronavirus.

In addition, the partnership will also fund a pilot project in FY22 based around formal Advocacy training. This will help those who engage with batyr’s programs to continue to develop an insight into the organisation’s values and philosophy, through self paced online modules.

Based at Westmead in Sydney, CMRI undertakes world-leading research to improve children’s health. As Australia’s first medical research facility dedicated to children, CMRI has been helping to save the lives of children for over 60 years. The award winning, independent Institute has built an international reputation for high impact research dedicated to tackling the leading causes of death in children: cancer, congenital disorders (birth defects), and genetic diseases.

Following input from employees across Plato and Resolution Capital, the Foundation has for a fourth year joined with both fund managers to partner with CMRI to support the purchase of vital equipment to be used by the Eye Genetics Unit.

The Unit, led by Professor Robyn Jamieson, is focused on genomic, stem cell and genetic therapy applications to maximise the genetic diagnostic rate and new therapies for blinding genetic eye diseases.

According to Prof Jamieson: “Genetic eye conditions, such as inherited retinal diseases, were difficult to genetically diagnose and considered untreatable for many years. Excitingly, our genomic research studies have successfully led to genetic diagnoses and understanding of disease mechanisms. Our new frontier is development of novel genetic therapies to rescue vision in these disorders.”

Like the previous projects – which also enabled CMRI to purchase cutting edge equipment – the aim is to enhance researchers’ understanding of inherited and acquired paediatric disorders, and gain insight into the development of new treatment options.

Resolution Capital is partnering with several organisations addressing different aspects of disadvantage experienced by young people across Australia.

One of these entities is Yalari, which is celebrating more than 15 years of an unwavering commitment to provide quality educational opportunities for Indigenous children from remote, rural and regional areas of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. Scholarships commencing in Year 7 are currently offered across more than 25 partner boarding schools across Australia, with Yalari providing holistic support and guidance through to Year 12 and beyond.

In January 2021 Resolution Capital and the Foundation again supported Yalari’s annual Orientation Camp, which is the starting point for all new Year 7 students embarking on their boarding school journey. The Camp paves the way for a smooth transition from primary education and living at home to a secondary education at a boarding school. Year 7 students are given the opportunity to learn about boarding school life in an environment where they feel safe, can be inquisitive and share the journey with fellow students.

In addition, Resolution Capital is sponsoring a year 7 student from Moree as she begins her boarding school journey in Sydney at Kambala’s Rose Bay, as a recipient of the Rosemary Bishop Scholarship Program.

Mirabel believes that every child deserves a childhood filled with love, hope and belonging. A highly respected children’s charity operating for more than 20 years, Mirabel has a mission to break the destructive cycle of drug addiction. This is achieved through the delivery of proven programs for children who have been orphaned or abandoned due to their parents’ illicit drug use, strengthened by crisis support and parenting assistance for the kinship carers who take on the responsibility of raising them.

With the support of the Foundation, Firetrail and other funders, Mirabel commenced a new service in the Hunter Valley region in NSW, with programs and support adapted for delivery online due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements. Mirabel fills a significant gap in current service provision and is enabling support to be provided to hundreds of vulnerable young people in the region, which is facing the impact of increasing drug use compounded by the stresses of Coronavirus.

In addition, a new partnership with Res Cap is helping to fund Big Day Out events in FY22, which offer Mirabel children wonderfully inclusive, fun adventure days at Sydney theme parks and iconic venues such as Taronga Zoo. Importantly, these days also offer Mirabel professionals the chance to interact with and observe the children, plus gives their carers a richly deserved break.

All Mirabel programs aim to provide young people with intensive youth support and the opportunity to practise a variety of life skills including conflict resolution, personal safety awareness, positive communication and developing a sense of responsibility for themselves and others.

Renewed funding in FY22 continues to underpin the Foundation and Spheria’s partnership with the Perth based Australian Alzheimer’s Research Foundation (AARF). Funding is helping researchers study the very early onset of Alzheimer’s disease, which is debilitating, strikes at random, and is incurable. Currently there is no effective treatment for Alzheimer’s, and with 1,800 Australians diagnosed with dementia every week, the disease remains the second leading cause of death in Australia.

Analysis into early stage cell changes at the onset of Alzheimer’s – to better understand its origins – has been identified as essential to both develop the most effective treatment of the disease, and in the search for a cure. Results of the studies being funded will contribute new knowledge about the underlying causes of the disease, how it develops and its progression.

In addition, a new program partnership with Resolution Capital will begin in January 2022. Together with the Foundation, the joint contribution will be applied to researching blood biomarkers and the development of a non-invasive, simple, early-stage diagnostic blood test to show “markers” for Alzheimer’s, and assist in early identification and potential early treatment for the disease.

The AARF has a vision of a world in which Alzheimer’s no longer exists, and a mission to support leading edge research that makes it both treatable and preventable.

Expanding on a new relationship developed in FY21 with the Kindness Factory (KF), the Foundation will be providing capacity building support for admin, marketing and strategy development. The Foundation is championing the mission of The Kindness Factory to “inspire all humans to play kind, have fun, stay connected with others, know when to reach out for help, exercise resilience and treat themselves, and the planet, with dignity and respect”.

Kindness Factory is founded on the principles of kindness, providing awareness and education on the emotional and psychological benefits of kindness. Human decency in society requires an intergenerational shift in positive behaviors. Hence, in 2022 Kindness Factory will be building further on 2020’s launch of the Kindness Curriculum and enhancing the program reach beyond the already existing 2500 schools across Australia; capturing students from preschool through to senior year.

In addition, new initiatives are being planned to acknowledge key milestone events and engage more people into the “kindness movement”. Success has been demonstrated by people delivering greater society impact through more people doing more, and logging acts of kindness. Major events are well developed for 13 November 2021 – World Kindness Day – and progress towards a world first Kindness Symposium to be held in Australia and the USA when the environment allows is underway.

Support for emergency shelter for older women facing a crisis in homelessness – a situation exacerbated by Coronavirus – is being offered to the YWCA in Sydney for their frontline “Pathways to Independence” (PTI) program. This has a specific focus on single, older women over 50 who are often facing homelessness – and the complex issues surrounding it – for the first time, and who are increasingly facing a system with a shocking lack of affordable housing.

According to the YWCA, only 10 per cent of homeless services specifically cater to women in the 50+ age group. Across Sydney, the PTI outreach, rehousing services, holistic case management and skills workshops offer older women support to build strategies and resilience and to feel safe and secure. The program contributes to positive life outcomes, and prevents older women from becoming entrenched in the vicious cycle of homelessness.

The Foundation’s donation will directly enable Pathways to Independence to remain operating in 2021, due to a gap in funding caused by lockdowns. In FY22 the Foundation is also able to provide additional support for over and above client brokerage needs, including immediate (crisis accommodation, bedding, white goods and groceries) and long term value-added (vocational training, work experience placements and financial education) brokerage needs.

Support for positive educational outcomes for Indigenous youth will be expanded beyond the existing longterm partnership with Yalari, through a new partnership with NASCA (National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy). Together with Firetrail, the Foundation is committed to helping NASCA to draw on the power of structured educational, sporting and cultural programs toharness the educational, employment and health aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander young people.

NASCA is 100% led and governed by skilled Indigenous professionals and educators, working in collaboration with schools and communities for lasting engagement. Support is being directed towards a new NASCA initiative, a residential “CareerFit Camp” for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders bringing students enrolled in year 8-11 together in Sydney. They will undertake a series of challenging and engaging learning experiences, balanced with fun, with the aim of helping to empower these young students to map their own careers and futures.

As a further way of supporting acutely disadvantaged young people, the Foundation and Spheria have established a new, Victorian based partnership with the Lighthouse Foundation. Lighthouse helps young, vulnerable people in Victoria who are homeless, and who typically come from backgrounds of long-term neglect and abuse. More than 1,000 kids have secured the assistance they require to achieve a lifelong sense of belonging, the opportunity to heal and the capacity to thrive.

Within a safe home and a community to belong to, these young people are nurtured by the Lighthouse Model of Care – a holistic therapeutic treatment program drawing on over 60 years of empirical research into human development. One of the main anchors for their experience – during and for as long as they wish following their time at Lighthouse – is the dedicated Resource Centre which was forced to close during 2020. Funding will enable this critically important hub be expanded with more offerings and services.

The Foundation Board has added a broad new partnership focus around the environment, reflecting the increasing engagement of philanthropy in seeking innovative ways to help manage resources and address climate challenges. Together with Riparian, a partnership has been initiated with the Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust in the ACT, directly supporting their Women in Water (WiW) Program.

The Trust’s goal is to bridge the gap between people, science, and the environment, including helping to create an effective and informed regulatory framework for water management. Partnering with the Women in Water Program aims to help the Trust achieve this, through fostering the diversity of leadership, thought, experience, and background amongst those who influence water discussions and frameworks across Australia.

Photography below by PCT Fellow Tanya Doody.