CEO address: Culture, Community, Change 

This address was delivered as part of Philanthropy Australia’s State of Philanthropy Series in May 2026.  

I acknowledge and pay respects to the First Nations people with us today who have cared for culture, land and community for 65 thousand years, the oldest living culture in the world.  I feel humbled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who continue to extend an offer of reconciliation to those of us who have come lately to this place, and colonised and disrupted that continuous custodianship.  

Think of Aboriginal kinship, of maintenance of country, of storytelling, knowledge sharing and intergenerational care. They demonstrate true generosity of spirit. They are, in many respects, our first philanthropists…and a poignant example of what I want to talk about today – generosity in its fullest sense of the word. 

Because philanthropy, I very strongly believe, is about more than just money. It is about culture, community and change. It is about our values, the way we think about the world and our responsibility within it. 

Culture 

I ask you to take a moment to think about what Generosity means to you. Perhaps what comes to mind is simple acts made at the community level, to fill gaps. Think of your suburb, town or community and where and how generosity shows up. 

People volunteering in the school canteen, coaching the local sporting club, sitting on the Kindergarten committee or the Board of a local charity, teaching a class at a neighbourhood house, or dog sitting for their neighbourhood. Coming together as a nation after floods or fires, or crowd funding for a family that has experienced a traumatic loss. 

Giving Zakat within our Muslim communities; Tzedekah within our Jewish community; or Tithing within our Christian communities. Australians have many ways of being generous and expressing our generosity. This can be seen even at our darkest moments. 

Our nation has weathered an awful summer. We have endured multiple acts of terror. We have seen the sharp rise of racism, anti-semitism and hate speech,  and the rise of fear. Yet even in the face of this, I believe that Australians view themselves as fundamentally generous. We still consider ourselves as custodians of an egalitarian way of life. Through the horror we have seen the best of our national character. We have seen lifesavers put themselves in danger to help strangers in need. 

At our darkest moments, Australians are often at their best. That is how we should measure the character and generosity of our nation. Generosity after all is the core of our humanity. That is our culture. 

Community 

So the question I want to put to you today is: how do we harness this generosity of spirit to create a culture of giving?  The latest World Giving Report makes for interesting reading. This annual report explores how generosity shows up in different countries around the globe.. 

The 2025 report shows that more Australians give than the global average, but we give less of our overall income. It also found that less of us volunteer than the global average, but for those that do, the number of hours volunteered is higher. 

To put another way, when it comes to giving, we all pitch in a bit of what we can. And when it comes to giving our time, a few look out for the many. This tells me that somewhere along our national story, we have stopped thinking about broader acts of generosity as philanthropy. So how do we call in Australians to extend their natural generosity into a broader culture of giving? 

Our rural and regional communities are run on the backs of tireless volunteers. People who show up week after week to give their time. People who contribute to the social fabric of their communities. People who look out for one another and their neighbours. That type of generosity is invisible in our data sets but  it is vital to the fabric of our society. 

Change 

You may ask why the CEO of Philanthropy Australia is speaking so much about generosity and not philanthropy. Why I’m focused on service and contribution, and not money? That is because I have spent the last twelve months on a listening tour of this country. More than 1000 people have responded to our surveys, participated in our focus groups, and told us what they think. 

It has become very clear that most Australians do not relate to the term philanthropy, nor do they see themselves as philanthropists. That leaves those of us committed to igniting a giving culture in Australia with a fairly significant problem. How can we hope to build a culture of giving if Australians don’t see themselves in the picture? 

Social psychologists will tell you that you can’t change behaviour using language and symbols people don’t relate to. If we want to truly mobilise more generosity, and build a greater culture of giving in Australia, then we need to meet Australians where they are at and reflect back what we understand to be true about our culture. 

Australians’ belief in generosity is measured in how we show up. From bushcare groups, to volunteers at family violence centres, to supporting a refugee family, these are contributions that aren’t measured at tax time. 

We need to forge a new understanding of philanthropy and generosity that reflects our authentic Australian character. It is a national character worth recognising. 

If I had a dollar for every time I had someone tell me that we need to replicate America’s giving culture, I might be friends with the Bill Gateses of the world. But seeking to copy the culture of American philanthropy would be as unproductive as importing their healthcare system. 

Australia has built a social safety net. We have invested in world class publicly owned assets.  We have a health care system that functions well and a public education system that we should be more proud of. But that is not to say we can rest on this idea of ourselves. 

We need to find ways to call in Australia’s spirit of generosity and call out our responsibility as one of the most privileged countries on the planet. 

How do we help Australians make the link between their fundamental generosity of spirit and a responsibility towards those who are still missing out? How do we tap that generosity of spirit to tackle rising inequality, housing shortages, gender inequality, family violence, First Nations self-determination, or tackle environmental and climate issues? 

Philanthropy as we currently understand it needs a radical and fundamental rethink in this countr Both how we talk about it and how we represent it. We need to move away from re-enforcing in our media and public debate that philanthropy is something that only the wealthy do.   

Because no matter how wealthy Australia becomes, Australians will never think about themselves as wealthy. We need to move away from giving just what is required of us. Away from calling for more incentives to give. Away from seeing giving just as part of the final act of a person’s life 

Instead, anchor giving in our culture and connect it to our communities. Our goal cannot end at doubling giving. In this, Philanthropy Australia’s fiftieth year, we need to critically examine how we write a new story of Australian generosity. 

Strategy 2033: Mobilising Generosity, Shaping the Future 

It is on this backdrop of ambition that I am proud to present Philanthropy Australia’s Strategy 2033: Mobilising Generosity, Shaping the Future. 

We have travelled around our country, from boardrooms to cafes to community halls, listening carefully to you and filing more notebooks than we thought possible. We know that you share the frustrations with the limits of how Australians see philanthropy.  The limits of how philanthropists are seen in the media and public life. This Strategy sets us on a course to truly transform the next fifty years of giving in this country. To call Australians IN to a culture and movement of giving. 

As the peak body we will support, create and build the ecosystem in which this giving takes place. So that we not only have a national ecosystem of giving, but a thriving local ecosystem in each state and territory, and each town and community. 

We will work in partnership with you to convene with purpose, strengthen practice, galvanise capital and advocate for the conditions in which generosity can thrive. There is going to be lots of time to explore strategy 2033 and its ambition over the coming months, culminating in our Conference in Brisbane in September.  

We have four key actions to build out the ecosystem of philanthropy and generosity in this country. 

1. To Convene 

2. To Amplify  

3. To Influence  

4. To Advocate 

Each of these actions work together for the same outcome. To build a culture of generosity, build a groundswell of giving and contribute to meaningful change. Where all Australians see themselves represented in a movement of giving. From a women’s giving fund in Wagga Wagga, to a queer giving circle in Alice Springs, to a community foundation in Broome, to workplace giving in Brisbane, to corporate foundations in Perth, to family foundations in Adelaide, or an Arts and culture network in Melbourne. 

Our role is strengthen all the ways giving shows up in people’s lives. And yes, that extends to online giving, spend down and non-tax deductible giving. We will be bold about mobilising capital towards issues that matter to Australians and we will encourage the use of capital in all its forms. We will enable, embrace and recognise all forms of giving and investing. 

This is the work Philanthropy Australia will be doing in partnership with all of you. We have heard the passion that you have for this sector, now is the time to unleash it. The change has already begun, all over Australia community-led giving is on the rise, corporate giving is accelerating, private giving is expanding. we need to harness this energy and leverage its momentum. 

Together we will be ecosystem builders, thought leaders, exchangers of knowledge and strengtheners of civil society. Strategy 2033 will be the spark that ignites a movement, that mobilises generosity in this country and creates a culture of giving that all Australians feel a part of. 

We will become true stewards of the future and of future generations. With ambition. With your support. With our collective courage. I know that we can achieve all that we aspire to, what this time demands of us. And what Australia deserves to be. 

Thank you.