Conference 2026: Belonging at the centre, momentum for the future

Conference 2026 wasn’t just Philanthropy Australia’s largest conference to date. It was also one of its most significant. 

Held during Philanthropy Australia’s 50th year, the Brisbane gathering introduced a series of firsts: an integrated arts program, a youth steam, a debate, exhibitors and a newcomers session that attracted more than 400 delegates. Overall, Conference 2026 brought together 1,200 delegates, 200 speakers across 67 sessions, 41 side events and 11 art activations. 

But Conference 2026 was about more than what happened in Brisbane. It highlighted the ideas, partnerships and priorities that will shape Australian philanthropy’s next chapter. 

Held under the theme Mobilising Generosity. Shaping the Future, Conference 2026 advocated for a shift in philanthropy – to become more collaborative, inclusive and willing to challenge traditional ways of thinking. 

Philanthropy Australia Conference 2026 Highlights

The ideas that challenged us

Across three days of the core conference, plus Masterclass Monday and Field Trip Friday, delegates explored some of the most pressing questions facing philanthropy and society. 

While the sessions spanned everything from AI and climate resilience to social cohesion and First Nations self-determination, many returned to the same underlying challenge: how philanthropy can move from directing change to enabling it.  

Ask attendees for their standout moment, and you’ll hear hundreds of different answers. 

Menzies Foundation shared their learnings here – including the importance of building belonging. The Australian Communities Foundation also shared their insights including on the impacts of AI, referring to the session with Founder and President of Centre for Tomorrow, Dex Hunter-Torricke, while Community Directors highlighted the focus on youth voices throughout the event. 

Embedding our theme: Mobilising Generosity. Shaping the Future 

To explore the conference theme more deeply, we asked speakers what Mobilising Generosity. Shaping the Future meant to them. Despite different perspectives, common threads emerged: agency, belonging, participation and shared responsibility. 

For Joshua Amponsem – Co-Executive Director of Youth Climate Justice Fund, generosity that shapes the future invests in young people and their potential. 

“Generosity is not prescribing what someone’s future should be. Generosity is giving people the tools to respond to what their future is.” 

Naina Batra, CEO of AVPN, believes the theme resonates strongly across the Asia-Pacific, where generosity is often driven by values rather than incentives. 

“Generosity is a way of life and we need to realise, recognise and celebrate generosity and celebrate the everyday giver.” 

She says that by making giving a deeply ingrained habit, more people will see their role in creating change. 

Paul Ash, CEO of the Christchurch Call Foundation, sees the theme as a call to mobilise Australia’s wealth and resources in support of a stronger society and people-centred innovation. 

“This is the lucky country, it’s a country that has wealth and has the ability to deploy that to build a stronger society.” 

Trista Harris, president of FutureGood, connected generosity with human connection, belonging and our shared responsibility for one another. 

“Philanthropy is love of humankind. It really is how we connect with each other.” 

She says creating a greater sense of belonging is one of philanthropy’s most powerful tools for unlocking generosity. 

Building momentum beyond Brisbane 

If one theme united the conference, it was a recognition that philanthropy is operating in a period of profound social, environmental and technological change. Delegates repeatedly returned to questions of trust, power, participation and resilience: how to support stronger communities, deepen social cohesion, advance First Nations self-determination, respond to climate impacts and navigate the opportunities and challenges of emerging technologies. These conversations reflected both the complexity of the challenges ahead and the sector’s appetite to meet them. Philanthropy Australia will continue building on this momentum through events, partnerships, resources and storytelling that help connect people, surface new ideas and support action across the sector. 

At Conference 2026, we announced our next conference will be in Perth from 4-8 September 2028, where the sector will come together again to test what has shifted, what has grown and what more generosity can make possible.  

As we look ahead, one image continues to resonate: Joshua Amponsem’s reflection on the murmuration of Central Australian budgies, which he shared at Conference. 

“They are flying so close to each other and responding together, adapting together and moving together. It is not one actor dominating the pattern. It is several actors acting together, responding together and adapting together. I think that is how philanthropy should be.” 

That image offers a powerful way forward for this sector: many actors moving together, adapting together and sharing power, responsibility and stewardship.