Renting in Australia and the role of philanthropy
Erin Dolan, Program Manager, Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation
Fri, 15 Dec 2023
The state of the housing market has made finding safe, secure and affordable properties increasingly difficult for the near-third of Australians who rent their home. Housing insecurity can lead to homelessness and addressing this most fundamental of needs is the first step to good health, education, employment and an equitable society for all. Renting is not such a precarious option in other countries. What are the political and economic conditions that have led to Australia’s rental crisis and how can philanthropy do more to support renters and drive a systems-level shift? Erin Dolan, Program Manager at the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation and Chair of Philanthropy Australia’s Affordable Housing Funders Network, provides her view.
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Q&A with Penny Dakin, outgoing CEO of ARACY: ‘Philanthropy’s willingness to be brave and bold will be key’
Fri, 15 Dec 2023
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.
Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children gets under way at Canberra roundtable
Fri, 8 Dec 2023
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
Sam Rosevear, Executive Director Policy, Government Relations and Research
Fri, 1 Dec 2023
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
Fri, 17 Nov 2023
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
Dr Omaru Maruatona, CEO, Aiculus
Fri, 3 Nov 2023
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
Social Ventures Australia
Fri, 27 Oct 2023
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.
