Public edition #8 | 16 May 2025

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Sector leaders react to Gates Foundation's historic plan to spend down US$200bn

Bill Gates has announced that the Gates Foundation plans to spend its endowment and ‘virtually all’ of his personal wealth totaling US$200 billion in the next 20 years to accelerate its mission of ‘saving and improving lives around the world’. Here, four leaders from the Australian philanthropic sector, Daniel Petre, Audette Exel, Peter Johnstone and Maree Sidey react.

The Wyatt Trust: How we embedded lived experience into funding practice to change outcomes

The Wyatt Trust has released a report on its learnings from the first four years of its journey to embed lived and living experience of financial hardship in its grantmaking, program design and beyond. In this Q&A, CEO Stacey Thomas shares key reflections to inspire and encourage others to explore this work more widely.

Smart Collar - the service dog innovation that could 'save charities tens of millions of dollars'

Imagine having a toddler and trying to predict the grades they’ll achieve in high school. This is akin to what animal behavioralists face when assessing which puppies are suitable to be trained as Assistance Dogs. But game-changing new technology, which three Australian charities are helping to develop, could make assessment possible up to a year earlier, creating unprecedented savings.

What funders need to know about the Centre for Inclusive Employment

Philanthropy Australia’s Disability Funders Network and the Jobs and Skills Funders Network are holding a joint session to discuss the work and practice of the recently launched Centre for Inclusive Employment. As work in diversity, equity and inclusion comes under threat around the world, this is a critical time to consider philanthropy’s role in this space, writes Dr Liz Branigan, Director, Knowledge & Practice at Philanthropy Australia.

Calling all leaders! Play it forward or pay it forward!

Philanthropy Australia recently launched the Philanthropy Leadership Summit 2025: Leadership for our times.  Thank you to those of you who have already submitted an expression of interest. The Canberra Summit always sells out and we are committed to having a diverse and dynamic audience. We invite you to register your interest, and/or forward on the information to leaders you believe should be in the room. 

We would like to acknowledge and thank our partners for their generous support. Click here to learn more about our partners.

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Philanthropy Australia acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.