Public edition #12 | 11 July 2025

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Sarah Hardy to be new PA Deputy CEO

Philanthropy Australia’s CEO Maree Sidey has announced that Sarah Hardy has accepted the role of Deputy CEO of Philanthropy Australia. Sarah has more than 30 years of cross-sector leadership experience spanning philanthropy, local government, and the not-for-profit sector. For the past eight years, she has served as Chief Executive Officer of the R E Ross Trust, where she led the organisation through a period of strategic change and elevated its impact through values-driven grantmaking.

How can philanthropy support more emerging First Nations leaders?

NAIDOC Week’s theme of ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy’ speaks to the role of future leaders. Dr Bhiamie Williamson is Senior Lecturer at Monash University where he leads the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience research program. He shares his experience of leadership and says that philanthropy must back the next generation’s new ideas to really shift entrenched disadvantage.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Funders Reporting Survey - Interactive

In celebration of NAIDOC Week 2025, Philanthropy Australia launches an accessible interactive platform to spotlight key findings from this benchmark survey published earlier in the year. It highlights how funders can shift practice towards greater self-determination and inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in philanthropy.

What do the taxation statistics of giving reveal?

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has recently released its statistics for the financial year 2022-23, including gift tax deductions by claimed individuals, as well as the latest numbers on private and public Ancillary Funds. Both provide a backdrop for the potential implementation of recommendations from inquiries and the current Treasury consultation on ancillary fund distribution rates.

Best practice lives at home too: Insights from North American philanthropy

North America often looms large in the philanthropic imagination. It’s home to some of the world’s most storied foundations, biggest givers and boldest initiatives. Andrew Binns, CEO of Australian Communities Foundation, has had two weeks of meetings and conversations across Canada and the US. He has returned with a powerful reminder: the most effective and innovative philanthropy isn’t confined to one part of the world. Best practice lives here, too.

Beyond the 5% rule: Why charities should invest for impact

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Or some would argue that if you want to generate social or environmental impact from your investments, you have to compromise financial returns. This debate matters because society desperately needs to unlock large, patient chunks of capital to use to scale innovations that can solve the planet’s biggest social and environmental challenges, writes Paul Ronalds, CEO of Save the Children Global Ventures.

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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.