Community Wellbeing | The Ian Potter Foundation

Community Wellbeing

Our Vision

A fair, healthy, sustainable and vibrant Australia. Our Mission Honour the legacy of founder and benefactor, Sir Ian Potter, and his commitment that the Foundation make a difference to Australia.

Maintain a tradition of encouraging excellence and enabling innovation to facilitate positive social change and develop Australia’s creativity and capacity as a nation.

Support outstanding charitable organisations, invest in Australia’s innovative and creative people.

The Ian Potter Foundation A History of Grantmaking

Ian Potter

Community Wellbeing

Sir

© The Ian Potter Foundation

Level 3, 111 Collins Street

Melbourne Victoria 3000

Phone 03 9650 3188

Email admin@ianpotter.org.au

ianpotter.org.au

ISBN 978-0-6451942-8-9

First published 2022

Design: Sweet Creative

Published by The Ian Potter Foundation

COMMUNITY WELLBEING COMMITTEE

Current Members

The wellbeing of any community requires that its three sectors of Health, Education and Employment are well established and can meet and overcome the many challenges in our society.

The community wellbeing programs the Foundation assists broadly fit into two categories – those that will become self-sustaining and those that will never do so. Both are important in our society. The Ian Potter Foundation helps fund these programs but, more importantly, accepts the first-mover risk so that, over time, they become self-sustaining or are made ready for relatively risk-free government funding.

Risk removal generally involves proving innovative models and/or developing social leaders working within organisations with sound structures and governance.

Mr Leon Davis

Previous Members

The Hon Sir Daryl Dawson AC, KBE 2007–2020

The Hon Sir James Gobbo AC, CVO, QC 2007–2019

Mr Leon Davis AO (Committee Chair)

Mr Craig Drummond

The Hon Alex Chernov AC, KC

The Hon Susan Crennan AC, KC

CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD

Mr Charles Goode, AC

This book is one of a series that aims to record The Ian Potter Foundation’s grantmaking since its establishment in 1964. As a successful financier with a desire to use his good fortune to assist fellow Australians, Sir Ian Potter was one of the first benefactors to establish a charitable foundation in Australia in his lifetime. Critical to its establishment was legislation that allowed donations to philanthropic trusts to be tax-deductible. This milestone was achieved primarily due to Sir Ian’s negotiations with the Federal Government at the time. Indeed, Sir Ian agreed to make an initial contribution to the Foundation of £1 million (equivalent to $29 million today) comprising Australian United Investment Co Ltd shares on a non-tax-deductible basis.

While the Foundation’s corpus has since grown from £1 million to around $830 million in 2022, the value of that initial donation by Sir Ian Potter is far greater. Thanks to his foresight, today, we have a vibrant and growing philanthropic sector in Australia, including several foundations with multi-billion-dollar corpuses, all working in their own way to benefit Australians.

A core part of The Ian Potter Foundation’s mission is to support outstanding charitable organisations and invest in Australia’s innovative and public-spirited people. Accordingly, from its earliest days a significant proportion of the Foundation’s grants have provided support to community-based organisations working to alleviate disadvantage. Since the first grant to the Victorian Society for Crippled Children and Adults for £1,000, the Foundation has awarded more than 3,500 Community Wellbeing grants totalling around $84 million to 1,300 organisations across Australia.

From the 1960s through to the 1990s, most Community Wellbeing grants were relatively small ($500–$5,000). Their primary purpose was to offer general support to charities such as the Children’s Protection

Society, The Smith Family, The Salvation Army, and the Australian Red Cross. The Foundation also has a strong history of supporting organisations that focus on the needs of particularly vulnerable groups in our society, including Vision Australia, Berry Street Victoria and the Victorian Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders. More recently, Community Wellbeing grants have increased significantly in amount and duration. The average grant size for the past ten years is $155,000 compared to an average of $37,000 in the previous ten years. Most grants are now also multi-year and directed to building the capacity of organisations. The Community Wellbeing program is also focused on particular areas of need to ensure the Foundation’s funding has real impact. When considering Community Wellbeing grants, the Board of Governors has consistently followed the Foundation’s funding principles by focusing on excellence, prevention, leverage, collaboration and partnerships, innovation, long-term thinking and cultivating leadership in the Australian social sector. These last three principles are most evident when reviewing the Foundation’s Community Wellbeing grants. Examples of innovative initiatives supported by the Foundation include FareShare, SecondBite and Good360 Australia, which re-distribute unsold goods and food to welfare and relief agencies to reduce waste while substantively helping people in need. Building the capacity of these organisations that respond to community need in a sustainable way is also an investment in long-term impact.

Several major grants have been awarded since 2010, supporting projects that address the needs of vulnerable people at risk of homelessness. These initiatives not only provide housing but also critical support with the aim of improving long-term outcomes for the people they assist.

Throughout its history, the Foundation has sought to engage actively with leading not-for-profit organisations to achieve the greatest impact across a range of issues. Supporting leaders to take risks is a crucial role for philanthropy in developing the social sector. An example is the burgeoning social enterprise sector, led by impressive individuals and organisations motivated to address entrenched social problems. We examine a few of the social enterprises supported by the Foundation, revealing their impact and highlighting their creative and committed leaders.

We take inspiration from these community leaders, just as we take inspiration from the leadership shown by Sir Ian Potter in establishing The Ian Potter Foundation almost 60 years ago.

Chairman’s Foreword

THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION

Founder

Sir Ian Potter 1964–1994

Board of Governors

Chairman

Mr Charles B Goode, AC 1987–current Governors

Lady Potter, AC, CMRI (Life Governor) Appointed 1993

Mr Anthony Burgess 2013–current

Professor Sir Edward Byrne, AC, Kt April 2021–current

The Hon Alex Chernov, AC, KC 2016–current

The Hon Susan Crennan, AC, KC 2015–current

Mr Leon Davis, AO 2007–current

Professor Karen Day, AM September 2021–current

Mr Craig Drummond July 2021–current

Professor Emma Johnston, AO September 2021–current

Professor Richard Larkins, AC 2013–current

Mr Allan Myers, AC, KC 2004–current

Professor Brian Schmidt, AC 2015–current

Professor Fiona Stanley, AC 2016–current

Past Governors

Sir Roger Darvall, CBE 1964–1998

Professor Sir Sydney Sunderland, CMG 1964–1993

Mr Roy McArthur, CBE 1964–1984

Sir Ian Wark, CMG, CBE 1964–1986

Professor Raymond Martin, AO (Alternate Governor) 1972–1977

Dr Thomas H Hurley, AO, OBE 1976–2014

Mr Frank Nelson 1979–2012

Mr Hugh Morgan, AC 1985–1993

Professor Graeme B Ryan, AC 1987–2018

Professor Thomas Healy, AO 1990–2019

Professor Geoffrey Blainey, AC 1991–2014

Mr John B Gough, AO, OBE 1994–2011

Mr Neil (Nobby) Clark, AO 1994–2007

The Hon Sir Daryl Dawson, AC, KBE 1998–2020

Dr P John Rose, AO 2000–2015

The Hon Sir James Gobbo, AC, CVO, QC 2001–2019

WORKING FOR GOOD TOGETHER

Bryan Lipmann, AM

All groups within a society must decide how they will support each other. Either through command or by voluntary agreement, government requires citizens to contribute to an overall good. While a government is seen to have the responsibility to manage issues impacting the security of its citizens, there is always debate as to the degree of responsibility it should assume for supporting those who require assistance.

In a democracy like ours, a government’s acceptance of that sense of social responsibility is limited by its ability or willingness to redistribute the wealth of the country to create a society that is seen to be fair and just. This inevitably requires leadership to balance competing demands from across the community.

Regardless of the resolution of those competing demands, it is clear that philanthropy through the distribution of the wealth of private benefactors plays an increasingly significant role. This is exemplified by The Ian Potter Foundation, which has played a key role for over 50 years supporting a huge range of activities that includes the broad area of community wellbeing.

My own experience gives me an acute awareness of the power of philanthropy. Wintringham was started in 1989 with two grants of $10,000 each from separate foundations, comprising the sole income for its first year. From those two small grants came the impetus to start a not-for-profit company that today cares for 2,000 elderly people a night, employs over 850 people and has an annual turnover of $80 million. Without the support of philanthropy, Wintringham may have remained just another unfulfilled idea.

As I read through some of the inspiring initiatives that The Ian Potter Foundation has supported over the years, it is clear that the Foundation has continually looked for projects that seek to innovate and that support many Australians.

The Foundation has itself embraced innovation through its granting philosophy that has pioneered the concept of leverage; that is using a grant to encourage other philanthropic partners or government to also contribute.

For a recent Wintringham project, an initial grant of $2.5 million from The Ian Potter Foundation was made conditional on major funding from the Victorian Government, which in turn led to funding from the Federal Government to create a $15.5 million aged care and housing project in Shepparton – now under construction.

The Ian Potter Foundation through its Chief Executive Officer Craig Connelly, staff and the Board led by Charles Goode, AC, stands out among philanthropic foundations for playing an active role in awarding funding. From the initial enquiry and validation that the perceived need we wished to address was real and worth supporting, through the application process and then most importantly, with government negotiations, The Ian Potter Foundation remained involved and committed to funding our project. And despite several false starts that were beyond the control of either the Foundation or Wintringham, the team at The Ian Potter Foundation offered constant encouragement to persist.

It was a true partnership that will result in significant services to elderly homeless people in Shepparton, a project that would likely not have eventuated without The Ian Potter Foundation. The legacy of Ian Potter lives on and continues to inspire.

It is clear that The Ian Potter Foundation has continually looked for projects that seek to innovate and that support many Australians. Bryan Lipmann, AM

PREPARING PATHWAYS

Since the Foundation’s first ‘community service’ grants were made in 1964, 3500 Community Wellbeing grants have been awarded to a range of organisations working to alleviate disadvantage and promote general wellbeing within the community. Over the decades, the Foundation has focused on the needs of refugees and asylum seekers, families experiencing domestic violence, at-risk youth and people exiting the justice system, people with disabilities, and people experiencing homelessness, long-term unemployment or mental health issues.

To achieve the most impact from its grantmaking, the Foundation has at times elected to focus on specific issues, such as homelessness, training and employment opportunities, or food security. The common aim is to fund projects that will continue to have an impact well beyond the period of a grant.

Evaluation of past grants has shown that the greatest impact is often achieved by supporting not-for-profit organisations to build their capacity and expand their reach. Therefore, the Foundation often builds partnerships with organisations over a period of time, investing in their initiatives at crucial stages to improve their chances of long-term sustainability.

The past decade has offered clear examples of this grantmaking approach, particularly in the Foundation’s support for programs that prepare pathways to employment for vulnerable members of the community. In many cases, the Foundation has developed partnerships with leading organisations to provide funding to help launch pilot employment programs and then investing in building their capacity on the back of successful models.

Jobsupport client Emma conducting her routine office tasks. Image: JobSupport.

One such example is Vanguard Laundry Services (Vanguard) in Toowoomba, Queensland, which the Foundation awarded an initial $70,000 grant in 2016 and then a further $100,000 in 2018. Both grants assisted the organisation to develop a social enterprise providing supported employment for people with lived experience of mental health issues.Vanguard works with individuals on employment skills and other soft skills, while liaising with the mental health (and other) service providers which also support the employees. Established with substantial funding from philanthropy, government and impact investors,Vanguard has gone on to achieve exceptional outcomes and rapid growth.

The Foundation has also supported several new training and employment initiatives in the disability sector. In 2017, Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, was awarded $150,000 for a project designed to create pre-employment pathways into the information and communication technology industry for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Based on the success of this program, in 2021 a further three-year grant of $154,000 was awarded to Curtin University and its collaborators (Autism West, Therapy Focus and AASQA) to develop a pathway to employment for neurodiverse individuals. This project builds on innovative programs that leverage the unique abilities of neurodiverse individuals to develop highly sought-after skills in the software testing/information and communication technology sector.

Jobsupport is another organisation leading the way in providing employment pathways for people with intellectual disabilities. In 2017, the Foundation awarded $350,000 over two years towards expanding this successful program from Melbourne to Brisbane, building on a 2013 grant that supported evidence-based

job placement and training for effective employment outcomes in Melbourne.

Similarly, Civic Disability Services Limited offers adults with a disability workplace and employment opportunities as part of a supported team environment. Crews of two or four supported employees plus a support worker work in open employment environments like landscaping or administration. In 2019, the Foundation awarded $320,000 over three years to the Civic Crews program, which fosters social inclusion for people with disabilities and educates employers about the value of diversity in the workplace.

Access to employment opportunities is a key factor in developing confidence, financial independence and opportunities for social inclusion for people with disabilities, yet many are excluded from this opportunity –particularly in rural areas.

Vanguard Laundry Services offers supported pathways from unemployment to sustained and successful employment, resulting in employees improving their livelihoods and their overall economic inclusion, and in turn creating a positive attitudinal shift in the broader community towards people living with mental health issues. Image: Vanguard Laundry Services.

A landscaping Civic Crew. Image: Civic Disability Services.

The Christie Centre Inc addresses this gap through a range of employment initiatives in regional Victoria. In 2017, the Foundation awarded the Christie Centre a $120,000 grant for GrowAbility, a program that provides opportunities for people with disabilities to pursue a Certificate II in Horticulture. Through a hands-on learning environment, this project equips participants with the skills and knowledge for a horticulture career. The plants propagated by participants provide an ongoing revenue stream, thus ensuring sustainability of this social enterprise beyond the life of the Foundation’s grant.

Also in the horticulture sector, the Foundation has supported the Bushlink Schools Inclusion Program, operated by Northside Enterprise Inc. Two grants of $200,000 in 2016 and $100,000 in 2018 allowed Bushlink to offer an employment model in which young people with intellectual disabilities working in commercial enterprises are supported in their daily work activities with skills acquisition and work experience. Through the Bushlink Schools Inclusion Program, these young people benefit from valuable work experience and an opportunity to access and sustain meaningful employment, while schools can better develop a culture of inclusion.

Since 2011, the Foundation has also supported The Social Studio, a social enterprise providing skillsbased education to migrants and addressing the long-term problems that can lead to homelessness and disadvantage. In Collingwood, Melbourne, participants learn the basics of design, sewing, patternmaking and fitting. They use excess fabrics gathered from local industry and turn them into fashion-forward, ethically made clothes, developing employable skills, nurturing

their creativity and building social connections along the way.

The Foundation’s first grant to The Social Studio ($50,000) supported a program to teach financial management and business skills. This was followed by an additional grant ($180,000) in 2013 to accelerate and implement the education component of The Social Studio’s business plan. A further $180,000 grant in 2018 went towards a youth development program to formalise and increase the support The Social Studio provides to young people engaged in education programs.

Another program supporting vulnerable youth to develop skills and become job-ready is Youthworx Productions Connect, which received a grant of $160,000 over three years in 2019.Youthworx supports young people to acquire and develop video production skills to maximise the chance of finding employment.Youthworx also operates as a social enterprise. By offering video production services, it seeks to tap into the growing social procurement market and provide a ‘controlled’ work environment for youth to experience before transitioning to opportunities in the open employment market.

The Foundation’s Community Wellbeing program is currently committed to supporting programs that establish pathways to training, skills acquisition and employment opportunities for vulnerable groups in our society.

Organisations that develop these types of initiatives recognise that meaningful roles within the community, such as employment, significantly contribute to addressing issues of social isolation and marginalisation, both of which have wide-ranging effects on personal – and community – wellbeing.

Growability participants getting hands on experience in the horticulture industry. Image: Vision House Photography.

The Social Studio students explored modest fashion designs and performed as part of Takeover for ACCA's 'Who's Afraid of Public Space?' program on the steps of Parliament of Victoria in March, 2022. Outer Urban Projects and Youthworx also participated in this joyous reclamation of public space. Image: Keelan O'Hehir/ACCA.

NEW APPROACHES – OLD PROBLEMS

often directed to pilot initiatives that test the potential to assist the most vulnerable members of our community. Once new ideas are proven, the Foundation would then invest further to ensure successful models develop into programs offering long-term benefits to the community.

As a result, many not-for-profit organisations work hard to address the needs of Australians affected by homelessness, poverty and disadvantage. When trying to unpick these complex issues, success often comes from taking a new approach to an old problem.

From the 1960s to the 1980s, much of the Foundation’s community services or social welfare grants (as they were known at the time) were focused on providing general support to charities; responding to various fundraising appeals, assisting with the purchase of equipment or helping to fund additional staff members. During this time, grants were small (the average grant size in the 1990s was $6,500).

Since the 1990s, grants made in the Community Wellbeing program have become more targeted and

One of the Foundation's core funding principles is to fund programs and projects that innovate, taking a new approach to solving problems, especially those that can be evaluated and show the potential to expand and further develop.

The Foundation shifts its focus over time to support new approaches to entrenched problems. An example of this is a series of grants in the 1990s directed to 'no interest loan schemes' (NILS) and programs that assist disadvantaged and vulnerable people to acquire essential items while developing life skills such as financial literacy, and to undertake work-readiness training.

No interest loans offer people on low incomes access to credit and pathways to mainstream finance options. Recognising the potential of this novel form of microfinance to promote financial inclusion, the

In our society, there are seemingly entrenched problems resulting in many Australians being disadvantaged and unable to realise their full potential.

Karinya Young Mums ‘n’ Bubs is a program that has been making a positive difference in Northern Tasmania since 2012. It is currently funded through a three-year funding agreement with the Tasmanian State Government.

Foundation began funding NILS in 1992 with grants to eight welfare agencies. By January 2000 that number had grown to 27 and in the next nine years the Foundation made 32 more grants to NILS programs, totalling more than $1 million.

In 2012, the Foundation supported a simple but innovative NILS explicitly aimed at tackling homelessness initiated by Whittlesea Community Connections Inc. The program involved helping people prepare quality rental applications, offered financial counselling and loaned funds to pay bonds – often the biggest hurdle for vulnerable Australians in securing private rentals. The Foundation’s $34,000 grant to the group was also instrumental in leveraging further funding from the Mercy Foundation and the Sidney Myer Fund.

These days, NILS are widely supported by several mainstream banks and financial institutions. It’s just one more example of how initial philanthropic support can help a good idea become a sustainable model for supporting people in need.

The Foundation has also championed organisations offering financial literacy programs, like Good Shepherd Youth and Family Service. The Melbourne-based service helps women develop economic independence so that they can make considered exits from violent relationships

while staying connected to their communities and building stable futures for themselves and their children. In 2013, the Foundation awarded a three-year, $261,000 grant to Good Shepherd’s Firmer Foundation program to provide highly specialised legal and financial advice to women, including education regarding financial entitlements and legal rights, and money management training. Equipping women with these tools makes them more likely to avoid housing insecurity and remain independent of crisis agencies.

Volunteers in action at St Kilda Mums warehouse in Clayton, Melbourne. Image: My Little Tribe Photography.

St Kilda Mums clothes bundle. Image: My Little Tribe Photography.

Similarly, the Foundation has supported vulnerable women through grants to organisations such as St Kilda Mums in Melbourne and Karinya Young Women’s Service Inc in Launceston, Tasmania – both of which provide services for new mothers.

St Kilda Mums has grown from a small group of volunteers sorting and rehoming baby goods in inner city Melbourne to a state-wide organisation providing goods to thousands of families across Victoria. In 2020 the Foundation awarded St Kilda Mums $100,000 towards establishing a new warehouse to handle the thousands of items it processes each year.

The Karinya Young Mums 'n' Bubs Program provides intensive case management and independent accommodation to young pregnant women and teenage parents at risk of homelessness in Launceston. This proven program was awarded a three-year, $114,000 grant in 2015 to support its work.

Several programs supported by the Foundation have focused on ground-breaking ways to care for vulnerable women at risk or in contact with the justice system. From 2011 the Foundation has supported the Women and Mentoring (WAM) organisation with four grants totalling $410,000 to facilitate mentors to work with women who

have been charged with crimes and are awaiting trial. Working with women in these circumstances is often about providing individualised support, for example ensuring the person charged arrives in court therefore minimising the chance of jail time.

Supporting programs for those at risk of entering the justice system remains a focus area of the Foundation. In 2020, it awarded TaskForce Community Agency a two-year, $200,000 grant towards the Living Free Project. Living Free is a sustained intensive outreach case management program that works with women at risk of entering or in contact with the justice system. The holistic approach provides a wrap-around service based on the needs of the person and matches those needs with the appropriate service provider, whether it be housing, rehabilitation or legal support. An outreach worker maintains ongoing contact with individuals for 12 months alongside the other services required. This case coordination approach provides a much-needed link between services.

Disadvantaged youth is another vulnerable group that the Foundation has supported through innovative programs designed to address their specific needs.

Kids Under Cover has received $115,500 across two grants (2010 and 2015) to fund programs providing

Kids Under Cover provides young people with studio accommodation erected in their family's backyard. This simple solution has prevented these young people from becoming homeless. Image: Kids Under Cover.

studio housing for young people to remain living near family and community. Building relocatable studios and complementing them with scholarships for homeless and at-risk young people, Kids Under Cover helps keep families together and young people engaged in education.

While many of the Foundation’s Community Wellbeing grants have supported programs focused on particular at-risk groups, there is also a history of funding pioneering initiatives that aim to benefit the greatest number of disadvantaged people in our society.

This includes initiatives like Good360 Australia, a nationwide service that connects surplus brand-new goods with people most in need.

Since 2015, Good360 has been awarded five grants totalling $1,050,000 to implement its redistribution model for excess goods and scale up operations to meet increased demand. In 2020, funding helped cover increased postage and handling costs caused by demand driven by the bushfire crisis and COVID-19. Not only does Good360 provide tangible assistance distributing essential items to those who need them, it also diverts unsold goods from landfill in a way that is operationally efficient, environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Good360 has distributed over 33 million items to Australians; representing over $285 million of essential items that bring hope and dignity to people at their most vulnerable. Good360's goal is to distribute $1 billion of goods by 2025 to Australians that need them most. The Foundation will continue to support organisations that seek to improve circumstances for vulnerable members of the community, particularly those organisations that adopt innovative approaches to address disadvantage.

Since 2013, Good360 has:

• received $298 million in goods from businesses

• distributed $285+ million to not-for-profits (NFPs) and schools

• supported 3000+ NFPs and schools

• collected 7.6+ million items from stores.

Good360 team members shared messages of kindness during the COVID-19 pandemic while shipping goods around Australia. Image: Good360.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Over decades of grantmaking, The Ian Potter Foundation has funded numerous programs and projects seeking to address homelessness and its causes. In 1966, a grant of $2,710 to La Trobe University funded a research program on the attributes of ‘lone and destitute homeless men’. In 1973, a $45,000 grant awarded to the Brotherhood of St Laurence helped fund ‘Elderly Pensioners' Homes’. These were significant grants at a time when the average amount of a Community Wellbeing grant was between $667 (1960s) and $1,278 (1970s). From 1964 to 1990, the Foundation directed over $500,000 in grants to fund programs addressing this critical issue.

In 2009, the Foundation introduced a more comprehensive program of grants to tackle homelessness, taking a wider and more preventative view. Between 2010 and 2014, the Foundation’s funding in this area rose to $3.7 million, and, since 2015, a further $15 million has been awarded in this area, including $13.55 million across seven major grants to fund large-scale initiatives and capital works.

Here we review the significant grants directed to projects addressing homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in Australia.

Mission Australia

Families are the fastest growing homeless demographic in Australia, which is why Mission Australia undertook the development of a $13.7 million facility designed specifically to support families at risk. While homeless support has traditionally been focused on city centres, the Mission Australia Centre is set 50 kilometres west of Sydney in one of its most disadvantaged growth corridors. The purpose-built Mission Australia Centre addresses the pressing need for family-oriented services offering temporary accommodation for families as well as timely services to stop them sliding into homelessness, including medical and mental health services, parenting skills training, financial tutoring, employment services, early childhood intervention, literacy programs for pre-school children and even a toy library.

In 2010, the Foundation awarded $1 million over four years to Mission Australia – the largest Community Wellbeing grant at that time – to finance capital costs associated with the centre’s construction.

The Mission Australia Kingswood Centre has provided assistance to thousands of families since opening in 2012.

Homes for Homes

The Homes for Homes initiative is an independent, not-for profit, community-led solution which raises funds through tax-deductible donations by homeowners when selling their house. These funds are granted to community housing organisations to create affordable housing in areas of greatest need. Homes for Homes targets private homeowners, builders, property developers, government, and urban renewal authorities to register property. This registration is recognised on the land title which enables a donation of 0.1% of the sale price to flow to Homes to Homes.

In 2022, Homes for Homes announced a milestone of $1 million in donations from Denman Prospect.

Denman Prospect, developed by Capital Estate Developments, is Australia’s first Homes for Homes suburb. Located in Molonglo Valley, less than 15 minutes from Canberra’s CBD, every home in Denman Prospect is registered with Homes for Homes and helps raise funds for social and affordable housing in Canberra.

Over the next 30 years the partnership between Denman Prospect and Homes for Homes is projected to generate over $17.6 million in donations.

With the donations from Denman Prospect, Homes for Homes has been able to support the creation of

four social and affordable housing projects in Canberra, helping to house 29 people in the ACT. One of these projects is run by Community Housing Canberra (CHC), which has used the grant funding from Homes for Homes to develop a group home that enables people with intellectual disability to transition from living with ageing parents to a more independent model with 24/7 support. CHC has also used the funding to provide housing for women transitioning back into the community after incarceration.

Other beneficiaries of the funds include YWCA Canberra, which will establish dwellings for women and children experiencing domestic violence; and Havelock Housing Association, which has used the funds to purchase units as long-term affordable tenancies for older women.

In 2017, the Foundation contributed $1.25 million over four years to support Homes for Homes through its establishment phase. In 2022, Homes for Homes was awarded a further $1.25 million capacity-building grant to complete the scaling-up phase of its successful model for recurrent funding of social and affordable housing.

Homes for Homes has raised and granted $1.44 million to 17 community housing projects across Australia, providing affordable housing for 293 people.

Denman Prospect is Australia’s first Homes for Homes suburb. Every home in the development is registered with Homes for Homes and donations generated help to raise funds to increase social and affordable housing in Canberra. Image: Homes for Homes.

HammondCare Darlinghurst is a permanent accommodation facility for older people with complex health needs who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The facility is the first of its kind in New South Wales and is located in an area of great need, close to St Vincent’s Hospital and Kings Cross.

This accommodation facility integrates health, aged care and community services to address the needs of older people who are homeless. This holistic approach includes referral pathways to third party service providers to treat alcohol and drug dependencies and/or mental health issues.

HammondCare Darlinghurst opened in 2020 at a crucial time for older homeless people in inner-city Sydney, and provides an important evidence base to leverage future funding from state governments for similar projects.

The Foundation contributed $2.5 million over five years towards the construction of the facility and the establishment of an innovative, replicable model of service delivery for an under-served demographic.

Hope Street Youth and Family Services Inc

The Foundation awarded Hope Street Youth and Family Services Inc $1.8 million over four years to establish its First Response Youth Service, a homeless youth outreach service based in the City of Melton at a purpose-built youth crisis accommodation service.

This mobile outreach service was designed to complement other existing Hope Street specialist youth homelessness programs in Melton, a high population growth area. The nearest crisis support or accommodation service for young people in Melton was 35 kilometres away in Melbourne’s CBD.

Providing a continuity of care that builds trust and engagement, the project addresses the immediate needs of young people and families in crisis to prevent them from entering the cycle of disadvantage caused by homelessness.

This major grant made by the Foundation complemented funding from the Victorian State Government, other philanthropic organisations and strong community pro bono support.

In 2020–21, this service exceeded its annual target by 32 per cent to support 132 young people, with 75 per cent exiting to affordable housing.

The Hope Street First Response Mobile Outreach Team works seven days a week from early morning to late at night to find, identify and engage with young people and young families who are (at risk of) experiencing homelessness in the Melton local government area and surrounding suburbs. Image: Hope Street Youth & Family Services.

Jani, a HammondCare resident with HammondCare staff member Jenna. Image: HammondCare.

Launch Housing Ltd

The Foundation awarded Launch Housing a five-year $2.5 million capital grant in 2019 towards an eight-storey supported accommodation building in Dandenong, in Melbourne’s outer east, for women and children who have experienced family violence.

The Families Supportive Housing project – now known as Viv’s Place – opened in August 2022 and provides a unique combination of permanent housing and on-site wrap-around support services to provide a fresh start for up to 60 women and 130 children escaping family violence and homelessness.

Viv’s Place includes 60 dual-key apartments, along with communal kitchen and living spaces, children’s play spaces, offices, community gardens and family and childspecific services on site.

By offering permanent housing, Launch Housing is helping women and children in dire circumstances to stabilise their lives. It means children can maintain or re-engage with schooling and address their mental health concerns.

An Australia-first for its scale,Viv’s Place is based on a highly successful model in Broadway, New York, which has created supported communities in such apartment blocks over 30 years and supported thousands of people out of homelessness by giving them a permanent home and other help.

This project is intended to demonstrate the social and economic value of permanent housing. While the need is much greater than this project can address, it stands in contrast to crisis accommodation that has been shown to not solve the issue of homelessness.

Wintringham Housing Ltd

In 2018 the Foundation awarded $2.5 million to Wintringham Housing Ltd to develop specialist housing for the older homeless people in Shepparton,Victoria. This grant was successfully leveraged to gain funding support from the Victorian State Government, followed by a $5 million allocation of additional Federal Government funding for aged care services on the same site. With this funding, Wintringham Housing can realise its $10 million capital project to build much-needed social housing units in Shepparton on an existing

Wintringham housing development site. The 32 purposebuilt units are designed to support elderly residents with limited mobility and are exclusively available to members of the local community who are over 50, homeless or at risk of homelessness and assessed as needing priority housing.

The visionary project is an example of the power of partnership between philanthropic funders, government, other not-for-profit organisations and specialist service providers.

This $30 million project was delivered by Launch Housing in partnership with Uniting Vic.Tas, the Victorian State Government and a group of philanthropic donors, who funded over 40 per cent of the project.

COMMUNITY LEADERS

Strong leadership is the shared attribute of successful not-for-profit organisations. Through its core funding principles, the Foundation aims to cultivate leadership in the Australian social sector.

During its history, the Foundation has sought to identify leaders in the social sector and to offer support at critical points to help them to progress their organisations and the sector. With this timely support, leaders can capture opportunities to develop models that may be transferred to other settings – and ultimately transform the lives of diverse groups of disadvantaged or vulnerable people.

Community Resources Ltd is based in Illawarra in New South Wales, a region with one of Australia’s highest unemployment rates. Particularly vulnerable cohorts in this region include young people and former refugees, with only 31 per cent of former refugees finding employment five years after resettlement. Local community members,

concerned about this significant vulnerability, set up Green Connect, a social enterprise that focuses on creating jobs for former refugees and young people through growing fresh produce sustainably in their community garden; and other services such as event waste management.

The Foundation has supported Green Connect since 2017 with two grants totalling $464,000. The second grant, awarded in 2020, enabled Green Connect to consolidate and expand the farm, increasing food production, sales and associated job opportunities on site. The organisation has won several awards for leadership in sustainability. Kylie Flament, former General Manager of Green Connect explains,“We were singled out for the way we combine social, environmental and economic impact in a way that inspires others to do the same. We’re immensely proud to accept this award on behalf of the huge community of people who have created and shaped Green Connect –staff, volunteers, funders, customers, supporters and the broader community.”

The Green Connect Zero Waste team undertake waste audits, create waste management plans, provide waste education and assist events on their journey towards zero waste. Image: Green Connect.

Another award-winning social sector leader is Bernie Shakeshaft, recipient of the 2020 Australian of the Year – Local Hero award. With a background as a youth worker, in 2016 Shakeshaft established BackTrack Youth Works, a social enterprise providing at-risk youth with professional skills development, work experience and lifelong resilience to maintain meaningful participation in the employment market. In 2019, the Foundation recognised BackTrack’s strong leadership and awarded a $300,000 grant to support the scaling up of the program. Chair of the National Australia Day Council, Danielle Roche, OAM, said,“Bernie Shakeshaft took the initiative to help and support young people in need, helping to build stronger individuals, communities and futures at the same time.”

Community Leaders

BackTrack Works employee Brett Campbell (left) and BackTrack Founder Bernie Shakeshaft inspect a welding project at Broombee Horse Stud, Armidale NSW. Image: Simon Scott.

SisterWorks Incorporated was also started by an inspiring individual who wanted to create a permanent space for refugee and migrant women to come together for support, to feel empowered by sharing their skills with others or learn new skills. Luz Restrepo arrived in Australia at the age of 45 in 2010, seeking political asylum. A medical doctor and communications expert, Restrepo spoke no English and felt frightened, isolated and disempowered – and she soon discovered that she was not alone. In 2011, Restrepo and 25 women experiencing similar challenges began to make and sell crafts around Melbourne. She understood that to support each other is also to strengthen each other. In May 2013, a committee of volunteers joined Restrepo with legal, fundraising, marketing and administrative skills, and SisterWorks Inc. was born. The Foundation awarded grants of $20,000 in

2016 and $105,000 in 2018 to help SisterWorks expand its operations from a single site in Melbourne to share its model via a series of hubs around regional Victoria. In 2022, the Foundation awarded a further $325,000 capacitybuilding grant to provide core support as SisterWorks plans for its future.

Restrepo has since left the organisation, but her passion and commitment is embodied in Sisterworks’ mission to support women who are refugees, asylum seekers or migrants so they can build their confidence, mental wellbeing, sense of belonging and economic outlook.

Another social leader who has used his own experiences to create an organisation that serves its community is Chris Varney, who founded I CAN Network in 2013. As Chief Enabling Officer,Varney has grown I CAN

In less than a decade, SisterWorks has grown exponentially, supporting over 1,200 refugee, migrant and asylum seeking women to build their skills, independence, confidence and economic outlook. In their commercial-grade kitchen, Sisters making the SisterWorks labelled food range. Image: SisterWorks.

Network into Australia’s largest Autistic-led organisation with over 70 Autistic staff and more than 2,000 students in the program nationally.

Varney is an Autistic law graduate with a background in children’s rights and youth programs. In 2009, he was the Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations and World Vision Australia’s Manager of Youth. In 2018 he was Victorian Australian of the Year Finalist and recipient of the 2017 Supreme Court of Victoria’s Best Achievement in Human Rights Award. He also serves as National Patron of the Australian Association for Special Education and is the Chairperson of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council.

Recognising Varney as a pioneer of Autistic-led service provision in Australia, the Foundation offered support to I CAN Network in 2019 with a three-year,

$200,000 grant to scale up its online mentoring program for young people on the Autism spectrum. I CAN Network aims to reach as many Autistic young people in Australia as possible, helping them develop pride, social connections and valuable life skills. At the same time, I CAN Network is increasing paid employment opportunities for Autistic mentors.

More recently, the Foundation’s Community Wellbeing program has begun to offer greater support for leadership at a sector-wide level. In support of its bold 10-year vision (Vision 2030), social enterprise procurement organisation Social Traders was awarded a five-year, $1.5 million capacity-building grant. The organisation aims to support social enterprises to create over 44,000 jobs for disadvantaged Australians by growing the market for their products and services to $1 billion by 2030. Its vision seeks to scale and embed social enterprise procurement nationally; driving major reforms in public and private sector procurement policy to include buying from social enterprises.

Supporting the growth of social procurement, incentivising corporates and government departments to buy services and goods from social enterprises, will ultimately strengthen the whole social enterprise sector. The Foundation will continue to promote leadership in the Australian social sector by recognising leading organisations and the highly skilled individuals driving these organisations to be well-prepared and able to fulfil their missions.

“You are not difficult, you are unique.You are not a subject of pity, you are a subject of strengths.You have nothing to apologise for, you have so much to contribute. Every family, every community, every school, every workplace is better when it has US.”

– Chris Varney, I CAN Network Founder & CEO

SHOWING ENTERPRISE

Social enterprises are viable businesses that exist primarily to benefit the community rather than shareholders and owners, addressing social problems while blending entrepreneurship, business principles and the desire to achieve social good.

The Ian Potter Foundation has long been a strong supporter of social enterprises, at the start-up or pilot stage and at the capacity building stage for proven models. As early as 1982, the Foundation awarded a $500 grant for equipment to Kevin Heinze Garden Centre, a landscaping social enterprise that creates employment opportunities for people with disabilities. However, most of the Foundation’s social enterprise funding has occurred since 2010, with more than $7.3 million being awarded to a wide range of organisations adopting innovative models to address community needs. Recently, the Foundation has shown support for sector-wide initiatives such as Social Traders’ Vision 2030 (see page 23), designed to broaden the impact of social enterprise across Australia.

The social enterprises supported by the Foundation over the past two decades are strong examples of the diverse ways in which this type of organisation provides training, employment and empowerment opportunities to disadvantaged groups in our society.

Bread & Butter Project

The Sydney-based Bread & Butter Project provides recently arrived migrants and refugees with TAFEaccredited baking traineeships. This gives new arrivals a place to start and skills that will help them gain employment and establish their lives in Australia. The Bread & Butter Project reinvests 100% of its profits into employment opportunities for people in need, making a difference far beyond the walls of its kitchens. The Foundation awarded an initial grant of $50,000 towards the social enterprise’s set-up costs in 2012, with another $50,000 in 2015 specifically for building its operating capacity.

Trainee baker Ma Du (right) with baker trainer Alex Alewood at work in The Bread & Butter Project kitchen. Ma was one of the first trainees and graduated in 2014.

Image: The Bread & Butter Project.

STREAT

Since 2010, STREAT has been offering training to young people in its Melbourne-based catering and coffeeroasting business and its three cafes. Starting with one street food cart at Federation Square, STREAT quickly developed a plan to open multiple permanent food outlets to offer training and hospitality work experience to more than 1,000 homeless young people every year. The Foundation showed faith in its expansion, operating model and approach, with a $150,000 grant in 2011.

In 2013, STREAT won a national award as Australia’s most innovative social enterprise. The Foundation’s Governors recognised STREAT’s achievements with one of the Foundation’s $500,000 50th anniversary commemorative grants, which funded a new youth training academy in Collingwood. This flagship site is home to STREAT’s seven interconnected businesses – four cafes, a catering company, an artisan bakery and coffee roastery.

Since 2010, STREAT has achieved:

• A total of 3114 young people supported

• 66% program participant completion rate

• 76%* STREAT graduates still in employment

• 97% of young people helped to improve or maintain suitable housing

*Compared to 27% under Federal Government national jobactive program Awards

• 2020 Social Enterprise Champion

• 2019 Australian Human Rights Commission Award

• 2019 Australian Institute of Criminology Crime Prevention Award

• 2016 EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year

• 2015 Social Investment Award

2014 Most Innovative Social Enterprise.

STREAT offers training and pathways to employment to vulnerable youth facing issues including homelessness, drug or alcohol abuse, mental illness or a combination of the three enabling them to proceed into full-time jobs or apprenticeships. Image: STREAT.

White Box Enterprises

People who encounter the justice system can face significant barriers to community re-integration and employment. Fruit2Work specifically addresses these barriers by creating realistic transitional employment for ex-offenders. It is designed to be a ‘launching pad’ into the warehousing and logistics industry.

In 2018, the Foundation awarded the social enterprise $130,500 to cover essential operational costs for three years. This allowed the organisation’s internal resources to focus on growing sales to a sustainable level.

In 2020, the Foundation granted an additional $75,000 to keep Fruit2Work staff employed while the organisation sought new business opportunities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fruit2Work joined STREAT and other social enterprises to form the Moving Feast collective, combining resources, facilities and distribution capacity to provide food security to a growing number of vulnerable people during the pandemic.

Five years since its inception, Fruit2work has transitioned 50 people to mainstream employment. Importantly, none of the participants have reoffended. This is an exceptional outcome given the current recidivism rate for ex-offenders is around 55% at two years.

White Box Enterprises was formed in the context of a youth unemployment rate in Australia that was three times the rate for people aged over 25 years (in 2019).

White Box Enterprises identified the need for personcentric employment models for these young Australians, with refugees, First Nations people, ex-offenders and those with disabilities or mental illness disproportionately

represented. It was inspired by successful projects like Vanguard Laundry (see page 9), which see employment as fundamental to altering the trajectory of an individual’s life and impacting the wider community.

In 2020, White Box Enterprises launched Project 5000, a mission to create 5,000 jobs for young, disadvantaged Australians by 2030. It does this by building social enterprises around clear market opportunities, replicating existing successful social enterprises to scale impact, advocating for access to funding to enable largescale systems change, and developing and championing social enterprise leaders to accelerate sector growth.

To support White Box Enterprise to grow and diversify its business income streams, the Foundation awarded the organisation a $2.5 million capacity-building grant over five years in 2021. White Box Enterprises aims to be financially self-sustaining with operations funded primarily through revenue-generating activities.

This grant sits on top of previous grants (totalling $480,000) from the Foundation in support of this leading social business incubator. The White Box Enterprises business model is centred around collaboration with government, philanthropy, the private sector and community.

Fruit2Work employees pack and deliver fruit boxes and milk to corporate customers. Image: Fruit2Work.

Hotel Housekeeping, which launched in July 2019, is the first social enterprise in the White Box family and receives funding, space and business support from White Box Enterprises.

Jigsaw Australia

Social enterprise Jigsaw Australia (Jigsaw) trains and transitions people with disabilities into mainstream employment. A fast-growing document management business, Jigsaw provides high-quality business-to-business services to over 100 corporate and government clients, allowing people with disabilities to develop real work skills, and participate in the workforce for the first time, and use that experience as a springboard into mainstream roles. Since opening in 2014 in Sydney and Brisbane, Jigsaw has achieved significant impact. Expansion into Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth puts it in prime position to achieve its aim of creating 1,000 traineeships and 600 award-wage jobs for people with disability by the end of 2023.

In 2021, the Foundation awarded Jigsaw a $300,000 grant to establish the new interstate hubs and build the capacity of the Jigsaw Connect program to transition its graduates into mainstream employment – making Jigsaw the exemplar for the employment of people with disabilities across Australia. White Box Enterprises has also supported Jigsaw’s expansion.

In April 2022, Jigsaw received the award for ‘Most Innovative Employment Program’ at the inaugural Australia Disability Service Conference and Awards.

workRestart

WorkRestart is a not-for-profit social enterprise that aims to empower people with experiences of incarceration to restart their lives and positively contribute to their communities, thereby reducing recidivism from 46% to 10–25%. Through its Second Chance Partners Project, workRestart collaborates with business and social enterprise partners to create opportunities for developing skills and gaining meaningful work experience on the ‘inside’. The project also establishes connections to business partners for employment opportunities to participants on the ‘outside’.

These opportunities are provided in three main areas:

• Skill development for prisoners in construction, manufacturing and horticulture

• Opportunities for prisoners to develop digital skills including design, virtual reality, coding and CAD

• Preparing selected prisoners for self-employment and running their own business.

In 2021, the Foundation contributed $200,000 towards the Second Chance Partners Project.

Hayley, a trainee at Jigsaw Mount Gravatt. Image: Jigsaw.

WorkRestart's prison leavers in the carpentry team with Second Chance employer, Joii. Image: Joii Ltd.

DECADE BY DECADE A Timeline of Grantmaking

GRANTS: 3,542

$84,194,981

Grants by Location

Grants by Issue Area

Notes

Health: Grants made to health-focused charities

Human Services: Grants made to wide range of charities excluding those focused on health or food security

Education: Grants made to a range of early childhood education and development programs pre-dating the Early Childhood Development program area

Employment & Training: Excludes grants for Social Enterprises

Other: Includes grants to other philanthropic organisations and in support of volunteering

Decade by Decade

GRANT RECIPIENTS

Organisations which have received $100,000 or more in Community Wellbeing or Disability grants from The Ian Potter Foundation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A Timeline of Grantmaking (page 28)

1960s – In 1966, a grant of $2,710 was awarded to La Trobe University towards a research program on the attributes of ‘lone and destitute homeless men’. This was the first grant by the Foundation directed towards understanding the issues behind homelessness. Image: La Trobe University.

1970s – Brotherhood of St Laurence was awarded the largest grant ($45,000) and the largest total amount in grants ($98,000) in the Community Wellbeing program during the 1970s. Image: Brotherhood of St Laurence.

1980s – The Children's Welfare Association of Victoria was a peak body set up in 1912. In 2003, it became the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare. The organisation received a $300,000 grant in 1989, the largest Community Wellbeing grant awarded at that time.

1990s – No Interest Loan Schemes (NILS) received a total of $456,100 in grants during this decade (see p. 12). Image: Good Shepherd Vic.

2000s – Mission Australia received the largest Community Wellbeing grant to date ($1 million) towards the Kingswood Centre in outer Sydney, NSW (see p. 16).

2010s – In 2016, Guide Dogs Victoria was awarded a major $2.5 million grant towards the redevelopment of its campus. Image: Guide Dogs Vic.

2020s – Grants to Social Enterprises have exceeded $3,920,000 since 2021 (see p. 29).

Section Title

A History of Grantmaking – Community Wellbeing