The Seahorse #48

Issue 48, December 2023

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Signing the Investment Dialogue Working Together Agreement (L-R): Paul Conroy (CEO of The Ian Potter Foundation), Matthew Cox (CEO of The Bryan Foundation), Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Kristy Muir (CEO of the Paul Ramsay Foundation)

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

It has been a busy time at the Foundation since our last newsletter. Our Board of Governors has met to discuss our priorities and consider grant applications. I have continued to spend time with a number of our grantees and have seen firsthand the benefit of the work they do and the passionate people who work so hard to make a difference in our community.

It has also been wonderful to meet many other philanthropic foundations this year and learn about their priorities. I have been impressed with the level of collaboration in the sector, with organisations and individuals looking to share what they know and what they are doing – all in an effort to work together to achieve greater collective impact for the community

It is in this vein that I am very happy to report that the Investment Dialogue forAustralia’s Children has been formalised with the signing of a WorkingTogetherAgreement by the

FederalTreasurer Jim Chalmers, Social Services MinisterAmandaRishworthand representatives of 20 philanthropic organisations.

Anew collaboration between government and philanthropy, the Investment Dialogue aims to improve the lives of children, young people, and their families. The first Roundtable meeting of the Investment Dialogue forAustralia's Children took place at Parliament House on Monday, 4 December

To mark this development, philanthropic Dialogue Members are announcing approximately$65 million dollars of recent investments aligned with the Investment Dialogue's vision.These investments have been initiated by philanthropy since conversations about the collaboration commenced in September 2022 following the Jobs and Skills Summit.

While many philanthropic funders work locally to amplify community-based initiatives, the Investment Dialogue aims to coordinate our efforts through the sharing of expertise, data and resources to translate and measure what works and what matters. Doing this can help grow positive impact in and across more communities.

These investments seek to improve outcomes for children, their families and/or communities and fall into one of four focus tiers of the Investment Dialogue:

Projects and Programs focused on children, family or community

Place – community-led processes and growing capacity and capability

Policy and Systems level reforms – creating the conditions necessary forsystems change to ensure services and systems are adjusted to meet theneeds of local communities where required.

Data and evaluation.

This is the first step of a more integrated approach which also has systems change at its heart. We look forward to working closely with government, our philanthropic peers, and sector and community leaders to map out the Investment Dialogue processes, so we can build on the strengths that already exist and help fill the gaps where funding and coordination can make a meaningful difference.

It has also been a busy year for all our staff at the Foundation, and it is great to have recently opened our Environmental grant round now that we have LouiseArkles back from her study leave in the UK. Lauren Monaghan spent some time in the US earlier this year, attending conferences and visiting US-based Public Health funders. I recommend you read Lauren's interview with Grantmakers in Health where she shares her take on the difference between US andAustralian philanthropy in the public health sector.

As 2023 ends, I would like to wish all our staff and partners a happy and safe holiday break. I trust we can all spend some time relaxing with family and friends. I look forward to an exciting 2024 ahead.

Paul Conroy

From evidence to action

A new online tool aims to improve the wellbeing, health and education of children and young people by helping to understand inequities around Australia.

Australian Child and Youth Wellbeing Atlas

In November, we were thrilled to celebrate the launches of two significant projects supported by Early Childhood Development grants from the Foundation.

TheAustralian Child and Youth WellbeingAtlas is a free mapping resource that provides location-specific data on children and young people's health and wellbeing indicators.

“This data asset will allow researchers, non-government, and state and federal organisations to identify potential priorities for child health research and initiatives in meaningful and cost-effective ways,” saidAssociate Professor Glauert, Project lead from UWA's School of Population and Global Health.

Developed by the University of WesternAustralia and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and supported by theAustralian Research Data Commons (ARDC) and a range of partners acrossAustralia, theAtlas is interactive. It features a map-based approach to visualisation intended to enable place-based discovery of data specific to children and young people in a way that has never been done before. This national resource is the logical evolution of the WAChild DevelopmentAtlas initiated byTelethon Kids Institute in 2017.

National Child & Family Hubs Network

Minister for Early Childhood Education, DrAnneAly, launched the National Child & Family Hubs Network in Sydney last month.

The National Child & Family Hubs Network is an initiative of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.The Network will help to build the capacity of 460 Hubs that already

exist today acrossAustralia to ensure families receive the care and support they need during the first 2000 days of their children's lives.

MCRI's Professor Sharon Goldfeld, Chair of the National Child & Family Hub Network, described the Network's vision as an inclusive learning network that "emerged from the idea that there were opportunities to bring together the learnings from Hubs all over Australia to ensure they were all the highest quality and could be sustained over time.

“Our vision is for families to be able to walk through the welcoming front door of a Child & Family Hub and receive the right care and support at the right time, leading to improved and equitable health and development outcomes,” Professor Goldfeld said.

GRANTS ROUND UP

$5.7 million across 15 grants

In early December, the Foundation awarded $5.7 million in grants.

These comprised:

6Arts grants totalling $2,175,000

4 Public Health Research grants totalling $2,390,000

2 Community Wellbeing grants totalling $790,000, and

2 Impact Enhancement grants totalling $22,500.

The Ian Potter Cultural Trust was awarded $321,492 towards its latest round of emerging artist grants.

Older Australians are the target cohort of this month's Public Health Research grants

Open for conversations

Watch the recent Environment Info Session.

Environment program re-opens

Grantseekers wishing to submit an EOI for Environment grants can now book calls with the program manager. Call bookings are available from now until March 2024.

An Environment Info session was held in late November to provide guidance and answer grantseeker questions. Watch the recording if you missed this.

Grantseekers are reminded that before booking a call, it is important to:

1. Check your organisation's eligibility Take the short quiz on our website to ensure your organisation and project is eligible.

2. Check your proposal is within the current Funding Guidelines for the Environment program.

3. Watch the recent Info Session for guidance on exclusions, examples of recent grants and Q&Awith grantseekers.

Early Childhood Development and Public Health Research closed in 2024

The Early Childhood Development program will be closed to Expressions of Interest in 2024 due to existing financial commitments across several large multi-year grants over the past 3 years including 5 grants awarded in October 2024. We apologize for any

inconvenience this might cause.

In the meantime, we encourage grantseekers to watch the most recent Early Childhood Development Info Session to learn more about this program's funding objectives.

The Public Health Research program will also be closed in 2024 to review funding guidelines.This program area is next scheduled to open in June 2025.

Funding Rounds 2024

We have changed some dates in Rounds 2 and 3 2024. Please check the website for the most current information.

ProgramArea Dates 2 Environment Medical Research*

Calls to Program Manager commence December 2023

EOIs closeApril 2024

Full applications close 6 June 2024

* Medical Research is by application only.

Info sessions from mid-February 2023

3 Arts Community Wellbeing

Calls to Program Managers commence late February 2024

EOIs close June 2024

Full applications close endAugust 2024

Funding Rounds

GRANTEE ENGAGEMENT

Workshops & catch-ups

Welcome Workshops

New grantees are invited to an in-person Welcome Workshop in Melbourne on Tuesday, 13 February. You will receive an email inviting staff to attend.There will be an opportunity to discuss the development of your Theory of Change or Program Logic in more detail after the workshop.

For those unable to attend, please let our Research and Evaluation team know and they will arrange a separate catch-up.

If any of our current grant partners have new staff who would like to attend one of these workshops, please contact your program manager or XimenaAvalos Mendez to arrange an invite.

Interstate Catch-ups

Caroline Henwood, our Research and Evaluation Manager, will be in Perth the week of 15 January, Sydney the week of 5 February and Brisbane the week of 18 March. If any current grantees would like to catch up to discuss their project or organisation's monitoring, evaluation or reporting framework; implementation approach or reporting, please contact her directly to arrange a meeting.

TIPFEP 2023 available

Areminder that if you are looking to engage an external consultant to support you with the development of a monitoring and evaluation framework or to conduct an evaluation, The Ian Potter Foundation Evaluation Panel is available on our website.

GRANTEE NEWS UWA Peatland project

GRANTEE AWARD Magabala Publishing

In the beautiful Walpole Wilderness area of WesternAustralia’s South West is a remarkable ecosystem at the centre of an ambitious research project.

Associate Professor Nicki Mitchell from The University of WesternAustralia’s School of Biological Sciences, and head of the five-year project PEAT– Protecting Peatland Ecosystems andAddressing Threats in the Southwest, is hoping to uncover the secrets of this unique form of wetland, as well as how to protect them.

GRANTEE WORKSHOP Library for All - Our Yarning

The OurYarning team is coming to Blacktown NSW with free writing workshops forAboriginal andTorres Strait Islander people. Keen to write a children's book for sharing in the Library forAll app?

Join the Library forAll team on January 24th 2024, at the Blacktown Library You don't need to have writing experience. Just bring along your unique ideas. Registration is required so they can cater for everyone

Magabala's children's book Open Your Heart to Country has won the Prime Minster's Children's LiteratureAward for 2023.

Told in English and Dharug, Open Your Heart to Country is a moving account of re-connection to Country from a First Nations perspective. Sharing the nourishing power of returning home and being immersed in the language of Country, this picture ebook invites readers to reflect on the importance of place not only for First Nations people but for everyone.

Author Jasmin Seymour is a Dharug woman and descendant of Maria Lock, who was the daughter of Yarramundi, the Boorooberongal elder who had met Governor Phillip on the banks of the Hawkesbury River in 1791.

Season's Greetings

We wish all our partners, colleagues and their families a happy and safe festive season. We look forward to working with you all in 2024.

Please note: Our office will be closed from Friday 22 December through to Friday 5 January. We will re-open from Monday 8 January 2024.

Congratulations to Annette Downs on receiving the CreativeAustraliaAward for Theatre in 2023.Annette Downs’contribution to the theatre sector inTasmania is unparalleled.

This award recognises her significant artistic contribution not only as an artist and performer but also as Artistic Director of Terrapin Puppet Theatre, which was recently awarded a multi-year Arts grant by the Foundation.

The CreativeAustraliaAwards celebrate Australian artists and creative workers who have made an outstanding and sustained contribution to their art form and the cultural life of the nation. Watch Annette interviewed byABCArts below

We produce this quarterly e-newsletter to keep our friends and associates up to date with all the news and recent grants made by The Ian Potter Foundation.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.

Copyright © 2024 The Ian Potter Foundation, All rights reserved.

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