GRANTS REPORT 2009–10
Contents Overview Governors and Staff Chairman’s Report Funding Principles CEO’s Report Arts Community Wellbeing Alec Prentice Sewell Gift Education Environment & Conservation Healthy Communities Medical Research Science Travel Conference
Sir Ian Potter Founder
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2 3 4 4 6 8 18 30 34 42 50 58 66 72 76
Sir Ian Potter established The Ian Potter Foundation in 1964. Now one of Australia’s leading philanthropic foundations, the Governors and staff of the Foundation endeavour to uphold Sir Ian’s legacy by supporting Australia’s community leaders and innovators to bring positive change to our society. The Ian Potter Foundation donates nationally, supporting a wide range of projects across many sectors of the community.
Governors Life Governor
Governors
Lady Potter AC
Mr Charles Goode AC (Chair)
Professor Geoffrey Blainey AC
The Hon Sir Daryl Dawson AC KBE CB
Mr Leon Davis AO
The Hon Sir James Gobbo AC CVO
Mr John Gough AO OBE
Professor Thomas Healy AO
Dr Thomas Hurley AO OBE
Mr Allan Myers AO QC
Mr Frank Nelson
Dr P John Rose AO
Professor Graeme Ryan AC
Staff Front: Sarah MacNeill, PA to Chief Executive Officer Janet Hirst, Chief Executive Officer Gail Lewry, Administration Manager Rear: Caitriona Fay, Program Manager Claire Rimmer, Program Manager Avalee Weir, Communications Manager Therese Reidy, Finance Manager Alberto Furlan, Program Manager Helen Murray, Program Manager Miranda Hartcher-O’Brien, Administration Assistant
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Chairman’s Report In the Financial Year 2009–10, 226 new grants were approved, valued at $17.5 million. This is an increase of 55 percent in the number of new grants over the previous year. Despite a fall in the Foundation’s corpus, the Governors decided to increase both the number and value of grants in view of the need in the community.
The past year has been characterised by considerable growth in many aspects of the Foundation’s operations. In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, and in an atmosphere of continued uncertainty in international financial markets, we received a significant increase in demand for grants with the number of applications increasing by 40 percent in the past year. This reflects both the level of current need for philanthropic support in the community and the expanding nature of Australia’s not-for-profit sector as it continues to grow and diversify in response to changing community needs.
The majority of the grants made were in the Community Wellbeing Program Area, with 110 grants across a wide spectrum of community programs as diverse as recruiting a new generation of disability support volunteers through to support programs for children of prisoners. There were also several large grants made within our new prevention of homelessness theme, including $1 million to Mission Australia towards a multi-faceted support hub for homeless families. One of our less high profile but very worthwhile program areas is Travel, in which 31 grants were made this year. In keeping with our principle of supporting excellence, these small grants assist outstanding early career researchers to travel overseas to present their work at international conferences and benefit from the knowledge exchange and networking opportunities these forums offer. You can read of the experiences of some of these grantees towards the end of this report.
Funding Principles The Foundation operates nine Program Areas: The Arts, Community Wellbeing, Education, Environment & Conservation, Healthy Communities, Medical Research, Science and Travel and Conference. Six common principles underlie the Foundation’s grant-making across all Program Areas:
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A commitment to excellence. We support organisations, programs and individuals who are outstanding in their field in a national and international context.
An emphasis on the ‘Innovate, Evaluate, Disseminate’ strategy. We seek to fund programs and projects that take a new approach to problems and support their evaluation and, if successful, their replication in other locations or contexts.
As 2010 progresses IPF will surpass $150 million in grants paid. As we look back over the 46 years since Sir Ian established the Foundation much has changed in the philanthropic sector, but the value of backing excellence, supporting research, working with others towards a shared goal and taking a long term view, remain tried and true principles that have guided us for many decades. In the Down The Track stories in this report there is some evidence of how this works, as well as a few lessons learned. In February, The Australian Ballet announced that they would be renaming the company’s Melbourne headquarters ‘The Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre’ in honour of Lady Potter’s dedicated and passionate support for the company. We are delighted that the contribution that Lady Potter has made has been recognised in this very appropriate manner. Sir Ian Potter was closely involved in the establishment of The Australian Ballet almost 50 years ago, and since that time the Ballet has grown exponentially and become a company of world-class standing. IPF has always placed great importance on support of our country’s major artistic institutions and we were very pleased to be able to provide a major grant of $8 million to The Australian Ballet to support the next phase of its growth and to helping to secure its future.
In May this year, Mr John Kellaway retired after serving the Foundation for 15 years as its Accountant, and at one time stepping in for a period as Acting CEO. I would like to thank John for his significant contribution over the years; we will miss his experience and wisdom. We are very pleased that there has been further growth in the capability and professionalism of our staff as well as our grant giving this year, and I would like to thank the Chief Executive Officer, Janet Hirst and her team for their valuable contribution and commitment to the Foundation’s continued development.
Charles Goode AC Chairman
A focus on prevention.
Potential for leverage.
Long-term thinking.
Partnerships.
In seeking to maximise the value of our grants, we try to address the causes of problems, rather than treat the symptoms. Supporting research is fundamental to this approach.
Our grants have greater impact when combined with support from other sources. These might include other trusts and foundations, government, business and volunteers. We are happy to be one of a number of supporters of a program.
We try to fund programs that will continue to have an impact well beyond the period of our support. In making grants, attention is given to the sustainability of the project at the conclusion of the period covered by the grant.
We encourage applications from organisations that are working with others in their field, and indeed in other fields.
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CEO’s Report
The measure of success at the Foundation is the impact and effectiveness of our grants. This year has seen some major changes in how some of our program areas operate, bearing in mind the need to take a strategic approach to our grant making, to have clearly articulated goals, and to support people and programs that align with the Foundation’s Funding Principles which include maintaining a strong focus on prevention, long term thinking and sustainability. At a strategic planning session in July 2009, the Board of Governors agreed that in the areas of Community Wellbeing, Education and Environment & Conservation, we would move to an Expression of Interest application process for our large grants. Our grant giving continues to be guided by six funding principles which reflect well the aspirations and vision of our founder, Sir Ian Potter. However, as the priorities and problems in our community change, we need to make sure that the funding objectives of each program area are relevant and that our grants have maximum impact. Accordingly, in the area of Community Wellbeing the Foundation has made homelessness a priority for grants of more than $50,000. Homelessness is a complex issue that is a key indicator of the health of our society. Given the enormity of the problem and the Foundation’s grant-making principles, our fous is on funding for early intervention and programs that attempt to prevent homelessness by addressing issues of substance abuse, family violence and mental health. Following a review of the needs within the education sector, and the Foundation identifying the need to focus our grant making on long term strategic, whole-of-community approaches to education, the Board approved new funding objectives for the Education Program Area. An Expression of Interest application process has been put in place for our large grants of $100,000 or more, with emphasis on initiatives which seek to work holistically with families, communities, schools and individuals. Under the new funding objectives, the Foundation made a commitment of $275,000 to the Tomorrow:Today Foundation’s Education Program in Benalla. The Program takes a holistic approach to education in a community with poor student outcomes and low levels of wellbeing among children and young people and recognises that education and health are intrinsically linked. You can read about this project later in this report.
Major changes have been made in the Environment & Conservation Program Area. Applications for $100,000 or more are invited under an Expression of Interest process for projects which assist communities to protect and maintain areas of high conservation value, particularly through the promotion of sustainable agriculture and management practices. This program also supports programs and research that help communities develop partnerships to reduce carbon emissions and better adapt to an increasing carbon environment. We are excited about the relationship we are developing with the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, which we supported this year in our Science Program Area. We are continuing to explore opportunities with them to promote better outcomes around biodiversity issues. To better reflect the funding objectives of supporting programs that enhance the lives of people living with disability, our Health Program Area has been renamed ‘Healthy Communities’. The changes which have been made during the year are in keeping with an ideal that was outlined in the first formal report of the Foundation – the very nature of foundation philosophy requires that Trustees be ever ready to consider new concepts and to devise new ways of assisting with the many problems confronting society at all levels. My thanks go to the Foundation’s Governors for their support and advice, in particular to the Chairman, Charles Goode, and to the wonderful team at the Foundation which is committed and passionate about making a difference to our community.
Janet Hirst Chief Executive Officer
Facts and Figures 2009–10 Number of grants approved: Total value of grants approved: Number of grants paid: Total value of grants paid:
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226 $17.5 million 270 $14.2 million
Facts and Figures
Amount ($A) of Grants Paid 2009–10 by Program Area Arts
$2,367,657
Education
$705,500
Environment and Conservation
$2,040,924
Healthy Communities
$583,320
Medical Research
$3,945,000
Alec Prentice Sewell Gift
$298,700
Science
$891,000
Community Wellbeing
$3,270,529
Travel and Conference
$144,372
Number of Grants Paid 2009–10 by Program Area Arts
43
Education
16
Environment and Conservation
12
Healthy Communities
17
Medical Research
9
Alec Prentice Sewell Gift
8
Science
11
Community Wellbeing
110
Travel
31
Conference
13
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Arts The Arts are a reection of who we are as individuals, communities and as a nation. A dynamic and well-resourced Arts sector contributes to our quality of life, both as artists and as audiences.
Number of new grants approved:
In recent times, the Foundation has looked at the role of the Arts as a tool for bringing communities together: bridging cultural, social, generational or socio-economic differences, and contributing to the development of healthy, productive communities.
Value of grants paid:
Value of new grants approved: Number of grants paid:
Percentage of total grants paid (value):
The Arts is a vibrant, dynamic and exciting sector and we seek to encourage and support its development and improve its accessibility for all Australians. Grants in this program area currently focus on arts education, audience development (particularly in regional areas), and the arts as a vehicle for building a sense of community. In addition, the Foundation makes grants to individuals through The Ian Potter Cultural Trust.
36 $9,357,657 43 $2,367,657 16.5%
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The Australian Ballet www.australianballet.com.au Refurbishment of The Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre Grant: $8 million $4 million over four years plus matching grant of up to $4 million
Raising The Barre The Australian Ballet Centre in Melbourne’s Southbank was built in 1988, providing state-of-the-art facilities for The Australian Ballet’s operations. Now 22 years old, the Centre needs maintenance to sustain future growth. In February 2010, The Ian Potter Foundation announced a grant of $8 million towards this project, with $4 million to be paid over four years and a further $4 million matching grant to be paid against funds raised by the company on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to $4 million. This grant reflects The Ian Potter Foundation’s ongoing commitment to supporting our country’s major cultural institutions. In terms of the number of dancers, administration and support staff The Australian Ballet has grown by over 50 percent since the Centre was opened. In that time, public expectations and changes in business operations have necessitated major restructuring of the company’s commercial operations, resulting in the establishment of an on-site call centre and larger teams in the areas of marketing and fundraising. Such growth means that the company has effectively outgrown its current configuration and now needs to upgrade the facility to ensure that it meets changing needs. The upgrade will enable the centre to continue to be a relevant resource to the ballet community of Australia. “The grant has had a profound impact on The Australian Ballet,” explains Kenneth Watkins, Director of Philanthropy at The Australian Ballet. “It means that we will not be forced to use our capital savings to pay for the urgent upgrade of the Centre and therefore can invest in our core business: the creation and performance of dance.” “A matching grant is very empowering for an organisation like ours. Strategies are currently in development and being implemented to inform donors that every dollar contributed will, in effect, have a ‘double impact’. This matching grant has the potential to motivate every level of gift. It also provides a powerful benchmark for other foundations and partners. As the Ballet looks towards its 50th Anniversary, other inventive partnerships aimed at leveraging increased support may be possible.”
To date, some of the grant has been expended on the replacement of the Centre’s lifts. Studies and reports have been commissioned to identify the requirements of engineering and mechanical aspects of the building. A plan for internal refit has been drawn up following input from stakeholders and users. An architect will be engaged to prepare a functional brief and design for the internal refurbishment. This work will be scheduled and staged alongside the necessary major engineering and mechanical work. “Philanthropic support has been identified as the only real growth area for the company. The Australian Ballet maintains a high reputation for strong audience attendance and box office sales. However, we anticipate that income from government and other recurrent funding will only be maintained at current levels. The corporate sector is holding, not increasing, sponsorship, and therefore our last real growth area is philanthropy. This is an area where individuals can feel that they are truly making a positive contribution towards an organisation which reflects their passion for ballet,” says Kenneth. Reflecting the IPF’s objective to support access to the Arts in regional areas, part of The Ian Potter Foundation’s $8 million grant has been directed to Out There – The Australian Ballet In Schools. This is an innovative dance-movement program delivered by four specially recruited and trained young dancers, the Dance Education Ensemble, offering a range of activities including preparatory classroom learning, kinetic and dance workshops, performance discussions and demonstrations. Funds from The Ian Potter Foundation will enable the program to expand throughout Australia, targeting schools in regions which are deemed disadvantaged by distance, socio-economic or cultural factors.
Main image New signage heralds a new lease of life for the recently renamed Primrose Potter Austalian Ballet Centre. Photo © Newspix Small image Artists of The Australian Ballet celebrate with Lady Potter. Photo Jess Bialek THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 11
The Performance Space, NSW
West Space Inc, VIC
Geelong Ethnic Communities Council Inc, VIC
www.performancespace.com.au Grant: $20,000 Total project cost: $142,366
www.westspace.org.au Grant: $26,000 Total project cost: $80,220 West Space Initiatives: Public and Education Program, Volunteer and Internship Program, Emerging Writers’ Program and Online Project. Objective: Contribute innovative projects to the arts sector and provide access for young and emerging practitioners to professional development and mentoring opportunities. To develop West Space’s vision through the delivery of four separate programs targeted at talented young artists, which will link education and the arts and develop audiences. How: Appoint part-time staff, lever in-kind support from relevant partners, and develop program related resources to enhance and improve West Space’s service delivery: enabling them to formalise programs that they had only been able to provide on an ad hoc basis owing to organisational capacity. Why: West Space had been providing the artistic community with relevant, useful programs that were in growing demand, but which the organisation did not have the staffing capacity to be able to deliver to their full potential. This grant would help them to establish the infrastructure needed to deliver these programs to their full potential.
The ClubHouse: a Performance Space audience development and access initiative. Create a focus point and meeting place – both physical and conceptual – for Performance Space audiences. Objective: To consolidate and enhance Performance Space’s programs; to fulfill the needs of current audiences and to work to attract new audiences. To develop a public program around discussion and creative exchange, to enable a wider, larger audience to benefit and to help the organisation to develop a strong, sustainable future. How: Create a central hub area within Performance Space’s (relatively) new home at Carriageworks, in Redfern, Sydney. Also, expand the organisation’s public program to provide dynamic projects and events catering to the interests of a wider audience. Why: Performance Space moved into Carriageworks in 2007. In 2008 they received funding from The Australia Council for the Arts to carry out some research to help identify areas of strength with regard to the programs they were providing, and to define areas of need or demand. The ClubHouse was developed in response to the research findings. The ClubHouse has become a creative hub of activity distinct from but complementing the main program. It has introduced new artists, audiences and practices to Performance Space. The new approach to public programs has been particularly popular with younger audiences (20 – 30 years) attending events for the first time.
Images, left to right Westspace, The Nothing, Enough is as good as a feast (2010) by Sanné Mestrom. Photo Matthew Stanton The Performance Space, The Library of Unwritten Books Streetface image, the result of photographic workshops with local photographer Trevor Pendock
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www.diversitat.org.au Grant: $5,000 Total project cost: $27,000 Street Face: A Community Arts Project. Allowing people from diverse backgrounds to explore and express their ideas regarding multiculturalism and Geelong’s identity as a city. Objective: Explore cultural diversity in Geelong, providing a feature event for the launch of Pako Festa 2010 – the largest free celebration of cultural diversity in Australia, which attracts around 100,000 people each year. How: Employ a professional artist to deliver workshops involving local schools and community groups, teaching participants how to photograph one another in creative ways which show their unique differences, and the qualities that make us essentially the same…our faces! Make large scale photocopies of 28 of the portraits and paste them – with permission – onto key buildings around the city. Create maps to enable festivalgoers to find the photographs on a trail around the city. Why: Engage, highlight and celebrate the heritage of different cultural groups represented in Geelong’s population and help (in particular) culturally and linguistically diverse communities in the area to develop new skills.
The University of Melbourne, VIC
Deckchair Contemporary Australian Theatre, WA
Bunbury Regional Arts Management Board, WA
www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au Grant: $180,000 Total project cost: $299,352
www.deckchairtheatre.com.au Grant: $20,000 Total project cost: $53,000
A new staff position to develop and facilitate activities which can help unlock The Ian Potter Museum of Art’s collection as an invaluable object-based learning resource used across a range of academic disciplines.
Deckchair Emerging Artists Program: mentoring program for young emerging directors, designers and dramaturgs within the first three years of their professional practice and with a demonstrated commitment to making a career in theatre in WA.
Objective: Make The Ian Potter Museum of Art’s collection a more active learning resource and the Museum a more dynamic organisation, better able to respond to a wide range of users’ needs; to drive innovative teaching and museum activity. The position initiates partnerships with academic departments as a first stage in the development of a dedicated Study Centre in the Potter Museum. How: Establish a new staffing post at The Ian Potter Museum of Art to implement activities such as class visits to exhibitions, the development of University of Melbourne curriculumrelated displays, and facilitate onrequest viewing of collection items which are in storage. The position is modelled on activities at American university art museums and seeks to establish a template for the development of curriculum engagement programs across Australian universities. Why: The Museum’s collection is an under-exploited resource which could be used to support teaching and research in a wide range of disciplines at The University of Melbourne.
www.brag.org.au Grant: $9,500 Total project cost: $23,010 South West Regional Arts Summit. An inaugural summit at Bunbury Regional Art Galleries to discuss the current position of the arts in South West WA, the issues confronting it and the aspirations of the regional sector. Objective: Identify regional arts needs and opportunities that can propel the future development of the sector. How: Bring together regional visual arts practitioners, arts workers, academics, the education and tourism sectors, local government and state-based arts agencies to discuss arts related issues and document the resultant dialogue; producing a report which could act as a tool for future arts planning in the region. Why: Few structured opportunities exist for regional artists to come together to talk about their interests and aspirations, and fewer still incorporate funding agencies, related industries and policy makers who are essential to the development of arts practice in this region. The project was also a means to help Bunbury Regional Art Galleries have an effective ongoing dialogue with visual arts practitioners, in the region and beyond.
Objective: To provide emerging theatre artists in WA with the opportunity to transition from study to professional career through a year-long structured internship/mentorship within a professional theatre company. Also, to provide the artists with the opportunity to establish industry contacts and networks – something which is significant to career development but which can be difficult to do early in an individual’s career. How: Give two emerging artists per year the opportunity to work as assistants to professional artists on Deckchair core productions. Also, provide the emerging artists with support in developing their own work and facilitate the staging of this. Why: To try to establish a strong, durable, vibrant theatre industry in WA by providing invaluable career experience for young artists, helping them transition from study to work, and creating opportunities which result in the retention of talented young practitioners in WA.
Images, left to right Amanda Burritt, Curator of Academic Programs, discusses Arthur Streeton’s Sydney Harbour at Cremorne, on display at The Ian Potter Museum of Art, The University of Melbourne Artworkers from throughout the region gather at the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries for the inaugural South West Regional Arts Summit. Photo courtesy of Bunbury Regional Art Galleries. Deckchair Theatre, The Danger Age. Left to right: Anthony Brandon Wong, Samantha Murray, Hayley McElhinney, Irma Woods and Gibson Nolte. Photo Jon Green
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Down the Track The Bell Shakespeare Company www.bellshakespeare.com.au
In The Name Of The Bard Over the past 20 years, The Bell Shakespeare Company may have grown from a small and struggling theatre company to achieving official Government recognition as a Major Performing Arts Organisation, but some things have not changed for the Company since it was established by John Bell AO, in 1990. For one, there’s a passionate belief in the role of great classical writing and performance in the modern era, but alongside this, there’s the constant struggle for funding, especially long term support. “The latest grant from The Ian Potter Foundation was a real breakthrough: multi-year support and money for a salary – this provides security for our valuable staff, and allows us to plan and manage over time,” said Ruth Anders, Philanthropy Manager of Bell Shakespeare. “This sort of support, like the general operational grants we have received from a few other philanthropic organisations, is incredibly valuable.” Although the Company has grown inexorably, the ability to plan long term remains a challenge. Government support accounts for 10–20 percent of their income with corporate sponsorships and philanthropic support amounting to a further 30 per cent, and the remainder from Box Office income, which is by its nature, unpredictable. The Ian Potter Foundation’s support for Bell Shakespeare has been a relative constant in the life of the Company. Starting with a $100,000 grant in 1990 to help establish the company, Bell has received a further nine grants over the years, totalling $450,000, the most recent being $150,000 over three years to support the position of Resident Artist in Education. “Bell Shakespeare has been one of our most successful grantees,” comments Claire Rimmer, IPF’s Arts Program Manager. “The majority of their applications have been successful and this is largely due to the quality and success of their education programs in regional areas, and the fact that the program’s ethos ties in very closely with our funding objectives. Bell is a vibrant and exciting company, and this shines through in their work both on the stage and off it.”
“In general terms it is still a battle to get priority for Arts funding,” explains Ruth Anders. “And this is despite so much evidence of its value to the community, to our cultural life and individually, to stimulate minds and ideas. You don’t need to be a professional artist or actor to benefit from that. When you see children at our Actors at Work education programs being challenged, getting excited, you can see the importance that has. Children get on their feet. They are doing something. Shouting something. Feeling something. It is so rewarding and we know that it amplifies into other aspects of their learning.” Most of the IPF funding over the years has been directed to support Bell Shakespeare’s Outreach Education Programs. Through Master Classes for teachers, student workshops, the Actors at Work in-schools education program and a range of other projects, the Program takes the vibrant world of Shakespeare to interact with and inspire children and teachers across the country, especially in remote and regional areas and in disadvantaged communities. The response to the experience is incredibly positive and enthusiastic from teachers and students alike. Matt Edgerton, is Bell Shakespeare’s talented Resident Artist in Education. Ruth Anders refers to him as the Pied Piper. “He has a gift with people – children, adults – they all follow him,” she explains. Matt clearly thrives on the opportunities this brings. “I have the opportunity to work with such different groups of students, and with teachers who have tremendous knowledge of and enthusiasm for Shakespeare and who are looking for new ideas and inspiration,” he says. “I also have the thrill of working with many groups for whom this is their first encounter with Shakespeare’s work. Particularly in remote and regional Australia this kind of experience can be profoundly satisfying for both the participants and for me. “Knowing that my role is secure for the next three years has allowed us to continue to build the relationships with various groups and communities around Australia, confident that we will be able to run programs with them well into the future.”
Clockwise top to bottom Matt Edgerton with students from Wugulaar School, Beswick, Arnhem Land 2009 Matt leading an acting workshop with the three winners of the Bell Shakespeare 2009 Regional Performance Scholarship
“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” Hamlet, William Shakespeare
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Arts Grants Paid 2009–10 Aphids Events Inc Seedpod Plus – enhanced mentoring in Castlemaine. Aphids, in collaboration with Punctum – a live arts organisation based in Castlemaine will deliver a series of arts labs for young and emerging regional artists, to extend and enhance Punctum’s Seedpod incubator program.
10,000
Art Gallery of South Australia Greening of the Gallery – Lighting Improving lighting in a gallery of the Elder Wing of the AGSA to address the needs of their significant collection and the needs of the public, and reduce the Gallery’s carbon footprint and ongoing operational costs. Part of a whole gallery upgrade.
130,320
The Australian Ballet School For increasing the resources for teaching in the Australian Ballet School To establish the Vocational Graduate Certificate in Elite Dance Instruction (VGCEDI) to safeguard succession planning for professional dance teachers, and continue to develop teaching resources for teacher training. The Australian Ballet Maintenance, upgrading and refurbishment of The Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre and towards development of Out There, the company’s education program. Australian Poetry Centre Home Is Where The Poem Is: APC/ArtPlay Children’s Poetry Anthology 2010 To stage a series of professional development sessions for a number of Melbourne poets and a visual artist which will focus on developing workshop leadership skills, and introduce skills for self-publishing. Bell Shakespeare Company Northern Territory Education Access Programme – 2009–2011 To enable the Company’s Actors at Work team to travel to NT locations including Katherine, Beswick, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to give students a rare opportunity to not only engage with Shakespeare, but also the performing arts. Creative Capacity Building Program To support the continued employment of Bell Shakespeare’s Resident Artist in Education to lead on the delivery of the Actors at Work program. Bunbury Regional Arts Management Board Inc South West Regional Arts Summit To bring together regional visual arts practitioners, art workers, academics, the education and tourism sectors, local government and state-based arts agencies to discuss the issues facing arts in the region.
80,000
800,000
5,000
75,000 50,000
9,500
Cairns Regional Gallery Ltd The Moving Sculpture Project: A travelling exhibition for schools To take sculptures created by seven local artists, and tour them to regional and local schools; to be displayed, studied, and touched by students, plus production of an education kit and DVD.
10,000
Carriageworks Limited The 2009 Sydney Children’s Festival – Educational Workshops To deliver skills development workshops across a wide range of artforms; nurturing the creative talents of young people. Part of the Sydney Children’s Festival 2009.
15,000
Deckchair Contemporary Australian Theatre Deckchair Emerging Artists Program To develop career pathways for two young, emerging artists, by giving them the opportunity to work on core Deckchair Theatre productions; providing them with hands-on experience and mentoring opportunities.
20,000
Experimenta Media Arts Inc. Experimentopia Study Guide A study guide developed with Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM), to support Experimenta’s touring exhibition, Experimentopia. To assist teachers and students in gaining a deeper understanding of the exhibition.
10,000
Four Winds Concerts Inc Inspiring: Breathing life into music education in the Sapphire Coast Design and implementation of a music education program, delivered in association with MLC Sydney as part of the Biennial Four Winds Festival in Bermagui NSW.
20,000
Fusion Australia Ltd Poatina Artist Retreat and Glass Centre – Phase 2 (Equipment) To support the fit-out of Tasmania’s first (permanent) public access Glass Blowing Studio, and general art making facility, in the Poatina Resort Village.
68,085
Geelong Ethnic Communities Council Inc Street Face A Community Arts Project To support workshops involving local schools and community groups to produce large-scale photographic portraits of the Geelong Community, to be pasted onto buildings in the city.
5,000
Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces GCAS Website Rejuvenation To rebuild the Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces website to be more useful as a learning and education tool.
10,000
Heide Museum of Modern Art Heide Begins To create a richer experience for visitors to Heide Museum of Modern Art, by fully integrating the Heide I building into its exhibitions and education program and increasing accessibility.
70,000
HotHouse Theatre Two year Theatre Technician traineeship Second year of funding enabling a young person from regional Victoria or NSW to undertake a traineeship in all aspects of technical theatre.
12,000
Human Ventures Ltd (formerly Speak Out Ltd) Creative Pathways in the Central West – IGNITION Arts Business Training Component A creative skills and enterprise development program for young people in Central West Queensland to address rural drift. It will provide young participants with accredited training.
29,000
Kage Physical Theatre Inc 10,000 The Sundowner Project (Prelude) A community engagement program investigating the personal effects of dementia, or ‘Sundowners Syndrome’, in partnership with Alzheimer’s Australia (Victoria) and Carers Victoria. First stage of creative development for a major new performance work called Sundowner. THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 16
Linden Board of Management Inc Education Program To employ a part-time Arts Educator to develop an education strategy for the Linden Gallery, to enhance and support Linden’s existing programs, exhibitions and facilities.
10,000
Lorne Sculpture Exhibition Lorne Sculpture Exhibition To support a new education program, comprising a self-guided sculpture trail kit, skills workshops for rural secondary art students, and a series of seminars and artists’ lectures.
10,000
Monash University – Museum of Art Monash University Museum of Art relocation to Caulfield Ongoing work to relocate MUMA from Monash University’s Clayton campus to a refurbished facility on the more accessible Caulfield campus, within Monash’s School of Art and Design.
200,000
Monash University: Art and Design New Technologies in Glass Forming for the Creation of Unique Art Glass To assist with the purchase of a large multi-point annealing kiln: part of the first stage of a redevelopment of Monash University’s Glass Studio, to facilitate cutting-edge research within the Faculty of Art and Design.
20,000
Multicultural Arts Victoria SCOPING STUDY – Multicultural Arts Victoria Centre for Excellence To complete a scoping study to contribute to defining the parameters for a Victorian Multicultural Arts Centre of Excellence and Innovation.
10,000
Museums Australia (Victoria) Exhibition design for galleries and museums To support the production of a publication to assist small to medium sized galleries and museums to build capacity to develop high quality museum standard exhibitions.
10,000
The National Theatre Arts in the suburbs – Occupational Health and Safety upgrades To assist with the installation of air conditioning and an upgrade of stair access to the Theatre’s main stage scenery and equipment section.
10,000
Newman College Exhibition of the Tapestries of the Life of St Francis of Assisi by Arthur Boyd To enable public access to part of a series of never before exhibited tapestries by Arthur Boyd. The exhibition coincided with the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Franciscan order and was part of an international conference to celebrate this.
10,000
Next Wave Festival Open to the Public Support for a program of forums and workshops around the festival theme No Risk Too Great. The aim of the program was to stimulate new insights and interest in the creative process. Part of the 2010 Next Wave Festival.
10,000
Northern Gulf Resource Management Group Ltd Stage One – Ghost Net Gear Workshops in the Torres Strait Workshops presented in four communities by non-traditional fibre artists to develop new skills which will lead to the production of saleable items and exhibition quality artworks.
10,000
PACT Youth Theatre Arts Lab for Young Indigenous Artists To pilot a one-month creative laboratory to meet the needs of young Indigenous artists (17–26 years) to help them develop skills as theatre makers/artists or pursue a career as a performance artist.
5,000
The Performance Space The ClubHouse: a Performance Space audience development and access initiative A new initiative to create space for meetings, talks, lectures and screenings; and for a library of publications to be housed.
20,000
Regional Arts Victoria Places and Pieces Jewellery Project To involve up to 40 secondary school students from Bendigo Senior Secondary School and Castlemaine Secondary College in making jewellery items using found, non-precious materials. To develop art skills, and to build a sense of community. Delivered in partnership between Regional Arts Victoria and Craft Victoria.
20,000
Somebody’s Daughter Theatre Inc. The Learning Journey – Every Chance for Every Child To build on the IPF-funded ‘Every Child Every Chance’ project; developing Education Training Resource Packages for school communities in north east Victoria regarding youth homelessness and living in ‘Out of Home’ Care, and Bullying.
50,000
Theatreworks Circus Works: Master Class Series For the inaugural 2009 Circus Works season, a series of five professional Master Classes for practicing Circus and Physical Theatre artists.
5,300
The Song Room Inc. Artistic and Cultural Literacy An educational, artistic experience for disadvantaged school children in the North and West of Melbourne; applying the theme of an NGV Australia temporary exhibition to The Song Room’s music and creative arts workshop programs.
40,000
Sydney Youth Orchestra Association Sydney Youth Orchestras Regional Touring Program The third year of an expanded regional touring program, giving secondary and tertiary music students in regional NSW the opportunity to perform popular classical works, and introducing children aged 2–10 years to the instruments and sounds of the orchestra.
25,000
The University of Melbourne The Ian Potter Curator of Academic Programs 2010–12 To introduce a new staff post to enable the Museum’s collection to become a more active and responsive learning resource.
60,000
Visionary Images Inc Regional Seeding Project Research and development of a pilot model of Visionary Images services within the Bass Coast region of South Gippsland; to provide isolated youth access to cultural opportunities which provide positive educational opportunities.
20,000
West Space Inc. West Space Initiatives: Public & Education Program, Volunteer and Internship Program, Emerging Writers’ Program and Online Project To develop and improve West Space’s ability to provide for the needs and demands of their current audience and potential new audiences.
13,000
Sub-total $ Payments to The Ian Potter Cultural Trust Total Arts $
1,997,205 370,452 2,367,657 THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 17
Community Wellbeing Community Wellbeing has two main focus areas: •
•
Smaller grants (under $50,000) are used to support community-based organisations with strong volunteer components to deliver programs targeting disadvantage, poverty and the general wellbeing of the community. The large grants program (over $50,000) seeks to improve the life chances of individuals and families by supporting projects and programs targeted at the prevention of homelessness, with a focus on early intervention and programs that work with disadvantaged families, women, young people and children who are at risk. Funding priority is given to programs that attempt to prevent homelessness by addressing issues of substance abuse, family violence, mental health issues and/or poverty. Priority is also given to programs that provide education and employment programs and projects that assist disadvantaged young people to avoid becoming homeless as well as programs that seek to provide homeless young people with secure accommodation and support.
Number of new grants approved: Value of new grants approved: Number of grants paid: Value of grants paid: Percentage of total grants paid (value):
This Program Area also offers International Travel Grants to assist senior managers and leaders in this sector to undertake focussed and comprehensive scoping tours of international centres of excellence and return to share the knowledge gained with their colleagues, to further the development of the sector in Australia.
83 $3,737,008 110 $3,270,529 23%
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THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 20
Children’s Protection Society www.cps.org.au Integrated Care and Education Program Grant: $750,000 over three years
A Safe Place To Grow Screaming and shouting expletives at the top of his lungs, four-year-old ‘Jake’ runs across the playground at the new Children’s Protection Society Child & Family Centre in West Heidelberg, letting us know in no uncertain terms that he wants our attention. “You just hope that at four years old, there is still time to change his future,” says Janet Williams-Smith, Program Manager at the Centre. “The children here are at high risk of abuse and neglect. Their young lives are scarred by trauma and we know that stress like this has impact on a whole range of levels. If children don’t feel safe they don’t explore, they don’t learn and their understanding of the world is distorted, it even affects the actual size of their brains.” The scope and size of the challenge that the Children’s Protection Society (CPS) is tackling at this Centre verges on overwhelming, yet there is a great sense of optimism and positivity amongst the staff and participants. The attractive newly-built environment is clean and full of colour, kids’ art works adorn the walls, and there are even a few bantam hens in a pen in the yard – it all seems, quite incredibly, normal. Which is exactly the plan. The Centre is the focal point for CPS’s Integrated Care and Education Project, a Long Day Care model of ‘wrap-around’ support for children aged 0 – 4 years, which forms the basis for a clinical study examining the impact of an intensive, high quality, attachment-based, trauma-informed program on the educational and social outcomes for at-risk children. The program will be evaluated by The University of Melbourne.
The Program’s model is based on international research. CPS hopes that the findings that come from this pilot will inform both State and Federal Government policy and funding, so that the evidence established here might pave the way for many more of the 30,000 Australian children-at-risk to have the same chance to reach their potential. For the 30 children currently in the Centre, six of whom are funded by The Ian Potter Foundation, the future suddenly seems a lot brighter. CPS is now working to attract funding to fill the remaining 15 places in the program. “The thing for these children is that the cup is so empty, it fills up quickly. It is so rewarding to see them blossom: to see a malnourished two year old grow and start to smile, to see a three year old with almost no language start to speak and explore and to watch a violent toddler begin to calm down and show trust,” says Bernadette. “We are already seeing significant gains for these children and it is a privilege to have this opportunity. Philanthropic support has played a vital role in getting this project up and running and we are very grateful for this. If we are right about the impact for these kids, it is a formula that could feed into the Government’s Community Long Day Care so that many more children can have the same chance to break out of the cycle of disadvantage, to the benefit of themselves, their families and the community as a whole.”
“The sense of safety is key. Children who come from toxic environments become anxious and hyper-vigilant. We need to teach these children that they can trust others. Positive attachments teach them social skills that are essential for success once they transition to school and beyond but we need to reach them at a very young age. The first three years are vital for brain development, and research shows that quality care and education in this time can mitigate disadvantage,” explains Janet. The CPS Program is a unique model that includes high staff ratios, an in-centre primary carer for every child to enable attachment-focused growth and development, provision of nutritious meals and an intensive 25 hours a week of care. “Many of these children were knocking on the door of Child Protection,” explains Bernadette Burchell, CEO of CPS. “And for most of the parents, the chance to enter the Program brings relief and rare hope. They are usually from abusive or neglected backgrounds themselves, they are used to rejection and life on the periphery. Here there is acceptance and opportunity. We work with the parents and other agencies, support them to set goals for themselves and their children, then we scaffold them to achieve these goals.”
Images A new sense of optimism among children and parents at the Children’s Protection Society’s new Child & Family Centre in West Heidelberg, Vic
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 21
Oxfam Australia, VIC
The University of Newcastle, NSW
WIPAN (Women In Prison Advocacy Network), NSW
www.oxfam.org.au Grant: $35,000 Total project cost: $284,500
www.newcastle.edu.au Grant: $35,000 Total project cost: $65,900 Learning for Inclusion: a partnership with the Newcastle Muslim Community to promote cultural awareness and social Inclusion in schools. Objective: This program aims to raise awareness among young participants, 10–12 years old, of other religions and cultures (in particular the Muslim culture) thus developing an understanding and appreciation of difference at an early age. How: The project will be developed and implemented by volunteers from the Muslim community with the support of staff from The Australian Institute of Social Inclusion and Wellbeing (TAISIW). This involves training volunteers from the local Muslim community to deliver presentations and facilitate activities for children in Years 5 and 6 at school, followed by the delivery of activities, and their evaluation. Evaluations will inform and improve subsequent sessions. Two resources will be developed: one for children around the questions that have been asked during sessions, and a web based teaching tool to assist with dissemination of outcomes. Why: By targeting a young population, the project aims to make a lasting difference in the ideas that people develop around cultural difference.
Building Within: Aboriginal healing for communities affected by suicide, a mental health and suicide prevention program. Objective: The project incorporates an emergency response to a recent series of suicides of Aboriginal young people in the township of Narrogin in Western Australia, along with long-term community development in specific communities. The ultimate objective is no further suicides and a reduction in self-harming behaviour. How: Community forums, cultural camps and healing workshops will be directed by the communities in consultation with Darryl Henry, the Aboriginal psychologist engaged on the project. Volunteers are central to the effectiveness of the model. Community Elders and leaders (men and women) and key family members will be trained in ‘mental health first aid’ and suicide prevention and awareness strategies. Why: The program will teach local community people the warning signs of self-harming behaviour so they will be able to respond effectively. The Aboriginal people from the target communities will be helped to develop a stronger sense of self-worth, pride and dignity, and a more optimistic outlook. Ultimately it is hoped that the target communities will become more supportive, cohesive and safe places to live. The program will bring culturally appropriate and community-driven mental, social and emotional health services to the region. The Federal Government has noted the successful model and pledged $1.5 million for mental health over three years for Western Australia’s wheat-belt area.
www.wipan.net.au Grant: $33,281 Total project cost: $35,781 Transport for WIPAN Mentoring Project: a program run by ex-prisoners to support women exiting the correctional system. Objective: A vehicle will allow WIPAN staff to visit the correctional centres to meet WIPAN clients, pick them up when they are released and drive them to various appointments and referrals. Funding will also provide professional supervision and debriefing for the WIPAN Mentoring Coordinator. The Mentoring Coordinator will need to be supported with regular counselling and supervision, to debrief after intensive meetings with WIPAN clients. How: WIPAN’s intervention and assistance, helps women to get through the difficult transition period after release without returning to drugs and/ or to reoffending. When clients are released from prison, they often have no money, clothes, and nowhere to go. WIPAN assists them by facilitating referrals and appointments with service agencies. Attending such appointments is essential to successfully re-entering the community. Why: With mentoring and support, women exiting prison can be spared the loneliness, discrimination, oppression and ignorance of the broader community and therefore have better chance to re-enter community life effectively.
Images, left to right Jesmond Public School students Learning For Inclusion with Muslim students from the University of Newcastle Kayden Kickett and Wade Kickett pose for a shot as part of a four day participatory photography workshop in January 2010 part of Oxfam’s Building Within program in Narrogin. Photo: Lara Mckinley, Oxfam Australia WIPAN staff Kat Armstrong, Public Officer & Treasurer and Samantha Bamforth, Programs Coordinator, with the new vehicle
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 22
Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation, NT
SHINE for Kids, VIC
Music Broadcasting Society of Queensland (4MBS), QLD
www.mttheo.org Grant: $50,000 Total project cost: $450,000
www.shineforkids.org.au Grant: $50,000 Total project cost: $103,790
Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation Training Kitchen: a kitchen training facility for young Warlpiri women to acquire new skills and Certificates In Hospitality.
www.4mbsclassicfm.com.au Grant: $50,000 Total project cost: $203,600
Connecting Kids and Dads, Barwon Prison, Victoria: a program to facilitate the interaction of prisoners with their children during in-visits at Barwon Prison.
Objective: To fit out a commercial training kitchen in the Yuendumu community for young trainees that will provide the facilities necessary for accredited training courses.
Silver Memories: an innovative program broadcasting nostalgia radio programming to 1000 retirement facilities around Australia to enhance the wellbeing of their residents.
How: The training kitchen will provide a unique remote-area facility that meets health and legislative requirements for accredited training, which will include meal preparation, cooking, shopping, nutrition, catering and management principles. The design allows for four trainees or apprentices at any one time. Accredited training will be provided by registered trainers. Why: When young people engage in interesting work, develop responsibility and work ethics, and contribute to the future of their families and their community, they are less likely to engage in substance misuse, domestic violence, or develop mental health issues. This project is set to be another milestone in the development of Mt Theo’s successful strategy. While the Diesel Mechanics Training Workshop provides an opportunity for young men to train and develop working skills, young women lacked an avenue for professional development. This cooking training facility will provide that avenue. Women will learn to cook good, healthy food for their families and earn Certificates in Hospitality.
Objective: The Silver Memories radio service was developed to address social isolation in the elderly in aged care facilities and the community. How: Music is a proven strategy in dealing with issues effecting elderly individuals. It brings joy to people and triggers memories that are useful to prevent and counteract the effects of dementia and depression. 4MBS will broadcast the music nostalgia radio program Silver Memories Australia-wide through an internet streaming system in 1000 nursing facilities around the country. Why: The service was trialled in several Brisbane facilities and was the subject of research by the University of Queensland’s Australasian Centre on Ageing in 2008-09. The results of the study showed that listening to the Silver Memories service resulted in a statistically significant increase in wellbeing and there was a statistically significant improvement in depression and some forms of dementia.
Objective: To establish a Family Support Service, a calendar of events and activities for children and fathers at Barwon Prison (Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Easter, Christmas, NAIDOC, Ramadam), the continuation and extension of Barwon Invisits program and research and development of new programs tailored for the needs at Barwon Prison which will be implemented in the future. How: Under the supervision of qualified and experienced childcare workers employed by SHINE for Kids, children of prisoners engage in enjoyable and relaxing activities with their fathers. Why: When a child loses contact with their imprisoned parent it means a loss of family life and relationships resulting in a lasting negative impact. Maintaining this contact, however, poses many practical difficulties which include travelling long distances to prisons for weekend visits, negotiating the harsh security environment, and the lack of activities for children in prison visiting areas. Visiting prison is a stressful time for children, a time which is repeated over and over again as children visit prison on a regular basis for as long as the sentence is carried out. The Prison Invisits program has improved the invisits environment with benefits for all parties.
Images, left to right Excitement is mounting in Yuendumu as construction of the training kitchen gets underway Silver Memories announcer Lilly Selfridge at the studio console The SHINE for Kids Prison Invisits Program provides a friendly activity corner in the visiting centre at Barwon Prison for children to share with their parents
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 23
Down the Track Yuendumu Community Swimming Pool Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation www.mttheo.org
Pool Brings New Opportunities For some time, the community at Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, has struggled to contain petrol sniffing among its young people and to deal with a range of other social and health issues. Given the success of community pools in other remote areas in helping to address many of these types of concerns, when a swimming pool was proposed for Yuendumu, the community enthusiastically embraced the idea. The Yuendumu Community Pool was initially proposed to bring benefits to health and school attendance. The reduction of ear, skin, and eye infections in communities with pools has been well documented, and the Yuendumu community instigated a ‘yes school, yes pool’ policy to ensure that its pool users attained similar benefits. The pool was also seen as a strong diversionary program – providing young people with healthy activities as an alternative to at-risk behaviours. The project organisers, Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation, Mt Theo Program, also anticipated significant employment opportunities for local people as lifeguards, grounds maintenance persons and kiosk attendants. Now, two years since it was opened in October 2008, Warlpiri project organisers report anecdotal evidence that strongly suggests a significant reduction in ear, skin and eye infections, and increased attendance at school during the summer months. Nine young people have been trained as lifeguards through The Royal Life Saving Association (RLSS), and work on a roster basis. They have now had two accident free seasons at the pool and the program has been acclaimed by RLSS, as ‘best practice in remote pools’. The project provides employment for more than 15 young men and women, and importantly it also offers a consistent diversionary option for local at-risk youth. Warlukulangu Artists have funded and facilitated landscaping of the entire site and created a wonderful playground for young children. The landscaping includes a number of shade shelters on the site and a reticulation system for the plants, so the pool has grown into a real oasis!
CEO of the Mt Theo Program, Susie Low, reports that the key to bringing this project to fruition was community involvement and direction. “The Pools in Remote Areas funding required one third of funds from each of the Federal Government, the Northern Territory Government and the community. A significant portion of the community funds was made up of royalties granted by community elders. This was a massive show of community support, however, without grants from IPF and the Poola Foundation to support the construction, even community commitment would not have been enough,” she explains. Getting the project off the ground was challenging to say the least, and unfortunately, funding for its on-going maintenance continues to be a major challenge. “This is too valuable a resource to close down,” says Susie. “Mt Theo Program is extremely well supported by government as a youth diversionary and leadership initiative, but none of these funds covers pool management. We are doing our best by raising funds through selling cooked food at discos, concerts and sporting events but it is small change. The sales of a recently published book about the program, Dog Ear Café, are also being directed to the pool, but again, the amounts are not significant.” Recently it was announced that community elders had committed a further $100,000 towards running costs over the next year, but the issue of permanent funding remains a frustrating preoccupation for Susie and her team. “The lesson I would pass on to others is to ensure operational funding for a minimum of five years after construction. We struggle every year to find sufficient funds to stay open. No government department sees the pool as its responsibility, despite the many boxes it ticks in terms of the Closing the Gap Strategy. It is a constant roller-coaster of writing submissions, talking to heads of government departments, and waiting for no response. In South Australia, the Premier’s Department funds all remote pools, but in NT there is no similar process. Many government officials express surprise and support, but no funds. It seems it is always the responsibility of someone else. I can’t find the ‘someone else’. I would love to hear suggestions to address this issue.” Mrs Janet Hirst, the CEO of The Ian Potter Foundation, agrees. “The Yuendumu pool is a wonderful project, and we were thrilled to be able to support it. It is both disappointing and frustrating to hear of the difficulties faced by Mt Theo and the Warlpiri Corporation in obtaining funds to keep the pool open. As a Foundation, we are very aware of the challenges faced by community service organisations in obtaining on-going funding for good projects. Sustainability of projects is an important aspect of grant-making, and the Yuendumu experience reinforces the importance of applicants addressing this in their proposals. We sincerely hope that over the next twelve months, Mt Theo’s quest for on-going support for the pool will be successful.”
Top to bottom Play time at the Yuendumu Community Pool Interschool Swimming Carnival
“Our mob really good swimmers. Now they can practice every day we’re gonna be swimming in the Olympics soon!” Cobra Poulson, Yuendumu Community.
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 25
Community Wellbeing Grants Paid 2009–10 Aboriginal Employment Strategy Ltd Employment of a manager and a support person to work with Aboriginal students in the School Based Traineeship Program.
95,000
Anglicare Victoria 2010 Winter Appeal
10,000
Anglicare SA Inc Anglicare South Australia – The Magdalene Centre, 2010 Winter Appeal.
10,000
Ardoch Youth Foundation Ltd Towards the material needs for school children and families.
10,000
Assistance Dogs Australia To cover the complete training of two assistance dogs for disabled people.
21,116
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Inc Towards stock for the organisation’s food bank.
10,000
Barnardos Australia Aidme Reporting. Development of an integrated reporting system to support the financial literacy programs of which No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) is a key program.
46,000
Bethany Community Support Inc Southern Stars. Homework clubs where secondary school students are mentored to tutor disadvantaged primary school-aged children.
10,000
Bobby Goldsmith Foundation Inc Bobby Goldsmith Foundation Client Services materials production. Preparation of Financial Counselling booklet and translation of flyers into three languages (Thai, Mandarin and Spanish). Phoenix Workshop Regional Program: a capacity-building program for people living with HIV. Camp Breakaway Inc Training a new Generation of Volunteers in Disability Care. Care & Communication Concern-Welfare Services Inc LiveWires ‘Wired Up’. An after-school and school holiday program free of charge to all primary school-aged children living in and around the Collingwood Housing Estate in Melbourne.
5,000 20,000 40,000 5,000
Carinya Society Support for the fit out of a Mature Age Area for older intellectually disabled adults.
15,000
Catholic Healthcare Limited Community Wellbeing International Travel grant: scoping tour of US, UK, and Netherlands to investigate responses to severe domestic squalor.
15,000
Centacare Catholic Family Services Green Patch Plus: a garden training project, based on sustainable garden development and maintenance for refugees living in Melbourne.
50,000
Chain Reaction Foundation Ltd Enablers Train-The-Trainer Project. A skill building program for community leaders – who have completed the Enablers Program to become trainers of the program themselves.
20,000
Children’s Protection Society Inc Mentoring Mums – Phase 2 Evaluation. Support for a full evaluation of the Mentoring Mums project, a support service for young mums. Integrated Care and Education Project – To support an integrated day care program for at-risk children and parents from disadvantaged backgrounds.
9,600 200,000
CityLife Inc Community Café. Purchasing of café equipment to cater for the free lunches program.
24,000
Collins Street Baptist Benevolent Society Inc Purchasing of food for Urban Seed’s free lunch program.
10,000
Community Food SA Incorporated Purchasing of a display freezer with glass top to facilitate the Easy Feast Meals pack program for disadvantaged families.
7,590
Community Life Batemans Bay Inc Support for a variety of community programs ranging from the young mothers group and a parenting program to older people with addiction and mental health problems.
11,000
Contact Inc Laydeez Biz. An Arts and cultural program that focuses on addressing confronting and sensitive issues faced by young Indigenous women and girls from Inala community, Brisbane.
25,000
Cottage by the Sea, Queenscliff Inc Two ‘Ian Potter’ camps at Riptide Cottage, holiday camps for disadvantaged young children.
7,500
Creativity Australia Dandenong Sings (part of ‘With One Voice’ program). Establishment of a community choir comprising employees of local businesses and government agencies and disadvantaged people, including new migrants.
25,000
Cystic Fibrosis Queensland Ltd Education DVD and manual for adolescents with Cystic Fibrosis and their parents.
20,000
Darlinghurst Theatre Company Workshops for four groups of homeless and disadvantaged participants, channelling into Milk Crate Theatre’s professional production of ‘Intersection’, a large, site-specific theatre show aimed at developing new audiences and raising awareness of social inclusion.
30,000
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 26
Diabetes Counselling Online Inc Weight Matters. Supporting an online health education and management project for Diabetes patients.
10,000
Dialysis Escape Line of Australia Purchase of four blood pressure modules for a temporary dialysis unit.
5,600
Dingley Village Community Advice Bureau Inc Casualties of the Global Crisis. Purchasing food, food vouchers, petrol vouchers to allocate to families in crisis in the City of Kingston and beyond.
12,390
Eva Tilley Memorial Home Inc A contribution to the re-building of the residential aged care facility.
25,000
FareShare Australia Incorporated 2010 Winter Appeal Towards the costs of running the FareShare food distribution program.
10,000 10,000
Foodbank of South Australia Inc Towards the costs of running the Staple Food Procurement food distribution program.
40,000
Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal Support to the three-year funding cycle of the Small Grants for Small Rural Communities Program to support drought-affected communities across Australia.
75,000
FRANS Inc Towards the costs of establishing FRANS Resources Library for Carers of children with disabilities.
17,500
Global Care Australia Towards running costs of the Special Life Skills Education Programs for Indigenous and culturally diverse young people and the Koren people.
33,000
The Hobart Benevolent Society 2010 Winter Appeal.
10,000
Hope City Mission Inc Towards the costs of providing meals and ‘Pamper Packages’ for disadvantaged community members.
10,000
Human Rights Arts and Film Festival Subsidising costs to enable the distribution of free tickets for the screenings of the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival to members of disadvantaged communities.
10,000
Islamic Women’s Welfare Council of Victoria ‘Aydill’. A program to foster social integration between Muslim and non-Muslim primary/high school children, school staff and parents.
105,012
JobSupport Inc Support to develop a program to facilitate open employment for people with a significant intellectual disability in Melbourne.
20,000
Kadina Assembly of God Incorporated (Gateway Care) Our Kids – Our Community Playground. Purchasing of playground equipment for children with disabilities.
20,000
The Karuna Hospice Service Ltd Towards the costs of implementing a new model of community palliative care.
25,000
KIDS Foundation Snow TANGO (Together Achieving New Goals and Outcomes). A winter holiday program for young burn survivors to meet other survivors, share experiences and develop friendships in a positive and empowering environment.
20,000
Kids Under Cover Strengthening Victoria’s young Indigenous people, their families and communities. Funding to provide bungalows for young Indigenous people who are receiving case management from one of the Community Service Organisations with which Kids Under Cover works.
40,700
Licola Wilderness Village Provision of shaded areas for outdoor activities at holiday camps for disabled and disadvantaged children.
20,000
Lort Smith Animal Hospital Towards a specific campaign to highlight the importance of de-sexing animals, or towards feeding 250 dogs or cats in the shelter for one month. 2010 Winter Appeal
10,000 10,000
Melbourne Anglican Benevolent Society Inc 2010 Winter Appeal
10,000
Melbourne Citymission 2010 Winter Appeal
10,000
Merri Creek Management Committee Together by the Merri: linking Indigenous people and local natural areas to expand community understanding about Indigenous heritage.
20,000
Mind Australia Coordination, implementation and evaluation of the ‘Sprout Garden Design and Landscaping Service’, a community garden project for disadvantaged community members.
63,440
Mission Australia Mission Australia Centre, Kingswood, Western Sydney. Towards the construction costs of the support hub centre for homeless families.
250,000
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 27
Music Broadcasting Society of Queensland Ltd (4MBS Classic FM) Silver Memories – wellbeing around the clock. A music broadcasting program to counteract the effects of senile dementia and isolation of elderly residents of aged-care facilities around Australia.
50,000
The Neighbour’s Place Inc Towards stock for ‘The Neighbour’s Place’ food pantry. Purchasing of food for a redistribution program.
10,000
North Yarra Community Health Supporting the establishment of Collingwood ‘Men’s Shed’ Activities Program for deprived and disadvantaged men living in public housing and private rooming houses.
35,000
Nutrition Australia Vic Division Real Men Eat Quiche”: a cooking and food health education program for elderly single men.
34,000
Odyssey House Victoria Supporting the financial literacy program for Alcohol and Other Drugs and Dual Diagnosis clients.
50,000
Open Family Australia To support a Youth Leadership Program for young people aged between 16 and 25 who have belonged to the Redskins Basketball Team and have demonstrated leadership potential.
31,486
Orygen Research Centre CW International Travel Grant. Scoping Tour of England, Ireland, and Denmark to investigate best practice approaches to youth mental health issues.
9,938
Oxfam Australia ‘Building Within’ Aboriginal healing program for the prevention of teenage suicide in Indigenous communities in south-west Western Australia.
35,000
Pine Rivers Neighbourhood Centre !BELONG! A conversational English learning program based on real life situations for new migrants to the Lawnton area, north of Brisbane.
10,000
Playgroup Queensland Sing & Grow Project. An educational musical playgroup to improve the communication between parents and their children in rural Queensland’s Indigenous communities.
2,500
Post Placement Support Service (Victoria) Inc Development a Help Line website that acts as a stand-alone site with links to both the Post Placement Support Service and Foster Care Association of Victoria websites.
15,000
Prison Fellowship of Australia Victoria Extraordinary Lives. Adventure camps, day trips, mentoring opportunities and ongoing support for children of prisoners.
40,500
Recreation Rendezvous Inc Self Esteem, Relationships and Sexuality Awareness course for adults with an intellectual disability.
4,800
RISE (Refugee Survivors & Ex-Detainees) Implementation of Driving Lesson program for young refugees.
29,200
Sacred Heart Mission St Kilda Inc 2010 Winter Appeal.
10,000
Sandy Ridge House Inc T/A Ronald McDonald House, Monash To assist with the development of the volunteer program at Ronald McDonald House, Monash. To subsidise the cost of one family room for three years at the Ronald McDonald House, Monash. SANE Australia Development and production of educational material for dealing with people affected by mental illness in the work place. SCOPE Scope for Future Generations. To upgrade and expand current services to offer better employment opportunities to people with disabilities.
15,000 20,000 30,000 100,000
Sea Lake And District Health Service Inc Getting out and about in the Mallee. Purchase of a minibus to support access to health services in the elderly population.
20,000
Shepparton Villages Towards building a new 65 bed Residential Aged Care Facility (Banksia Lodge) at Kialla Gardens Village and fit out with specialised furniture and equipment.
66,667
Shine for Kids Children of Prisoners, In-Prison Visiting Initiative. Funding a qualified coordinator to manage a team of volunteers who will provide children’s activity programs in prison visiting areas.
73,000
SHINE for Kids Connecting Kids and Dads – Barwon Prison A program to explore and develop Barwon Prison’s capacity to connect children with their prisoner dads to the fullest extent possible.
50,000
Society of St Vincent de Paul NSW St Vincent de Paul Northern Beaches No Interest Loan Scheme.
20,000
St Anthony’s Family Care Towards the fit out of the new respite centre for families of children with disabilities.
15,000
St Luke’s Anglicare Assisting with capital costs for the acquisition of a building for new centralised premises.
40,000
St John of Kronstadt Fit out of bedrooms and ensuites for the newly-constructed Dementia Unit.
10,000
St Mary’s House of Welcome Towards the provision of meals and material relief for the people who use St Mary’s services for disadvantaged people. 2010 Winter Appeal. THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 28
10,000 10,000
St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria Inc 2010 Winter Appeal.
10,000
St Vincent’s Hospital, (Melbourne) Limited Rainwater Harvesting Tanks. Ensuring the long-term sustainability of the gardens at Caritas Christi Hospice, Kew.
40,000
Sunshine Coast Youth Partnership Inc Young Women’s Strategy, a self-esteem, body image, drug and alcohol management program for teenage girls.
23,162
Surf Lifesaving Northern Territory Inc Volunteer Offshore Rescue Boat Service. Funding to support the training of volunteers in order to establish a 24/7 offshore rescue boat service in the Top End of the Northern Territory.
20,000
Sydney Dogs and Cats Home Incorporated Fun and Fit, Train Them to Sit. A training course for dogs and elderly volunteers at this Sydney kennel.
3,800
Technical Aid to the Disabled (NSW) Maintaining Mobility. Providing specific personalised equipment to people aged over 60 with disabilities.
20,750
Travellers Aid Society of Victoria Towards the Homebound Program, which assists young homeless people to reconnect with family and supports them to re-enter the workforce.
10,000
The University of Newcastle, Faculty of Education and Arts Learning for Inclusion. A partnership with the Newcastle Muslim Community to promote cultural awareness and social inclusion.
35,000
University of South Australia: Education, Arts & Social Sciences ‘Sowing the Seeds of Innovation in the Protection of Children: An Ian Potter Foundation Initiative’ A best-practice training project for practitioners involved in sustained home visiting of vulnerable families and family-centred drug and alcohol treatment services.
105,000
Victorian Adoption Network for Information and Self Help Development of electronic database to facilitate family research for adopted people.
9,700
Victorian Arabic Social Services Inc Development of a performance collaboration between 50 culturally diverse adolescent participants from Glenroy Specialist School who have multiple disabilities, and the Anti Racism Action Band, a musical band made up of young people from a range of ethnicities.
40,000
Victorian Immigrant & Refugee Women’s Coalition Funding a community arts coordinator to work with migrant and refugee women.
24,800
Victoria University of Technology Research on employment barriers and success factors for skilled immigrants in the public sector.
19,997
Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation Towards the costs of the fit out of a kitchen training facility in Yuendumu, Northern Territory.
50,000
Waverley Emergency Adolescent Care Counselling and mediation program to reunite estranged teenagers with their families.
10,000
Wellington Collingwood Inc The Wellington Centre 2010 Winter Appeal.
10,000
Wesley Mission Brisbane 2010 Winter Appeal.
10,000
Western Edge Youth Arts Inc On the Radar. An Arts project designed to encourage community dialogue, improve safety and reduce crime in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
30,000
Whitelion Incorporated Support for the development of an integrated centralised case management client database.
13,500
Wimmera Uniting Care Towards the costs of fitting out of a mobile bus unit to engage youth in a remote rural area.
45,000
Women in Prison Advocacy Network Towards the purchase of a vehicle to enable the WIPAN mentoring coordinator to travel to and from all the women’s correctional centres throughout NSW to visit and support women in the process of exiting prison.
33,281
The Youth Junction Towards the employment of a coordinator of the volunteers who staff the Hub’s ‘gateway’ and to assist with training for the volunteers.
35,000
Youth Off The Streets Limited Towards Youth off the Streets’ vital work with troubled young people, 2010 Winter Appeal.
10,000
YWCA NSW ‘Mum Dad Baby’ – A tool kit booklet guide for disadvantaged, at-risk young parents in the Shoalhaven area. ‘Future for Families’ – Providing safe and supported accommodation to homeless young mothers aged 17–25 years.
40,000 80,000
YWCA of Adelaide Improving community wellbeing through Youth Mentoring.
20,000
Interest Free Loan Scheme Sydney Anglican Home Mission Society Council ANGLICARE Family Services Liverpool Area No Interest Loan Scheme (ANGLICARE Liverpool Area NILS).
30,000
Total Community Wellbeing $
3,270,529
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 29
Alec Prentice Sewell Gift Alec Prentice Sewell (1909–2003) bequeathed a large part of his estate to The Ian Potter Foundation and expressed a wish that it be used for the “maintenance, education, welfare and benefit in life of needy children”.
Number of new grants approved:
We honour his memory by making grants in his name to benefit children and young people, and by defining “needy children” as those who are disadvantaged by virtue of their economic, social, physical or geographical circumstances. These grants may be made under the Community Wellbeing, Education, and Environment and Conservation Program Areas.
Value of grants paid:
The goal of these grants is to provide children and young people with access to programs and experiences that will increase the likelihood of their reaching their full potential.
Value of new grants approved: Number of grants paid:
Percentage of total grants paid (value):
6 $181,500 8 $298,700 2.1%
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Polyglot Theatre, VIC
Nambucca Valley Youth Services Centre, NSW
www.polyglottheatre.com Grant: $30,000 Total project cost: $157,000
www.12words.com.au Grant: $18,000 Total project cost: $40,000
City of Riddles: an interactive theatre experience for children aged 5 to 12 years. Objective: This program has multiple aims including empowering young children from diverse backgrounds to explore identity and express their ideas and presenting a high quality performance to a broad audience to raise awareness and advocate tolerance of difference. It also aims to explore the artform of interactive theatre for children and contribute to the development of community cultural development and theatre making for young audiences. The experiences will arm teachers with resources and ideas to continue projects of this nature on their own and ultimately, contribute to a more tolerant society in Victoria. How: City of Riddles has involved an extended workshop process with children from several Victorian primary schools, to explore questions such as ‘What makes connection?’ ‘How do people work together when there is a crisis?’ and ‘Does difference dissolve when larger things are at stake?’ Framed in the fantastical world of the City of Riddles, the workshops delicately investigate these themes, allowing space and time for children to flex their imaginative muscles around issues that particularly affect their lives.
Why: The workshops guided participants through a creative process, beginning with drawing, large scale works of abstraction, emotional drawing, drawing with eyes shut. In December 2009, a public exhibition was held for the children from Healesville and Badger Creek Primary Schools in the form of a walk through installation created by the children. The children from Whittington Primary took part in a whole school exploratory interactive performance. The children from Dinjerra Primary have created an animation piece, working with artist Nick Barlo. The final outcome for the process will be the creation of a final theatrical work, City of Riddles, which will premiere in November 2010, featuring the work created by the children.
12words: microfiction (stories of twelve words or less) website for everyone with prizes for 15–25 year olds. Objective: To create a forum for young people to engage in writing and the arts in a welcoming, fun and inclusive way. The site is run from the Nambucca Shire, a disadvantaged regional community. How: The Centre has built a website that is targeted at young people and is marketed through social media as well as traditional forms. Links with sponsors offer enticing prizes and have built comment and blog elements as well as a ‘follow a writer’ function to build a community through the site. Why: When young people engage in one art form they are more likely to return to the arts in general, we aim to create a first step for young people to the arts through a fun, community forum. Locally we’re also supporting young people through mentorships and training.
“Well,” said the butterfly, looking at his new wings, “this changes everything.” Stories2009
Images, left to right Children from Healesville Primary School undertaking workshops with Polyglot’s Artistic Director Sue Giles during the creative development of City of Riddles. Photo Gavin D Andrew Winner of the 12words story slam in Coffs Harbour. “Clouded thoughts in my mind. Don’t know which to decide.” By Ryan Donnolley (left) Students have a close encounter with a snake at Werribee Open Range Zoo. Photo John Tsiavis, courtesy Zoos Victoria
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 32
Zoos Victoria, VIC
www.zoo.org.au Grant: $30,000 Total project cost: $30,000 Access for All: providing access to the Zoo for disadvantaged young people. Objective: The Access for All program provides children from ‘disadvantaged’ or regionally isolated schools with the opportunity to visit one of Zoos Victoria’s three zoos – Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary or Werribee Open Range Zoo – and attend an interactive education session allowing students to connect with wildlife, develop deeper ecological understandings and take tangible action for wildlife.
How: Providing schools with the opportunity to visit the zoo free of charge, to experience wildlife close-up and attend one 45 minute interactive education sessions, as well as their bus costs associated with the visit. Why: The long-term aims of the Access for All program are to ignite budding ‘environmentalists’ from within low socioeconomic groups. Also to support a large youth cohort from disadvantaged backgrounds to have greater awareness of wildlife and have ongoing access to relevant information about animals and the environment through the zoos’ website.
“Very few of our students have had close contact with animals, so they found the educational experience intriguing. The excursion provided students with a “tangible” reason to contribute to the conservation of the natural environment.” – Teacher from participating school.
Alec Prentice Sewell Gift Grants Paid 2009–10 Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare Inc The Centre Scholarship Program. To expand the program of scholarships offered to enable young people who are leaving state care to undertake TAFE or university courses.
26,964
Children’s Protection Society Inc The Doula Project (now known as Mentoring Mums) is designed to assist vulnerable women during pregnancy and in the early years of their children’s lives, with the goal of breaking the cycle of abuse and improving opportunities for vulnerable children.
90,236
Music Council of Australia A Toolkit for School Communities to help counter the decline of effective music education and to build capacity. The toolkit will be delivered online and promoted to all schools and parent groups.
48,500
Nambucca Valley Youth Services Centre Inc 12words – is a microfiction website and networking tool through which writers (mostly aged 15–25) can register on the website, and then write stories of twelve words or less.
18,000
Odyssey House Victoria Odyssey House Mirror Families. This is a child-centred early intervention program for families where a parent has, or is recovering from, a drug or alcohol problem.
35,000
Playbox Theatre Company Education Ticket Subsidy provides school groups with access to high-quality performing arts productions through heavily subsidised tickets (targeting disadvantaged schools or demographic groups).
20,000
Polyglot Puppet Theatre City of Riddles – a new arts and education project which aims to promote tolerance of difference amongst Victorian primary school-aged children.
30,000
Zoos Victoria Access for All: Providing disadvantaged young people with access to zoos via a subsidy program for schools.
30,000
Total Alec Prentice Sewell Gift $
298,700 THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 33
Education The Foundation has identiďŹ ed the need to focus our grant making on strategic, whole-of-community approaches to education in order to make real, long term improvements to education and employment outcomes in our communities.
Number of new grants approved:
The Foundation has two streams of funding available to support innovative programs and research within the educational space.
Value of grants paid:
Small grants program For grant requests of $50,000 and under, this stream of funding prioritises programs that improve the school readiness of children, engage family participation in the school community and provide students with the means to meet their educational potential. Large grants program For requests of $100,000 or above, this funding stream will prioritise programs that take a holistic approach to improving educational, employment and community outcomes. We will also support research that seeks to document and disseminate best practice approaches to improving education outcomes.
Value of new grants approved: Number of grants paid:
Percentage of total grants paid (value):
10 $473,000 16 $705,500 4.95%
Images Participants in the Hands-On Learning Program at Benalla Secondary College gain skills and conďŹ dence
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Tomorrow:Today Foundation, VIC www.tomorrowtoday.com.au Education Benalla Grant: $275,000 over two years
Targeting Disadvantage A wide and winding river crossed by an elegant white bridge leads to a pretty tree lined avenue of verandah-fronted shops, cosy cafes and an array of small businesses. The sign reads ‘Welcome to Benalla’, and it feels like you have arrived in a rural idyll. It’s an image that is hard to reconcile with the fact that this is a community struggling with endemic social disadvantage including unemployment and poverty, and faced with the ignominy of being identified as one of Victoria’s most disadvantaged communities in Professor Tony Vinson’s 2007 report Dropping Off the Edge: The distribution of disadvantage in Australia. In his report, Professor Vinson noted, “It is difficult to deny the centrality of limited education and its impact on the acquisition of economic and life skills in the making and sustaining of disadvantage in Australia.”
Liz Chapman, Convenor of the Education Benalla Committee, says the community is very supportive of the program and that this is fundamental to its success. “We are raising expectations of our young people and supporting them to meet these expectations. This is not a quick fix but in five years time I think we will see some big shifts. I hope that we will see a change in community attitudes and a measurable change in the student wellbeing data – once this improves we believe many other results will follow.”
Case Study: Hands On Learning
Following the Report, Benalla’s own Community Foundation, Tomorrow:Today, set up an Education Advisory Committee to look at ways of improving outcomes for Benalla’s young people. And the challenges are significant. The evidence showed that Benalla’s children do not feel safe, connected or motivated, they perform below state averages in reading and the numbers of young people going on to further education after school is also well below average. As a result of a detailed assessment and consultation process, the Foundation developed an ambitious, community-wide, ‘place-based’ program that works to complement the efforts of schools, parents, community groups and government agencies to provide a holistic program aimed at achieving substantial, measurable change in levels of student attainment. “Identifying the problems was one thing, finding ways to address them in a meaningful and sustainable way was much more complex,” explains Stacey Lord, the Education Program Coordinator. This unique program starts with an early years program targeting children aged 0 – 4 years to promote engagement in the community through initiatives such as special Mums and Bubs groups, assisting the development of pre-literacy and numeracy skills. It then moves through to a multi-faceted program of mentoring programs, Hands-On Learning Programs and literacy/numeracy support activities, all aimed at building student wellbeing and sense of connectedness, which have direct impact on educational outcomes. From there, the Program shifts to focus on student transitions and aims to help students overcome the barriers to higher education and training, one of which is lack of resources, addressed in part by a program of scholarships to help young people meet the cost of their courses. “We hope that, over time, the program will be a circuit breaker, that the infants which get support now, will start school ready to learn, and then, supported by other elements of the programs that help them stay at school and learn, they can go on to further education and employment and in turn, pass on the positives of their experience to their own children,” explains Stacey. Staffed largely by unpaid volunteers the program needed core funding to proceed and achieve its goals. The Ian Potter Foundation’s support builds upon other philanthropic and Government grants that helped to get the program running. Tomorrow:Today is hopeful that further funding is in the pipeline.
Although still in its infancy, early evidence is that parts of the program are already having an effect. Stories are being told that bring hope and optimism to the Program’s organisers. There’s 15 year old ‘Billy’ who attends the local high school. Last year Billy had notched up no less than 60 detentions by the middle of the year. In February this year he started in the Program’s Hands On Learning (HOL) program at the local Secondary College. This program takes two groups of 10 young people to spend one school day a week out of the classroom, working with a teacher and a skilled tradie in a simple facility on the school grounds. The emphasis is on developing skills – both vocational and social – as they work on practical projects around the school grounds such as building chook pens and painting new outdoor seating. Billy has had just three detentions this year and described his first day in the program as “The best day I have ever had at school.” His parents are relieved and feel some optimism for his future. When his mother came to see the teachers about the program she reported, “It’s the first time the school has ever called me about something nice.” The HOL Program teachers report that the behaviour of the young people has dramatically improved within the program. It is anticipated that over time, this change will carry over to the classroom.
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Jewish Museum of Australia, VIC
Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships, NSW
University of Canberra, ACT
www.jewishmuseum.com.au Grant: $25,000 Total project cost: $1.3 million
www.iep.net.au Grant: $80,000 Total project cost: $133,000
The Zelman Cowen Gallery of Australian Jewish History and the new Jewish Museum of Australia (JMA) Online: an upgrade of the Gallery of Australian/Jewish History at JMA and the JMA website.
The Holistic Education Model: creation of a toolkit that documents an effective holistic schooling model for disadvantaged circumstances.
Objective: To improve the experience, layout and interpretation of collections at JMA that tell story of Australia’s Jewish history.
Objective: This project supports the adoption of a holistic schooling model by schools working with students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and to ensure that the model continues to be applied effectively at Djarragun College and is able to tolerate future changes in school management.
How: To mark the 90th birthday of JMA’s Patron Sir Zelman Cowen the Gallery has been completely re-imagined and the way the story of Australia’s Jewish history is told has been transformed. Informed by focus group and peers, a script and object listing has been developed and six new zones aligned with major milestone periods in recent Australian history are planned.
How: Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships, Djarragun College and Effective Philanthropy are documenting the operational and funding model being used by the school and developing a set of tools, including a user friendly ‘how to’ guide and proforma policy and procedure manual, that will help other schools to adopt this holistic model. Why: This toolkit will help schools and principals working with the most disadvantaged students and within the most disadvantaged communities, to implement holistic education models that are based on best practice.
Why: To improve community understanding of Australia’s long Jewish history, how the Jewish community in Australia grew and helped to shape the nation and to improve cross-cultural respect and understanding.
www.canberra.edu.au Grant: $25,000 Total project cost: $131,000 Early intervention for vulnerable young children and their families: a pilot study to examine the early intervention benefits of a home-based parent and family support program. Objective: To run a pilot study to investigate the extent to which a home-based parent education and family support program is a feasible early intervention strategy for vulnerable young children between birth and three years of age. How: The University will implement a pilot study examining the ‘Parents as Teacher’ program as a tool for early intervention. Why: The project itself will examine the reasons why parents do not participate in Parents as Teacher (PAT) program while also examining the benefit of the PAT program as an early intervention approach. The results will help to inform policy makers concerned with addressing early childhood deprivation.
Images, left to right Djarragun College students test out some new technology Sir Zelman Cowen and Lady Anna Cowen at the Jewish Museum of Australia at an event in honour of Sir Zelman Cowen’s 90th birthday Project Leader Dr Louise Watson, working with a young family
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 38
Save the Children Australia, VIC
Australian Poetry Centre, VIC
Deaf Children Australia, VIC
www.savethechildren.org.au Grant: $20,000 Total project cost: $21,600
www.australianpoetrycentre.org.au Grant: $10,000 Total project cost: $24,300
Operation Newstart, Feasibility Study to examine the effectiveness of this program as an intervention for disengaged young people in regional communities.
Poetopia: working with teachers and schools to develop poetry resources.
Objective: Operation Newstart Shepparton aims to increase young people’s ability to make positive choices about their lives, helping them build pathways back into education, employment and their community. The evaluation and feasibility study will examine whether the program is suitable for roll out in regional centres across Victoria. How: The evaluation will help Save the Children, and its program partners, to document the successes of the program, and act on the recommendations for its improvement in regional centers across Victoria. Why: The program targets young people aged 14–17 who are experiencing serious difficulties at school and may be coming into conflict with the law. The program allows these young people to participate in highly challenging outdoor activities with police mentors which provides them with positive law enforcement experiences.
www.deafchildrenaustralia.org.au Grant: $10,000 Total project cost: $98,000 Career Options: a career mentoring pilot to address the specific vocational needs and interests of deaf youth in Year 9 and 10 over a two year period. Objective: To support the vocational ambitions of deaf young people in Years 9 and 10 with a view to assisting them to reach their potential. How: A collaborative mentoring partnership between Deaf Children Australia, North Melbourne Institute of TAFE and secondary schools educating deaf youth throughout Victoria, to assist them to explore post-secondary school education and training opportunities. Why: The program aims to support not only deaf young people but also help schools better provide support for deaf young people who wish to go on to further education and training.
Objective: To provide poetry resources for teachers and schools that help students better understand how to read, write and appreciate poetry. How: Poets from all around Australian with an interest and active involvement in education will be asked to contribute to the creation of practical and easy to access resources. These resources will provide teachers and schools with information and exercises to inspire, motivate and encourage students to participate in writing and reading and appreciating poetry. There are an increasing number of organisations and individuals working to help improve the teaching of poetry in schools, the resource kit will include information on the work of these groups also. Why: There is a lack of easy to use and understand poetry resources for teachers and students. As a result many teachers do not feel well equipped to teach poetry to students and in turn many students miss out on the opportunity to learn about this craft. Many of the poetry education resources that are available focus only on student outcomes without considering how to assist teachers in better understanding and enjoying poetry themselves.
Images, left to right Operation Newstart Shepparton participants push themselves on a horse riding exercise on the Murray River Deaf children will benefit from specific careers mentoring The Super Poets are a team of young established performance poets, marketed through the Poetopia website, which runs poetry workshops in schools
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 39
Down the Track Connections Program Wunan Foundation, WA www.wunan.org.au
Reconnecting For A Brighter Future In 2007, IPF granted $100,000 over two years to the Wunan Foundation for their Connections program, an alternative education program aimed at addressing growing issues of disengagement among young aboriginal girls. The program specifically targets young girls aged 13–18 years with the aim of reconnecting them to education and/or training and employment. The participants of the program have huge personal and social barriers to overcome in moving towards a more positive future. In most instances these young women are surrounded by major dysfunction including overcrowding, family violence, financial hardship and alcohol and drug misuse. This is a unique program, a local solution to a local problem that fills a void in the current services and educational support programs available in the area. Without the program, these young women have little hope of gaining meaningful employment and escaping the welfare dependency that entraps 80% of the Aboriginal population in Kununurra. The program is flexible so it can best cater to the needs of the participants. The curriculum includes a focus on numeracy and literacy, but also has strong emphasis on life skills development. Importantly, it also links the participants to other services and support programs locally including family support and health services.
The problem of young Aboriginal women dropping out of school early, with limited literacy and numeracy, and hence employability, is very real in Kununurra. As a pattern, it has social and economic consequences beyond limiting each individual girl’s choices and capacity. The Connections Program can’t directly address the wider social issues in Kununurra: various agencies with broader scope and more resources are already doing this. What it can and does do, is engage with individuals: provide a stable and supportive learning environment, accommodation if needed and a pathway to training and employment. This program captures the severely disadvantaged and disengaged. It’s the last hope for many of these girls. While some young women may find a successful life path without finishing school, for the majority, education is essential. It aims to develop and nurture confident, educated and skilled young women, aware of the different choices and options they have in life. Over the last three years Connections has played a significant role in assisting and supporting young women to move to a life of independence and choice. The program has demonstrated success in several key areas; improving student attendance, behaviour, attitudes and increasing cultural knowledge. Although the program was conceived of as a stepping-stone to mainstream schooling, it has been proved to significantly contribute to a much broader range of life skills, training, vocational and other social outcomes. “By building a sense of self worth and achievement in young women, it’s hoped they’ll dream of a better life for themselves. The creation of further role models for young will help others to break the cycle of welfare dependency, teenage pregnancy and social dysfunction and contribute in the mainstream economy.” Ian Trust, Chairperson, Wunan. The program has now evolved into a real partnership between the traditional owner group, the Western Australia Education Department and Wunan. These agencies have formed this partnership to combine resources in an effort to strengthen the project outcomes. Securing ongoing funding continues to be a major concern. The program has also been renamed to Joodoogeb-be-gerring Werlemen which essentially means settling girls on the right path. In the long-term, the hope is these women will go on to become advocates for education and schooling, in this way breaking the cycle of disengagement in their families and communities. The cost of running any educational re-engagement program is unavoidably high, but the ‘downstream cost’ of failing to re-engage is much higher still. Joodoogeb-be-gerring Werlemen is a unilateral approach that brings together education, training, life skills, juvenile justice and youth programs. It’s neither a purely community, government, corporate or philanthropic initiative and its success highlights the importance of multi-agency cooperation and may provide a model for similar communities in the region. Michele Pucci, Wunan Foundation
Images Academic learning and life skills are on the curriculum for girls in the Connections program
Education Grants Paid 2009–10 Australian Catholic University: Faculty of Education MyScience Sustained: Expanding and enhancing teaching and learning in Science.
25,000
Australian Poetry Centre The development of educational resource supporting the teaching, reading and writing of poetry focussing on Middle Primary to Middle Secondary students, teachers and librarians.
10,000
Buda Historic Home and Garden Creation of two booklets examining the Buda family and garden history.
10,000
Deaf Children Australia Assisting young deaf students with examining future career opportunities.
10,000
The Earthwatch Institute Assisting young people from regional areas to participate in the Earthwatch Student Challenge.
22,000
Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal 150,000 Tomorrow:Today Foundation’s holistic education program aimed at supporting disadvantaged students from pre-school to higher education. Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships The documentation of the holistic education model operating at Djarragun College.
80,000
International Specialised Skills Institute The development of an ISS Institute Commemorative Book.
10,000
Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre Jewish Holocaust Centre Exhibition Redevelopment.
100,000
Jewish Museum of Australia The development of the Zelman Cowen Gallery of Australian Jewish History and the new JMA Online.
25,000
Menzies School of Health Research To establish The Ian Potter Foundation Indigenous Research Fellowship at the Menzies School of Health Research.
60,500
The Redroom Company The expansion of the Papercuts: Poetry Education Program to more schools in NSW, VIC, WA and Norfolk Island.
50,000
Save the Children Australia Operation Newstart intervention program for young people at risk – feasibility study into Regional Expansion.
20,000
Stride Foundation Ltd Support students at Lara Secondary College who have a keen interest in the environment to participate in a community mentoring program.
10,000
University of Canberra Early Intervention for vulnerable young children and their families pilot study.
25,000
University of Melbourne, Asialink Centre The Ian Potter Foundation Asialink Scholarship Program.
100,000
Total Education $
705,500
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 41
Environment & Conservation The aim of this Program Area is to support Australian urban and regional communities to live sustainably and preserve biodiversity. In the context of a challenging future due to factors such as land degradation, Australia’s limited water resources and climate change, this is considered a priority. Environment & Conservation grants are of two types. The Foundation has a particular interest in supporting programs and research that promote sustainable approaches to agriculture, opportunities within the carbon economy and land management practices that encompass a landscape-scale approach to protecting areas of high conservation value.
Number of new grants approved:
12
Value of new grants approved:
$1,376,900
Number of grants paid: Value of grants paid:
12 $2,040,924
Percentage of total grants paid (value):
16.5%
In addition, the Foundation supports smaller projects by recognising the important role played by volunteers and environmental organisations in increasing public understanding and awareness.
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THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 44
Victorian National Parks Association, VIC www.vnpa.org.au Victoria Naturally Alliance Community Engagement Program Grant: $50,000
Community Engagement The Key To Change In 2008, the urgency and scale of the crisis facing Victoria’s biodiversity, identified as Australia’s most stressed landscape, brought about a unique alliance of key environment groups with the common aim of landscape-scale habitat protection and restoration. The Victoria Naturally Alliance, hosted by the Victorian National Parks Association, brings together The Australian Conservation Foundation, Environment Victoria, The Wilderness Society, Greening Australia (Vic), Bush Heritage Australia, Trust for Nature, and the Invasive Species Council. The strength of the Alliance grows from the partnership between policy and on-the-ground environment groups, giving them the ability to offer perspectives and solutions that address the many facets of this complex situation. The key question facing the Alliance was how to bring about change, ultimately on a large scale: how to inform people but more fundamentally, how to involve people and motivate people to participate in the solutions that will benefit everyone. Community engagement is crucial to the success of this program, and the outcomes rely on everyone pulling their weight – from Federal Government, to State Government, community environment groups to individual landowners and the general public.
As part of this multi-year program, the alliance is implementing a communications and community engagement program, partly funded by this grant of $50,000 from IPF which has enabled them to employ a Communications and Regional Engagement Consultant. The program includes a range of public events; information materials; articles in member organisations’ publications; urban, regional and rural media coverage; a website (www.victorianaturally.org.au); dissemination and promotion of the results of the Alliance’s projects; the production of policy documents and a monthly e-bulletin. Activities being promoted include getting involved in on-ground conservation activities such as tree planting and bushwalking, as well as participating in decision-making processes. The next step is for the information gathered so far to be translated into a pilot social marketing program that can be used to inform an evidence-based proposal to government and ultimately to gain the funding to expand the program. The grant is complemented by funding from the Victorian Government’s Department of Sustainability and Environment. This grant is for firstly, a capacity assessment of local environment groups’ ability to attract and retain volunteers, and secondly, research for a social marketing strategy that aims to attract volunteers to the groups.
“Australians have a complex relationship with our environment,” explains Karen Alexander, Program Manager of the Alliance. “There is a strong emotional bond with the landscape that is part of our national identity – the smell of a gum tree reminds every Australian of home. Our challenge is to tap into that emotion and convert to a motivation to act to protect the crucial biodiversity of an environment that we all value.” A key focus has been gaining understanding of community capacity and people’s ability and willingness to connect to their environment and participate in its protection and maintenance through volunteering. “We need to look at accessibility, motivation and what people need in the way of tools to help nature to heal itself,” says Karen.
Images Understanding community capacity to participate is vital to the success of conservation programs. Photo Bob Reid
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 45
RMIT University, VIC
Green Cross Australia, QLD
Zoos Victoria, VIC
www.rmit.edu.au/hamilton Grant: $250,000 Total project cost: $358,000
www.extremeweatherheroes.org Grant: $20,000 Total project cost: $440,000
The Potter Rural Community Research Network (RCRN): creation of a regional research network that focuses on farming and rural development.
Extreme Weather Heroes: a social network program to inspire a new generation to volunteer in emergency services.
Objective: The Potter RCRN is a platform for community-driven, evidence-based and cross-sectoral research, influencing change, resilience, innovation and positive rural futures. The aim is to become the ‘go-to’ rural research body in the region, and one that can respond quickly to urgent current issues. How: The model is bottom-up rather than top-down and will ensure that research is entrenched within the community while being reflective of regional needs. Some potential research areas include carbon opportunities, the impact of farming on the landscape, green job potential for the region, emerging agricultural opportunities and biodiversity on farms. Why: To assist rural communities to examine and prepare for the challenges of rural living and working with a focus on better farming and land management practices.
www.zoo.org.au Grant: $40,000 Total project cost: $62,000 Saving the Tasmanian Devil: using video surveillance to enable researchers to monitor the breeding habits of Tasmanian Devils held in captivity. Objective: To improve breeding outcomes for captive Tasmanian Devil populations held at Healesville Sanctuary. How: Much of the mating between Tasmanian Devils occurs at night time. By installing cameras to watch Devil behavior, researchers and keepers hope to gain a better understanding of when to introduce couples for breeding objectives. Why: The Tasmanian stocks of Tasmanian Devils are being greatly affected by facial tumors. A mainland arc program was established to ensure the long term survival of the species. Breeding is critical to the success of the program in the long term.
Images, left to right Program benefactor Geoff Handbury and IPF Governor, Professor Tom Healy, launch the Potter RCRN Tasmanian Devil Photograph courtesy of Zoos Victoria, Photo Trent Browning Extreme Weather Heroes Summit in the Gold Coast hinterland
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 46
Objective: To inspire 20,000 Generation Y/Z young people to become emergency service volunteers. How: By making use of web 2.0 technologies and ten already established ‘Extreme Weather Heroes’ who volunteer for emergency service agencies. The Extreme Weather Heroes will help highlight the potential impact of climate change and support mitigation emissions while also encouraging increased volunteer take up. Why: One of the impacts of climate change is the likelihood of more extreme weather events. Emergency service volunteers are critical in responding to challenges faced by communities as a result of these weather events. Emergency service volunteers are an ageing group and need to inspire an increased number of young people to take a role.
Royal Zoological Society of South Australia, SA
Nature Conservation Council of NSW, NSW
Kimberley Foundation Australia (KFA), VIC
www.zoosa.com.au Grant: $10,000 Total project cost: $40,000
www.saveoursharks.com.au Grant: $10,000 Total project cost: $11,000 The Save our Sharks Website: development of a website highlighting the threats facing shark species in Australia. Objective: To provide a resource that demystifies misconceptions around sharks in the media and community and raises awareness of the threats facing the species. How: Through the creation of a website that can be easily accessed by media and members of the community providing a wealth of information about sharks species, threats to sharks, myth-busting information, how-to-help ideas for the public, promoting school visits in the SE Queensland region, and selling branded merchandise to help raise awareness. Why: Sharks need to be protected as an icon species that help to maintain the delicate balance of our oceans ecosystem. Public education and awareness is vital to achieve this.
Planting the seed for a ‘Centre of Excellence for Wildlife Health’ in South Australia: development of a feasibility study examining the need for a centre for wildlife health. Objective: To develop a prospectus around a Centre for Wildlife Health in South Australia and to ensure that the initial development work required to bring in additional project partners has been completed. The work will also cost out the development of the Centre and examine opportunities for linking with university and government partners. How: A project coordinator will complete the development of a prospectus, including business and strategic plans, a design brief, and functionality and sustainability indices. This will help ensure that the correct partnerships are in place during the ongoing development phases of the project. Why: The need to address wildlife health in conservation is increasingly recognized as a vital part of a comprehensive conservation program. Through established partnerships in wildlife health, the project aims to formalise and coordinate wildlife health research and medicine, in support of biodiversity, biosecurity and human well-being.
www.kimberleyfoundation.com Grant: $500,000 Total project cost: $3.3 million Kimberley Human and Environmental History Project: enable ongoing support for Kimberley rock art research program. Objective: To support ongoing research into Kimberley rock art and increase understanding of Australia’s ancient heritage. How: Through the provision of research funding to be distributed via KFA Scientific Advisory Committee to outstanding researchers working in the field including archeologists, geologists and climate scientists. Why: The Kimberley area contains unusually prolific and ancient rock art. Much of it remains uncharted. Climate change is believed to have had a profound impact on early peoples. Palaeoclimate modelling supports the view that shifts in monsoon patterns had enormous local effects, and that the Kimberley became much drier as the last Ice Age came to an end. The research will help us better understand Australia’s ancient heritage.
Images, left to right Great White shark. Photo Ben Birt Dr David McLelland, Veterinarian Zoos SA performing a health check on a black flanked rock wallaby or Warru at Ernabella in the APY lands of South Australia Gregory and John Goonack from the Kandiwal Aboriginal Coorporation, (Linkage Partners in the Continuity and Change: archaeology, chronology and rock art of the northwest Kimberley ARC project), sort artefacts from the excavation at Reindeer Cave with John Hayward (Department of Environment and Conservation)
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Down the Track Fraser Island Young Explorer Project University of the Sunshine Coast Faculty of Science, Health and Education, QLD www.usc.edu.au
Technology Leads The Way For Young Explorers The Young Explorer Project provides school students the opportunity to be ‘explorers’ and ‘environmental scientists’ in remote environmentally sensitive regions, using technology to enhance and extend the experience. In 2008, IPF provided a grant to support a pilot project in which students used smart-phone technologies including GPS navigation, real-time mapping, and video capture to monitor and report scientific findings for their own school-based projects and as part of long-term global research projects on the challenges of sustainability. “Using technology and hands-on learning experiences to engage learners with the environment helps them to understand the challenges for long term sustainability,” explains Dr Christian Jones, creator of the Young Explorers project. The smart-phone technology allows portable high quality multimedia interpretation of the natural environment. Teachers use an online editor to easily create explorative and educational activities for students to undertake in the field.
“Using technology and hands-on learning experiences to engage learners with the environment helps them to understand the challenges for long term sustainability.” Dr Christian Jones
The students can also become part of larger scientific studies of the sustainability where their scientific results and recordings are included in the University of the Sunshine Coast and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) / Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services (QPWS) research programs. This link with scientific research provides an authentic context for the inquiry and aims to encourage the student to continue their interest of environmental issues in the school and wider community setting. Interest from teachers suggests that the Young Explorer project will be used beyond environmental education to other areas of the curriculum such as social and economic challenges for the future. The Young Explorer pilot project compared the experience of students to field-based activities using the mobile solution with traditional paper-based delivery. Students and teacher feedback to the mobile solution was very positive with students enjoying the interactivity, immediacy and user-friendliness of the technology. “In 2009 Ballantyne and Packer undertook a study that considered four categories of ‘productive pedagogies’ that were seen to lead to authentic student engagement and learning in the classroom. The study was designed to explore and extend these pedagogies in the context of learning in natural environments, and its findings proposed a fifth pedagogy category: ‘experience-based learning’ noting that this fifth category addressed student’s environmental attitudes and actions,” explains Dr Jones. “We wish to extend the Young Explorer project to respond directly to this fifth pedagogy category by developing experience-based learning for all students. We will encourage the community to develop, and study, exchange and collaborate on how experience-based learning can deliver education within and outside of the classroom.” Students suggested ‘we could use the mobiles in classroom based activities and not just field-based tasks; it would be great to use the mobile to record other things we do on camp not just educational activities’. “In the future we will consider giving the students access to the mobile devices for the duration of the camp and allowing them to use the devices to record the full range of field-based experiences,” he said. Version 2 of the Young Explorer project is now in development. This will allow students and teachers to use the Apple iPhone which will further enhance the experience. The Young Explorer App will be made available for download through iTunes.
Top to bottom Student using Fraser Young Explorer mobile device to complete field-based educational activities View of Fraser Island from Indian Head Photo © Dr Christian Jones
Left to right Rainforest at Central Station, a former logging camp and now ranger and information station. Photo © Dr Christian Jones Close up of Fraser Young Explorer mobile device being used by student to record GPS location and temperature
Environment & Conservation Grants Paid 2009–10 Centre of Sustainability Leadership Support for the development of the online Future Sustainability Leaders Program.
49,500
Climate Action Network Australia Empowering Australian NGOs to effectively influence the international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.
9,500
Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden Conservation of Australian native and exotic plant species by management of a weed control program.
7,924
Green Cross Australia Expansion of the Extreme Weather Heroes Program that aims to encourage young people to volunteer in emergency services. Kimberley Foundation Australia Funding towards the continued research program examining environmental and human history of the Kimberley region.
20,000 500,000
Nature Conservation The development of a website that demystifies sharks and encourages greater understanding of their role in our environment.
10,000
RMIT University, Design and Social Context The development of the Potter RMIT Hamilton Rural Community Research Network (RCRN).
84,000
The Royal Botanic Gardens Ongoing support of the development of the Australian Garden (Cranbourne).
1,250,000
Royal Zoological Society of South Australia Inc Feasibility study for a centre of excellence for wildlife heath in South Australia.
10,000
University of Melbourne: Faculty of Science Purchase of display cases to better showcase the collection held at the Tiegs Museum of Zoology.
10,000
Victorian National Parks Association Support towards the a community engagement project being delivered by the Victoria Naturally Alliance.
50,000
Zoos Victoria Funding for video surveillance to help researchers examine breeding habits of the Tasmanian Devil at night.
40,000
Total Environment & Conservation $
2,040,924
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Healthy Communities The Foundation has completed a comprehensive review of this program area in 2009–10. Our funding strategy aims to maximise the impact of our grants and our effectiveness as a philanthropic foundation. The Health Program Area has been renamed Healthy Communities in line with the revised funding objectives.
Number of new grants approved:
The purpose of the Healthy Communities Program is to improve the quality of life for those in our community living with disability or illness, and to support programs which focus on the prevention of diseases including education programs, as well as programs which recognise the health implications of changes in our climate.
Percentage of total grants paid (value):
Value of new grants approved: Number of grants paid: Value of grants paid:
17 $763,300 17 $583,320 6.3%
y raph hotog P l a n Photo Peter o ’s Pix Professi
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The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, QLD www.workingwonders.com.au What If I Could, Paediatric Prothesis Lending Program Grant: $50,000
High-tech Prosthetic Limbs Help Kids Reach Potential There is only one thing more demoralising for a child than not being able to join their friends in a game or activity and that is to be unable to try. Unfortunately for the majority of the 175 children treated by the Queensland Paediatric Rehabilitation Service for Limb Differences, this is currently a frustrating reality. Limb differences encompass a range of conditions including amputation or limb loss, most commonly due to cancer, trauma, life-threatening infections or congenital conditions. Currently, whether a child’s desire is to dance, to run, to swim or to play like anyone their own age, the existing support system does not have the capacity to enable them to do so. Currently, prosthetic limbs are provided by the Queensland Amputee Limb Service (QALS), funded by Queensland Health. These limbs are provided for essential use, and as such provide little dexterity or variation in their function. They are unable to get wet or be subjected to excessive wear and tear – not exactly the best fit for any otherwise healthy youngster over the age of four who wants to play footy with mates or build sandcastles for Princess Barbie! New, high tech prosthetics are available that are lighter and more robust, and can be customised to each child’s specific needs.
The What If I Could project will fund upgraded limb components and recreational limbs to allow greater participation in physical activities from running to climbing stairs step-by-step. Through a Loan Bank, children will be able to borrow specific purpose limbs for pursuits such as grasping a violin bow, or an oar for canoeing. The benefits of participation in sports and music for children’s development are well understood. This project aims to help prevent exclusion of children with limb differences from these everyday activities and help them to achieve their personal goals and individual potential. The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation hopes to make this pilot project a permanent service within the Queensland Children’s Hospital, which is due to open in 2014.
Sport and music are fundamental ways in which a child can express their individuality, help build a positive self-image and reach their full potential. In the case of kids with limb differences, it means they might need a better instrument to help them improve on their instrument! The technological advancements in prosthetic feet, knees and hands can open up an entire world of sporting, musical and leisure activities which have been previously unattainable, or clumsy and tiring at the very least.
Small image What If I Could, prostheses in the rehabilitation facility Paris practices the violin with the help of a specialised prothesis Main image Now aged 11, Paris is excited about what the new high tech protheses will allow her to do
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Arthritis Victoria, VIC
E.W. Tipping Foundation, VIC
Cancer Council Victoria, VIC
www.arthritisvic.org.au Grant: $29,750 Total project cost: $74,500
www.tipping.org.au Grant: $40,000 over two years Total project cost: $412,214
The Arthritis Map of Victoria: an innovative interactive reference tool that will create an accurate map of the incidence of arthritis and osteoporosis in Victoria.
E.W. Tipping Foundation D.A.D.S. Initiative: a project building on a successful pilot conducted in the Loddon-Mallee region jointly by the E.W. Tipping Foundation and Dads Appreciating Disability Australia (D.A.D.S.).
Objective: To produce a visual representation of the incidence of arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions across Victoria. How: Working closely with the Public Health Information Development Unit (PHIDU), data about the incidence of these illnesses will be collected and collated to provide an accurate picture of the locations of people with these conditions. The map will then be a valuable resource for planners of health services and users of services offered by Arthritis Victoria. Why: The availability of more accurate information will allow service users to access resources more quickly, and to identify under-resourced areas in the state.
www.cancervic.org.au Grant: $60,000 Total project cost: $292,152 Rare or Under-Researched Cancers. This project aims to build a research platform focused on less common but serious cancers. The data collected will enable researchers to study risk factors and ways to reduce risk. Objective: This epidemiological research project aims to redress the lack of knowledge about less common cancer types such as lymphomas, multiple myeloma, mesothelioma, sarcoma and bone cancer. How: People diagnosed with one of the cancers to be studied will be invited to donate blood samples and complete questionnaires on lifestyle and environmental exposures. Data collected will be used to devise new prevention and intervention strategies. Why: Over 25,000 Victorians are diagnosed with cancer each year, this project aims to contribute to reduced rates of these cancers, and improved treatment regimes.
Objective: To develop a supportive network for the fathers of children with disabilities, reduce the common feelings of isolation and disconnectedness, and support fathers to maintain strong family and community relationships and take an active part in the lives of their children with disabilities. How: A network of trained volunteers and community support groups will be developed by community coordinators who will be funded by the project. The project will also develop training programs and on-line resource material that will be accessible to the fathers and professionals who work with disabled children. Why: Involvement of fathers in the lives of their disabled children can contribute to improved family functioning.
Images, left to right The Arthritis Map is an interactive online tool that will provide interactive access to arthritis and osteoporosis data from many sources Principal investigator Associate Professor Gianluca Severi outside the Cancer Control Research Institute The D.A.D.S. Group enjoy a 4WD tour of the farm. Left to right: John Hutchinson, Aaron Mills, Les Chitts, Stephen Scott, Cole Goodey & Jonathon Morrison. Photo Peter’s Pix Professional Photography
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Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health, VIC
www.mcwh.com.au Grant: $50,000 Total project cost: $97,836 Extending our Healthy Living: Sharing Models for Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Health and Wellbeing. Objective: To alert immigrant and refugee women to the dangers of Type 2 diabetes, and to provide information about the importance of eating healthily and exercising to avoid developing the disease, thus reducing the increased incidence of this disease amongst this population group. How: This project will provide diabetes prevention education to immigrant and refugee women around Victoria in up to 17 languages. Women will participate in education sessions conducted in their preferred languages. Why: The project aims to reduce the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in the women who attend the sessions and in their family members.
Image, above Bilingual Health Educators undertake Diabetes Healthy Living Project Training
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Down the Track Health-e-screen4Kids The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, QLD www.workingwonders.com.au
Healthcare On Wheels In 2007, The Ian Potter Foundation contributed $50,000 toward the purchase of a mobile health screening van for a research project Evaluation of a novel health screening service for children in a remote Indigenous community being conducted by the Centre for Online Health at Brisbane’s Royal Children’s Hospital. Although many health screening projects have been attempted in Indigenous communities often children live so remotely that they are unable to get to established clinics. The Centre for Online Health at Brisbane’s Royal Children’s Hospital, specialises in using communications technologies such as video-conferencing equipment to monitor or provide specialist assessment for patients who reside in rural and regional communities. The project aims to improve access to healthcare for Indigenous communities by expanding Centre for Online Health services to Indigenous children in rural and remote Queensland. The three year project, known as Health-e-screen4Kids, uses a mobile health screening service to reach children in the community of Cherbourg, approximately 350km northwest of Brisbane. Children are tested for a variety of conditions including eye and ear disease, as well as other chronic health conditions such as diabetes. Children identified with problems are referred for specialist treatment and all information will be logged in a Objective-built database.
“The pilot project has been an outstanding success and has been adopted as part of Queensland Health’s permanent program.” Bill Maddock
Health-e-screen4Kids differs from other health screening projects as health screening staff and equipment are transported directly to the children’s door – thanks to the wonders of communications technology and a van specially fitted out with health screening equipment. “By taking the clinic to them, the research team has been able to overcome one of the major barriers to participation in health-screening programs,” explains Bill Maddock, Executive Manager of The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation. “The ultimate aim is to screen more than 90% of children within Cherbourg and improve the burden of chronic disease.” The specialist optometrist involved in the Health-e-screen 4 Kids project is Kate Johnson, from Gerry and Johnson Optometrists. Kate has been involved with the project since the screening program officially commenced, providing advice on the design of the eye screening assessments and training the health workers to conduct these eye assessments. Kate also follows up the children who failed their vision tests at the Cherbourg State School. Between February and July 2009, 743 of 980 consent forms distributed were returned (76%). During the first six months, 12 of the 16 schools recruited to the project were visited by the screening service. Of the 743 children with parental consent, a total of 442 (59%) were screened. Forty-one percent (182) of children failed one or more components of the ear screening assessment, 12% (53) had signs of hearing impairment and 15% (66) failed vision screening assessment. All patients failing screening assessments were referred to other community health services for management and/or follow-up review in the screening clinic in three, six or 12 months. Of the 157 referrals made to the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist for online review, three separate tele-otology clinics were conducted with an ENT specialist. In the six month study period, 59 children’s cases were reviewed through an ENT Online Assessment. The ENT specialist rated the diagnostic images viewed using the online database as excellent or good in 90% of cases. For the 46 referrals made to local optometry services, 18 patients (39%) have been reviewed in a single outreach optometry clinic. “The pilot project has been an outstanding success and has been adopted as part of Queensland Health’s permanent program,” said Bill. “We can now expect similar outcomes for Indigenous children in remote communities throughout the State, which is a fantastic result.”
Clockwise pages left to right Students from St Mary’s School in Cherbourg receive health checks in the Health-e-screen4Kids Van
Healthy Communities Grants Paid 2009–10 Arthritis Victoria The Arthritis Map of Victoria. Developing an effective data base to consolidate the latest Victorian health and population data into a web-based shared resource.
29,750
Ashcare Inc Hydrotherapy Program for people with a disability who have high and complex support needs.
19,640
Cancer Council Victoria Less Common But Serious Cancer. Development of a research platform as a basis for the study of risk factors for these cancers.
60,000
E W Tipping Foundation EW Tipping Foundation D.A.D.S (Dads Appreciating Disability) Initiative, working with D.A.D.S. to establish a network of volunteers and community support groups for fathers of children with disabilities.
20,000
Griffith University, Health Providing nutritional guidance on ready-to-eat or take-away foods to busy, regular take-away consumers with the aim of assisting longer-term weight management.
11,850
Guide Dogs Victoria Increasing Guide Dog accessibility for Blind Victorians through construction of new facilities.
50,000
Menzies School of Health Research Understanding the association between otitis media and educational outcomes for Aboriginal children living in a remote Northern Territory community.
15,000
MontroseAccess Production of a DVD and instructional book on all aspects of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It will cover an understanding of the condition, the diagnosis, treatment and holistic care of the child and family.
6,000
Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health Extending our Healthy Living: Sharing Models for Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Health and Wellbeing – provision of multilingual diabetes prevention education to immigrant and refugee women around Victoria.
50,000
Myeloma Foundation of Australia Inc New Enterprise-wide Communications Management Project to improve sharing of data and information related to myeloma across worksites.
15,000
Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation ‘What if I Could’ Establishment of a ‘lending library’ of prostheses to allow children with limb differences to participate in activities.
50,000
TLC For Kids Inc Developing a model for self-sustainability and growth of a charitable organisation through the development of partnerships, systems, and a skills-based volunteer program.
40,000
Julian Burton Burns Trust National Burns Prevention & Management Training for Aboriginal Health Workers from the APY Lands.
10,000
University of Sydney: Medicine Preventing Poor Outcomes for People with Chronic Illness: improving management – and self management – of chronic disease through evidence-informed policy that integrates care in acute and community settings. Wentworth District Hostel Society Inc Furnishing of offices, interview/meeting rooms, treatment room.
150,000
5,000
Women’s Health East Inc. Investing in Women. Building a socially-inclusive East through increasing the capacity of community professionals and local women to generate meaningful social activities for isolated residents of eastern Melbourrne.
30,000
Youngcare Ltd Youngcare Apartments Gold Coast. Furnishing the living areas of four apartments for disabled young people with 24/7 care needs so that their individual requirements can be met.
21,080
Total Health $
583,320
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Medical Research Medical Research continues to be one of the Foundation’s largest program areas. Sir Ian Potter’s support of the Howard Florey Institute, which he helped found in collaboration with philanthropists Ken and Baillieu Myer, pre-dates the establishment of the Foundation. The Foundation’s strong commitment to supporting medical research contributes to the ongoing success of the sector. Our funding supports the use of cutting edge technology and equipment to advance our understanding of major diseases. This is primarily directed to leading Australian research institutes, universities and teaching hospitals to support innovative biomedical research, the anticipated benefits of which are likely to advance the research outcomes of the institution as a whole.
Number of new grants approved:
7
Value of new grants approved:
$595,000
Number of grants paid: Value of grants paid:
9 $3,945,000
Percentage of total grants paid (value):
27.7%
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Cystic Fibrosis Australia, NSW www.cysticfibrosis.org.au International Data Registry Grant: $50,000
A world of information may hold the cure Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that affects a number of organs in the body, especially the lungs and pancreas, by clogging them with thick, sticky mucus. A recessive condition, CF is relatively rare but as the oldest known genetic condition, a cure could hold the potential to unlock solutions for many other conditions. Three thousand Australians are affected by CF and although the life expectancy for sufferers is now 35 years – a significant improvement on the situation a few decades ago when they rarely lived past 10 years – the reality is that the average lifespan is still only 17 years. With relatively small numbers of people affected, doctors, researchers, healthcare professionals, patients and carers have struggled to get funding and recognition of their needs. The necessity of getting a critical mass of patients to conduct meaningful research and clinical trials has been particularly challenging. In an excellent example of a relatively small grant making a potentially huge difference, this grant of $50,000 will assist Cystic Fibrosis Australia to lead an international project to generate a CF data registry that will allow researchers and pharmaceutical companies to log and share compatible data, assisting them to make national and international comparisons, observe factors that influence life expectancy, and even conduct international clinical trials, aimed at improved treatments and ultimately, a cure. Terry Stewart, CEO of Cystic Fibrosis Australia says his dream is to change CF Australia, to mean ‘Cure Found’. The US Data Registry was set up 40 years ago and is credited with making a major contribution towards improved quality of life for sufferers in the US and around the world. The Australian Database was established by Cystic Fibrosis Australia 11 years ago and holds records of over 90% of Australia’s CF patients which represents a very high level of acceptance. The Australian system uses the highest possible ethical standards of ‘de-identified’ information, benchmarks outcomes so that individual clinics CF clinics can monitor their own performance, and collates and publishes data reports within effective timeframes, so that the Australian Registry has evolved to become a crucial clinical tool, utilised by all the major hospitals and clinical research teams.
In an excellent example of how the Australian Database has assisted understanding of the condition and treatment protocols, Australian researchers, Assoc. Prof. Peter Bye and Dr Mark Elkin from Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, identified geographical factors that appeared to be playing a role in the quality of life of some CF sufferers. Two young sufferers from Sydney’s northern beaches, seemed to be responding better to treatment and experienced less hospitalisation. Further investigation revealed that the two were surfers, and eventually the health benefits of fresh sea air were identified as the key to their resilience. Trials of inhaled hypertonic saline – effectively salt water – were then conducted over six years in Australia and the US and shown to have significant benefits for patients, with the salt working to break down the mucus and improve respiratory outcomes. The treatment is now an established treatment protocol that has achieved international acceptance. The International Cystic Fibrosis Data Registry will provide a much broader base of compatible information and facilitate international collaborations between research teams, the potential benefits of which is hard to overstate. The framework is expected to be in place by the middle of 2012. “Cystic Fibrosis Australia receives no government funding at all – primarily because it is a disease that affects relatively small numbers of people,” explains Terry Stewart. “This initiative is going to open up endless possibilities, as researchers and pharmaceutical companies will be able to access unprecedented amounts of compatible data. What will come of it is impossible to guess but we are very excited about its potential.”
Main image Katie is one of the 3,000 Australian Cystic Fibrosis patients who may benefit from the information sharing that will be possible with the new CF International Data Registry
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Alfred Health, VIC
Monash University, VIC
University of Tasmania: Menzies Research Institute, TAS
www.alfred.org.au Grant: $200,000 Total project cost: $790,000
www.monash.edu.au Grant: $100,000 Total project cost: $199,000
Stage Two of the Alfred Pharmacy Department Infrastructure: funding towards the building of a world class clinical trial pharmacy facility.
www.menzies.utas.edu.au Grant: $100,000 Total project cost: $662,000
Objective: To build a world class clinical trial pharmacy facility to accommodate increasing demand and overcome the limitation of Alfred Health’s current infrastructure.
Establishing a high-resolution, live cell fluorescence imaging facility at the Menzies Research Institute.
A research initiative for optimising antibiotic use in hospitalised patients using a pharmacological approach. This research will assist clinicians in the delivery of the optimal level of antibiotics particularly to patients with complex conditions.
How: Through the capital expansion of the existing pharmacy service. New infrastructure will accommodate Therapeutic Goods Administration Good Clinical Practice and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) licensing for non-sterile clinical trial products. Why: GMP is required for compliance with the most stringent of international performance standards and will enable Alfred Health to attract additional international trials.
Objective: To create a state-of-the-art live cell imaging facility to enable the University to manipulate, monitor and record healthy and diseased cells and tissue over extended periods of time. How: Through the purchase of equipment critical to enabling advanced research. Why: The facility will be used to answer questions relating to brain development and disease, diabetes, malaria and cancer while also helping the University to attract researchers to the State.
Objective: There is a growing threat from ‘superbugs’ that are resistant to antibiotic treatment. With this initiative, antibiotic therapy in complicated patients will be optimised by investigations to measure antibiotic concentrations in blood and infection site samples. How: The research will be facilitated in part through the purchase of a mass spectrometer. Why: This initiative will provide a unique platform for Australian clinicians to optimise antibiotic use, and will bridge the gap between basic antimicrobial research and clinical practice.
Images, left to right Professor Michael Dooley, Director Pharmacy Alfred Health and Miss Sook Wern Chua, Clinical Trials Pharmacist in the Pharmacy Trials Dispensary A new imaging facility will be housed within the new Menzies Research Institute and Medical Science Precinct at the University of Tasmania, Hobart. Photo Sean Fennessy Professor Roger Nation and Dr Jian Li in front of an ultra fast liquid chromatography system
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Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, NSW
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, NSW
Schizophrenia Research Institute, NSW
www.victorchang.edu.au Grant: $50,000 Total project cost: $920,000
www.chw.edu.au Grant: $50,000 Total project cost: $920,000 The Correlative Light and Electron Microscopy (CLEM) Suite – Stage 1. The CLEM Suite is a major initiative of the Westmead Research Hub that aims to develop the research capacity of the entire Westmead campus which services more than 700 scientists. Objective: The CLEM Suite will significantly improve the imaging facilities available on the Westmead campus. The Westmead Research Hub is remote from the imaging facilities of The University of Sydney and University of NSW. Servicing over 700 scientists working in fields as diverse as breast cancer to HIV, the facility will provide researchers with cutting edge imaging capabilities to support their work. How: This is a large capital works program with support from universities, Federal Government and partner agencies. Why: Westmead Research Hub is a cooperative venture that has been formed to focus the biomedical research activities of the Westmead Campus for the purpose of sharing resources and infrastructure. The provision of a CLEM Suite will allow ongoing regional research support on site to researchers on the campus.
Enabling cardiac research discoveries through access to next generation sequencing technology. The purchase of two pieces of equipment will help researchers examine genetic patterns in heart disease. Objective: Research Divisions at the VCCRI engage in the discovery of genetic changes underlying disease, ‘Next Generation Sequencing’ (NGS) is completely transforming how scientists can approach these issues. NGS is a transformative new tool for life science research. Ensuring VCCRI researchers have access to this technology will enhance their ability to make important breakthroughs in cardiac research. How: Assistance with equipment purchases. Why: The long-term aim of this work is to transition the research effort of the VCCRI to the post-genomic era and help to further build its reputation as a world-class cardiac research centre. The provision of convenient and affordable access to NGS technology is an important step towards that transition.
www.schizophreniaresearch.org.au Grant: $45,000 Total project cost: $564,000 Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank: an automated pipetting system is required for the Bank to facilitate the distribution of DNA samples to researchers undertaking large-scale genetic studies in an efficient and reliable way. Objective: The Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank is a nation-wide collaboration which is collecting and storing DNA samples, clinical/cognitive information and MRI brain scans from a large number of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls, and will make these samples/data available to researchers conducting in-depth studies into the complex causes of schizophrenia. How: Because the Research Bank will hold blood samples from thousands of volunteers, an automated pipetting system is required to facilitate the distribution of the DNA samples to researchers. Why: The Bank allows genetic research into schizophrenia, which will help provide the best opportunity for researchers investigating ways to prevent the onset of this illness.
Images, left to right Corrective Microscopy: Left, fluoresence image showing specific labelling of muscle fibre components. Right, high resolution electron micrograph of boxed region Professor Thomas Preiss of the Molecular Genetics Division at VCCRI, with data generated by the next generation sequencer Dr Murray Cairns, a Schizophrenia Research Institute researcher, using genetic samples provided by the ASRB (via the robotics equipment) to examine genetic differences in schizophrenia
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Down the Track Bionic Eye Project Bionic Ear Institute, VIC www.bionicear.org
Blue Sky Vision “This was blue sky research,” reflects Professor Rob Shepherd, CEO of The Bionic Ear Institute, which three years ago received a grant of $500,000 from the Foundation to undertake a feasibility study for a Bionic Eye. “We did not have the necessary track record to attract peer-reviewed research grants at that stage. We were confident, but it was risky by its very nature.” Earlier this year, this confidence was justified when the Bionic Eye project was awarded a $42 million grant from the Australian Research Centre to fund the project to the stage of clinical trials within four years: proof that the team of researchers involved in this collaborative project has made some very significant progress. The Bionic Ear Institute is partnered in this program by the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), National ICT Australia (NICTA); The University of Melbourne and The University of NSW: collectively known as Bionic Vision Australia. The ultimate aim is to develop a bionic implant capable of restoring reading vision to people suffering eye diseases including retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular generation, which is responsible for 48 percent of all blindness in Australia.
This goal is still many years away but the progress to date has been very promising. Several crucial bionic technologies have been developed and importantly, new microsurgical techniques developed which permit a much greater degree of safety and reduced risk for the patient. This technique involves sliding the bionic eye stimulator into a natural anatomical ‘pocket’ within the back of the eye. The research also resulted in the development of new bionic eye components, using high-resolution electrodes and stimulators that meet the many anatomical, surgical, patient and safety needs that this project demands. Two formats are in development. The first is a ‘wide view’ electrode array stimulator that has shown considerable promise in helping meet basic navigation needs such as light, space and contrasts. Some of the fundamental achievements around this development include overcoming biocompatibility issues, the need for flexible materials and the ability to manage the stimulation of large arrays of electrodes. A more sophisticated high-resolution stimulator using diamond electrodes is also in development. This is more challenging but may allow researchers to activate thousands of electrodes and directly stimulate neural tissue in the eye, potentially greatly improving outcomes for patients. This device may hold potential for allowing facial recognition. “We have the great advantage of working in a collaboration with complementary disciplines, each of which brings vital knowledge and resources to the table,” explains Professor Shepherd. “From the Bionic Ear Institute’s point of view, we found that many of the principles of the Cochlear implant applied, which allowed us to anticipate the opportunities and the obstacles and plan for those.” “We now have our foot on the accelerator. There are still many milestones to be reached and challenging elements such as the psychophysics of the technology to be explored and assessed: what will be the response of brain plasticity to this type of physical stimuli? We have gained a great deal of knowledge on this journey that will have implications for other areas of our bionics research.” “This is a very intense and exciting phase,” says Professor Shepherd. “There is a lot to do but I expect that in a few years we will be into clinical trials. We are already starting to look for a commercial partner to drive the regulatory process needed to take this to the next stage of development.”
Facing page Associate Professor Chris Williams co-ordinates BEI’s biosafety and efficacy studies as part of the Bionic Vision Australia team. He is also an excellent mentor to younger researchers and students working on this project
Medical Research Grants Paid 2009–10 Alfred Health Alfred Health Clinical Trials Pharmacy Service – Stage Two of the Alfred Pharmacy Department Infrastructure Improvements.
200,000
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead The development of the Correlative Light and Electron Microscopy (CLEM) Suite at The Children’s Hospital Westmead.
50,000
Cystic Fibrosis Australia Development of an International Cystic Fibrosis Data Warehouse.
50,000
Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine Formation of a new Australian Neuroscience Institute. Additional Funding for formation of Australian Neuroscience Institute.
2,000,000 1,250,000
Menzies Research Institute Establishing a high-resolution, live cell fluorescence imaging facility at the Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, to enable researchers to manipulate, monitor and record healthy and diseased cells and tissue over extended periods of time, from hours to days. Schizophrenia Research Institute The purchase of an automated pipetting system for use at the Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank which will facilitate the efficient and reliable distribution of the DNA samples to researchers undertaking large-scale genetic studies. University of Melbourne: Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences A five year Indigenous eye health program that will address the disparities in eye health between Indigenous Australians and the mainstream population. Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Ltd Enabling cardiac research discoveries through access to next generation sequencing technology.
Total Medical Research $
100,000
45,000
200,000
50,000
3,945,000
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 65
Science Support of exceptional and visionary scientists, including those in their early career, is the central focus of the Science Program Area. Projects often link with the Foundation’s Environment & Conservation and Education programs.
Number of new grants approved:
The Program also prioritises support for high quality scientific research that adds to our understanding and knowledge of Australia’s biodiversity and its ecological sustainability, as well as issues of future water management and the recovery of degraded landscapes.
Value of grants paid:
Value of new grants approved: Number of grants paid:
Percentage of total grants paid (value):
8 $852,000 11 $891,000 23%
Ph oto : Th elm aV lam is
Wentworth Group Of Concerned Scientists, NSW www.wentworthgroup.org The Ian Potter Fellowship In Policy Research Grant: $480,000 over three years
The Science of Environment Policy The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists is an independent group of scientists working to inject science effectively into public policy, and in the process, advance solutions to secure the long-term health of Australia’s land, water and biodiversity. The Wentworth Group’s 2009 policy document Optimising Carbon in the Landscape outlined the potential for terrestrial carbon sequestration to contribute to a climate change solution. Terrestrial carbon sequestration uses trees in the landscape and carbon in the soil to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Australian landscape has the capacity to store large amounts of greenhouse gases in vegetation and soils. If Australia were to capture just 15 percent of this biophysical capacity, it would offset the equivalent of 25 percent of Australia’s current annual greenhouse emissions for the next 40 years. More trees and healthier soils can also help address some of the major environmental challenges confronting Australia: repairing degraded landscapes, restoring river corridors, improving the condition of agricultural soils and conserving biodiversity.
Main image Claire Parkes The Ian Potter Fellow in Policy Research, The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists.
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The Ian Potter Foundation Fellowship role, Senior Policy Analyst, Landscape Conservation, will explore a new program on public policy reform to optimise carbon in the landscape that builds on the 2009 policy paper. The role will provide professional research and policy support to the member scientists of the Wentworth Group. It will also involve extensive engagement with Commonwealth, State and Local Government, with the 56 regional natural resource management boards across Australia and other scientific and policy institutions. The appointed Fellow, Claire Parkes, brings to the role strong academic qualifications in science, economics and environmental planning, as well as considerable experience in the field of environmental policy and planning through her work with the NSW Natural Resources Commission, with research organisations in developing countries and with the Commonwealth Treasury. Her capacity to adapt scientific knowledge for the practical application to public policy will be central to her success in the role. “Around the world we’re struggling with how to reduce the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, and terrestrial carbon offers great potential as part of a suite of climate change policy measures. In this role I’m looking forward to connecting the best science to answer some of the toughest policy questions preventing us realising this potential,” commented Claire.
The University of Technology Sydney, NSW
The University of Tasmania, TAS
RMIT University, VIC
www.uts.edu.au Grant: $35,000 Total project cost: $131,518
www.utas.edu.au Grant: $45,000 Total project cost: $253,000 Developing and applying noninvasive methods for conserving Tasmanian devils and quolls threatened with extinction. Objective: Funding to allow the development of new techniques for the study in the wild of the spotted-tailed quoll and the Tasmanian Devil. How: By developing a new non-invasive survey technique that allow the gathering of hair samples, researchers will be able to rapidly survey populations over large landscapes and identify individuals and their sex through hair sample studies. Why: Once developed these techniques will greatly enhance the ability of researchers to study wild populations in a non-invasive manner.
An innovative approach to addressing invalid Drug Testing Procedures: to identify which agents are best used to combat the adulteration of urine specimens with oxidizing agents. Objective: The research will provide the chemical basis for development of potential markers for monitoring cannabis abuse even if the urine specimen is affected by oxidizing adulterants. How: By investigating and identifying the stable oxidation products of cannabis after a reaction with a range of oxidants/adulterants. Why: Cannabis detection in urine samples can be masked, accidentally or deliberately, by oxidation agents. This creates ongoing challenges for the drug-testing programs. Finding an effective way of combating this adulteration is important for drug testing regimes.
www.rmit.edu.au Grant: $15,000 Total project cost: $21,500 Marine fouling invertebrates: investigating their colonisation mechanisms to better protect marine infrastructure and biodiversity. This research will examine how to better protect marine infrastructure from these invasive species. Objective: To prevent fouling damage and protect native biodiversity in Australia and elsewhere, by gaining a clear understanding of the colonisation process of marine fouling invertebrates. How: By documenting whether bioďŹ lm protozoa play a role in the recruitment of marine fouling invertebrates and to gain an understanding of the relationship between the two. Why: Boat hulls, piers, and pipes are continually fouled by marine invertebrates such as barnacles, tube worms, and mussels that colonise hard surfaces. This project aims to develop knowledge that will aid conservation of marine biodiversity by understanding the natural recruitment process and reducing the economic cost of fouling on manmade structures in marine systems.
Images, left to right Wild spotted-tailed quolls. Photo Shannon Troy Grant recipient Dr Shanlin Fu (far left) with his research team at University of Technology, Sydney, from left, Anna Molnar, Susan Luong, Natasha Stojanovska, and Nathan Charlton Mussels and barnacles fouling the pilings under a pier. Photo Thelma Vlamis
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 69
Down the Track Establishment of SIMS Sydney Institute of Marine Science, NSW www.sims.org.au
Ripple Effect The ripples from The Ian Potter Foundation’s 2008 grant to help establish the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) continue to expand, with this important project rapidly exceeding even its own expectations. “We are in the unique and very exciting position of having to revisit our 10 year plan and translate it into a two year plan,” explains Paul Hallam, Chief Operating Officer of SIMS. “Following a great deal of work and negotiation, IPF’s $600,000 Challenge Grant successfully leveraged matching support from the NSW State Government, which further built the momentum, culminating in the announcement of $19.5 million funding from the Federal Government as part of the Nation-building Economic Stimulus Plan and the Education Investment Fund. Almost overnight SIMS went from a local support facility for the universities to an Institute in its own right.” Now a rare collaboration between five major universities and four government departments, the concept of the Institute, which always had the support of the scientists, got off to a slow start as decision-makers appeared to be waiting to see what would happen. Today, this ‘pipe dream’ of the marine scientists, located in its prime position at Sydney Harbour’s Chowder Bay, on land leased from the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, seems to have its future mapped out.
Uniquely located in an urban environment, and in a junction for tropical and temperate waters, SIMS is ideally placed to study the impact of climate change and a range of other issues especially those that impact upon the health of Sydney’s iconic harbour. Substantial capital works are required to transform the facilities on site to the required standard and capacity. The initial tasks of planning and appointing contractors – including no less than four architects for the various specialised elements – are all but complete and the Construction Manager has been appointed. Scientists are enjoying the opportunity to specify equipment that complements what the universities already have. More than eighty scientists are already affiliated with SIMS and despite the fact that the facilities are not yet complete, the Institute is getting requests from international scientists who will one day be accommodated in purpose-built facilities on site. The small team currently working at the Institute’s basic start-up facilities, including the first staff Marine Science Researcher, Dr Belinda Curley, who is supported by a NSW Environment Trust Grant, will soon move into temporary quarters and watch the major overhaul begin. As evidence of the high level of recognition SIMS has already achieved, the Institute has been appointed NSW host of the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) program, one of five such ‘nodes’ in the country. IMOS is a government-funded program that monitors the marine climate of Australian waters, providing vital data for researchers and planners. SIMS manages data regarding the highly influential East Australian Current, among other responsibilities. “There is no doubt that the IPF grant was the tipping point for SIMS,” says Paul Hallam, “Now the facilities are progressing apace, we have begun a program of public education and exhibitions, played host to various national workshops, implemented the Eastern Seaboard Climate Change Initiative, support a range of research projects and we expect to introduce a SIMS-sponsored Masters of Marine Science in 2012. The hopes we had for SIMS are being quickly realised, and we are most grateful to all our partners and supporters for backing the opportunity. The next few years will be a very exciting time for SIMS.”
This page Dr Belinda Curley, SIMS first staff Marine Science Researcher, checks specimens in the temporary aquarium Facing page Sea Urchin in the Research Lab
“There is no doubt that the IPF grant was the tipping point for SIMS.” Paul Hallam
Science Grants Paid 2009–10 James Cook University: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Research measuring the Impact of Land Based Run-off to Coral Reefs.
20,000
Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation Funding for Fellowships to allow Post Doctoral students to undertake research on Lizard Island.
9,000
Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation Expansion of funding program for Fellowships to allow Post Doctoral students to undertake research on Lizard Island.
72,000
Museum Victoria The Ian Potter Fellowship for Biodiversity Research at Museum Victoria.
50,000
Museum Victoria Collections, Research and Exhibitions DNA Lab enhancement program.
150,000
RMIT University: Science, Engineering and Technology Marine fouling invertebrates; investigating their colonisation mechanisms to better protect marine infrastructure and biodiversity.
15,000
Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre The Development of the Sapphire Coast Marine Science Laboratory.
35,000
Sydney Institute of Marine Science Support towards a research aquarium facility.
300,000
University of Tasmania: Science, Engineering and Technology Developing and applying non-invasive methods for conserving Tasmanian devils and quolls threatened with extinction.
45,000
University of Technology Sydney: Faculty of Science An innovative Approach to Address invalid drug testing procedures.
35,000
The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists The Ian Potter Fellowship in Policy Research.
160,000
Total Science $
891,000
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 71
Travel The Foundation’s competitive early career Travel Grants program gives outstanding early career researchers an opportunity to present their work at international conferences and benefit from the knowledge exchange that these forums offer.
Number of new grants approved:
The Travel Grants extend across a diverse array of sectors such as Design, Architecture and Medical Research. These small grants assist recipients to take an important step in their career development and use their specialized knowledge to make important contributions to the Australian community, and in many cases, the international community as well.
Value of grants paid:
Value of new grants approved: Number of grants paid:
Percentage of total grants paid (value):
34 $77,200 31 $72,050 0.5%
On the following pages, some recent recipients of Travel Grants, provide personal reports of their experiences and the benefits the opportunity has brought.
Left to right IMPACT 6, digital processes workshop A participant in the ‘Diversity of participation in children with cerebral palsy’ study conducted by Christine Imms, Sheena Reilly, John Carlin & Karen Dodd
Travel Reports Mr Matthew Perkins Monash University, VIC Grant: $2,500
Dr Christine Imms La Trobe University, VIC Grant: $1,000
Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking
Occupational Therapy
I attended IMPACT 6: International Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking Conference at the Centre for Fine Print Research, University of the West of England, Bristol. The IMPACT conference is the biggest printmaking conference outside the USA. This was the first international conference in which I have delivered an academic paper and the experience reinforced their value in producing debate at the highest level as well as the value of my own research.
As an occupational therapy lecturer and researcher at La Trobe University, I had the opportunity to attend the Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine (AusACPDM) Conference in Christchurch New Zealand in early May. This biennial conference was attended by about 400 medical and allied health professionals from the Australasian region and led by internationally renowned key-note speakers from the UK and the US.
I am the Studio Coordinator of Photomedia in the Department of Fine Art in the Faculty of Art and Design at Monash University. This conference gave me the opportunity to disseminate recent observations that question the nature of the fine art studio in an educational context. With the nature of contemporary art practice evolving with many artists, moving away from a discipline-specific mode of practice, tertiary institutes need to question the way disciplines are taught. This paper, What is ‘Studio’ in the Post-disciplinary Age?; the panel discussion and the lively post-conference dialogue, initiated a philosophical and practical shift in my approach to curriculum issues.
I had the opportunity to present original research findings about the recreational participation of children and youth who have cerebral palsy, co-present a workshop for clinicians aimed at enhancing evidence based interventions to improve children’s ability to use their hands effectively and contribute to a plenary debate on best practice in development of professional skills.
There were numerous benefits of attending this conference. Firstly, I was able to participate in a lively panel discussion relating to the fine art studio in an educational context. Secondly, the host of the conference, the University of Western England – Centre for Fine Print Research, is a beta test site for Hewlett-Packard and is a world leader in print research in Art and Design. Discussions with their staff have assisted in clarifying developments in our Faculty’s print research direction and raised the possibility of future collaborations. In addition, as Monash University will host IMPACT 7 in September 2011, the experience at this conference has provided useful insights, offering an interesting mix of academic papers/posters and practical master classes within the studios and was inclusive of both art theorists/historians and art practitioners.
There are significant benefits to sharing knowledge with others including planning how others’ work can inform my own research and teaching, and developing or supporting ongoing national and international collaborations. This benefit often occurs informally, and in greater depth, between presentations and allows consideration of alternate ways of thinking about the issues raised from the research. In particular, I had the opportunity to meet and discuss my research and potential future collaborations with Professor Alan Colver who was one of the key note speakers.
Left to right IMPACT 6, printmaking workshop Dr Christine Imms
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 73
Travel Grants Paid 2009–10
The Alfred Hospital Dr Edwin Yan, National Trauma Research Institute – to attend Neurotrauma 2009, Santa Barbara, USA, September 2009.
1,813
The Australian Ballet School Ms Lucinda Sharp to attend the 2009 International Association for Dance, Medicine & Science (IADMS) Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands, 29 October – 1 November 2009.
2,700
Bond University: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Assistant Professor Jonathon Sargeant, School of Education – to attend the European Conference on Education Research, Vienna, Austria, 22–30 September 2009.
3,000
Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology Dr Fiona Keane, Faculty of Medicine – to attend The International Meeting on Proline Specific Cleavage and Oxopropyl Formation – Functions and Therapeutical Strategies, Halle (Saale), Germany, May 2010.
2,500
Centre For Eye Research Australia Limited (CERA) Alauddin Bhuiyan, Research Fellow – to attend The International Conference on Computer Vision Therapy and Applications, Angers, France, May 2010.
2,286
Deakin University: Faculty of Science and Technology Dr Mathew Berg, School of Life and Environmental Sciences – to attend The 25th International Ornithological Congress, Campos do Jordao, Brazil, August 2010.
2,100
Howard Florey Institute Dr Zhaolin Chen to attend the Australia-Korean Neuroscience and Neuroimaging Symposium, Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, South Korea, November 2009.
1,200
La Trobe University: Health Sciences Dr Christine Imms, School of Occupational Therapy to attend The Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, Christchurch, New Zealand, March 2010.
1,000
La Trobe University: Science, Technology and Engineering Dr Robyn Murphy, School of Life Science to attend The FASEM summer conference – The Biology of Calpains in Health and Disease, Arizona, USA, July 2010.
3,000
Monash Institute of Medical Research Dr Saleea Ruwanpura, Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases – to attend the Tri-Society Annual Conference: Cellular and Cytokine Interactions in Health and Disease, Lisbon, Portugal; to visit the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Immunology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, October 2009.
2,500
Monash University: Art and Design Mr Matthew Perkins, Department of Multimedia and Digital Arts – to attend IMPACT 6: International Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking Conference 2009, Centre for Fine Print Research, University of the West of England, Bristol, 16–19 September 2009.
2,500
Monash University: Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Dr Andrew Hoy, School of Biomedical Sciences to attend The Keystone Symposia – Adipose Tissue Biology (J3)/Neuronal control of Appetite (J4), Keystone, USA, 2010. Associate Professor Anna Roujeinikova, School of Biomedical Sciences – to attend the PepCon 2010: After a Solution for the Machines of Life, Beijing, China, March 2010.
2,500 2,000
Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research Dr Kevin Knower to attend the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) in San Antonio, Texas, USA, December 2009; and for collaboration/ laboratory visit to Associate Professor Kornelia Polyak, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, December 2009.
2,650
Queensland University of Technology: Faculty of Science Dr Wilhelmina Huston, Faculty of Science to attend The 12th International symposium on human Chlamydial infections, Salzburg Austria, June 2010.
3,000
Schizophrenia Research Institute Dr Victoria Dalton to attend The Second Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) Conference, Florence, Italy, April 2010.
1,929
The University of Melbourne: Education Ms Anitra Wierenga, Melbourne Graduate School of Education to attend The XVII International Sociological Association, World Congress of Sociology, Gothenburg, Sweden, July 2010. Dr Katie Wright, Melbourne Graduate School of Education to attend The British Sociological Association Annual Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, April 2010. The University of Melbourne: Engineering Dr John Provis, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering – to attend the Core-to-Core Young Researchers Meeting, Leeds, UK, December 2009. Dr Anthony Stickland to attend The 4th Core to Core Young Researchers Workshop on Particle Technology, York, UK, December 2010.
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 74
2,500 2,300
2,000 2,514
The University of Melbourne: Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Dr Felice Jacka, Department of Clinical and Biomedical Science: Barwon Health – to attend The 15th EPA Symposium EPA Section Epidemiology and Social Psychiatry, Bergen, Norway, June 2010. The University of Melbourne: The Ian Potter Museum of Art Ms Robyn Hovey, The Ian Potter Museum of Art – to attend the ‘Putting university collections to work in research and teaching’ organised by University Museums and Collections (UMAC), Berkley University, Berkley, USA, September 2009. Ms Svetlana Honl to attend the Baltic Museology School 2010, Rezekne, Latvian Republic, 13–19 June 2010.
3,000
2,500 1,750
The University of New England: Faculty of Professions Mr Mark Shepheard to attend the XXV Congress and Colloquium of Agricultural Law, Cambridge, UK, September 2009.
2,500
The University of New South Wales: Medicine Dr Justine Stehn, School of Medical Sciences to attend the annual meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology, San Diego, USA, December 2009.
2,000
The University of Queensland: Health Sciences Dr Jodi Saunus, School of Dentistry to attend the Gordon Research Conference on Stem Cells and Cancer, Les Diablerets, Switzerland, September 2009. Dr David Marshall, Healthy Communities Research Centre to attend the XXV International Methodology Symposium: Longitudinal Surveys from Design to Analysis, Gatineau, Canada, 27 – 30 October 2009. University of South Australia: Information Technology, Engineering & the Environment Dr Delene Weber, to attend The 16th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Corpus Christi, Texas, June 2010. University of Tasmania: School of Aquaculture Dr Philippe Ziegler, Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute to attend the International Council for the Exploitation of the Sea (ICES) Annual Science Conference 2009, Berlin Germany, September 2009. University of Western Australia: Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences Dr Siobhan Reid, Life and Physical Sciences to attend the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Development Medicine, Scottsdale, USA, September 2009. Dr Colin John Macgregor, Centre of Excellence in Natural Resources Management to attend the Fifth International Conference on River Basin Management, Ramla Bay, Malta, September 2009.
Total Travel $
2,750 2,000 2,950 2,115
2,000 2,500
72,057
Image Dr Katie Wright, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 75
Conference The Conference Grants Program is an important aspect of the Foundation’s commitment to excellence, particularly as it relates to exchanging and sharing knowledge. The program allows organisations to bring keynote speakers of international renown to Australia. The speakers in turn lend their knowledge and expertise to their peers in Australia by presenting at symposia and conferences.
Number of new grants approved: Value of new grants approved:
13 $75,300
Number of grants paid: Value of grants paid:
13 $72,315
Percentage of total grants paid (value):
Generally grants are made to assist with the travel and accommodation costs of an international keynote speaker. For this year’s report, we invited some of the Conference Grant recipient organisations to report on the benefits to their conference delegates of the opportunity of learning from leading practitioners and experts in their particular fields.
Left to right Bill Belsey, keynote speaker from Canada, with Dr Judith Slocombe, CEO of The Alannah and Madeline Foundation Trevor Grice (Keynote Speaker) signing copies of his book for international delegates at Life Education Conference
0.5%
Life Education, NSW
Alannah and Madeline Foundation, VIC
www.lifeeducation.org.au Life Education International Conference Grant: $20,000
www.amf.org.au Cyber Bullying Conference Grant: $6,000
Coinciding with Life Education’s 30th year at the forefront of drug and alcohol education, the organisation held its inaugural international conference in December 2009. This event brought together all Life Education’s national staff and key personnel from our international offices to educate, motivate and inform them and to encourage collaboration. This was an opportunity to update knowledge and learn about new programs and teaching methodologies.
A conference grant of $6,000 was awarded to bring experts on cybersafety and bullying to The Alannah and Madeline Foundation’s Navigating the Maze: Cybersafety, bullying and wellbeing solutions for schools conference, Melbourne, April 2010.
High calibre, internationally-renowned speakers included Hubert Sacy, the Director General of Edu’alcool, a Québecbased non-profit organisation devoted to alcohol education; author, adviser and advocate Peer van der Kreeft who is responsible for De Sleutel (The Key), the largest organisation dealing with drug problems in Belgium, and from New Zealand author, speaker and community adviser Trevor Grice, the Founder Director of Life Education Trust in NZ. The speakers gave outstanding informative and motivating presentations to very positive response to the 200 delegates. International delegates greatly valued the opportunity to liaise with their Australian counterparts and to hear the speakers, and the Australian team are now getting requests from other international offices to come to Australia for training and to improve their teaching methods by incorporating some of the ideas tabled at the conference.
The conference offered an informative, entertaining and thought provoking two day program of speakers, workshops and schools showcase on the issue of Cyberbullying. It raised awareness of the issues associated with bullying both on and offline and provided a forum for teachers, principals, assistant principals and wellbeing/social service coordinators within the education sector, as well as social workers and law enforcement officers to improve their knowledge on how the latest approved methods are being used to tackle these issues within our community. The selected speakers are each internationally renowned and experts in their chosen fields. Award-winning anti-bullying educator, speaker and presenter Bill Belsey from Alberta, Canada, is the president and creator of the award-winning website www.bullying.org – the world’s most visited website about bullying. Mr Belsey is also the creator of www.cyberbullying.org and the founder of Canada’s annual Bullying Awareness Week. Dr Michel Boivin is Professor of Psychology and Canada Research Chair on Child Social Development at the School of Psychology of Laval University in Quebec, Canada. At the 2010 NCAB Conference Dr Boivin’s session examined the developmental importance of children’s peer relationships and the implications of research findings for early prevention of peer relation difficulties. The speakers, were well received and delegates commented on how the information they received on bullying and cyberbullying helped them in their day to day work, either by validating or improving their knowledge, as well as being engaging, thought provoking and providing useful strategies to use when addressing bullying issues. “Informative, worthwhile, professional and an inspirational conference on bullying.” Lisa Wilson, St James Primary Muswellbrook
Clockwise left to right Life Education Q&A Panel – Hubert Sacy (Keynote Speaker), Associate Professor Dan Lubman (ORYGEN Melbourne), Miranda Davis (Deakin University) and Trevor Grice (Keynote Speaker) Professor Michel Boivin, keynote speaker from Canada at Alannah and Madeline Foundation Conference
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 77
Conference Grants Paid 2009–10
Able Australia Services (formerly The Deafblind Association) To bring Mr Ges Roulstone, Director of International Relations, Sense UK, to the 8th National Deafblind Conference in Melbourne 28–30 April 2010.
5,000
The Alannah and Madeline Foundation To bring Mr Bill Belsey (expert on cybersafety from Canada) and Dr Michael Bolvin (expert on bullying from Canada) to the Navigating the Maze: Cybersafety, bullying and wellbeing solutions for schools, Melbourne, April 2010.
6,000
Australian National University: College of Arts and Social Sciences To bring Professor Chihiro Minato of Tama Art University, Dr Morgan Perkins of State University of New York and Dr Jan Mrazek of National University of Singapore to the In the Image of Asia: Moving across and between locations conference at Australian National University, April 2010.
5,000
Life Education Australia To bring Mr Hubert Sacy, Director General of Educ’alcool, Mr Trevor Grice, Director Life Education Trust in NZ and Mr Peer van der Kreeft, Leader of the EU-Dap Faculty Project, Ghent, Belgium, to the Head to Head with Life Ed – 2009 International Conference, Sydney, December 2009.
20,000
Mucopolysaccharide & Related Diseases Society Aust. Ltd To bring Professor Mark Sands, USA to the 11th International Symposium on Musupolysaccharde & related Diseases in Adelaide on 23–27 June 2010.
3,500
Swinburne University of Technology: Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences To bring Professor Wolfgang Katterle to the 22nd International Conference on Atomic Physics, Swinburne University of Technology, July 2010.
6,000
The Trustee for P2: People and Parks Foundation To bring Mr Steve Coleman (Director of Washington Parks and People) as keynote speaker to the 2010 International Healthy Parks, Healthy People Congress, Melbourne, 11–16 April 2010.
3,800
The University of Adelaide: Faculty of Science To bring Professor David Richardson and Professor Harm Rotermund as keynote speakers to the Australasian Conference on Optics, Lasers and Spectroscopy and Australian Conference on Optical Fibre Technology, University of Adelaide, November/December 2009.
5,000
The University of Adelaide: Humanities and Social Science To bring Mr Albert J Winn to the Drawing the Lines Against AIDS, The University of Adelaide, February 2010.
2,015
University of Melbourne: Education To bring Associate Professor Lenz Taguchi as keynote speaker to the annual Honouring the Child, Honouring Equity 9 international early childhood conference, University of Melbourne, November 2009.
1,500
University of Melbourne: Arts Centre for Public Policy/School of Social & Political Sciences To bring Professor Samaddar, Professor Sorpong Peou and Professor Raul Pangalangan as keynote speakers to the ‘Human Rights in Asia’ conference, University of Melbourne, October 2009.
3,500
University of New South Wales: Medicine To bring Professor Edwin Rubel, University of Washington, to the 7th Australasian Auditory Neuroscience Workshop, University of New South Wales, January 2010.
5,000
The University of Queensland: Faculty of Science To bring Professor Michelle Wang (Cornell University) and Professor Subir Sachdev (Harvard University) as keynote speakers to the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics XXIV Conference on Statistical Physics, University of Queensland, July 2010.
6,000
Total Conference $
THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PAGE 78
72,315
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