a shared vision grants report 2010–11 - the ian potter ... · pdf filegrants report...

A Shared VisionGrants Report 2010–11

Mr Charles Goode AC (Chairman)

The Hon. Sir James Gobbo AC CVO QC

Mr Allan Myers AO QC

Prof. Geoffrey Blainey AC

Mr John Gough AO OBE

Mr Frank Nelson

Mr Leon Davis AO

Prof. Thomas Healy AO

Dr P John Rose AO

The Hon. Sir Daryl DawsonAC KBE CB

Dr Thomas Hurley AO OBE

Prof. Graeme Ryan AC

Lady Potter AC

LIFE GOVERNOR GOVERNORS

STAFF

2 | The Ian Potter Foundation

CommunicationsAvalee Weir

Administration Gail LewryMiranda Hartcher-O’BrienSue Wilkinson

Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive OfficerSarah MacNeill

Chief Executive OfficerJanet Hirst

FinanceTherese Reidy

Program ManagementCaitriona FayAlberto FurlanClaire RimmerNicole McLeod

Introduction Governors and Staff

The Ian Potter Foundation, established by

Sir Ian Potter in 1964, is one of Australia’s

leading philanthropic foundations. Its

Governors and staff endeavour to uphold

Sir Ian’s legacy by supporting Australia’s

community leaders and innovators in

bringing positive change to our society.

The Foundation donates nationally,

supporting a wide range of projects

across many sectors of the community.

Governors and Staff 2

Funding Principles 4

Chairman’s Report 5

Chief Executive Officer’s Report 6

Facts and Figures 2010–11 7

Arts 8

Community Wellbeing 16

The Alec Prentice Sewell Gift 26

Education 30

Environment & Conservation 36

Healthy Communities 42

Medical Research 48

Science 52

Travel 56

Conference 62

Introduction Contents

Photo: Mark Strizic (1968)

Grants Report 2010–11 | 3


Introduction Funding Principles

Funding PrinciplesThe Ian Potter Foundation operates nine program areas:

the Arts, Community Wellbeing, Education, Environment

& Conservation, Healthy Communities, Medical Research,

Science, Travel, and Conference.

Grant-making across all program areas is underpinned

by the following six principles.

PartnershipsWe encourage collaborations and

partnerships that will benefit from

sharing knowledge and resources

to meet a mutual goal.

A commitment to excellenceWe support organisations, programs

and individuals who are outstanding

in their field in a national and

international context.

An “Innovate, Evaluate, Disseminate” strategyWe seek to fund programs and

projects that take a new approach

to problems. We then support their

evaluation and, where appropriate,

their replication in other locations

or contexts.

A focus on preventionIn 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.

Long-term thinking 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

after the term covered by the grant.

Potential for leverage Our grants have greater impact when

combined with support from other

sources. These might include other

trusts and foundations, government,

business or volunteers. We are happy

to be one of a number of supporters

of a program.


Chairman’s ReportEach year The Ian Potter Foundation’s Annual Grants Report

provides an opportunity to reflect on the Foundation’s

contribution, take stock of what we have achieved over

the last 12 months, and identify the areas that challenge us.

Introduction Chairman’s Report

Ensuring that the grants we make

provide the greatest possible benefit

to the community is not as simple as

it may sound. The role of the Governors

and staff of the Foundation is to uphold

Sir Ian’s legacy and hold true to the

principles he established, which remain

as relevant today as they were in the

beginning.

In the 47 years since the Foundation was

established the world has changed at

a pace and on a scale that few could have

imagined. And while the Foundation’s

principles have not changed, the

environment in which we operate and

the scale and complexity of the issues

faced by society clearly have. Our

ongoing challenge is to identify where

we can have the most beneficial impact

by supporting people and ideas with the

best chance of making a difference.

Our key principles of excellence,

innovation, prevention and sustainability

remain central to how we meet that

challenge. Leverage from our grant

giving is also key. Often we try to

fund in ways that provide a catalyst

or incentive for other funding from

government, corporations or private

donors and this creates momentum for

change on a much larger scale than we

could achieve alone. Several of the grants

featured in this year’s Grants Report

illustrate this, including the $1.5 million

for the Menzies School of Health Research

to begin a highly innovative Centre for

Child Development and Education.

The theme of this year’s report is

“A Shared Vision”, and as we reach the

milestone of the Foundation’s 10,000th

grant, we reflect on the intent of the

many people and organisations we

support so as to bring about positive

change and make a meaningful

contribution to our community.

The Ian Potter Foundation shares a vision

similar to that of many of Australia’s

other philanthropic foundations

and trusts. We are proud to work

collaboratively with them at a sector

level, to promote philanthropy and build

sector capacity; and at a grant-making

level, to share learnings and increase the

impact of our funding. As members of

Philanthropy Australia and the Australian

Environmental Grantmakers Network,

we actively participate in a range of

committees and development programs.

Janet Hirst, our chief executive officer,

is a member of the Victorian Philanthropy

and Government Working Group and sits

as a member on several advisory boards,

as do other members of our staff. This

involvement is an important aspect of

the Foundation’s ongoing commitment

to supporting the growth of Australia’s

philanthropic sector.

Philanthropy in Australia contributes

more than $1 billion each year to the

community and is playing an increasingly

vital role in both the Australian economy

and the health of many community

sectors. It is important that the

philanthropic sector grows and

develops, and we are proud to play

our part in this shared effort.

Charles Goode AC

In the 47 years since the

Foundation was established

the world has changed

at a pace and on a scale that

few could have imagined.

NUMBER: VALUE:

222 $9.9 million

Grants Paid 2010–11


Introduction Chief Executive Officer’s Report

Grants

During this financial year, our Board

of Governors approved grants totalling

$12.4 million, bringing to $160 million the

value of grants paid by The Ian Potter

Foundation since its establishment

in 1964.

In this year’s report we look at how our

grants represent a “shared vision” – and

how philanthropy can collaborate with

groups in the community towards a

mutually desired outcome. One example

is the Leading Learning in Education and

Philanthropy (LLEAP) project, which

addresses the impact of philanthropy in

education. The Foundation supports the

LLEAP project through a grant to the

Australian Council for Education Research

(ACER). In Australia philanthropy has

a long relationship with education, one

that we believe supports innovation,

encourages new ideas and expands the

educational experience. The project

will document and share best practice

approaches to improving educational

outcomes and will explore opportunities

for greater collaboration to build capacity

in education and philanthropic sectors.

Good philanthropy involves more

than giving grants; it is strengthened

by considering new concepts, by

developing and maintaining relationships

with grantees and by a commitment to

sharing and disseminating knowledge.

The success of the LLEAP project has

been enhanced by the close working

relationship between the ACER team

and the Foundation, as well as our

involvement in the working group

and the Advisory Committee.

Our Team

This year we restructured our Program

Management Team to better meet the

needs and objectives of the organisation

and enhance internal career development

opportunities. Two new roles were

created: that of senior program manager

and that of program officer. The latter,

as an introductory-level role within the

Program Management Team, offers

the incumbent an opportunity to gain

hands-on grant management skills and

knowledge while giving vital support

to program managers.

Technology

The Foundation’s communications

objectives include provision of accessible

and relevant information, promoting

understanding of the Foundation’s

objectives and principles, and increasing

two-way communication with applicants

and grantees. A 2010 applicant survey

confirmed that our website is the primary

source of information for potential

applicants and for those interested in

learning about grantee projects and

philanthropy.

To help achieve its aims, the Foundation

is embracing technology, including social

media. We now have a Facebook page

which is providing a forum for sharing

and receiving information and ideas, and

we are in the process of reviewing and

modernising our website to make it more

intuitive and interactive and to improve

the quality and accessibility of the

information it provides.

Our grant giving is guided by our funding

principles. No matter how diverse our

grants, they share a common core

of attributes: inspirational leadership,

a passion for making a difference in our

community and a vision for the future.

As ever, I am inspired and excited by the

calibre of the projects we have funded

and I look forward to seeing each one

progress and make its contribution to

a vibrant, progressive and healthy nation

– a vision many of us share.

My thanks as always go to the Board

of Governors for their leadership and

to our skilled and committed staff for

their wonderful contribution to the

work of the Foundation.

Janet Hirst

Chief Executive Officer’s Report

Good philanthropy involves

more than giving grants;

it is strengthened by

considering new concepts,

by developing and maintaining

relationships with grantees and

by a commitment to sharing

and disseminating knowledge.


VALUE:

Fundraising Report

Introduction Facts and Figures

Percentage of Total Grants (by value)

Facts and Figures 2010–11

In September 2010, The Ian Potter Foundation held

a fundraising event at a performance by The Australian

Ballet of The Nutcracker. The company’s artistic director,

David McAllister AM, gave guests a private introduction

to the performance. Our special guest, Darcey Bussell CBE,

former principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, then spoke

about the importance of partnerships in dance.

The Foundation holds Deductible Gift Recipient status and

is tax exempt under the income tax legislation that applies

to public funds. For a charitable fund to be classed as a public

fund, it must invite the public to make donations and must

actually receive such donations. It is of course essential that

the Foundation maintain its tax exemption status so that we

can maximise our contribution to the community.

This year donors were invited to specify whether their

donation should be directed to the Foundation’s general

charitable purposes or to support a regional arts program.

The event raised $2,890, of which $900 was directed to

regional arts as part of a $10,000 grant made to Bunbury

Regional Arts Management Board for their South West

Arts Incubator project.

The Chairman and Board of Governors of The Ian Potter

Foundation thank our donors for their generous support

of the Foundation’s work.

Value of Grants

$1,980,938

$2,510,605

$2,547,000

$479,500

$875,000

$1,039,850

$69,392

$201,611

$2,133,713

$566,280

Number of Grants

42

62

4

11

8

17

2

8

38

20

Grants Approved

16% Arts 4% Healthy Communities

20% Community Wellbeing 7% Medical Research

5% Alec Prentice Sewell Gift 8% Science

17% Education 1% Travel

21% Environment & Conservation 2% Conference

NUMBER:

212Note: The figures quoted in the program area reviews and grants

lists represent grants approved during the last financial year. This

means that the Board of Governors approved these applications

for funding within the reporting period. Payment of these approved

grants will be made according to the individual funding agreement

made with each grantee; some grants may be paid over several years.

$12,403,889


Number of grants:

42Value:

$2m

Arts

Ph

oto

: M

alt

ho

use T

heatr

e


The arts sector can be likened to a tree: each part is

vital to the whole. Individual artists, as the roots, feed a

strong and flexible trunk made up of small to medium arts

organisations, and in turn the trunk supports and nurtures

a large and lush canopy of major national institutions and

professional companies and organisations.

And in the arts, as with a tree, the

whole is so much more than the sum

of its parts. The Ian Potter Foundation’s

funding model for the arts feeds in to

each of these parts, seeking to make

a meaningful contribution to the vitality

and longevity of the whole and ultimately

to the cultural life of our nation. At an

individual level most of our investment

is made through the separate entity

of The Ian Potter Cultural Trust. For the

Foundation, having made significant

investments in our major institutions

in preceding years, the past year has

been largely focused on nourishing

the strong trunk.

The $8 million commitment to The

Australian Ballet, made in the financial

year 2009–10, has been extremely

effective in helping the Ballet to

leverage additional donations from

both philanthropic and private sources.

The grant was made up of two parts:

a $4 million donation and a further

matching grant, whereby the Foundation

agreed to match each new donation

to The Australian Ballet dollar for dollar

to a maximum of $4 million within

five years. The Ballet has used every

opportunity to communicate the

challenge to their donors and audiences,

using it to great effect.

Indeed, overall there has been an upward

trend in philanthropic support for the arts,

with surveys showing that private and

foundation giving is poised to overtake

corporate sponsorship as the biggest

supporter of the sector. According to

the Australian Business Arts Foundation

(ABaF), private giving has risen

80 per cent in the last decade, which

reflects both heightened interest in

philanthropy and a change in the way

many arts organisations are structuring

their fundraising in response to broader

economic trends and influences. In such

times, adaptability and responsiveness

become vital criteria for success.

We are excited about the many

grassroots programs we funded that help

cultivate talent and interest and which

should deliver rich rewards in the future.

Education continues to be a prominent

focus of our Arts program and we made

more than 30 education-focused grants

targeting students of all ages and levels

of arts experience.

Some of these work to nurture the

potential of promising young students

at primary and secondary levels. Other

education programs we funded this year

seek to interest and educate children and

young people in the arts and to increase

their future engagement. One example

of this is the “MAKE” Primary Education

Program at the Australian Centre for

Contemporary Art (featured overleaf).

Complementing these initiatives, we also

supported several wonderful enrichment

programs that provide professional

development opportunities, offering

support for individuals and helping to

ensure that the sector is fed with skilled

and experienced talent coming up

through the ranks.

Regional arts are a key element of our

commitment to supporting the arts

nationally. This is also a strand of our

funding that regularly delivers novel

and creative responses to the need to

provide strong, relevant and engaging

arts experiences to regional Australia.

One great example is Country Arts (WA)

and their brilliant “Out There” Youth Arts

Leadership Program. This involves the

trial of a new mentoring model to help an

Indigenous community in a remote area

of Western Australia to develop its ability

to deliver arts activities without needing

ongoing support from external agencies.

In terms of impact, capacity building

programs of all kinds continue to be a

fundamentally important component

of our arts funding. Geared towards

helping these organisations reach their

potential are grants ranging from smaller

sums such as $15,000 to Astra Chamber

Music Society, to enable them to employ

specialists to help them build their profile

and audience, through to a multi-year

grant of $81,000 to Castlemaine Art

Gallery and Historical Museum to further

develop and evaluate their successful

education program.

It is our hope that each project

contributes to the development of the

sector as a whole and – to return to the

tree analogy – fosters strong, dynamic

growth that helps the sector thrive.

Arts In Review

We are excited about the

many grassroots programs

we funded this year that help

cultivate talent and interest

and which should deliver rich

rewards in the future.

ImageMalthouse Theatre

Education Commission 2011: Terry Yeboah and

Natasha Herbert in Happiness


Thinking ArtContemporary art. Love it, hate it or find it slightly mystifying,

it will always spark a conversation – even among nine year olds.

Take Indi from Doveton Primary School

who, while taking part in the Australian

Centre for Contemporary Art’s new

“MAKE” Primary Education Program,

pondered, “I wonder how the artists got

their ideas”; or her classmate, Evan, who

commented, “I like it but I have never seen

anything like it before.”

Before their Grade 4 class visit to the

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art

(ACCA), Indi and Evan, like their classmates

– indeed, like most primary school students

– had had little first-hand exposure to

contemporary art, let alone the opportunity

to explore and understand the philosophy

and thinking behind it.

Given the growing interest in contemporary

art in Australia, ACCA identified an

enormous opportunity to educate and

inspire young audiences and engage them

in this thought-provoking art. ACCA’s

“MAKE” program provides children and

their teachers with a stimulating session

to explore and learn about contemporary

art. A tour and a “thinking” session are

followed by a special art-making workshop,

which allows students to develop their

understanding of the process and ideas

behind art practice and develop their

conceptual and practical art-making skills.

The ultimate objective of all this is to

remove barriers to accessing contemporary

art; and, to further support this aim,

the program is offered free to schools,

including the bus to get there!

“Children learn through play and through

touch, feel and experience. This program

gives them the tools to do this and

encourages them to think in new ways and

ask questions that they would not have

thought to ask otherwise,” says Caitlin

Malcolm, ACCA’s public and education

program manager. “It is amazing to watch

their minds open and thoughts develop

over the course of a 90 minute session.”

As we observed a group of Grade 1

students from Melbourne Girls’ Grammar

School go through the program, those

thoughts and questions came thick and

fast following a theory session surrounded

by Nathan Coley’s works, which included

an entire room painted in bold blue “razzle

dazzle”. “Why did Nathan Coley want us

to be IN his sculptures?” asked one. From

her classmates, the theories were quickly

posed: “Because he wanted us to be part

of his art”; “Because he wants it to be real”;

“Because he thought it would make the art

be alive”; and, well, “Because he just likes it!”

“Contemporary art is about thinking and

ideas, and building deeper understanding,”

says Caitlin. “We’re running four or five of

these sessions a day at the moment and

no two are the same – each response is

unique. The children take the ideas home

and discuss them, the teachers receive

materials to use for classroom follow-up

and the thinking flows over into other

work they are doing. We often find that

the children bring their parents back to the

gallery to show them and tell them what

they have learnt.”

The “MAKE” workshops are designed

to complement the Victorian school

curriculum, making these a valuable

addition to classroom activities. In 2011

ACCA expects to run at least 80 “MAKE”

workshops, reaching about 2,000 children,

particularly targeting schools in areas

that normally have limited access to such

resources. It is hoped that the number

of participants will grow to 5,000 per year

within three years.

With those numbers, and judging by the

thoughtful and focused responses of the

children we observed, it seems likely that

contemporary art in Melbourne can look

forward to an informed and interested

audience in years to come.

THE AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, VIC

PROJECT:

“MAKE” Primary Education Program

GRANT:

$75,000 over three years

www.accaonline.org.au

Arts Feature

Image aboveSticky business: students from Noble Park Primary School try “razzle dazzle”

Image rightArt in the round: students discuss the current ACCA exhibition as part of “MAKE”


Arts Feature

“ Children learn through play and through

touch, feel and experience. This program

gives them the tools to do this and

encourages them to think in new ways

and ask questions that they would not

have thought to ask otherwise.”


ASTRA CHAMBER MUSIC

SOCIETY, VIC

Audience + Capacity building = ASTRA into the next decadeEngage a marketing specialist

to conduct an audit of Astra’s

communications media and systems,

review existing audience sectors,

identify new target sectors and

prepare a marketing plan. A publicity

specialist will also be engaged to

review Astra’s promotions framework

and, in conjunction with the marketing

recommendations, prepare and trial

a publicity plan for Astra concerts,

scores and recordings in 2011.

$15,000

AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW, VIC

ABR Fiftieth Anniversary Editorial Internship An intensive six month–long editorial

internship for a recent Editing/

Publishing/Journalism graduate. The

intern will work full-time at the ABR,

working closely with the editor and

deputy editor, gaining invaluable

first-hand experience in all aspects

of magazine production.

$20,000

AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR

CONTEMPORARY ART, VIC

“MAKE” Contemporary Art Workshops for Primary StudentsWorkshops that aim to engage primary

school–age children in the theory,

language and making of contemporary

art, offering them a sensory, aesthetic

and intellectual opportunity that brings

them into contact with the frontier of

art practice and ideas and encourages

greater experimentation and adventure

within their own creative development.


AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER

CHOIR INC., VIC

Australia-wide Audience Development for the Australian Chamber Choir (ACC)Building on the successful audience

development activities that the Choir has

carried out in Europe and Victoria, ACC

will take their performances to Sydney,

Canberra, Adelaide and several regional

centres in New South Wales and South

Australia. The Choir will also work to

establish partnerships with local

choirs in these areas.

$10,000

Arts Grants Approved 2010–11

AUSTRALIAN YOUTH

ORCHESTRA, NSW

AYO National Music Camp Composition ProgramTraining and mentoring for Australian

composers aged 18 to 30. During an

intense two-week period, participants

will write, workshop and have their

compositions performed by professional

musicians from Australia’s leading

orchestras. Participants will be tutored

by Australian composer Paul Stanhope.

$20,000 over two years

ART GALLERY OF

SOUTH AUSTRALIA, SA

Greening of the Gallery – Re-visioning the Elder WingExtending the scope of The Ian Potter

Foundation–supported Greening of the

Gallery, a project to improve lighting as

part of the refurbishment of the galleries

in the Elder Wing and the reconfiguration

of the collection displays in these

galleries. The refurbishment project

celebrates the gallery’s 130th birthday.

$52,500

BACK TO BACK THEATRE INC., VIC

School of Performance and New Knowledge (SPANK) 2011The artistic-associate six ensemble

members of Back to Back Theatre and

a series of guest artists will work with six

talented young people with intellectual

disabilities on the creation of a new

theatre work. As the work is developed

the group will present four informal

showings to their families, friends,

peer artists and community members.

$10,000

BUNBURY REGIONAL ARTS

MANAGEMENT BOARD, WA

South West Arts IncubatorEstablish an artist-run “incubator”

space at Bunbury Regional Art Galleries

(BRAG) and provide the artists running

it with the mentoring, training and

resources they will need to manage

it successfully into the future. The

project comes in direct response to the

needs of artists in south-west Western

Australia, as discovered in an Ian Potter

Foundation–funded Summit run by

BRAG in 2010. (Recipient of The Ian

Potter Foundation’s 2010 fundraising

program.)

$10,000

CHAMBER MUSIC

AUSTRALIA INC., VIC

Chamber Music UncoveredTrial three new education programs

to expand Chamber Music Australia’s

masterclass series into a more widely

encompassing program that meets

the needs and interests of practising

musicians and interested members of the

public. The project will take place during

the 6th Melbourne International Chamber

Music Competition.

$20,000

COUNTRY ARTS (WA) INC., WA

Out There Youth Arts Leadership ProgramCreate opportunities for Indigenous

young people in Burringurrah, Shire

of Upper Gascoyne (Western Australia),

to participate in arts projects and trial

a three-tier mentoring model to work

to develop the community’s ability and

capacity to deliver arts activities on an

ongoing basis without external support.


CASTLEMAINE ART GALLERY

AND HISTORICAL MUSEUM, VIC

Castlemaine Art Gallery Community Education ProgramSupport over three years to enable

Castlemaine Museum and Art Gallery

to deliver and enhance its newly

developed community education

program, enabling it to establish

and comprehensively evaluate the

program. Program innovations

include a specialised program

for kindergarten students

and grandparents.

$81,000



MALTHOUSE THEATRE, VIC

Malthouse Theatre Annual Education Commission – In 2011 this will be HappinessA new curriculum-linked initiative for Year 9 and

10 Theatre and Drama students that enables

them to be engaged actively in the conception

and creation of a new theatre production.


ImageParticipants in the Malthouse Theatre Education Commission 2011, Happiness

Ph

oto

: M

alt

ho

use T

heatr

e

DECKCHAIR THEATRE INC., WA

Deckchair Theatre’s Emerging Artist ProgramAn opportunity for two emerging

artists – designers, playwrights, directors

or dramaturges – to be mentored by

professional artists for a year. The artists

will also be invited to develop, create and

present their own work at Victoria Hall in

a “creative development fortnight” with

structured support and advice from

their mentors.


FREMANTLE CHILDREN’S

LITERATURE CENTRE INC., WA

Youth Literature Day and Young Writers’ Day programs in metropolitan and regional WA (2011–2014), with a dedicated website to be established and trialled (2011–2014)Nurture the talents of young writers

through creative writing workshops

with Australia’s top authors of books

for young adults, and establish a new

interactive website where participants

can publish their work, discuss

workshops and literature, and post

book reviews and recommendations.


GEELONG PERFORMING

ARTS CENTRE, VIC

GPAC Education – Living and Breathing Theatre ArtsA variety of workshops for primary and

secondary students from across the

Geelong region seeking to build deeper

connections with theatre and develop

theatre craft skills. The skills developed

within the programs can be applied

back at school or further utilised within

the workforce. The program ultimately

aims to promote a lifelong interest in

theatre arts.

$25,000

GERTRUDE CONTEMPORARY

ART SPACES INC., VIC

The Emerging Writers ProgramSupport the partnering of four mentors

with four young emerging visual arts

writers from across Australia committed

to a career in contemporary art writing

and criticism. The program aims to

contribute to the growth of a rich and

insightful critical culture in relation

to contemporary art.

$18,000

JUST US THEATRE ENSEMBLE, QLD

Emerging Regional Director Development ProgramPilot a new professional development

model for young and emerging regional

theatre directors. The key goals of the

program are to develop a higher quality of

theatre for regional audiences to engage

with and to offer the new model for use

by other regional theatre companies.

$19,000

LA BOITE THEATRE INC., QLD

La Boite Scratch Program A year-long program in which five

carefully selected emerging artists

curate ten “scratch” showings at La Boite

Theatre. With support from the Theatre,

they will have the opportunity to test

audience reactions to a theatrical work

in development. It is proposed that

Scratch will feed La Boite’s Indie

and mainstage seasons.

$20,000

MELBOURNE YOUTH MUSIC

COUNCIL INC., VIC

Junior Strings ProgramMentoring and sectional rehearsals with

40 Melbourne Youth Junior Strings

students during the program’s weekly

two-hour full rehearsals. One specialist

tutor will be appointed for each section

of the ensemble – Violin I, Violin II, Viola,

Cello and Double Bass – and will provide

detailed instruction in instrumental

technique and on the music that will

be selected for students to play as

part of the 2011 program.

$10,000

MORE THAN OPERA, VIC

Meraviglia – The Marvel of OperaDevelop, and trial in primary schools,

a one-hour opera comedy for children

to teach them about opera and introduce

them to the Italian language. More Than

Opera also proposes to develop an online

VELS curriculum-linked resource to help

teachers tutor their students before the

session and enable learning to

continue afterwards.

$10,000

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY

ART LIMITED, NSW

MCA Online CollectionDevelopment of a publicly accessible

multi-media online database for MCA’s

permanent collection. The project is

part of a larger strategy to make the

MCA collection available online. It will

contribute to establishing the MCA as

an international “learning hub” and is

a crucial step in MCA’s efforts to widen

physical and intellectual access to

contemporary art.

$50,000

NT WRITERS’ CENTRE INC., NT

NT Indigenous Writers’ Professional DevelopmentProvide professional and skills

development opportunities for

Indigenous writers from the Northern

Territory, for whom access to industry

support and development programs can

be difficult. This program aims to help

the writers learn how the writing industry

across Australia operates. It also presents

an opportunity to establish important

networks and contacts.

$10,000


Photo: Bohdan Warchomij


PERTH INSTITUTE OF

CONTEMPORARY ARTS LIMITED, WA

Growing Future InnovatorsA trial introduction of recommendations

made in an extended scoping study that

reviewed local, national and international

policy and programs relating to arts,

education and innovation, this is

a three-year pilot with metropolitan

and regional schools in Western

Australia using the contemporary

arts to educate for innovation.

$50,000

OBJECT – AUSTRALIAN CENTRE

FOR CRAFT AND DESIGN, NSW

Design EmergencyA pilot learning program delivered

in schools whereby students use design

methodology to come up with creative

solutions to things that they have

identified as challenges in their own lives.

The program aims to engage students

with creative thinking skills.

$40,000

PROPEL YOUTH ARTS WA INC., WA

The Amplifier workshop and forum seriesA program that aims to improve the

arts business skills of young and

emerging artists and arts workers to

help them make their practice or project

commercially viable. An expansion of a

program that ran successfully in 2009,

this Amplifier series offers more events

and a regional workshop component

to increase the number of young and

emerging artists who might benefit.

$14,000

QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL,

QLD

Music Enhancement Program for Indigenous Students in Cape York and the Torres StraitEnhance music education for students

in three schools in Yarrabah, Bamaga

and Thursday Island through the delivery

of a music education initiative in which

they will learn about film composition

with composer Peter Kaldor and through

the provision of teacher resources.

The project will culminate in a visit

from the Queensland Youth Orchestra

during QMF 2011, when students will

hear a live performance by, and have

the opportunity to engage with, Youth

Orchestra members.

$18,000

RIVERLAND YOUTH

THEATRE INC., SA

Monomyth – Contemporary Theatre Workshops seriesThe project provides disadvantaged

and disengaged young people with

creative learning opportunities in skills

not traditionally available in the Riverland

region. It aims to re-engage this group

with mainstream education and work

environments by creating avenues and

opportunities for them – for example,

through workshops and mentorships

in set design, stage management

and directing. The series ends with a

performance that will explore heroism

in contemporary youth culture.

$10,000

SOUTH EAST REGIONAL TOURING

OPERA COMPANY LTD, VIC

Melbourne Opera Regional Touring and Young Artists’ Employment & Education ProgramSupport for at least 12 regional

performances of professional full-

scale opera or concerts, incorporating

a significant number of performance

opportunities for young artists. In

most cases, Melbourne Opera offers

the only full-scale professional opera

performances in these regional areas.


SPARE PARTS PUPPET

THEATRE INC., WA

FirstHandA pilot graduate development program

delivered in partnership with Edith

Cowan University (ECU) that will involve

two ECU graduates per year being

given professional training, paid work

experience and individual mentoring

in the art of puppetry at Spare Parts

Puppet Theatre. The program will be

trialled over three years and will be

monitored and assessed by members

of ECU’s CREATEC research centre to

enable it to develop and evolve under

a focused research agenda.


TANGENTYERE COUNCIL, NT

Yarrenyty Arltere ArtistsDeliver workshops in printmaking,

textiles, watercolour and soft sculpture

in Yarrenyty Arltere Town Camp,

teaching residents new skills and

allowing them to develop existing skills

in producing beautiful art objects that

are gaining critical acclaim.

$10,000

ImageBird by Dulcie Sharpe, June 2011



THE HAHNDORF ACADEMY

FOUNDATION INC., SA

Family Frivolities – workshops and twilight celebrationIntroduce an educational element to

this year’s Family Frivolities event via

the presentation of a week of visual

art workshops for community members.

Community members will participate

in the construction of objects and

installations that express elements

of the community personality and

set the scene for the Family

Frivolities event.

$5,000

SPINAL INJURIES

ASSOCIATION INC., QLD

Art ExtravaganzaTalented artists in Townsville will work

with and be inspired by Spinal Injuries

Association members (people with a

spinal cord injury), creating pieces and

performances that will be showcased

at a public event, “Art Extravaganza”.

Art Extravaganza will feature music,

prose, visual arts, theatre, and a youth

section in which graffiti and rap artists

will be featured. The project was

subsequently renamed “ARTscape”.

$10,000

SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA

CHOIRS, NSW

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs 2011 Regional Outreach ProgramTour a program of a cappella music to

five regional centres in New South Wales

and deliver singing workshops, providing

access to high-quality choral music for

audiences that have little access to this

type of activity and an opportunity

to develop local singers and singing

groups’ skills and ambitions.

$10,000

TASDANCE, TAS

Active Audiences: Tasdance audience engagement programA holistic program that will equip

audiences with the interpretive tools

to help them fully connect with and

enjoy Tasdance performances and will

enable them to become active, engaged

audiences for contemporary dance in

general. The program aims to demystify

contemporary dance in order to attract

more people to contemporary dance

performances.

$10,000

THE SONG ROOM INC., VIC

Singing in HarmonyCreative arts workshops targeting

primary schools in socio-economically

disadvantaged regions in south-east

Melbourne, Geelong and regional

Victoria, incorporating insights into

opera singing, acting, stagecraft and

music. A partnership program with

Melbourne Opera.

$35,000

THE WHEELER CENTRE, VIC

The Wheeler Centre VCE English ProgramA curriculum-linked program for

VCE students involving weekly after-

school sessions at The Wheeler Centre

discussing texts on the VCE English

curriculum. The program aims to extend

students’ appreciation of the works

they are studying, engaging them

with literature and ideas beyond

the classroom.


WEST AUSTRALIAN

YOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA

ASSOCIATION INC., WA

The West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra (WAYJO)/Jim McNeely Composition, Workshop and Performance ProjectCommission Jim McNeely to compose

a piece for WAYJO. McNeely will rehearse

and then perform the piece with West

Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra at

five different concerts, including three

concerts for school students, and will

run a workshop/masterclass for WAYJO’s

60-plus players.

$10,000

WESTERN EDGE

YOUTH ARTS INC., VIC

Identity TalesThe creation of a complex, multi-

layered community theatre work that

will engage a large cross-section of the

culturally and linguistically diverse and

economically disadvantaged Flemington

community – mainly people living in

Housing Commission flats – through

a performance that explores and

celebrates the cultural complexity

of the community.

$30,000

THE IAN POTTER

CULTURAL TRUST, VIC

Three grants were made to The Ian

Potter Cultural Trust which were

distributed to 84 emerging artists and

the two The Ian Potter Music Commission

Fellows. For further detail please refer

to the Annual Grants Report of the

Cultural Trust.

$497,848

THE NEW ENGLAND

CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSIC

LIMITED, NSW

Outreach Music Education ProgramIntroduce up to 1,600 children in

New England and the north-west

regions of New South Wales to music

through a program of education

activities that culminate in a chamber

music performance at their school.

Currently these children rarely see live

music performances and have limited

access to music education. Also

build generalist teachers’ capacity

to teach music and encourage

them to include music tuition in

their classes on an ongoing basis.

$36,080


Community Wellbeing

Number of grants:

62Value:

$2.5m


Collectively the hundreds of applications

we receive in this area help us to gain a

sense of the most promising approaches

and to understand the ways in which

Australia’s leading community

organisations are working to address some

of the nation’s most complex problems.

One key purpose of our funding this

year has been to empower organisations

to build internal capacity to improve

outcomes and increase productivity at

an organisational level and a sector level.

As the Foundation strives to fund for

maximum impact, we have prioritised

funding for a range of capacity-

building and benchmarking programs.

A notable example is a major project

being managed by MacKillop Family

Services, which is undertaking a sector-

wide benchmarking study to identify

best practice “back of house” support

services within the not-for-profit sector.

Encompassing 14 partner organisations,

including Berry Street and the

Brotherhood of St Laurence, this study

will assess seven areas of administration

and support services identified as

holding the highest potential for cost

savings and efficiencies at a sector

level. The findings will also be published

nationally, allowing the wider sector to

access the information and be equipped

to make better business decisions.

At an organisational level, as another

example of the effectiveness of timely

capacity-building grants, a grant was

made to the Victorian Women’s Housing

Association, which provides low-cost

housing to women and families in

crisis. The grant will assist in employing

a property manager to manage the

association’s increasing portfolio of

properties. The role will be self-funding

within two years – effectively achieving

that most desirable yet elusive outcome:

sustainability.

We continue to be inspired and excited

by the rise of social enterprises and their

success in achieving both independence

and sustainability while bringing tangible

and measurable benefits to participants

and the broader community. Although

the concept of social enterprise is not

new, the sector seems to be reaching a

critical mass, attracting more investors

and support from a range of sources,

both private and government.

Among the social enterprises supported

by the Foundation this year, Project

Respect is a truly innovative community

enterprise that provides specialist

support, training and employment

for women who have been caught up

in the sex industry, including many who

have been subjects of sex trafficking.

The concept recognises the significant

disadvantage and discrimination that

these women face in trying to move out

of the industry and provides pathways

for them to gain experience and skills.

The establishment of a food catering

service enterprise has given the women

opportunities for hands-on training

and learning in a range of hospitality

and business skills. The service uses

a Foundation-funded delivery vehicle

to transport the food to businesses

around the Melbourne CBD. The

enterprise is expected to be

sustainable within a few years.

This year we have supported several

other social enterprises, including The

Social Studio, which supports young

refugees; and an exciting multi-partner

social enterprise being directed by a

new organisation, E Qubed. The latter

is planning a new Centre for Innovation

and Enterprise Excellence in the northern

Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows

designed, constructed and managed

by a cohort of disengaged local youth.

The prevention of homelessness

continues to be a key focus for grants,

with more than 40 per cent of our total

Community Wellbeing funding directed

towards it this year. We are striving to

identify catalytic programs that address

the causes of homelessness and put a

spoke in the wheel of inter-generational

disadvantage that feeds the problem.

The relatively new process of Expression

of Interest has been fruitful and beneficial

as we work with key organisations to find

best practice programs and the most

productive funding opportunities. One

project funded this year is Melbourne

Citymission’s Pathways program,

a promising initiative that is the

subject of our feature story (overleaf).

In addition, our Community Wellbeing

program area continues to support a raft

of other worthwhile grassroots projects,

each not only fulfilling a distinct need

in the community but also helping the

Foundation to meet its own objectives

of encouraging community volunteering

and helping to alleviate disadvantage.

Community Wellbeing In Review

The projects funded through our dynamic Community

Wellbeing program area are a barometer – in range

and scope – of the key issues at play in the community.

The hundreds of applications

we receive in this area help

us to gain a sense of the most

promising approaches and to

understand the ways in which

Australia’s leading community

organisations are working to

address some of the nation’s

most complex problems.

ImageHelen Morse and the

Tivoli Lovelies in KAGE’s Sundowner


Community Wellbeing Feature


A Better PathYou certainly sense that something pretty special is

going on when you see the faces of the young people

taking part in the Pathways program as they work in their

new multi-media room, totally engrossed in what they are

doing. They barely look up when a group of strangers walks

into the room.

Community Wellbeing Feature

MELBOURNE CITYMISSION, VIC

PROJECT:

Education Pathways for Young

People

GRANT:


www.melbournecitymission.org.au Pathways is a holistic support program

targeting young people aged 16 to 21

years who are homeless or at risk of

being homeless. It provides a raft of

support programs, including crisis and

medium-term accommodation and

accredited education programs. What

makes this initiative unique is what

Steve Maillet describes as a “continuum

of support”. The Pathways model keeps

going where others may stop, and the

participants in the program have ongoing

stepping stones, so there is always an

answer to the question “Where do I go

from here?”

“I think it is the ongoing care that makes

the difference: the consistency of a

friendly face, the trust that’s developed

and the links that are maintained even if

people move away from the program for

some reason.” Vanessa Arcadi-Rendina,

the youth social worker who coordinates

the program explains “We keep in touch

and they can always come back”.

Not surprisingly, most of them stay.

The program has a new purpose-

built “precinct” in Fitzroy that houses

crisis accommodation, medium-term

accommodation, offices, meeting rooms

and the jewel in its crown: the Multi-

media Education Room. This is where

we met a small group of Pathways

participants, some working at the bank

of shiny new Macs set up against the

wall and others acting out and filming

sequences for their group project, a film.

The Creative Industries (multi-media)

program, which is accredited within the

Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning

(VCAL), is an exciting, flexible solution

for these young people who, for any

number of reasons, can’t re-integrate into

a mainstream classroom setting at this

stage of their lives.

Among the group, 19-year-old Toni

stands out as a pint-sized ball of energy

and enthusiasm. Initially, she started in

the Pathways program through a pre-

vocational training program component

known as Wheels, which teaches literacy,

numeracy and driving skills. As she has

progressed, Toni has blossomed and is

taking on greater challenges. Asked what

it is she likes about the program, she says

thoughfully, “It’s just kinda cool.

It’s fun, I can’t wait to get here in the

mornings and I am always here early.

I like being with the others, there

is a great atmosphere, and even the

teachers … sometimes we teach each

other – it’s like two-way learning.”

Toni now aspires to a career in media,

probably film, and recently acted as MC

at a schools’ film competition, something

that was previously unimaginable for her.

“All the kids in the program have multiple,

complex barriers,” explains Steve Maillet.

“They have experienced homelessness,

suffered family breakdown and lacked

educational pathways, which means

their individual potential has never

been tapped.

“Pathways helps to connect the dots for

them, gives them options and helps them

set and reach achievable goals. Little

successes like completing a coffee-

making course, or bigger ones like

getting a learner permit, build confidence

and help them work up a CV. From

there, doors start to open and they see

possibilities for employment or further

education. We work at a pace that suits

each individual and take ‘soft steps’

towards engagement.”

MCM also works with and relies on an

array of corporate partners, mentors and

supporters to fulfil the many components

of the program, as well as partnering

with other youth support organisations

such as St Kilda Youth Service. The Ian

Potter Foundation’s grant has assisted

with some equipment costs and the

employment of a Pathways facilitator.

“It is the collaborations, layers and range

of options that lead to success”, says

Steve, “so we can always answer the

question: ‘What’s next?’”

Pathways’ longer-term intervention

model is delivering real outcomes

and MCM’s team has great hopes for

its continued growth and evolution,

including expansion into Melbourne’s

outer growth corridors. “We can’t do

it on our own,” says Steve, “Pathways

would not be what it is without the

partnerships we have now, and this will

continue to be vital as we expand to

help more young people to find their

individual path.”

“Pathways helps to connect

the dots for them, gives them

options and helps them set

and reach achievable goals.”

ImagePathways participants try the new technology in the sound studio


ADELAIDE DAY CENTRE FOR

HOMELESS PERSONS INC., SA

Housing Stabilisation Program for Homeless and Those at Risk of HomelessnessSupport for homeless people moving into

accommodation to ease the transition

and help to stabilise “at risk” tenancies.

Grant money will be used to purchase

furniture, household items and food

which, along with donated items, will be

given to homeless families or individuals

moving in to accommodation. Outreach

services to families or individuals will

be provided to help avoid recurrence

of homelessness.

$48,000

ADULTS SURVIVING

CHILD ABUSE (ASCA), NSW

Enhancement of ASCA’s national 1300 telephone service

ASCA provides a national 1300 telephone

information/support service for adult

survivors of child abuse and their

supporters. This project will develop

a formal ASCA telephone supervision

service for healthcare professionals.

$21,000

BERRY STREET VICTORIA INC., VIC

My Life – Our Community: Stage One Scoping Study of the needs of young people most at risk of homelessness after leaving care

A scoping study of the complex

needs of young people exiting care.

The project seeks to establish answers

and actions for early intervention

approaches for those young people with

the most complex needs to help prevent

homelessness when they leave care.

$35,000

Community Wellbeing Grants Approved 2010–11

BERRY STREET VICTORIA INC., VIC

Youth Mentoring Accreditation Initiative

Support for the first year of a three-year

project to develop standards and an

accreditation system for youth mentoring

services. Resources and support will be

provided to organisations in order to

attain the standards, gain accreditation

and maintain best practice.

$35,000

CARDINIA COMBINED CHURCHES

CARING INC., VIC

Setting up a second “House of Hope” Crisis Accommodation

Establishment of a crisis

accommodation supported house

to combat homelessness. Cardinia’s

housing worker will help residents deal

with the issues that have led them

to homelessness and assist them in

securing permanent accommodation.

$17,500

CENTRE FOR MULTICULTURAL

YOUTH, VIC

Next Generation Media

Young people from migrant backgrounds

will undertake a four-to-five month

creative media program that includes

media skills training as well as mentoring

from professional media producers,

leading to producing and presenting

their own weekly one-hour radio program

at SYN radio.

$29,200

CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION

SERVICES (SYDNEY) INC., NSW

Family Wellbeing Program

An intensive family support project

aimed at improving the overall wellbeing

of disadvantaged families identified as

“high need”. The program will combine

evidence-based parent education

sessions (including “Triple P” and “Tuning

in to Kids”) with face-to-face counselling,

volunteer mentoring and the provision

of support groups.

$15,000

CHILDREN’S PROTECTION

SOCIETY INC., VIC

Stronger Families: A blueprint for family support intervention and evaluation (to be known as Stronger Families)

This study aims to identify and trial

effective models of intervention for

vulnerable families and support them

to make lasting changes that will

improve developmental outcomes

for their children.

$50,000

COLLINS STREET BAPTIST

BENEVOLENT SOCIETY INC.

(AKA URBAN SEED), VIC

Mental Health Capacity Building Project

Professional development and training

for staff and volunteers in mental health

first aid to help improve the mental

health of the homeless and marginalised

people with whom they work.

$31,000

BRISBANE YOUTH SERVICE INC., QLD

Square Pegs: Brisbane Youth Service in a Changing City

Square Pegs is a collaboration between

young people, youth workers and a

filmmaker to tell the stories of young people

living in Fortitude Valley. The result will be

an hour long documentary film plus short

films which will be used to raise awareness of

homelessness. It will also help Brisbane Youth

Service’s young clients to reflect on their

struggles and, with the help of youth workers,

identify the appropriate strategies to meet

their complex needs.

$30,000


COMMUNITY MUSIC

VICTORIA INC., VIC

Victoria Makes Music – Initial Phase

Helping the establishment of open-

access music-making groups within

the wider community and the

implementation of a comprehensive

Victoria-wide online database of these

music-making opportunities, enabling

Victorians to locate group music-making

activities in their areas.

$17,510

CONNECTIONS INC., QLD

Healthy Minds at Work Project: Mental health is everyone’s business

Connections will work with local

businesses and organisations to

offer information sessions to support

development of specific workplace

strategies to improve the mental

health of staff.

$25,000

CRANBOURNE INFORMATION

AND SUPPORT SERVICE INC., VIC

Ending the Stopgap: Establishing an evidence base for generalist case management in Emergency Relief Services

The project will report on the

effectiveness and need for generalist

case management of clients, volunteers

and agencies in the emergency relief

sector. These services have been funded

short-term by the federal Department of

Families, Housing, Community Services

and Indigenous Affairs (FAHCSIA). The

applicants will provide credible data

about the outcomes and value of these

services to advocate for ongoing funding.

$27,445

CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS

MANAGEMENT FOUNDATION

AUSTRALIA, VIC

Development of an Australian version of the US-based Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Education Program

This funding will be used to Australianise

the CISM education courses. The

adaptation will also offer an opportunity

to include lessons learnt from the

Victorian bushfires and Queensland

floods. CISM provides support for

emergency relief services personnel.

$40,000


FAMILY LIFE, VIC

YouthWorx and PeopleWorx – Replication

The establishment of a social-

enterprise upmarket opportunity

shop in which at-risk young people

and adults receive work experience,

training in Certificate II in Retail

Operations, personal support from

trained adult volunteers, supported

pathways to employment, and

case-management.

$50,000

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESOURCE

CENTRE VICTORIA, VIC

Supporting children and mothers experiencing family violence

Funding will facilitate the research,

writing, design and publishing of online

and print material to help families

understand the effect of family violence

on children and to support them with

prevention strategies.

$8,750

E QUBED INC., VIC

“Kids Out Of Learning and Earning” Social Enterprise (KOOLE-SE)

Funding is sought to support the

planning stage of the Centre for

Innovation and Enterprise Excellence

in Broadmeadows/Dallas. The centre

will provide education and employment

opportunities for disengaged youth in

metropolitan Melbourne.

$50,000

EDMUND RICE CAMPS INC., VIC

Indigenous Kids Cultural Exchange Camp

A camp for 25 Indigenous youth aged

8 to 12 years staffed by young volunteers.

Indigenous elders will conduct activities

that include a Welcome to Country

ceremony, “Walk on the Land”, to point

out how the natural landscape was used

by previous generations, traditional

stories and paintings, and sessions

in traditional bush tucker cooking.

$5,190

FARESHARE AUSTRALIA INC., VIC

One Million Meals

FareShare is now collecting from

supermarkets, farmers and markets

2,000 kilograms of fresh fruit, vegetables,

eggs and meat each day. Last year

volunteers cooked 457,000 meals

using this food. This grant will support

expansion of Fare Share’s kitchen

facilities to help them achieve their

aim of one million meals each year.

$50,000

FINDING WORKABLE

SOLUTIONS INC., SA

Heathfield Salvage and Save Nursery

As part of the Heathfield Salvage and

Save social enterprise this grant will

support the establishment of a plant

nursery that will provide jobs, training

and skills development for highly

disadvantaged job seekers.

$43,000

FOODBANK QUEENSLAND

LTD, QLD

To assist with freight costs

(following the floods in Queensland)

Queensland flood victim support.

$10,000

ImageWorking side by side in Family Life’s Chelsea YouthWorx Program


GATEWAY COMMUNITY

HEALTH, VIC

Regional Food Share Project

The Regional Food Share Project

in north-east Victoria will improve

coordination of emergency food

relief and food rescue across the

region. It will also establish a hub

for volunteering and a multi-faceted

social enterprise that will underpin

the project’s sustainability and

provide training and jobs for people

experiencing multiple barriers to

employment. Funding will help

employ a project manager.

$49,000

GATEWAY SOCIAL SUPPORT

OPTIONS INC., VIC

Food Delivery Vehicle

Funding for the purchase of

a refrigerated mini-van to deliver

food, including perishables, to more

local agencies and help more people

in need five days a week.

$35,000

GOOD SHEPHERD YOUTH

AND FAMILY SERVICE, VIC

School Support for Newly Arrived Children and their Families

The project aims to assist St Joseph’s

Primary School in the inner Melbourne

suburb of Collingwood to develop

strategies for greater inclusion of newly

arrived migrant students and a referral

network of support agencies. This project

follows the results of a Foundation-

funded scoping study of the needs

of the Sudanese community.

$40,000


HOPESTREET – URBAN

COMPASSION, NSW

Women’s Space

The expansion of outreach and case

management programs for women

working in the sex industry in Kings

Cross, Sydney. Night outreach and open

house programs will engage women who

require help to make lifestyle changes.


HUNTER REGION NO INTEREST

LOANS SCHEME INC., NSW

Hunter Region No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS®): General Loan Pool

Funding will support the increment

of the NILS® lending pool.

$10,000

INCLUSION MELBOURNE INC., VIC

Increasing volunteer support for people with a disability

To support the implementation of a new

electronic volunteer management system

that will expand the organisation’s

capacity and allow more people with

an intellectual disability to engage with

their local community.

$35,000

INSPIRE FOUNDATION, VIC

Building ReachOut NEXGn

This funding will support the redesign of

the ReachOut.com website. The website

is a key resource for youth seeking advice

and support relating to mental illness.

$50,000

INTERACT AUSTRALIA (VICTORIA)

LIMITED, VIC

Shed 22, Nambour Community Men’s Shed

The project will establish the first

Community Men’s Shed in the Nambour

region (Qld). The project will offer

opportunities for hobbies, skill

development and socialising, as well

as providing regular information

sessions on men’s health issues.

$19,964

INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SERVICE

AUSTRALIA, VIC

In the Best Interests of the Child: International children’s rights capacity-building project

ISS Australia will develop and deliver

training on international child rights and

protection to domestic organisations

that work with refugees, asylum seekers,

migrants, people with inter-country

relationships and bi-national families.

$40,000

© Ruth F. Perry 2011

ImageThe IDHP project team: Hazel Westbury, Maureen Buck and Ken Young

KEVIN HEINZE GARDEN

CENTRE INC., VIC

Ageing in My Garden: Continued Independence at Home with Volunteer Gardeners

The grant will support the development

and promotion of a pilot program in

which an individual “garden partner”

works with an elderly person in their

home garden to help obviate the

need to move out of home

because of the garden’s

required maintenance.

$30,000

INTERACT AUSTRALIA

(VICTORIA) LIMITED, VIC

Intellectual Disability and Homelessness Project (IDHP)

A demonstration project to provide

permanent supported accommodation

for homeless people with intellectual

disabilities. The project also trains

accommodation providers in the needs

of this demographic and will provide

relevant evidence-based advice and

best practice approaches to

government and others.



KYABRA COMMUNITY

ASSOCIATION INC., QLD

Kyabra Saver: a matched savings program

Funding will provide a matched savings

plan to assist and encourage Kyabra

clients to save as a means to reach

financial goals. To help establish a

savings discipline, incentives are built

in to save for smaller financial targets

multiple times.

$10,000

LINK COMMUNITY

TRANSPORT INC., VIC

Friends with Disabilities Going Places Together

A new bus configuration will enable

the transportation of two people in

wheelchairs at the same time. The new

two-wheelchair bus will enable friends or

family members with disabilities to enjoy

activities together through the volunteer-

based Out and About Community

Transport Service.

$5,500

MACKILLOP FAMILY SERVICES

LIMITED, VIC

Sector Benchmarking

A sector-wide three-year benchmarking

study of best practice in “back of house”

support services within the not-for-profit

sector. The findings from the project

will be applied to all project participants

and the savings directed back into the

provision of community services.

$25,000


MELBOURNE CITYMISSION

INC., VIC

Education Pathways for Young People

This ambitious project will offer crisis and

medium-term accommodation, as well as

accredited education programs, to young

people at risk of leaving school early. The

project draws together several successful

Melbourne Citymission programs (for

example, Wheels, Life Skills Education,

and Employment Services) into one

well-structured Pathway program that

will offer disengaged youth the support

they need to reconnect with education

and employment.


MEMORY BANK CULTURAL

MEDIA INC., NSW

Pioneers of the Fringe...Postcode 2179

An oral history documentation and

education model that aims to train

volunteer residents to engage with their

ageing pioneering migrant elders. The

program will also develop an accessible

digital database for storage of oral

documents and for the community

to facilitate intra-generational

transmission of knowledge.

$10,000

MICAH PROJECTS INC., QLD

Brisbane Common Ground Project Cost–Benefit Analysis

A clinical trial to calculate the costs

and benefits of a 146-unit supportive

housing development in South Brisbane.

The housing project is designed to end

chronic homelessness for its residents.


NATIONAL AGEING RESEARCH

INSTITUTE, VIC

Enhancing staff–resident communication in residential care: pilot of staff training material

This project aims to improve the

care experience for older people by

building awareness and enhancing

the communication skills of aged-care

professionals. An existing draft training

package will be piloted and evaluated

in 20 residential care facilities.

$35,000

PRAHRAN MISSION, VIC

Voices Vic

This project will support the

establishment of 15 new Hearing Voices

peer support groups for people who

experience auditory hallucinations as part

of a psychotic disorder/mental illness.

$45,000

PROJECT RESPECT INC., VIC

Community enterprise to train and employ women from the sex industry, including trafficked women

Through a social-enterprise catering

service, Project Respect will set up

a pathways program to train, employ

and support women who are survivors

of the sex industry. Funding will be

applied to capital expenses, including

a delivery vehicle.

$23,700

ImageHelen Morse and Gerard Van Dyck in KAGE’s Sundowner

KAGE PHYSICAL

THEATRE INC., VIC

Sundowner

A dance theatre production from KAGE,

Sundowner is a collaboration between

a group of high-profile artists and people

suffering younger-onset dementia and

their carers. Funding supported the

development and presentation of the

production and the process of community

involvement in the work. Sundowner aims

to put the issue of younger-onset

dementia in the national spotlight.

$20,000


QUEENSLAND POLICE–CITIZENS

YOUTH WELFARE ASSOCIATION

(ASHMORE PCYC), QLD

Strategies To Assist Youth (STAY)

Providing targeted welfare assistance and

support services to disadvantaged young

people. A youth worker will provide case

management support to local young

people and their families.


QUEENSLAND POLICE – CITIZENS

YOUTH WELFARE ASSOCIATION

(CASTLE HILL PCYC), QLD

Castle Hill/Food for Thought Community Garden Project

To establish an educational community

garden at the Castle Hill PCYC.

The garden will demonstrate to the

community of Townsville the healthy

lifestyle benefits of sustainable gardens.

$25,000

SOUL THEATRE INC., VIC

Steve Waters’ The Contingency Plan

Funding will support the production

and staging of Steve Waters’ theatrical

production The Contingency Plan, a

show that aims to inform and provoke

conversation on the issue of climate

change. The program will promote free

or low-cost suggestions on how to

reduce greenhouse emissions.

$10,000

ST JOHN’S COMMUNITY

SERVICES LIMITED, NSW

Rough Edges Education Program

The Rough Edges Community Centre’s

Urban Walk, an initiative within its Urban

Exposure Program, facilitates interaction

between homeless individuals and the

wider public, particularly secondary school

students. St John’s disadvantaged clients

will acquire new skills by learning how

to share their stories and facilitate an

accompanied tour of the area around

Kings Cross. In turn, the students will

have first-hand insight into issues of

poverty, status, cultural power, mental

illness and homelessness. Both will

benefit from a meaningful and prejudice-

free interaction.

$18,907

ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY,

QLD

Queensland flood appeal

Support for the victims of the

Queensland floods.

$20,000

SWAGS FOR HOMELESS

LIMITED, VIC

Emergency Relief: Backpack Beds for street-sleeping homeless people

The grant will equip 105 street-sleeping

homeless individuals in regional New

South Wales with a Backpack Bed.

Distribution of the Backpack Bed will

be via Swags for Homeless partnering

with existing homeless and emergency

relief charities in regional areas.

$10,000

SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY

OF TECHNOLOGY: TAFE, VIC

Innovative Engagement and Retention Team (INVERT)

Coordinated by Swinburne, INVERT

is a community partnership between

schools, education providers, police

andyouth services in the cities of Port

Phillip and Stonnington. INVERT’s goal

is to create a shared, long-term, whole-

of-community response to re-connect

disengaged young people aged 10 to 19

years in appropriate education,

employment and support opportunities.

$33,400

THE KATHERINE WOMEN’S

CRISIS CENTRE INC., NT

Therapeutic support services for children affected by trauma

This program will help traumatised

children develop emotional and

operational life skills to build up their

resilience and capacity to function

independently, thus reducing their risk

of falling into homelessness.



THE TRUSTEES OF THE SOCIETY

OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL, NSW

Northern Illawarra St Vincent de Paul Society NILS® Funding Program

This project will enable the No Interest

Loans Scheme to continue via existing

structures and procedures.

$10,000

THE YOUNG WOMEN’S

CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION

(YWCA) OF CANBERRA, ACT

Breaking the Cycle

This program will provide specialised

support to children within homeless

families and respond to issues such

as trauma, family violence, mental

health and substance abuse. The

program aims to mitigate the adverse

effects of homelessness on children

and prevent the inter-generational

transfer of homelessness.


TULGEEN GROUP, NSW

Art Connect

This grant will support the expansion of

the “Art in the Garage” Project with the

fitting of two new art studios – one for

ceramics and the other for printmaking.

The fit-out will allow the new facility to

become fully operational and accessible

to a broader section of the community.

$40,317

TYPO STATION LTD, VIC

Young Women’s Program

An early-intervention program for at-risk

young women experiencing difficulties

at home, at school or in their community.

The project consists of a four-week

residential and expedition program at

Typo Station in rural Victoria, followed by

two years of case management support.

$50,000

THE SOCIAL STUDIO INC., VIC

Microfinance Program for Social Studio staff and students

A financial literacy skills program for

the students of The Social Studio,

the project aims to prevent poverty

through the development of long-term

savings and financial literacy plans,

leading to business development

for students and staff who

aspire to starting up their

own businesses.

$50,000


UNITINGCARE WODONGA, VIC

UnitingCare Wodonga No Interest Loans Scheme (UCWNILS)

The funds will be used to provide

no-interest loans to people on low

income who would otherwise not have

access to credit at an affordable rate.

$10,000

VICTORIAN WOMEN’S

HOUSING ASSOCIATION

(VWHA) LIMITED, VIC

Maintaining and Strengthening the Organisational Capacity of VWHA

This grant will maintain and build

VWHA’s core operational infrastructure

to increase the affordable housing rental

stock for disadvantaged women and

their children.

$60,000

WELLINGTON COLLINGWOOD

INC., VIC

Women’s Mentoring Program (Pilot)

Funding will help to bring together

expert consultants to finalise, evaluate,

disseminate and assist with publicising

The Wellington Women’s Mentoring

Program (WMP). WMP is a unique two-

year crime prevention and rehabilitation

support project in which volunteer

mentors are trained and supported to

assist women who have been charged

with a criminal offence throughout the

legal process.

$30,000

WESLEY MISSION BRISBANE, QLD

Art From The Margins (AFTM): Art Van Pilot Project

A research project to evaluate the

financial benefit of creative arts programs

delivered over 18 months by 12 agencies

to people experiencing homelessness or

social and economic disenfranchisement

through chronic or acute mental health

issues. This is the first research in the

world to include a cost–benefit analysis

of the impact of effective intervention

in the health and emergency services

sector.

$30,000


of the impact of

in the health and

sector.

$30,000

YOUTH OFF THE

STREETS LIMITED, NSW

Community Development (Outreach Program) Narrandera

The Outreach Program will

engage at-risk youth in their local

environment, starting with low-key

activities and building up to more

structured specific activities as trust

and acceptance grow. The outreach

barbecues and activities create an

environment in which family and

community participation can develop.

$20,000

ImagePlaying ball games at the Youth Off The Streets outreach program

WINDERMERE CHILD & FAMILY

SERVICES INC., VIC

KIDS On Track – Connecting marginalised youth in the growth corridor

A preventative program for young

people who are at risk of disengaging

from the community due to their

anti-social behaviour. The program

will involve youth in personal growth

workshops and recreation-based

sessions in the community.

$50,000

WINDERMERE CHILD & FAMILY

SERVICES INC., VIC

International Travel Grant: Scoping tour of women and children welfare organisations in Cambodia

This study tour to Cambodia will

allow the applicant to gain first-hand

knowledge of culturally appropriate

methods that can be used to improve

approaches to working with the

Australian Cambodian community.

$3,200


Number of grants:

4Total value:

$560k

Photo: John Tsiavis

The 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”.

The Foundation upholds Alec Sewell’s

wish by making grants in his name to

benefit children and young people,

defining “needy children” as those

who are disadvantaged by virtue of

their economic, social, physical or

geographical circumstances.

Grants made through the The Alec

Prentice Sewell Gift are intended to

create opportunities for children’s

personal development and remove

barriers for participation in activities

that support education and learning,

especially programs that encourage

interest in the environment and literature.

This means that the programs supported

through the gift are quite diverse and

– as evidenced by this year’s grants –

work across a range of different sectors

and interest areas, reaching children of

various ages and situations and helping

to overcome hurdles such as access to

arts, access to technology tools, and

reading skills development.

We are particularly excited about the

grant made to Zoos Victoria for the new

Growing Wild precinct. At $450,000 this

represents the largest grant ever made

through The Alec Prentice Sewell Gift.

Growing Wild will be a tactile, hands-on

education precinct at Melbourne Zoo to

foster children’s early connections with

nature and animals.

The Alec Prentice Sewell Gift In Review

ImageClose encounters with wild creatures in Melbourne Zoo’s new Growing Wild precinct


The Alec Prentice Sewell Gift Feature

Close Encounters for ChildrenThe Melbourne Zoo is already one of the largest

“learning sites” outside of the classroom for Victorian

students. Evidence shows that early childhood experiences

play a crucial role in igniting and fuelling a life-long

connection with wildlife and wild places.

ZOOS VICTORIA, VIC

PROJECT:

Growing Wild

GRANT:


www.zoo.org.au

The new Growing Wild precinct, devoted

solely to nurturing a love of nature in

children aged three to eight years and

their families, will provide a space in

which children can come face to face

and toe to paw with animals in three

zones: Ground, Trees and Water. Stage

One of the program aims to provide

spaces within the Melbourne Zoo that

allow children and young people to

engage more closely with animal species

– including meerkats – and learn about

the importance of habitat protection and

reasons for particular animal behaviours.

This first stage will concentrate on

ground-dwelling animals, with stages two

and three dedicated to tree and water-

dwelling animals respectively.

This precinct will fulfil a need in the zoo

to provide a dedicated learning and

children’s space that allows zoo

educators and classroom teachers to

work with their students and provide

access to resources, animals and staff.

The site will also be geared towards

families, allowing parents and carers to

share the education experience with the

children or allow the children to engage

in educational play while the adults relax.

The education programs for the site

have been developed in partnership

with expert early childhood

environmental educators and the

Victorian Department for Education and

Early Childhood Development (taking

into account the Victorian Essential

Learning Standards and Early Years

Learning and Development Framework).

The Growing Wild Ground zone is

expected to open to the public in

late 2012.

ation

A space in which children can

come face to face and toe to

paw with animals.

ImageA close encounter in Melbourne Zoo’s new Growing Wild precinct

Pho

to: J

ohn T

sia

vis


EXODUS FOUNDATION, NSW

Indigenous Online Literacy and Peer-to-Peer Support Program

A technology-based program that seeks

to assist Indigenous school children who

have failed to learn to read by the usual

methods in the first few years of school.

$49,000

The Alec Prentice Sewell Gift Grants Approved 2010–11

ART GALLERY OF BALLARAT, VIC

Artlink – Schools Access Program

Artlink will develop the gallery’s education

program, with input from four young

regional artists, and provide access to

the program for 8,000 students from

50 economically disadvantaged schools

within a 40 kilometre radius of Ballarat. The

project’s key goal is to develop pathways

for more students, schools and families to

engage with the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

$20,000

ZOOS VICTORIA, VIC

Growing Wild

The Growing Wild educational precinct

aims to foster early connections between

children and wild places. Solely devoted

to nurturing a love of nature in children

aged three to eight and their families,

Growing Wild will provide a space in

which children can come face to face,

and have a tactile experience, with animals

in three zones: Ground, Trees and Water.


THE FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, SA

From Learning to Read to Choosing to Read: engaging disadvantaged children and their parents in using libraries for choosing and reading “just right” books.

This pilot project aims to close the literacy gap for

Years 3–4 students in two disadvantaged schools,

equipping students with the reading skills to help

them reach their potential, close the achievement

gap and prevent schooling problems that can arise

in the later years because of poor reading skills

and habits and a lack of engagement with texts.

$47,280


Number of grants:

11Total value:

$2.1m

Education


In recognition of the challenges funders

face in identifying and supporting good

education programs, the Foundation

has teamed up with the Australian

Council for Education Research’s Tender

Bridge service to undertake a major

study that will help fill this knowledge

gap. The program, entitled “Leading

Learning in Education and Philanthropy

(LLEAP)”, seeks to examine the impact

of philanthropy in education both from

a funders’ viewpoint and from the

perspective of schools. The three-year

project will explore whether the full

potential of funding and partnerships

available to Australian schools is being

achieved. The first year of the LLEAP

study is already well progressed and the

philanthropic and education sectors have

shown great enthusiasm and support for

the work. First results will be published

by the end of 2011.

Research-based funding was also the

focus of our largest Education grant

this year, made to Menzies Centre for

Health Research in Darwin to help them

establish a Centre for Child Development

and Education (CCDE). The CCDE aims

to provide a much-needed evidence base

for effective early-years education that

can be used to inform government policy

and agency programs and work to reduce

the enormous gap in education outcomes

between Indigenous and non-Indigenous

children. An interview with Professor

Sven Silburn, director of CCDE, is the

focus of our Education feature story

(overleaf).

At the heart of the Menzies program

is the knowledge that community

support and engagement are crucial

to successful education outcomes, and

this premise certainly seems to apply

to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous

communities alike.

For a few years now, the Foundation

has been examining the feasibility and

success of holistic education programs

that put schools and education at the

heart of the community and embrace

a whole-of-life approach to improving

outcomes for individuals, families

and communities. The need to garner

community and family engagement

to deliver sustainable improvements

in education outcomes is both the

challenge and the opportunity in

disadvantaged communities, where

inter-generational cycles of

disengagement make such approaches

so important yet much harder to

implement. Last year the Foundation

funded the Benalla Education Program,

which set out on an ambitious path to

address the community’s education

tailspin and reverse the trends of

declining social engagement and

wellbeing. Little more than a year down

the track, the Benalla Education Program

team has made significant inroads and

here at the Foundation we continue

to learn from their experiences and

marvel at the power of a community

responding to its own needs.

It is not just the larger grants that have

been directed in this way. One smaller

grant this year funded Ardoch Youth

Foundation to develop a pilot primary

schools program that aims to identify

ways to support transitions into school

for disadvantaged families and their

children and to provide them with

access to community programs.

While we wait with anticipation for

the outcomes of the LLEAP study, we

are excited and optimistic about the

ambitious community-based education

programs we are currently funding and

the opportunities presented when families

and communities work together with

government and agencies, and put the

interests of the child at the heart of what

they do.

Education In Review

Education is a challenging sector to fund effectively and

for maximum impact. The Ian Potter Foundation continues

to grapple with the issue of how best to find and support

success in this area. It’s a challenge we share with many

other philanthropic funders, who are also actively working

to find the best ways to improve educational outcomes

in our communities.

Community support

and engagement are

crucial to successful

education outcomes.

ImageMrs Janet Hirst, Professor Geoffrey Blainey AC and Dr Michelle Anderson at the launch of the LLEAP project


“On almost every indicator the situation

for Indigenous Australians is worsening,

and a business-as-usual approach will

not change this. Indigenous health, family

services and education are in crisis due to

the lack of rigorous, up-to-date evidence

needed to inform policy and practice.”

An Indigenous child in the Northern

Territory is more likely than any other

Australian child to be born to young

parents, have low birth weight, live in

a socio-economically disadvantaged

household, have involvement with the

child protection system and live in a

remote community where housing

and nutrition needs may not be met.

He or she is likely to start school already

disadvantaged and not ready to learn,

and this is likely to result in low levels

of educational achievement flowing onto

lack of employment prospects and the

associated problems.

It is a bleak picture and one that is

compounded by the unique challenges

of working in remote areas and a range of

other complex population-specific issues.

In a bid to change the status quo, the

Menzies School of Health Research has

launched an ambitious initiative to open

a Centre for Child Development and

Education (CCDE) with the aim of

identifying proven, effective ways to

improve the life chances of Indigenous

children. Education and health are,

in many ways, two sides of the same

coin, both intrinsically linked to individual

and community wellbeing. Menzies’ plan

is to bring the power of high-quality

research and applied science to support

policy and services in a sector that

has traditionally relied on qualitative

information. “We need major reform and

policy change,” says Sven Silburn. “To

do this we need to provide standards of

evidence that prove that something is

making a difference to the education

and wellbeing outcomes of Indigenous

children.”

The approach of the CCDE is based

on the proven knowledge that investment

in the early years of life – including

the months before birth – is the

most effective way to reduce inter-

generational disadvantage and improve

a child’s life prospects. The Centre’s focus

is firmly on the early stages of a child’s

life and the value of investment to

improve the window of opportunity

available in the early years – the period

of maximum brain and skill development

in a child’s life.

“The Aboriginal leaders we are

working with are very interested in the

information we have been sharing with

them about human development and

the vital importance of a child’s early

years. We are getting strong support

from them as they re-orient themselves

around what they can do to address the

issue,” explains Professor Silburn. “It’s

about putting the child at the heart of

the family and strengthening community

action for children as a catalyst for better

outcomes for everyone.”

According to Sven, phenomena such

as the Stolen Generation and the

breakdown in Indigenous families and

communities over decades have diluted

traditional knowledge and community

understanding of the critical importance

of the early years. The programs being

examined by CCDE are specifically

designed to rebuild this knowledge at

a grass-roots level in communities and

to co-develop practical and culturally

relevant ways of addressing the specific

local challenges.

Sven is upbeat and positive as he fires

off story after story about the strides

the Centre’s initial programs are making

and the impact they appear to be having

in the first communities to come on

board with some of the new Indigenous

education approaches. He speaks of

hours of community consultations that

take the form of storytelling and open

discussion as the Menzies team works

with parents and community elders in the

knowledge that, without this buy-in, the

programs have little chance of success.

Education Feature

MENZIES SCHOOL OF HEALTH RESEARCH, NT

PROJECT:

Centre for Child Development

and Education

GRANT:

$1.5 million over three years

www.menzies.edu.au

Towards a New Status Quo for Indigenous Education“Despite a few notable exceptions, there is a humanitarian

crisis progressively unfolding in remote Northern Territory

Indigenous communities,” says Professor Sven Silburn

of the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin.

On almost every indicator

the situation for Indigenous

Australians is worsening, and

a business-as-usual approach

will not change this.

ImageA range of education programs will be assessed and evaluated for impact


Education Feature

The programs that are being

implemented and evaluated start at

pre-natal education and run through to

a range of school-readiness programs,

parenting skills workshops, school

engagement and learning programs

before culminating with preparation

for parenthood programs and sexual

health programs. Their impact is also

being measured against population

level indicators including birth weight,

the Australian Education Development

Indicators (AEDI), NAPLAN test

outcomes and Years 10–12 work and

further education outcomes.

The scope and scale of this research

require a coordinated approach and

the involvement of multiple partners

and collaborations.

“The CCDE has a heavy-weight Board,

including Professor Tom Healy from

The Ian Potter Foundation, and

representatives from the Indigenous

community.” explains Sven. “The centre

also has the full support of the Northern

Territory Government. We work in

collaboration with Charles Darwin

University and research partners such as

the Centre for Community Child Health in

Melbourne. Our aim is to bring together

all the necessary elements – including the

service providers working at the grass

roots and of course the communities

– and build evidence-based practices

for improving children’s life trajectories

in health, education, employment,

wellbeing and participation.” ImageThe ultimate aim is to close the gap in education outcomes between indigenous and non-indigenous children


ARDOCH YOUTH

FOUNDATION LIMITED, VIC

Stonnington Primary School Project

The Stonnington Primary School Project

will help identify needs and support

development of strategies to form the

basis for Ardoch Youth Foundation to

deliver programs that address student

needs, incorporating the transition from

preschool to primary school. These

support programs ensure that children

in early childhood centres and the school

can fully participate in activities and

increase their short-term and long-term

learning opportunities.

$50,000

AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL

FOR EDUCATIONAL

RESEARCH LIMITED, VIC

Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP)

Enabling the first year of a three-year

research program that will examine the

relationship between philanthropy and

education in Australia with the aim of

improving knowledge and outcomes for

both parties. An Ian Potter Foundation

partnership project.

$174,734

Education Grants Approved 2010–11

GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, QLD

Building Productive Communities for Gifted Education in Queensland

This project will provide gifted young

children with enrichment programs

and parents with support workshops

on a regular basis. It will offer training

to teachers and schools interested in

catering for gifted children.

$10,000

LA TROBE UNIVERSITY, VIC

Handheld Technology in Schools: a learning tool for the next generation

The project will allow groups of up to five

pre-service teachers to visit a school

frequently over a school term. The

trainee teachers will work with small

groups of disengaged students using

software associated with Apple iPad and

iPod to improve outcomes in literacy

or numeracy. The aim of the project

is to allow pre-service teachers to

examine innovative uses of technology

in a classroom setting.

$7,269

MENZIES SCHOOL

OF HEALTH RESEARCH, NT

Centre for Child Development and Education

Funding to establish the Centre for

Child Development and Education at

the Menzies School of Health Research.

The Centre will undertake research

needed for policy and practice to address

the poor health, education and social

circumstances of Indigenous children.

$1,500,000 over three years

QUEENSLAND BAPTIST CARE, QLD

Glendyne Lifeskills Project

Funds to employ a counsellor at

Glendyne Education & Training Centre

to support disadvantaged students who

would benefit from additional life skills

support and counselling.


SOCIAL VENTURES

AUSTRALIA LIMITED, VIC

Celebrating Women Changemakers: an event to mark International Women’s Day

A donation towards an International

Women’s Day event lunch and speakers’

forum, celebrating the role of women

changemakers in the community.

$3,500

STRIDE FOUNDATION

LIMITED, VIC

Mentoring Through Music, Springvale

Mentoring Through Music, Springvale,

is an educational engagement project

for children at Springvale Rise Primary

School. The project matches children

from disadvantaged culturally diverse

backgrounds with music mentors and

aims to increase their connection to

their education and school community.

$20,000


Education Grants Approved 2010–11

WINGECARRIBEE HEADQUARTERS

BUSHFIRE BRIGADE, VIC

Advanced Resuscitation Training Resources

Rural Fire Service volunteers and cadets

currently receive basic first aid training

but there is a need to provide more

volunteers with such training at an

advanced level. This donation assisted

the purchase of an Oxygen Reviva

system, which will make it possible

to offer advanced first aid training to

volunteers.

$8,210

WORLDSKILLS

AUSTRALIA INC., VIC

2011 Team Australia – the Skillaroos

A donation to support a team of

Australia’s best young tradespeople

participating at the 2011 Worldskills

competition in London.

$10,000

SOCIAL VENTURES

AUSTRALIA LIMITED, VIC

The School for Social Entrepreneurs

Funding to increase the intake of

participants at the School for Social

Entrepreneurs in Melbourne, which

provides practical learning programs

to enhance the effectiveness of our

community’s social entrepreneurs

and their social ventures.

$300,000 over three yearsImageSocial Entrepreneur of the Year Laura Egan, right, with participants in her NT Enterprise Learning Project


Number of grants:

8Total value:

$2.5m

Environment & Conservation


Funding for meaningful impact in the complex area

of environmental sustainability is especially challenging.

Against a background of shifting policy and politics, and

at a time when we are at a tipping point for decisive change

in environmental management, The Ian Potter Foundation

seeks to contribute by supporting those key individuals

and organisations that are providing vision and leadership

through the maze.

Australia boasts some of the world’s

leading environmental scientists. As a

country we consistently punch above

our weight in terms of research. This is

evidenced by the impressive membership

of the Wentworth Group of Concerned

Scientists. The Foundation is supporting

the Wentworth Group’s efforts to

contribute to Australia’s important policy

thinking on carbon and environmental

accounting. A carbon economy presents

opportunities for Australia to improve

landscape outcomes for our native

biodiversity, but this does require

planning, research and the support of

governments and private landholders.

We believe The Wentworth Group is well

placed to lend a significant and credible

voice to this important conversation.

Certainties are rare in the area of

environmental conservation, but we have

learned at least one fundamental: nothing

is achieved without community support.

Since the transformative Potter Farmland

Plan began working in the 1980s with

landowners and local communities to

test and demonstrate ecologically and

economically sustainable farming in

south-west Victoria, we have seen the

power of community-driven change.

The learnings from this program continue

to inform our grant-making today and

will take on new relevance as we move

towards a carbon economy. There are

very few programs the Foundation

supports that do not demonstrate

a level of community ownership.

This year, our grant to Greening

Australia to support their work with

local landowners and communities

in Tasmania’s Midlands is a particularly

good example of the need for diverse

stakeholders to work together. This

project seeks to protect critically

endangered areas of valuable native

grasslands, many of which rely on

the support of private landholders.

It is another fine example of the

restorative power of collective effort

towards a shared goal. The full story

is featured overleaf.

Improving environmental outcomes

for communities and across landscapes

requires the involvement and

commitment of a variety of different

stakeholders, and the same is true

for environmental grant-making. Less

can be achieved when trusts and

foundations try to go it alone. In

recognition of the need for greater

collaboration among funders, the

Foundation is proud to support the

work of the Australian Environmental

Grantmakers Network (AEGN). The

AEGN is working successfully to grow

environmental philanthropy in Australia

while also providing networking

opportunities, strategic support, and

workshops and forums that bring

together funders with an interest

in the environment. The AEGN also

provides the space for funders to gather

to hear from local and international

environmental leaders, expert

researchers and philanthropists.

What shines through in our funding in the

Environment & Conservation program

area is that, regardless of the size of the

grant, when you work to build a healthier

environment you are also working to

build healthier communities.

Environment & Conservation In Review

ImageAn AEGN field trip takes members to western Victoria to observe outcomes of sustainable farming practices

When you work to build a

healthier environment you

are also working to build

healthier communities.


Environment & Conservation Feature



Positive Connections With less than 3 per cent of native grasslands

remaining in Tasmania’s northern Midlands region,

this internationally recognised “biodiversity hotspot”

is facing a crisis.

Averting this crisis is a high priority for

Greening Australia’s Tasmanian operation,

which is working with other stakeholders

in the region to implement a new plan

to transform degraded landscapes. The

program involves “buffering”, linking and

connecting existing native vegetation

remnants and conserving biodiversity

on a landscape scale in order to protect

this threatened bioregion.

The northern Midlands bioregion is home

to a high concentration of rare and

endangered species and threatened

communities. Inaction could lead to

loss of species and whole communities

of unique vegetation, as well as habitats

for a range of wildlife.

Greening Australia (GA), working closely

with landowners and other natural

resource management agencies, has

devised an ambitious plan to strategically

restore and conserve the remaining

pockets of native grasslands and grassy

woodlands. With a shared goal of

protecting and promoting a healthy

and productive environment, the scheme

has real potential to turn the tide.

The northern Midlands has been

an important region of agricultural

production since first settlement

and application of European farming

practices over 200 years reduced native

vegetation to about 35 per cent of its

original incidence. Many landowners

have realised that loss of native

vegetation is having an impact on farm

productivity, aesthetics and perceptions

of sustainability and are keen to find

ways to redress the imbalance in the

knowledge that areas of healthy native

vegetation can improve overall farm

productivity and the long-term resilience

of the landscape.

The project funded by The Ian Potter

Foundation will allow GA to identify the

most strategically important grassland

and grassy woodland remnants using

digital mapping tools. These tools allow

GA to develop the optimum pathway for

re-establishing native vegetation.

The digital mapping project is being

undertaken in collaboration with the

Tasmanian Department of Primary

Industry, Parks, Water and Environment

and Tasmanian Land Conservancy

(TLC) and provides GA with a scientific

framework for their discussions with

landowners about the optimal areas for

this restoration work.

The Foundation-funded project will allow

GA to conduct restoration over 200

hectares, only a fraction of the 300,000

hectare area that is at risk. This is,

however, a vital starting point.

“This program is catalytic,” says Jonathan

Duddles, CEO of Greening Australia in

Tasmania. “It will allow us to develop the

science, improve practices and develop

the mechanisms we need to conduct

restoration cheaply on a broad scale,

improving GA’s chances for successful

engagement with landowners. We are

learning all the time.

“We need scale to have real impact and

we need scale to keep costs down. This

introductory phase is crucial in growing

momentum and experience so that we

can work with more landowners and on

larger tracts of land.”

The restoration program has additional

flow-on effects, including employment

opportunities for the local communities.

“One of the exciting things here has

been the employment of former forestry

workers in the re-planting programs,”

says Duddles. “They are fantastic

workers, and their knowledge and

understanding of the forestry industry

are directly applicable to restoration,

so their involvement has been of real

benefit to our program.” At this stage

GA has contracted 15 forestry workers,

but Jonathan Duddles believes that, in

the longer term, there is potential for

hundreds of jobs.

GA acknowledges that there is a long

way to go. While metrics for carbon

storage in woodlands have been

calculated, scientists are still working on

the carbon value for grasslands and on

accounting for the value of biodiversity.

GREENING AUSTRALIA, TAS

PROJECT:

Strategic restoration to conserve,

buffer and link remnants in the

threatened bioregion of the

northern Midlands, Tasmania

GRANT:


www.greeningaustralia.org.au

Image aboveSeven months’ growth: plants thriving in Dungrove regeneration program

Image leftPlan in action: Greening Australia worker planting seedlings at Dungrove


“There is a lot of work being done on

this and as it all comes together it feels

like we are on the verge of fundamental

and positive change that will further

boost the momentum of this program,”

says Duddles.

“The beauty of where we are now is

that we have finished talking and now

we are doing. It’s time for real action on

the ground. We will measure, assess and

learn as we go, and this will give us the

tools to go well beyond the 200 hectares

and knowledge we can share with

organisations and communities across

south-eastern Australia that are facing

similar challenges.”

The program has the potential to restore

and revitalise this important bioregion

while providing resources for research

in ecology, carbon sequestration and

climate change. At the same time it is

building positive links in the community,

which adds up to a strong fit with the

Foundation’s objective of supporting land

management practices that encompass

a landscape-scale approach to protecting

areas of high conservation value.

ImagePlanting mounds at Dungrove: part of Greening Australia’s regeneration program in north-west Tasmania



Environment & Conservation Grants Approved 2010–11

AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENTAL

GRANTMAKERS NETWORK

(AEGN), VIC

Leading Supporters Program

Supporting the further establishment

and development of the AEGN in order

to grow environmental philanthropy in

Australia.


AUSTRALIAN MARINE

CONSERVATION SOCIETY INC.,

QLD

Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide Online

Support towards the development

of Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide

Online – the first Australian website to

offer consumers a tool to choose their

seafood wisely.

$10,000

CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABILITY

LEADERSHIP, VIC

CSL Organisational Capacity Grant

To provide support to CSL to further

develop their business model and secure

ongoing corporate and philanthropic

support from their online and

leaders programs.


ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDER’S

OFFICE (WA), WA

Law Factsheets Update

Funding to update fact sheets available

through the EDO website to take account

of changes in the law since the last major

revision of the fact sheets, and to rewrite

and re-format the fact sheets to make

them more relevant and accessible.

$17,000

GREENING AUSTRALIA, TAS

Strategic restoration to conserve, buffer and link remnants in the threatened bioregion of the northern Midlands, Tasmania

Support to Greening Australia to

transform degraded landscapes in the

northern midlands of Tasmania by

linking existing native forest remnants

to improve connectivity and biodiversity

on a landscape scale.


KIMBERLY FOUNDATION

AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WA

Chair in Kimberley Rock Art at the Centre for Rock Art Studies, University of Western Australia

The project involves the establishment

of a Chair in Kimberley Rock Art within

the University of Western Australia’s

Centre for Rock Art Studies (CRAS),

creating a focal point for research and

conservation activities into Indigenous

rock art in the Kimberley.

$1,500,000 over three years

ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF

SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC., SA

Landscape Reconstruction in the Grampians National Park: Phase 1

Supporting efforts to consolidate the

reintroduction of the brush-tailed rock

wallaby to the Grampians National Park,

Victoria, where it plays a vital role as an

umbrella species.


VICTORIAN NATIONAL PARKS

ASSOCIATION INC., VIC

Community Engagement Project – Capacity Building and Social Marketing Trial

Funding to undertake a capacity assessment

analysis across three regions of Victoria to

examine the current capacity of environment

groups operating in the catchment and what

they need in order to enhance their ability

to attract volunteers (particularly young ones)

to their organisations and to host and

retain them.

$20,000


Healthy Communities

Value:

$480kNumber of grants:

17


Better health outcomes, health education

and prevention are the key elements. Our

challenge is to identify the programs and

people in the community who are best

placed to deliver innovative but practical

programs with the greatest chance of

making a real difference.

One project we supported this year

is Cystic Fibrosis Australia’s Quality

of Care program. A campaign and

evaluation program, it is designed to

ensure that all cystic fibrosis (CF) clinics

throughout Australia are following the

established quality-of-care guidelines

for management of the disease. This

will help ensure that all people with CF

have equitable access to best practice

healthcare and will streamline and

support introduction of systems and

standards with the potential to improve

quality of life and life expectancy for

people living with the disease. The

evidence gained from this evaluation

process will also assist the clinic’s staff

or local CF organisations to apply for

increased resources where necessary.

This is a practical program that should

result in better health outcomes for

people living with CF throughout

Australia.

The Ian Potter Foundation has long

prioritised prevention, especially in the

area of health; and we strive to support

ideas that really do have the potential

to change outcomes on the ground.

Sometimes it takes time and patience

to see the outcomes of these projects

but once there is a successful concept

in place it can often be adapted and

replicated by others.

This long-term approach is exemplified

by the work being done by the Northern

Gulf Resources Management Group in

the development of the Karumba Market

Garden Project in Queensland’s remote

Gulf of Carpentaria. The people in this

region tend to have poor nutrition,

a situation compounded by lack of

access to affordable, good-quality

produce, particularly during the wet

season. A simple, well-planned project

to develop a large organic plot in which

to grow fresh fruit and vegetables all

year round, it supplies local requirements

while providing employment

opportunities and revenue streams for

local people. The Foundation’s funding

will pay for the establishment of a

particular type of compost which will

enhance the productivity of the garden.

In the long run, the availability of quality,

fresh produce is expected to help the

community reduce the incidence of

chronic diseases such as diabetes,

heart disease and obesity.

Healthy Communities supports a wide

and varied range of community-based

programs that share a common theme:

they are all life-enhancing initiatives

designed to bring better health and

wellbeing to individuals throughout

Australia, but particularly those with

disabilities and those at risk of,

or suffering from, illness and disease.

Healthy Communities In Review

The Foundation’s Healthy Communities program

area operates at the community level to help deliver

life-enhancing programs in response to clear

community-based needs.

It takes time and patience to

see the outcomes of these

projects but once there is a

successful concept in place

it can often be adapted and

replicated by others.

ImageParticipants in Yooralla’s Stroke-a-Chord choir


Tuning in to New OpportunitiesCochlear implants can, quite literally, be life-changing

for profoundly deaf children, who otherwise would never

have access to the world of sound and speech and the

opportunities and experiences it makes possible.

Opening up these opportunities is the

focus of Western Australia’s Telethon

Speech & Hearing Centre, which works

to support children who suffer from

all levels of hearing loss – from mild

to profound. It is the children in the

profound category who are in greatest

need of a cochlear implant to realise their

full potential in the hearing world.

“Children with profound loss have

only one option: a cochlear implant,”

explains Lara Shur, manager of audiology

services at Telethon Speech & Hearing.

“We work with families on a range of

early intervention therapy programs to

support listening and speech/language

development, but some children reach

a point where they just can’t progress

further. For these children, hearing aids

alone are not effective. Unless they can

access a cochlear implant their speech

and language will be affected for life.”

A cochlear implant is not, however, a

magic wand that works instantly. For

the children and their families the time

surrounding the decision and the surgery

can be very stressful, and the whole

process of habilitation to achieve full

function of the device can take up to

two years. The Ian Potter Foundation

is supporting the implementation of

a new program at Telethon Speech &

Hearing called “Cochlear Kids”, which

provides the child and his or her family

with vital, intensive support and therapy

throughout this period.

Before surgery the child and family

undergo intensive testing and

assessments and after surgery there

is usually a two- to three-week period

before switch-on. Then follows a process

of fine-tuning the signal to establish the

child’s auditory pathways, which can

take up to eight months. This is a time

of tremendous adjustment for the child

and their family. “It’s not like getting a

pair of glasses – put them on and off you

go!” says Shur. “The child may not have

had language before and everything they

know is now experienced differently.

The family unit needs support and

information to be able to get the best

outcomes and the child needs intensive

auditory–verbal therapy.”

The program’s success will be gauged

by each child’s individual progress

post-implant and the change in their

understanding, language and behaviour.

At this stage Telethon Speech & Hearing

is expecting to support twelve children

and their families each year through the

Cochlear Kids program, which will be

fine-tuned and working effectively before

expanding to take more children

in the future.

Children who do go through the program

ultimately have a world of new prospects

available to them, including participation

in mainstream schooling, university and

employment. “When a child gets an

implant during infancy, and then you

see them at eight years old participating

fully in life, you simply would not know

that they had been born with profound

hearing loss,” says Shur. “With the right

support programs, the impact of the

implants on these children and their

families is huge!”

Healthy Communities Feature

TELETHON SPEECH & HEARING CENTRE FOR CHILDREN WA INC., WA

PROJECT:

Cochlear Kids

GRANT:

$45,000

www.tsh.org.au

The child may not have

had language before and

everything they know is now

experienced differently.

ImagesHailey is a participant in Telethon Speech & Hearing’s Chatterbox early intervention program – part of the Cochlear Kids initiative


Healthy Communities Feature


ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION OF THE

NORTHERN TERRITORY INC., VIC

Website Redesign and Reconstruction

To strengthen current services, establish

an online community and better serve

arthritis sufferers in remote and isolated

areas and people who are house-bound

due to chronic arthritis conditions.

$5,000

ASSOCIATION FOR PREVENTION

AND HARM REDUCTION

PROGRAMS AUSTRALIA, VIC

Problematic Use of Pharmaceuticals (POP) Program

To develop and deliver an innovative

professional development program

for health professionals to address

the increasingly problematic use

of prescription pharmaceuticals.

$30,000

CYSTIC FIBROSIS AUSTRALIA,

NSW

Quality of Care Review

A peer review program to ensure that

high-quality healthcare delivery is

standardised at all major cystic fibrosis

clinics in Australia, resulting in better

health for Australians with cystic fibrosis.


Healthy Communities Grants Approved 2010–11

CYSTIC FIBROSIS AUSTRALIA,

NSW

Upgrading the ACFDR for Compliance with Hospital Electronic Medical Records

To upgrade the current Australian Cystic

Fibrosis Data Registry (ACFDR) software

so that it is compatible with the standard

hospital electronic medical records

(EMR) system.

$9,500

DIABETES AUSTRALIA –

QUEENSLAND, QLD

Speak Out

A community-based program that

focuses on increasing healthy eating,

physical activity and healthy weight

in order to prevent Type 2 diabetes

by building the capacity of community

volunteers to run information sessions.

$40,000

DOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION

OF VICTORIA, VIC

Measuring the Ordinary Magic of Resilience: Family Peer Support Evaluation Project

To evaluate and better deliver a state-

wide, whole-of-life peer support network

for families of people with Down

syndrome.

$20,000

INCITE YOUTH ARTS, NT

2011 Arts & Disability Performing Arts Project

A mentoring program that engages

the services of a nationally acclaimed,

specialised artist to teach new

performing arts skills and foster

creative pathways to improve the

quality of life of people with disability.

$20,000

INDEPENDENCE AUSTRALIA, VIC

Next Generation of Support: Young Carers for Young People

A program to promote part-time caring

among university students to ensure

that young people with a disability have

access to youth-centred activities.

$20,000

MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE

ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA, VIC

So I have MND: What happens now?

A communication program designed

to help people diagnosed with MND

to understand the disease and the

impact it will have and the services

and support available.

$15,000

NORTHERN GULF RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT GROUP LTD, QLD

Karumba Market Garden Project

To establish a compost manufacturing

plant that produces bio-vital compost

to support supply of a reliable, continual

and affordable source of fresh, nutritional

produce to the residents of the Northern

Gulf region.

$50,000

ImageA specialised composting machine will help to get things growing at the Karumba Market Garden


© RDNS 2011

Healthy Communities Grants Approved 2010–11

POLIO AUSTRALIA

INCORPORATED, VIC

Late Effects of Polio (LEOP) Self-Management Residential Program

A three-day intensive program that

provides support to individuals and their

carers living with polio.

$10,000

SPINA BIFIDA & HYDROCEPHALUS

ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH

AUSTRALIA INC., SA

Memorial Garden for Horticultural Therapy Program

To construct a garden at the

Association’s headquarters that caters

for the functional, cognitive and social

needs of people with spina bifida

and/or hydrocephalus.

$10,000

TELETHON SPEECH &

HEARING CENTRE FOR

CHILDREN WA INC, WA

Cochlear Kids

A project that provides crucial

multidisciplinary therapy to cochlear

implant recipients aged under

three years.

$45,000

THE FLINDERS UNIVERSITY OF

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: FACULTY

OF HEALTH SCIENCES, SA

Building the capacity of health care professionals to support young refugee women in Australia

This project seeks to build the capacity

of nurses and midwives to deliver

culturally safe sexual health care services

to young refugee women in Australia.

$12,000

VICTORIAN AIDS COUNCIL, VIC

Tuckerbag Meals Project

A community-based (home visit)

nutritious meal program for groups

of clients referred by the Royal District

Nursing Service.

$10,000

YOORALLA, VIC

Stroke-a-Chord Documentary: Inspiring personal stories to raise awareness and educate about stroke and aphasia

To film and present a documentary using

inspiring stories from the Stroke-a-Chord

choir to raise awareness and educate the

community about improving the life

of stroke survivors.

$20,000

ROYAL DISTRICT NURSING

SERVICE LIMITED, VIC

A Nurse-led Program of Positive Dementia Practice

A one-year project to develop and

refine a consultant community nurse

model to help identify dementia in the

community and provide appropriate

management.

$113,000


Value:

$875k

Medical Research

Number of grants:

2


Since that time more than 400

grants totalling $38 million have been

distributed to Australia’s leading

research institutes, universities and

teaching hospitals.

The formula for successful Medical

Research proposals is quite simple: it

involves a combination of high-calibre

organisations, researchers and research

teams who have the capacity to make

a significant impact in their area of

work. Ultimately it is about supporting

excellence and investing in Australia’s

most promising scientists so that we

retain talent, continue to improve the

standard of research, and encourage

the return of researchers who have

ventured overseas.

Leverage is another principle playing

a key role in the Foundation’s

medical research funding; we will

fund only those projects in which

the applicant organisation itself

has a financial stake that adds to

the potential to attract additional

philanthropic or government funds.

Only two medical research grants were

made this year – both excellent examples

of the fulfilment of our funding criteria.

Equipment and facilities are basic

building blocks for research, but they

also provide a range of flow-on effects,

including the capacity to attract

good people. A grant of $750,000 to

the Burnet Institute to help fit out a

specialised lab that will be used for the

development of a malaria vaccine has

already provided Burnet’s team with

leverage that has attracted additional

funding interest. The physical space and

equipment that the grant will provide are

essential to the success of the malaria

program but, according to the director

of the project, Dr James Beeson, the

funding also injects fresh momentum

into the project itself and gives the

researchers the wherewithal to “aim

high and be ambitious” (see full story

overleaf).

The other grant we made this year has

potential to improve the health outcomes

of patients with neurological diseases,

including stroke, brain tumors and

Alzheimer’s disease. The funding assisted

Melbourne Health with the purchase of

hardware that will allow sodium imaging

to be performed using a sophisticated

MRI machine. This equipment will be

of great benefit to the understanding

of metabolic cellular responses in the

brain. Sodium is a key indicator of the

health of brain tissue so the benefits

of this imaging for stroke patients, for

example, could be significant. As one of

the researchers explained, the imaging

process using sodium MRI can quickly

and accurately identify brain tissue that

is at risk, giving doctors the opportunity

to treat it with “rapid reperfusion”, which

can actually save the brain tissue.

Some of the Foundation’s earliest grants

were directed to supporting significant

medical research institutions and the

talented people within them. The

fundamental principles of the approach

first taken by Sir Ian Potter and the

expert advisors on the Foundation’s

original Board are still relevant today and

remain at the core of the Foundation’s

approach to medical research grants.

Medical Research In Review

The Medical Research program area has been a cornerstone

of The Ian Potter Foundation’s grant-making since it was

established in 1964.

The funding also injects fresh

momentum into the project

itself and gives the researchers

the wherewithal to aim

high and be ambitious.

ImageA post-doctoral research scientist examines malaria parasites under a microscope in the existing Burnet Institute lab


Predominately affecting young children

and pregnant women, the disease is

caused by a parasite that is spread via

the bite of infected mosquitoes. While

mass distribution of mosquito nets and

large-scale spraying programs have had

some effect on the incidence of malaria,

these measures tend to be unsustainable

in the long term and the mosquitoes

have proven extremely resilient. Medical

researchers around the world are

working towards the development of an

effective vaccine that will finally gain the

upper hand over this most resistant and

devastating parasitic disease.

Dr James Beeson is an Australian

Research Council and National Health

and Medical Research Council Research

Fellow and head of the Malaria Clinical

and Translational Research Group in the

Centre for Immunology at the Burnet

Institute. He believes that it is only a

matter of a little time – and quite a bit

of money – before an effective vaccine

is developed for trial. “We already have

fantastic insights and we are well on our

way to something tangible,” he enthuses.

“There is a great deal of excitement

globally, and renewed optimism that

the knowledge we have now is taking

us closer and closer to success. I am

optimistic that we are only a few years

away from pre-clinical trials of a blood-

stage* vaccine. The challenge from

there will be funding to get it through to

phase-one and phase-two clinical trials.”

A recent grant from the Foundation

towards the fit-out of a specialised lab

for development of a malaria vaccine at

Melbourne’s Burnet Institute has given

Dr Beeson and his team much-needed

space and new facilities to undertake

research that will bring them closer to

realising their goal. “The new facilities

give us a real boost – and the opportunity

to aim high and be ambitious, backed

by the resources to progress research

programs more quickly and efficiently,”

he explains.“We needed capacity for

large-scale analysis involving thousands

of samples – this lab will provide that.”

Dr Beeson’s Immunology team is

studying natural immunity against

malaria: why some people are immune,

how they become immune and how that

knowledge can aid the development

of a vaccine that will induce the same

response in others. His team of Australian

and international students, post-doctoral

researchers and scientists is part of

a wider program at Burnet tackling

the malaria challenge from a variety

of perspectives, including biological,

epidemiological and population studies.

The Burnet Malaria Program team also

collaborates with the Walter and Eliza

Hall Institute, as well as Melbourne,

LaTrobe, Monash and Deakin universities

and international groups and field

researchers, forming what Dr Beeson

describes as a “critical mass” of malaria

research in Melbourne. “There is a

great culture of unity and commitment

amongst these teams, and we work

closely towards our shared goal,” says

Dr Beeson. His team is also collaborating

with a team headed by Professor Michael

Good at Griffith University in Queensland

whose research has made promising

progress towards development of a

different type of vaccine.

Internationally, other researchers have

had some success with a vaccine that

targets malaria in the liver (initial stage)

but the efficacy of this vaccine is below

what is needed to reach the goal of

malaria elimination. Nevertheless, this

development has provided an important

step and renewed belief in the scientific

community that a vaccine is possible. “It

is exciting but we need to go further and

either build on that vaccine so it is more

effective or investigate totally different

approaches that will give us a result that

is 90 per cent effective, not 50 per cent,”

says Dr Beeson. “We are learning all the

time, and more and more pieces of the

puzzle are falling into place.”

Medical Research Feature

New Hope in Fight to Beat MalariaMalaria remains one of the most virulent and deadly diseases

in the world, claiming the lives of around one million people

every year.

BURNET INSTITUTE, VIC

PROJECT:

Lab fit-out for development of a blood-

stage malaria vaccine

GRANT:

$750,000

www.burnet.edu.au

* The point at which the parasite moves from its

incubation phase in a person’s liver and into the

bloodstream, where it starts to do real damage.



Lab fit-out for development of a blood-stage malaria vaccine

To fit out and equip newly built

laboratories at the Burnet Institute to

accommodate major expansion in world-

leading research, particularly aimed at

the development of novel approaches

to malaria vaccine development.

$750,000

Medical Research Grants Approved 2010–11

Around the globe 2.5 billion people are

at risk of contracting malaria, so the scale

and scope of the task are enormous. Dr

Beeson and his teams have worked in

the field in Africa, Asia and Papua New

Guinea and have seen and experienced

the human toll of this disease. “It can feel

overwhelming,” says Dr Beeson. “I try

to focus on making a contribution. Even

saving one child is an achievement, so

you need to hold on to that perspective.

Once an effective vaccine is developed

the implications for health outcomes in

malaria zones will be manifold.” And as

you listen to James Beeson speak and

hear the excitement in his voice, you have

to believe that development may not be

so far away.

MELBOURNE HEALTH, VIC

Sodium Imaging for Translational Neuroscience Research

The purchase of sodium imaging

equipment to improve the health

outcomes and quality of life of patients

diagnosed with neurological diseases.

$125,000

Medical Research Grants Approved 2010–110 11

“We are learning all the

time, and more and more

pieces of the puzzle are

falling into place.”

Image aboveA malaria parasite (green) in human blood cells, as seen under a microscope

Image leftDr James Beeson in the malaria lab


Number of grants:

8Value:

$1m

Photo: Ken Ryan

Science


Our grants strategically fund

opportunities for promising early-career

researchers and the initiatives that will

help them get “runs on the board” here

in Australia. This is often a critical point in

a researcher’s career and pivotal to their

chances of going on to the next level,

especially if they are to attract Australian

Research Council grants. Over the years,

the Foundation has had the opportunity

to support hundreds of scientists

through funding of research programs,

fellowships and equipment grants,

making a long-term contribution to the

nation’s intellectual capital and providing

an incentive for early-career researchers

to remain in Australia.

The scientific endeavours supported

by this program are extremely wide

and varied and provide a fascinating

glimpse into the array of academic

studies that are building understanding

and knowledge of the world around us.

This year’s grants were no exception.

On the one hand we assisted a project

at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty

of Engineering to develop digital signal

processing techniques for use with

mobile phones; these will be used to

facilitate low-cost foetal monitoring for

remote areas. On the other hand we

assisted a study being conducted by

the University of Tasmania’s Institute

of Marine and Antarctic Studies into the

ecological significance of a remarkable

light-harvesting protein that enables cells

to obtain energy from the sun.

Another priority for our science funding

is to support high-quality research that

enhances understanding of Australia’s

biodiversity and ecological sustainability.

Several of our larger science grants this

year reflect this. A grant to support the

Dolphin Research Institute will help it

re-engineer its core program, including

the introduction of new data-analysing

software and new survey methodologies

and the development of volunteer

programs, greatly improving the efficacy

of the Institute’s work. Another grant

will assist further planning work to be

conducted by the Royal Zoological

Society of South Australia as it works

towards the exciting and ambitious

development of a Conservation Ark

Centre for Wildlife Health. This will be

a zoo-based inter-agency partnership

through which universities, government

agencies and NGOs can work together

to create a model for promoting better

wildlife health, bringing with it a range

of benefits for many environmental

science disciplines.

Investment in exciting scientific

endeavours such as these helps the

Foundation to uphold its commitment

to supporting innovation, excellence

and long-term thinking. In particular,

it promotes our aim to find ways in

which our funding can provide leverage

for further or future funding, which is

essential if Australia is to have standing

on the international scientific stage.

Science In Review

A central focus of The Ian Potter Foundation’s Science

program area is to support exceptional scientists with

the aim of making a long-term contribution to thinking

and knowledge in Australia.

Scientific endeavours

supported by this

program are extremely

wide and varied and

provide a fascinating

glimpse into the array of

academic studies that are

building understanding

and knowledge of the

world around us.

ImageColoured perspex arrays on the annual sea ice at Cape Evans, Antarctica. Four different colours were used to understand the ecology of the recently discovered light-harvesting bacteria


Banking on BiodiversityThe Ian Potter Foundation provided this grant to support

the development of PlantBank, a world-class plant research,

education and conservation facility and research hub that

will help preserve the biodiversity of Australian plant species

through seed banking.

PlantBank Project Manager John Siemon

explains the scope, scale and potential of

this vitally important investment and its

role in safeguarding Australia’s precious

flora for the future.

PlantBank is part of a global project

aimed at harvesting, storing, preserving

and researching seed collections across

the globe. What is Australia’s role in this

global initiative? Which other Australian

institutes are participating?

The Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain

Trust, through its NSW Seedbank, is a

key partner in the Australian Seedbank

Partnership. The Australian Seedbank

Partnership brings together expertise from

leading Australian botanic gardens, state

environmental organisations, academic

institutions and non-government

organisations to safeguard Australia’s flora.

The partnership contributes to global

plant conservation initiatives through

a nationally cooperative seed banking

effort to collect and store seed in secure

seed banks as a long-term insurance

against loss of biodiversity. In addition

the partners will research ways to improve

conservation and restoration outcomes

from seed banking, train and build

Australian expertise to support the

conservation and restoration, and share

knowledge about Australian flora and

our work.

Are there any unique features or

challenges within the Australian project?

How does it compare with international

counterparts?

Australia has over 25,000 native plant

species, of which 1,700 are threatened

plant species and plant communities

at the brink of extinction. We all know

Australia is vast but to manage the

threats over 7,700,000 square kilometres

of land is an immense challenge. By way

of comparison, the United Kingdom has

a mere 2,300 total native plant species.

What happens once the doors are open?

While the PlantBank building will be

completed in late 2012, the challenge has

only just begun. PlantBank will extend

the opportunity to collect, conserve and

research Australian flora. From the first

day the public will be able to step inside

PlantBank and see scientists at work

testing, researching and seed banking

Science Feature

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS & DOMAIN TRUST, NSW

PROJECT:

PlantBank

GRANT:


www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/annan

From the first day the public

will be able to step inside

PlantBank and see scientists

at work testing, researching

and seed banking our

precious plants.

our precious plants. Visitors will also be

able to take behind-the-scenes tours,

participate in lectures, seminars and

training programs, and be inspired to

take their own part in plant conservation.

How many species will the Australian

PlantBank store? Are they all indigenous

to Australia?

Our current seed storage facility, the

NSW Seedbank, holds collections from

all over Australia and a few international

collections but has a focus on the flora

of New South Wales. Currently the

collection encompasses more than

10 million seeds, representing 40 per

cent of New South Wales’ seed-bearing

flora and 36 per cent of our New South

Wales’ threatened flora. Collectively the

Australian Botanic Garden at Mount

Annan has representatives of 26 per cent

of the Australian flora, either in our

amazing living collection or preserved

within the NSW Seedbank. Our current

design suggests that our existing seeds

would take up a mere 5 per cent of our

proposed seed “vaults” in PlantBank,

with the design allowing the flexibility

for further expansion should we require

it in the future.

The new facility will bring the Trust’s

facilities up to world-class standard,

incorporating a new cryogenic storage

facility. This cryogenic store allows our

seeds to be stored in liquid nitrogen

at a chilly –196oC instead of the current

4oC to –20oC range. The liquid nitrogen

technique will be used to store those

problematic species that aren’t amenable

to conventional seed banking techniques.

How do you see PlantBank material and

knowledge being used in the future?

What is the potential?

PlantBank is the ultimate insurance

policy. Think of the seeds we will store

in PlantBank like currency. We all like to

save for a rainy day, not knowing when

we will need some extra funds. Our seed

repository isn’t locked away never to

be used; instead it is an active research

hub where researchers or restoration

practitioners can come to study or

rehabilitate species, communities or

landscapes that have been damaged

or degraded through a variety of

threatening processes.


DOLPHIN RESEARCH

INSTITUTE LTD, VIC

Re-engineering of the Dolphin Research Institute’s Core Research Program

The project seeks to re-engineer the

Institute’s core research program to

provide a stronger long-term capacity

to respond to the conservation

management needs of Victoria’s

cetaceans and their ecosystem, which

will help achieve greater and more

sustained partnerships and outcomes.


RMIT UNIVERSITY: FACULTY

OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING

AND HEALTH, VIC

Establishment of an Advanced Multimode Absorbance, Fluorescence and Luminescence Plate-reader Facility

This instrument will significantly

contribute to a project developing

nano-vehicles for cancer therapy

applications, through which RMIT is

working on nano-capsules that can

precisely deliver highly toxic anti-cancer

drugs to cancer tissues, minimising

the side-effects of chemotherapy.

$45,000

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS

& DOMAIN TRUST, NSW

PlantBank: plant research, education and conservation facility

To support the development of PlantBank,

a world-class plant research, education

and conservation facility focused on

preserving the biodiversity of Australian

plant species through seed banking.


Science Grants Approved 2010–11

ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY

OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC., SA

Centre of Excellence for Wildlife Health – Stage 2

Funding towards the second phase

of development planning of the

Conservation Ark Centre for Wildlife

Health (CACWH), a zoo-based, inter-

agency partnership through which

universities, government agencies and

non-government organisations will pool

their resources and expertise to provide

a comprehensive and integrated wildlife

health sector for the benefit of animals

and humans.

$75,000

UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE:

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, VIC

Mobile phone screening for foetal wellbeing

This project is developing a low-cost

and non-invasive abdominal phonogram

device using a mobile phone to assist

the screening of foetal wellbeing

for application in remote areas and

in developing countries.

$30,000


FACULTY OF VETERINARY

SCIENCE, VIC

Investigating new and emerging herpes viruses in Australian marsupials

This project will investigate new and

emerging herpes viruses in populations

of Australian marsupials that are

particularly vulnerable to disease.

$20,000

UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA:

FACULTY OF SCIENCE,

ENGINEERING AND

TECHNOLOGY, TAS

Light-harvesting bacteria in Antarctic sea ice

In 2000, a remarkable new form of

metabolism was discovered in marine

bacteria: a light-harvesting protein

called proteorhodopsin (PR) which

enables cells to obtain energy from

the sun. This research project will gain

a unique insight into the ecological

significance of PR using Antarctic sea

ice as a model habitat.

$9,850

TAG FOR LIFE, VIC

Bringing Sharks To Life: research and education outreach

Facilitating a research program

into juvenile white sharks in

eastern Australia and delivering

the information to the public in

informative and interactive displays

promoting shark conservation at

partnering public institutions.

$10,000

ImageConcept drawings show the airy, contemporary style of the planned PlantBank facility


Number of grants:

38Value:

$69k

Travel


Over the years, more than two thousand talented

academics and researchers, supported by our

grants, have travelled to all corners of the globe

to pursue an array of opportunities in every

conceivable discipline. The list of beneficiaries

features the names of many individuals who have

gone on to make very significant contributions

to the community and, ultimately, to building

Australia’s intellectual capital. The list even includes

one of the Foundation’s Governors, Dr Thomas

Hurley AO, OBE, who, as a physician at the Royal

Melbourne Hospital in 1969, received a grant

of $500 to attend a meeting of the International

Committee on Sarcoidosis in Prague.

The Travel program area is highly competitive

and offers outstanding early-career researchers

the chance to present their work at international

conferences and to benefit from the knowledge

exchange and professional development

opportunities offered by these forums. The

Foundation’s small grants help recipients take an

important step in their career development and

use their specialised knowledge to make important

contributions to their field and wider society.

The following two examples are an illustration of

the rich opportunities available internationally for

Australia’s early-career researchers and the great

potential that is being fostered by Australia’s leading

academic and research institutions.

Case study: Dr Kelvin Wong

RMIT University’s Dr Kelvin Wong received a grant

of $1,000 to help him attend the 3rd International

Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical

Technology (ICBBT) in Sanya, China, in March 2011.

Dr Wong is part of a team at RMIT whose ongoing

research has resulted in a cardiac flow analysis

platform based on quantitative flow parameters

to test stent designs in aneurismal structures. Dr

Wong’s travel and attendance at the conference

allowed him to promote his research findings to

the scientific community and gain feedback for

improvement of his work on stent optimisation.

His presentation was well received and he served

as the session chair during the second day of

the conference. Dr Wong was then invited to

deliver a formal 60-minute speech as a keynote

speaker. Attending this conference gave Dr Wong

an opportunity to learn about the work of other

biomedical experts and students and provided an

excellent platform for discussion, feedback and

future collaboration. Since attending the conference

several researchers from various universities have

requested an invitation to collaborate with RMIT

on cardiac flow research.

Travel In Review

Travel grants are an important way in which The Ian Potter Foundation

works to promote excellence and support individuals who are outstanding

in their field.

Image rightDr Kelvin Wong, front row second from right

Image leftDr Carolina Tallon from The University of Melbourne at the International Congress on Ceramics, Japan


Travel In Review

Case study: Dr Mario Alvarez-Jimenez

Orygen Youth Health Research Centre put forward a request for $2,200 for support

for Dr Mario Alvarez-Jimenez to attend the International Early Psychosis Association

7th International Conference on Early Psychosis in Amsterdam, 29 November –

1 December 2010.

Dr Alvarez-Jimenez’s presentation of two projects at the conference allowed him

to network with prestigious researchers and to develop international collaborations

in the increasingly important area of psychological interventions in first episode

psychosis. Researchers worldwide have since contacted Dr Alvarez-Jimenez asking for

more information about his work and to explore potential future collaborations. One

of his projects presented at the conference, Horyzons, has since attracted significant

competitive funding as well as media interest.


AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL

UNIVERSITY: COLLEGE OF

MEDICINE, BIOLOGY AND

ENVIRONMENT, ACT

Dr Kaori Ikeda, John Curtin School of

Medical Research, to attend the Annual

Meeting for the Society of Neuroscience,

San Diego, USA, 13–17 November 2010.

$1,950

BAKER IDI HEART AND DIABETES

INSTITUTE, VIC

Dr Darren Henstridge, Cellular and

Molecular Metabolism Laboratory,

to attend the Keystone Symposia

Conference: Type 2 Diabetes, Insulin

Resistance and Metabolic Dysfunction,

Keystone, Colorado, USA, 12–17

January 2011.

$2,243


Dr Anna Hearps, Centre for Virology, to

undertake a period of intensive study and

training with Professor Alan Landy, Rush

University Medical Centre, Chicago, USA,

mid-March to mid-June 2011.

$2,578


Dr Stephanie Day, Centre for

Immunology, to attend the Keystone

Symposia Conference: New Frontiers

at the Interface of Immunity and

Glycobiology, Alberta, Canada,

6–11 March 2011.

$2,500

Travel Grants Approved 2010–11

CENTRE FOR EYE RESEARCH

AUSTRALIA LIMITED (CERA), VIC

Dr Ryo Kawasaki, Retinal Vascular

Imaging Centre, to attend the 25th

APAO Congress – A Joint Meeting of the

Asia–Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology

and the American Academy of

Ophthalmology 2010, Beijing, China,

16–20 September 2010.

$1,667

GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY: FACULTY

OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND

CRIMINOLOGY, QLD

Dr Debra Porch, Queensland College

of Art, to participate as artist-in-

residence at the Art and Cultural

Laboratory (International Res-artis

studio program), Yerevan, Armenia,

17 October – 28 November 2010.

$1,200

JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY:

FACULTY OF SCIENCE,

ENGINEERING & INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY, QLD

Dr Stephen Whalan, School of Marine

and Tropical Biology, to attend the VIII

World Sponge Conference, Girona, Spain,


$1,576

LUDWIG INSTITUTE FOR CANCER

RESEARCH LTD, VIC

Dr Tracy Putoczki, Colon Cell and

Molecular Biology Laboratory, to attend

Cytokines 2010: Cytokines in Infectious

Diseases, Autoimmune Disorders, and

Cancer Conference, Chicago, USA,

3–7 October 2010.

$2,500

MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY:

FACULTY OF SCIENCE, NSW

Dr Katherine Barry, Department of

Biological Sciences to attend the

Entomological Society of America

Conference, San Diego, USA,

12–15 December 2010.

$1,000

MONASH INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL

RESEARCH, VIC

Dr Niamh Mangan, Centre for Innate

Immunity and Infectious Diseases,

to attend Cytokines 2010: Cytokines

in Infectious Diseases, Autoimmune

Disorders, and Cancer Conference,

Chicago, USA, 3–7 October.

$2,500

MONASH UNIVERSITY: FACULTY

OF MEDICINE, NURSING AND

HEALTH SCIENCES, VIC

Dr Julianne Bayliss, Medicine (Alfred

Hospital), to attend the 10th International

Symposium on NeuroVirology, Milan,

Italy, 12–16 October 2010.

$2,700


OF MEDICINE, NURSING AND

HEALTH SCIENCES, VIC

Dr Sanjaya Kuruppu, Department

of Biochemistry and Molecular

Biology, to attend the 23rd Meeting

of the International Society of

Hypertension, Vancouver, Canada,


$1,500

MURDOCH CHILDREN’S RESEARCH

INSTITUTE, VIC

Dr Beverley Eldridge to attend the 64th

Annual Meeting of American Academy

of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental

Medicine (AACPDM), Washington, DC,

USA, 22–25 September 2010.

$1,500

$

M

O

H

D

o

B

o

H

2

$

M

I

D

A

o

M

U

$

JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY: ARC

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR

CORAL REEF STUDIES, QLD

Dr Natalie Ban to attend the 2nd

International Marine Conservation

Congress and pre- and post-

conference workshops, Victoria,

Canada, 11–19 May 2011.

$2,500


MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES, NSW

Ms Sarah Jane Rennie to undertake

a study exchange with Museums

Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland,

25 October – 12 November 2010.

$3,000

NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH

AUSTRALIA, NSW

Dr Jenny Wong, Schizophrenia Research

Laboratory, to attend the Society

for Neuroscience annual meeting:

Neuroscience 2010, San Diego, USA,

13–17 November 2010.

$1,800

NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH

AUSTRALIA, NSW

Dr Leonora Long, Schizophrenia

Research Laboratory, to attend the

Society for Neuroscience annual meeting:

Neuroscience 2010, San Diego, USA,

13–17 November 2010.

$1,086

ORYGEN YOUTH HEALTH

RESEARCH CENTRE, VIC

Dr Mario Alvarez-Jimenez to attend the

International Early Psychosis Association

7th International Conference on Early

Psychosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,

29 November – 1 December 2010.

$2,200

THE FLINDERS UNIVERSITY OF

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: FACULTY

OF HEALTH SCIENCES, SA

Dr Mayumi Kako, School of Nursing

and Midwifery, to attend the

International Perspectives in the

History of Nursing Conference,

Surrey, UK, 14–16 September 2010.

$2,000

QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY

OF TECHNOLOGY: FACULTY OF

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, QLD

Dr Kathryn Fairfull-Smith, School

of Chemistry, to attend the 2010

International Chemical Congress of

Pacific Basin Societies (Pacifichem),

Honolulu, USA, 15–20 December 2010.

$1,500

RMIT UNIVERSITY: FACULTY

OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING

AND HEALTH, VIC

Dr Kelvin Wong, School of Aerospace,

Mechanical and Manufacturing

Engineering, to attend the 3rd

International Conference on

Bioinformatics and Biomedical

Technology (ICBBT), Sanya, China,

25–27 March 2011.

$1,000

THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE:

FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES,

SA

Dr Rachel Roberts, School of Psychology,

to attend the American Cleft Palate-

Craniofacial Association’s 68th Annual

Meeting and Pre-conference Symposium,

San Juan, Puerto Rico, 4–9 April 2011.

$2,504

THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE:

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND

SOCIAL SCIENCES, SA

Dr Jennifer Bonham, Geographical

& Environmental Studies, to attend

the Bicycle Politics Symposium

and Workshop, Lancaster, UK,


$990


CENTRE FOR NEUROSCIENCE, VIC

Dr Junhua Xiao to attend the 9th Biennial

Meeting of the Asia–Pacific Society

for Neurochemistry (APSN), Phuket,

Thailand, 18–20 October 2010.

$1,000



Dr Carolina Tallon, Particulate Fluids

Processing Centre, to attend the 3rd

International Congress on Ceramics,

Osaka, Japan, 14–18 November 2010.

$2,100



Dr John-Paul O’Shea, Particulate Fluids

Processing Centre, to attend the 5th

Core-to-Core Young Researchers

Workshop on Particle Technology, Kyoto,

Japan, 23–26 November 2010.

$1,707



Dr Elizaveta Forbes, Department of

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering,

to attend the Australia–Japan Colloid and

Interface Science Symposium, part of the

International Conference on Nanoscopic

Colloid and Surface Science, Tokyo,

Japan, 19–22 September 2010.

$1,600

THE WALTER AND ELIZA

HALL INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL

RESEARCH, VIC

Dr Wai-Hong Tham, Infection and

Immunity Division, to attend the 2010

(21st) Annual Molecular Parasitology

Meeting, Massachusetts, USA, 12–16

September 2010.

$1,750



UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN

QUEENSLAND: FACULTY OF

EDUCATION, QLD

Dr Margaret Baguley (right) to attend

the 2011 International Conference

on Narrative, Arts-based, and “Post”

Approaches to Social Research

(NAPAR), Tempe, Arizona, 20–23

January 2011, and to interview the

international artist Judy Chicago,

New Mexico, USA, January 2011.

$1,119


VICTORIAN COLLEGE OF THE

ARTS AND MUSIC (VCA), VIC

Dr Katrina McFerran, School of Music,

to attend the American Music Therapy

Association National Conference, Ohio,

USA, 17–21 November 2010.

$2,700

UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY:

FACULTY OF ARTS, NSW

Dr Anna Boucher, School of Social

and Political Sciences, to attend the

6th European Consortium for Political

Research General Conference, Reykjavik,

Iceland, 25–27 August 2011.

$2,500


FACULTY OF MEDICINE, NSW

Ms Annette Burgess, Central Clinical

School, to attend the 8th Asia–Pacific

Medical Education Conference (APMEC),

Singapore, 26–30 January 2011.

$1,800


AUSTRALIAN MARITIME

COLLEGE, TAS

Dr Jonathan Binns, to attend the 20th

Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium,

Annapolis, USA, 20–21 March 2011.

$1,895


FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCE,

TAS

Dr Quynh Le, Department of Rural

Health, to attend the 8th Asia–Pacific

Medical Education Conference (AMPEC),

Singapore, 26–30 January 2011.

$1,895

THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND:

FACULTY OF SCIENCE, QLD

Dr Joshua Edwards, School of Biomedical

Sciences, to attend the Biophysical Society

55th Annual Meeting, Baltimore, USA, 5–9

March, and to visit peers in Milwaukee and

Chicago, 10–12 March 2011.

$1,000


INSTITUTE OF MARINE &

ANTARCTIC SCIENCE, TAS

Dr Catriona Macleod, Tasmanian

Aquaculture & Fisheries Institute, to

attend the International Council for the

Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Annual

Science Conference 2010, Nantes, France,


$1,282

UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN

AUSTRALIA: FACULTY OF

ENGINEERING, COMPUTING

AND MATHEMATICS, WA

Dr Guillaume Watson, School of

Mechanical Engineering, to attend IX

COPS 2011: 9th International Symposium

of the Characterisation of Porous Solids,

Dresden, Germany, 5–8 June 2011.

$2,300

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY:

INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABILITY

AND INNOVATION, VIC

Dr Bo Zhu to work as a visiting

scientist with Professor Dongyuan

Zhao, Department of Chemistry,

Fudan University, Shanghai, China,

15–29 October 2010.

$750


6 30 January 2011.


Conference

Number of grants:

20Value:

$200k


Our Conference program area supports

a range of community and research

organisations to bring keynote speakers

of international renown to Australia.

The speakers bring their knowledge

and expertise – and usually a little extra

spark of inspiration – to their peers in

Australia, where they present new ideas,

approaches and information at symposia

and conferences.

Conference grants are a great example

of the potential for relatively small

grants to have a big influence by

delivering a ripple effect throughout

the community. Often Conference

grants will lead to additional speaking

or publicity opportunities for the guest

speaker as well as the development of

collaborations and network connections

that may not have happened otherwise.

Case Study: Deaf Australia

Deaf Australia received $10,000 to bring

Mr Markku Jokinen (President, World

Federation of the Deaf, Finland) to give

a keynote presentation to the Deaf

Australia National Conference, Hobart,

May 2011.

Inviting the president of the World

Federation of the Deaf to make keynote

presentations at Deaf Australia’s 2nd

National Conference brought an

international perspective on how deaf

Australians fare by comparison with deaf

people in other developed countries.

The organisers aimed to encourage

conference delegates to work with Deaf

Australia to achieve further human rights

milestones for deaf people in Australia.

Participants reported that Mr Jokinen’s

presentations at the conference were

inspiring and motivating. Deaf Australia

received excellent feedback, including

a comment from a young deaf woman

that she feels inspired to progress some

ideas she has for academic research.

Deaf Australia has also been asked by

a major service provider to collaborate

on an issue of concern as a result of the

conference.

While in Australia, Mr Jokinen was

also the main speaker at a community

forum, held meetings with government

ministers, attended a reception hosted

by the Finnish Consul and met with two

major deaf services organisations.

Case Study: La Trobe University’s

Faculty of Science, Technology

and Engineering

La Trobe University’s Faculty of Science,

Technology and Engineering was granted

$21,000 towards bringing Professor

Rolf-Dieter Heuer (CERN, Switzerland),

Dr Tim Fuller-Rowell (University of

Colorado, USA) and Professor Bruce

Allen (Max Planck Institute, Germany)

as keynote speakers to the 19th

Australian Institute of Physics Congress

incorporating the 35th Australian

Conference on Optical Fibre Technology,

Melbourne, December 2010.

This grant funded the attendance of

speakers at the 19th Physics Congress.

The conference was highly successful,

attracting an excellent turnout of more

than 800 people. Participant feedback

was very positive. Additional publicity

opportunities for the speakers helped

build awareness of the congress and

extend the benefits of the speakers’

participation. Rolf-Dieter Heuer was

interviewed on Melbourne radio and on

television as well as receiving significant

newspaper coverage in the Melbourne

Age and the Brisbane Times. Professor

Bruce Allen also presented a public

lecture held in the main lecture hall

of the Melbourne Convention Centre.

Conference In Review

The sharing, exchange and dissemination of knowledge

are important aspects of The Ian Potter Foundation’s

commitment to excellence and its aim to help build capacity

within Australia’s not-for-profit sector.


AUSGLASS (THE AUSTRALIAN

ASSOCIATION OF GLASS ARTISTS)

LIMITED, VIC

To bring curator Juli Cho Bailer (USA),

as keynote speaker, and artists Dana

Zamecnikova (Czech Republic), Marian

Karel (Czech Republic), Daniel Clayman

(USA), Jennifer Elek (USA), Stephen Dee

Edwards (USA) and Anjali Srinivasan

(India) to the “Peripheral Vision”,

15th Biennale Ausglass Conference,

Sydney, 21–23 January 2011, and to

pre-conference and post-conference

workshops (17–21 January 2011 and

25–29 January 2011 respectively).

$10,000

AUSTRALIAN DRUG FOUNDATION

INC., VIC

To bring Professor David Foxcroft

(Oxford Brookes University, UK),

Associate Professor Kate Crawford

(University of New South Wales),

Professor Patrick McGorry (Orygen

Youth Health), Professor Penelope Hawe

(University of Calgary, Canada), and

Professor Iain McGregor (University of

Sydney) as keynote speakers to the 6th

International Conference on Drugs and

Young People, Melbourne, May 2011.

$20,000

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ACT

To bring Dr Anne Schodde (US Center

for Citizen Diplomacy) and Professor

Jan Melissen (Netherlands Institute

of International Relations) as keynote

speakers to the Symposium on Public

and Citizen Diplomacy, Canberra,

June 2011.

$5,000

CHARGE SYNDROME

ASSOCIATION OF

AUSTRALASIA, WA

To bring David Brown (California Deaf–

Blind Project, USA), Dr Tim Hartshorne

(Central Michigan University, USA),

Kasee Stratton (Central Michigan

University, USA) and Dr Jeremy Kirk

(Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, UK) as

keynote speakers to the “B” in CHARGE

Conference, Fremantle, October 2010.

$7,762

Conference Grants Approved 2010-11

CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY:

FACULTY OF EDUCATION, NSW

To bring Professor Aline-Wendy Dunlop

(University of Strathclyde, Scotland), Dr

Sally Peters (University of Waikato, NZ)

and Professor Beth Graue (Wisconsin

Centre for Education Research, USA)

as keynote speakers to the Starting

School: Research, Policy and Practice

Conference, Albury, October 2010.

$7,500

CYSTIC FIBROSIS

AUSTRALIA, NSW

To bring six keynote speakers to the 9th

Australasian Cystic Fibrosis Conference,

Melbourne, 20–23 August 2011.

$20,000

DEAF AUSTRALIA INC., QLD

To bring Mr Markku Jokinen (President,

World Federation of the Deaf, Finland) as

a keynote speaker to the Deaf Australia

National Conference, Hobart, May 2011.

$10,000

LA TROBE UNIVERSITY: FACULTY

OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL

SCIENCES, VIC

To bring Professor Oliver Ramsbotham

(UK), Professor Avraham Sela (Israel),

and Professor Karim Makdisi (Lebanon)

as keynote speakers to The Obama

Middle East Peace Initiative: Practical

Roadmap or Irrelevant Posturing?

workshop, Melbourne, June 2011.

$12,000



SCIENCES, VIC

To bring Professor Alexander Potts

(University of Michigan, USA) as a

keynote speaker to the 14th Australasian

David Nichol Smith Seminar in Eighteenth

Century Studies, Melbourne, 4–8 July 2011.

$2,500



SCIENCES, VIC

To bring Dr Chloe Chard (UK) as a

keynote speaker to the 14th Australasian

David Nichol Smith Seminar in Eighteenth

Century Studies, Melbourne, 4–8 July 2011.

$2,500


OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND

ENGINEERING, VIC

To bring Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer

(CERN, Switzerland), Dr Tim Fuller-

Rowell (University of Colorado, USA)

and Professor Bruce Allen (Max Planck

Institute, Germany) as keynote speakers

to the 19th Australian Institute of

Physics Congress incorporating the 35th

Australian Conference on Optical Fibre

Technology, Melbourne, December 2010.

$21,000

CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY:

FACULTY OF EDUCATION, NSW

To bring Assistant Professor Anne

Kinsella (University of Western

Ontario, US) as a keynote speaker

to the symposium – The Embodied

Profession(al): The Body in Professional

Practice, Learning and Education, Wagga

Wagga, NSW, 5 December 2010.

$9,600

Conference Grants Approved 2010–11

MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY:


To bring Professor Pierre Briant (Collège

de France) and Professor Joachim

Friedrich Quack (Ruprecht-Karls-

Universität Heidelberg, Germany) as

keynote speakers to Ptolemy I Soter and

the Transformation of Egypt 405–282 BC,

Sydney, 21–23 September 2011.

$7,500


OF ART AND DESIGN, VIC

To bring artist Mr Heri Dono (Indonesia),

Professor Johanna Drucker (University of

California, US), Professor Paul Coldwell

(University of the Arts London, UK) and

Professor Teal Tiggs (University of the

Arts London, UK) as keynote speakers

to the International Multi-disciplinary

Printmaking Conference, “IMPACT 7:

Intersections & Counterpoints”,

Melbourne, 27–30 September 2011.

$13,527

QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY

OF TECHNOLOGY: FACULTY

OF EDUCATION, QLD

To bring Professor Mavis Reimer

(University of Winnipeg, Canada) as a

keynote speaker to Fear and Safety in

Children’s Literature: the 20th Biennial

Congress of the International Research

Society for Children’s Literature, Brisbane,

4–8 July 2011.

$5,000


FACULTY OF ARTS, VIC

To bring Professor Roger Goodman

(University of Oxford, UK) as a keynote

speaker to the Biennial Conference of the

Japanese Studies Association of Australia

(JSAA), Melbourne, 4–7 July 2011.

$9,772



To bring Professor Hans Rupprecht

Goette (Deutsches Archäologisches

Institut) and Jean-Charles Moretti

(University of Lyon, France) as keynote

speakers to the Death of Drama or Birth

of an Industry?: the Greek Theatre in the

Fourth Century BC Conference, Sydney,

July 2011.

$8,950

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY: INSTITUTE

FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND

INNOVATION, VIC

To bring Professor Jerry Lin (Arizona

State University, US), Professor Toshino

Tsuru (Hiroshima University, Japan)

and Professor Wanqin Jin (Nanjing

University of Technology, China) as

keynote speakers to the 3rd International

Symposium on Inorganic Membranes,

Melbourne, November 2010.

$7,000

MONASH UNIVERSITY:

FACULTY OF PHARMACY

AND PHARMACEUTICAL

SCIENCES, VIC

To bring Professor Otto Glatter

(University of Graz, Austria) and

Professor Martin Malmsten (University

of Uppsala, Sweden) as keynote

speakers to the 18th International

Symposium on Surfactants in Solution,

Melbourne, November 2010.

$12,000

SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH

INSTITUTE, NSW

To bring Professor Cameron Carter

(University of California Davis, US)

as a keynote speaker to the 11th

Biennial Australasian Schizophrenia

Conference, Sydney, September

2010.

$10,000

Printed on Monza Recycled Satin which is Certified Carbon Neutral by The Carbon Reduction Institute (CRI) following

the standards set by the global Greenhouse Gas Protocol. It is also FSC certified. Designed by magneticdesign.com.au

The Ian Potter Foundation Ltd

Level 3, 111 Collins Street

Melbourne VIC 3000

Australia

T 03 9650 3188

F 03 9650 7986

E [email protected]

www.ianpotter.org.au

ABN 42 004 603 972

Find us on Facebook

a shared vision grants report 2010–11 - the ian potter ... · pdf filegrants report...

Documents