The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has been selected to receive $100,000 from Myer Family Philanthropy.
The unsolicited grant will be awarded to 37 Australian non-profit organisations under the Celebrating Our Partners project. The grants are awarded to organisations that help alleviate poverty and disadvantage and strengthen the non-profit sector in the community. The project is part of the 2009 Commemorative Grants Program, which marks 75 years of the Sidney Myer Fund and 50 years of The Myer Foundation.
Chief Executive Officer of PIAC, Robin Banks said, PIAC is very grateful to Myer Family Philanthropy for this generous grant. The money will be used to develop the capacity staff to take on leadership roles in the organisation and also in the community more broadly.
This unique grants program is a fantastic recognition of the need to focus not only on the outward work of an organisation but also what is needed internally to keep an organisation strong and dynamic and able to do the work it does, Ms Banks added.
Sid Myer, Convenor of the 2009 Commemorative Grants Taskforce, said the grants celebrate the long and close relationship between Myer Philanthropy and many community organisations.
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre has served its community extremely well, and this grant allows us to recognise that service in a tangible way, said Mr Myer.
This project celebrates the trust and mutual vision shared by grant makers and grant seekers. PIAC will use the grant to review its organisational strength and build long-term viability, said Mr Myer.
The selected organisations will participate in a forum with experts on capacity building and take part in a research program conducted by Queensland University of Technology’s Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Non-profit Studies. The research findings will be reported to the Australian non-profit sector and grant maker network, and to the organisations themselves, with the hope to encourage future grants for capacity building.
The selected organisations were chosen according to a set of criteria established by the 2009 Commemorative Grants Taskforce: the organisation must work within the field of poverty and disadvantage or community; have a budget of less than $2 million; and have received two or more grants from The Myer Foundation or Sidney Myer Fund, most recently within the last ten years.
2009 Commemorative Grants Program
Thirteen diverse projects focussing on social disadvantage, the environment, the arts, Australia’s place in the region and scientific research will receive one-off grants as part of the 2009 Commemorative Grants Program to celebrate 75 years of the Sidney Myer Fund and 50 years of The Myer Foundation.
The program will allocate $28 million from the Sidney Myer Fund and The Myer Foundation over five years to 13 major projects and support 48 organisations, including non-profits, community groups and universities. Individual Myer Family members have contributed a further $8 million, bringing the total commitment from Myer Philanthropy to the 2009 Commemorative Grants Program to $36 million.
The 2009 Commemorative Grants Program is over and above the yearly grant making commitments of both The Myer Foundation and the Sidney Myer Fund, a commitment to philanthropy from the Myer Family that began with Sidney Myer in 1934 and has since been enthusiastically supported by each generation.
Celebrating Our Partners: Selected organisations
Action for Community Living, VIC
Aged and Community Services Australia, VIC
Arts Access Society, VIC
Arts Project Australia, VIC
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, VIC
Australian Council of Social Services, VIC
Australians for Native Title & Reconciliation, VIC
CASE for Refugees, WA
Collingwood Children’s Farm, VIC
Compassionate Friends Victoria, VIC
Cottage by the Sea Queenscliff, VIC
DEAL Communication Centre, VIC
DepressioNet, VIC
Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia, ACT
Fitzroy Learning Network, VIC
Foundation for Australian Agricultural Women, VIC
Hotham Mission, VIC
Housing for the Aged Action Group, VIC
Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships, QLD
International Social Service, VIC
Lort Smith Animal Hospital, VIC
Mumbulla Foundation, NSW
National Sorry Day Committee, ACT
Otis Foundation, VIC
Public Interest Advocacy Centre, NSW
Refugee & Immigration Legal Centre Inc, VIC
Reinforce, VIC
Riding for the Disabled Association of Australia, VIC
Ross House Association, VIC
Springvale Indo-Chinese Mutual Assistance Association,VIC
Tasmanian Community Foundation, TAS
Travellers Aid Society of Victoria, VIC
Urban Seed, VIC
Welfare Rights Unit, VIC
Wingecarribee Community Foundation, NSW
Yothu Yindi Foundation, NT
Youth Enterprise Trust, QLD
Media enquiries:
2009 Commemorative Grants Program Lucy Williams, Haystac
Ph 03 8689 2235 or 0413 006 767. E-mail [email protected]
MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic O’Grady, Media and Communications Officer,
Public Interest Advocacy Centre. Ph: 02 8898 6532 or 0400 110 169