A new collaboration between government and philanthropy aiming to improve the lives of children, young people, and their families, has taken a step forward today with the first Roundtable meeting of the Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children.

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

These investments:

• Seek to improve outcomes for children, their families and/or communities

• Fall into one of four focus tiers of the Investment Dialogue:

  • Projects and Programs focused on children, family or community
  • Place – community-led processes and growing capacity and capability
  • Policy and Systems level reforms – creating the conditions necessary for systems change to ensure services and systems are adjusted to meet the needs of local communities where required.
  • Data and evaluation.

Further detail on the recently funded projects and programs can be found in the accompanying summary document, as well as information on two examples where philanthropy and government are already collaborating by providing complementary funding. While the Investment Dialogue is still in its early stages, these case studies represent examples of projects which speak to the type of work that the Dialogue seeks to support. They illustrate the foundation from which we build this new collaborative initiative.

To stay informed, visit: www.investmentdialogue.org.au

Investment Dialogue founding philanthropic partners include:
  • Besen Family Foundation
  • BHP Foundation
  • Cages Foundation
  • Dusseldorp Forum
  • RM Ansett Trust (as managed by Equity Trustees)
  • Fogarty Foundation
  • Gold Coast Hospital Foundation
  • Hand Heart Pocket
  • Helen Macpherson Smith Trust
  • Minderoo Foundation
  • Paul Ramsay Foundation
  • Perpetual Trustees
  • Philanthropy Australia
  • Stan Perron Charitable Foundation
  • Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation
  • The Berg Family Foundation
  • The Bryan Foundation
  • The Ian Potter Foundation
  • The John Villiers Trust
  • Tim Fairfax Family Foundation
Attachments for further context and reading