Westpac Foundation Rural Community Grants awarded

Media Releases, 28 June 2020

$500,000 in grants for rural and regional communities

The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) has partnered with Westpac Foundation to help in distributing $500,000 to not-for-profit (NFP) organisations in rural and regional communities throughout Australia.

Each of the 50 rural NFPs awarded a Westpac Foundation Rural Community Grant has received $10,000 for projects that will improve the education, training and employment opportunities in their communities. These grants reached rural communities in nearly every state and territory.

This is the first time that Westpac Foundation has partnered with FRRR to take their annual community grants program truly national, to encompass rural, regional and remote communities.

Susan Bannigan, CEO of Westpac Foundation, says the Rural Community Grants will help to create strong and more inclusive communities in rural, regional and remote areas, providing assistance in what has been one of the most challenging years on record.

“Supporting organisations focused on employment, education and training is at the heart of Westpac Foundation’s strategy. Through our partnership with FRRR we have been able to extend our reach to new communities across Australia. In addition to funding, these organisations will have access to a range of non-financial support to help them through this time and beyond.”

Natalie Egleton, CEO of FRRR, says this is fantastic for rural and regional communities, who play such a vital role in Australia’s prosperity and vibrancy.

“These communities are facing continuing challenges to growth and development – from drought, to bushfires, to floods, and now COVID-19. Targeted financial support for education, training and employment pathways is critical during these times, particularly for vulnerable groups.

“Through Westpac Foundation’s Rural Community Grants program, we can back local groups to improve the opportunities within their communities, so they can continue to prosper,” said Ms Egleton.

Some of the 50 projects awarded include:

One Vision Productions Limited in Byron Bay, NSW received $10,000 to increase educational engagement through its One Vision Productions Online Youth Engagement Program, which will provide training in creative media vocations for young people at risk.
Gong-Dal Aboriginal Corporation in Gapuwiyak, NT received $10,000 to empower Yolngu people through a business education program to develop tourism businesses on their homelands.
Cape York Girls Academy Limited in Wangetti, QLD received $10,000 to empower young indigenous mothers through targeted education and wellbeing programs to support their futures and enable leadership in their communities.
Foodbank of South Australia Inc in Murray Bridge, SA received $10,000 to enable access to food education courses for vulnerable people including those with a disability.
Rural Alive & Well Inc in Avoca, TAS received $10,000 to support individual and community mental health through mental health education-related activities in rural Tasmania.
Castlemaine State Festival Ltd in Castlemaine, VIC received $10,000 to expand access to arts education for youth at risk through the Castlemaine State Festival Education Program to enable vocational pathways development.
Big hART Inc in Roeburne, WA received $10,000 to build digital skills for young people at risk through professional development and practical industry experience to increase employability.

In addition to funding, all grant recipients receive pro bono support and access to leadership development programs, legal support, and financial capability training via Westpac’s Changemaker program.

The full list of grant recipients and their activity summaries are below.

Jump to : NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS| VIC | WA

Organisation	Activity Summary	Location	Awarded
NEW SOUTH WALES
Bowraville Innovative Social Enterprises Precinct Incorporated	Sewing for Self Sufficiency Build organisational capacity to enable vulnerable community members to develop their skills and support enterprise opportunities.	Bowraville	$10,000
Boys To The Bush Ltd	Tooled for (Winter) Fuel Develop the skills of young people at risk through mentoring and practical building projects that support living and learning capacity.	Albury	$10,000
Bucketts Way Neighbourhood Group Inc	Work Ready Workshops Provide employment pathways and education for people with a disability through workshops focused on workplace skills.	Gloucester	$10,000
First Peoples Disability Network (Australia) Limited	Headphone Hustle Engage and support young people with a disability who are at risk of homelessness through creative workshops building skills and educational engagement.	Coffs Harbour	$10,000
Making Tracks Far West NSW Inc	Making Tracks Work Crew Foster educational engagement and skills development in young people at risk through bush education programs.	Broken Hill	$10,000
National Indigenous Culinary Institute	NICI Skills for Success Develop the employability of young indigenous people through delivering culturally appropriate mentoring and career support program.	Dubbo	$10,000
One Vision Productions Limited	One Vision Productions Online Youth Engagement Program Increase educational engagement through providing training for young people at risk in creative media vocations.	Byron Bay	$10,000
Regional Opportunities Australia Ltd	Creating Job Opportunities for Refugees and Migrants Build employment pathways through partnerships and training to support refugee and migrant employment in regional Australia.	Leeton	$10,000
South Narrabeen Surf Lifesaving Club Inc	Bush to Beach Expand educational opportunities for indigenous youth through extracurricular experiences of participating in metropolitan Surf Life Saving Club programs.	Brewarrina	$10,000
Stewart House	Disadvantaged Children Receive Health and Wellbeing Support at Stewart House Provide education opportunities and life enhancing experiences for young people at risk through access to learning and wellbeing excursions in a capital city.	Broken Hill	$10,000
The Dunn & Lewis Youth Development Foundation Limited	Future Employment Increase employment opportunities for young people at risk through targeted programs to develop skills and set employment pathways.	Ulladulla	$10,000
The Shift Project Byron Incorporated	The Linen SHIFT – Laundry with a Conscience Build skills to enhance digital operations and enhance program delivery to benefit disadvantaged women with employment opportunities.	Byron Bay	$10,000
Wagga Women’s Health Centre	Workshops for Economic Wellbeing Build organisational capacity to deliver workshops for women at risk of domestic violence to increase financial literacy and personal management skills increasing employability.	Wagga Wagga	$10,000
Western Plains Regional Development Inc	Financial Security Empowers Lives Enabling participation in evidenced based training to empower regional lives by identifying and developing transferable skills to increase employability.	Condobolin	$10,000
Women’s Centre for Health and Wellbeing (Albury-Wodonga) Inc	Our Sisters Closet Build organisational capacity through support of retail and digital programs that enable women at risk to undertake training and seek employment.	Albury	$10,000
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation	Djilpin Arts Training and Employment Build organisational capacity to enable local indigenous women to be trained to take up employment opportunities.	Beswick	$10,000
Gong-Dal Aboriginal Corporation	Tourism Business Education Workshops Empower Yolngu people through a business education program to develop tourism businesses on their homelands.	Gapuwiyak	$10,000
The trustee for Karrkad-Kandji Trust	Preserving Kunwinjku: West Arnhem Deliver cultural education opportunities for indigenous people through developing the bilingual resources for the Nawarddeken Academy.	Kabulwarnamyo	$10,000
Wanta Aboriginal Corporation	Yuendumu Driver Training Build community capacity by supporting a new locally operated bus service to increase related training and employment opportunities.	Yuendumu	$10,000
QUEENSLAND
Base Services Inc	2nd Shot Technology Upgrade Build organisational capacity to train young people at risk through delivering programs to build employment skills.	Toowoomba	$10,000
Cape York Girls Academy Limited	Living and Learning Together Empower young indigenous mothers through targeted programs of education and wellbeing to support their futures and enable leadership in their communities.	Wangetti	$10,000
Community Spirit Foundation Limited	Innovation in Remote Indigenous Education Provide education opportunities for secondary students through a program to enable cultural empowerment and to develop resilience.	Palm Island	$10,000
Creative Regions Limited	Crash Box Crew Engage young people in education opportunities through creative learning experiences to foster personal growth and healthy relationships.	Bundaberg	$10,000
MultiSkill Centre Ltd	Wizz Up Red Hot Skills at RedDoor Enhance learning opportunities for youth at risk through social enterprise facility improvements.	Cloncurry & Mount Isa	$10,000
TRACTION for Young People Ltd	Youth TRACTION in the Scenic Rim Positively re-engage youth at risk through practical bike repair and building workshops that expose them to employment pathways.	Beaudesert	$10,000
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Foodbank of South Australia Inc	Foodbank SA – Murray Bridge Food Education Program Enable access to food education courses for vulnerable people including those with a disability.	Murray Bridge	$10,000
Iwantja Arts and Crafts	Iwantja Arts Intergenerational Short Film Project Build capacity for cultural empowerment in an indigenous community through training and skill development to produce a local film.	Indulkana	$10,000
Nature Foundation Limited	Kids on Country Build knowledge of conservation practices in remote Australia for young indigenous people to connect with country and develop workplace skills.	Witchelina	$10,000
Youth Opportunities Association (SA)	Wellbeing, Resilience and Leadership Interventions for Whyalla’s Youth At Risk Support personal leadership development for disadvantaged or disengaged young people to engage them in education and employment pathways.	Whyalla	$10,000
TASMANIA
Disabled Surfers Association of Aust	Disabled Surfers Association of Australia Training Expand opportunities for volunteers to be trained to support people with a disability to participate in a surfing and water safety skills program.	Clifton Beach	$10,000
North and North West Tasmania Sexual Assault Support Services Inc	Send Noods – Relationships, Respect and Sex – Educational Program Build organisational capacity to deliver educational programs on domestic violence and respect for women, to vulnerable young people, and to enhance social development and educational engagement.	Burnie	$10,000
Rural Alive & Well Inc.	RAW Conversations in the Bush Support individual and community mental health through mental health education-related activities in rural Tasmania.	Avoca	$10,000
Second Echo Ensemble Inc	Second Echo Ensemble Pathways to Work Program Provide training for artists living with a disability to support ongoing education and develop employment opportunities.	Hobart	$10,000
VICTORIA
Black Duck Foods Ltd	Healing Country, Sharing Knowledge, Building Ideas Engage and reconnect Indigenous community members to traditional harvesting methods to develop Indigenous employment and enterprises.	Genoa	$10,000
Castlemaine State Festival Ltd	Castlemaine State Festival Education Program Expand access to arts education for youth at risk to enable vocational pathways development.	Castlemaine	$10,000
Christie Centre Inc	Growing Skills in Horticulture Build employment skills of people with a disability in a Learn Local horticulture course and support employees to expand work opportunities.	Mildura	$10,000
Corryong Neighbourhood House Inc	Work & Learn Enable organisational capacity to deliver training and support two apprentices in their employment skills development.	Walwa	$10,000
Down Syndrome Association of Vic Inc	Expanding Education Support Services (ESS) in Regional Victoria Increase education opportunities through expanding targeted classroom support for children with Down Syndrome in mainstream secondary schools.	Abbotsford	$10,000
Eat Up Australia Ltd	Education and Food Security Support children to participate in education by providing emergency food packages to families in need during Covid-19.	Bendigo	$10,000
Food Next Door Co-op Ltd	Small-Scale Farmer Internship Program Transport and Translation Support Mobilise community support to enable new migrant groups to access training programs that build knowledge of Australian farm operations.	Mildura	$10,000
Gallery Kaiela Incorporated Kaiela Arts	Upskilling in Digital for Delivery Build organisation capacity by developing employee’s digital skills for online service delivery.	Shepparton	$10,000
Ganbina	Scholarship for Primary School Students Enhance indigenous secondary students’ educational outcomes through a targeted support program.	Shepparton	$10,000
Health Futures Australia Ltd	S.H.I.F.T Enterprising Youth Build capacity for community development through Youth Wellbeing Innovation Labs that engage young people in social enterprise development.	Daylesford – Hepburn – Creswick	$10,000
The trustee for Kindred Spirits Foundation	Latrobe Valley Reading Program Enable literacy skill development through expanded reading programs to support employability.	Morwell, Traralgon & Moe	$10,000
Zoe Support Australia	The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round Provide wrap around service delivery for disadvantaged young mothers to access education, training and employment opportunities.	Mildura	$10,000
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
ABC Foundation Limited	Self-Transition through Resilience, Empowerment, Awareness and Motivation (STREAM) Program Build individual and community capacity through a program of personal development and employment pathways.	Carnarvon	$10,000
Big hART Inc	Digital Training Program Build digital skills for young people at risk through professional development and practical industry experience to increase employability.	Roeburne	$10,000
Enterprise Partnerships WA	Activating Remote Entrepreneurship Develop foundational skills for indigenous people through a train-the-trainer program to develop local enterprises.	Kalumburu	$10,000
Girls from Oz Ltd	Creating Positive Life Changing Opportunities for Girls in Remote Australia Provide educational, vocational and cultural opportunities for girls in regional Australia through learning excursions to an Australian capital city.