Grants on offer to address issues that matter to young rural Australians

Media Releases, 12 July 2021

$175,000 available to bring youth-led initiatives to life

FRRR is inviting remote, rural and regional community groups apply for grants of up to $10,000 to help fund projects that provide innovative solutions to five priority issues identified by participants at the inaugural Heywire Youth Ideas Lab, held recently in Broken Hill.

Grants on offer to address issues that matter to young rural Australians

Since 2013, the FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grants program has supported remote, rural and regional youth to address issues that matter most to them. To date, more than $1 million in community and philanthropic investment has helped to fund more than 130 projects in over 160 communities.

This year, due to COVID-19, the ABC needed to pivot their approach to how the ideas were generated. Typically, they come from the annual Heywire Youth Summit in Canberra, but instead, over three days 27 young local leaders from Broken Hill and surrounding regions came together. Broken Hill was chosen as the host town because it had the most entries in the annual Heywire story-telling competition. The young leaders learnt new skills, shared their stories, and workshopped ideas to help make rural and regional Australia an even better place for young people to live and work.

These ideas now form the basis of the FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation grants, and include:

  • Discover Your Future: Giving young people a chance to explore and learn more about their future career options.
  • Open Field Fest: Bringing music, art and people together to help create a community-run music and arts festival.
  • Support Squad: Training young leaders to provide support, knowledge and companionship to peers who may be struggling with a variety of challenges.
  • The Story Link Project: Tackling discrimination through sharing diverse stories that help people within regional communities understand the impact of discriminatory language.
  • Contribute to the Change: Helping young people improve their mental health knowledge and understanding, so they are confident to seek the help they need.

Natalie Egleton, FRRR’s CEO, said each year she is impressed by the ideas that Heywirers bring to the table, and this year is no exception.

“The five ideas developed by Broken Hill’s young people are insightful and meaningful and provide a snapshot of the issues currently faced by young rural people across Australia. The beauty of the FRRR ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grants is that they fund projects driven by these young Australians’ ideas.

“We encourage community groups to engage with local youth when considering which idea to adopt and adapt. These capable young leaders understand local context and can help adapt an idea to best suit the priorities of local youth and assist in leading a meaningful project that will make their community more inviting and inspiring for other young people to live and work,” Ms Egleton said.

Youth Ideas Lab and Heywire participant Ashlyn speaks of how proud she is of herself and her Broken Hill community for coming up with the five ideas which were designed to combat challenges they themselves have faced. 

“The Youth Ideas Lab was such an incredible and inspiring experience. I’m so glad our Broken Hill community was given the opportunity to come up with these ideas that will soon be turned into realities. These ideas were formed by our unique experiences; now it’s your chance to take them on in your own community. I can’t wait to see where they go and how they grow!”

This program is possible thanks to the generous support of FRRR’s donor partners, including The Sally Foundation, Erdi Foundation, Findex Community Fund, David Mactaggart Foundation, and private donors. This year, thanks to their generosity, $175,000 in grants is available.

Applications close Thursday, 19 August 2021 and recipients will be announced in early November. More information is available here.

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Amy Crawford

Amy Crawford has an extensive career in complex public policy and its intersection across government and communities.

Amy is the Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), representing 537 councils across the nation. Amy holds over 20 years’ experience in the Australian Public Service. She has a deep understanding of federal government policies and structures, with over 10 years’ service in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and has worked for the federal Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories. Amy has shaped a wide range of policies and programs including regional development, telecommunications, immigration, emergency management, social policy and pandemic preparation.

Amy is a Board Director of Austroads and represents ALGA on the Public Skills Australia Industry Advisory Group, and the Australia-New Zealand Emergency Management Committee. She is also a Board Director for the Canberra Youth Theatre which provides voice for Canberra’s youth through intelligent and challenging theatre.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Laws (honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) from the University of Queensland, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an alumnus of the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. Amy was appointed to the FRRR Board in January 2025.

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Kylie Hansen

Kylie brings leadership and management experience from across academic, corporate, not-for-profit, social enterprise and impact investment sectors, having deep dived into a myriad of specialisations and systems. Her six tertiary qualifications are equally as diverse and complimentary, covering commerce, politics, international development, community development, project management and law. Her breadth and depth of experience enables her to draw on a number of disciplines and innovative ways of working and thinking, and she is well recognised as consistently delivering work and services of a high quality.

Kylie uses her strong background in sustainability, governance and impact measurement to support collaborative initiatives across sectors oriented at improving social outcomes, and to support socially conscientious businesses to articulate their social impact. As founder and director at Impact Seed she has been instrumental in developing the impact measurement, evaluation, learning and ESG practice which advises numerous corporates, and is passionate about supporting First Nations empowerment particularly in the context of regional economic development.

Kylie is also a Director of the WA Social Enterprise Council, a member of the B Council (B Lab Australia and New Zealand), and a Governor of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

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Hon. John Anderson AC

The Hon. John Anderson AC is a sixth-generation farmer and grazier from NSW, who served in the Australian Parliament from 1989 to 2008.

He was a senior Cabinet minister in the government led by John Howard (1996 to 2005), including six years as Leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister.

In the latter role, Mr Anderson played in important role in FRRR’s history, working closely with Baillieu Myer AC and others on a proposal to establish a philanthropic organisation to benefit rural Australia. The concept was discussed at the National Regional Summit in 1999 and FRRR was established shortly thereafter.

Mr Anderson currently hosts a regular podcast, where he is in conversation with thought-leaders from around the world, and is a regular media commentator.

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Regina Cruickshank

Partnerships Specialist (WA)

Regina supports FRRR as the WA Partnerships Specialist. With over two decades of experience in partnerships and marketing, she has a deep understanding of Western Australia’s social impact landscape. She brings a strong passion for leveraging purpose-built networks to create positive change.

Regina previously worked with Playgroup WA and founded a Health Promotion Charity dedicated to supporting Social Emotional wellbeing for underserved communities. She’s excited about the opportunity to connect with partners and explore ways to make a meaningful difference in WA.

She lives in Perth with her family and enjoys mindful moments of connection to Country, whether on horseback, on foot or underwater.

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Anna Palmer

People and Culture Manager

Based in Central Victoria, Anna is a senior Human Resources, Organisation Development and Industrial Relations professional, with significant private and public sector experience across every facet of people and culture leadership.

Her most recent roles have been with Don KR in Castlemaine and Mount Alexander Shire Council. She has also held senior HR roles with Victoria Legal Aid and the TAC among many others.

From Mildura originally, Anna has postgraduate qualifications in Change Management and a Masters in Organisation Dynamics.

Anna is currently completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts to balance her creative pursuits and work as an HR professional.

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Philippa Twaddle

Management Accountant

Carolyn joined the FRRR team in March 2017, and is responsible for providing executive support to the CEO, effective coordination of the FRRR office and general administrative support to the management team. A key responsibility is supporting the administration of FRRR’s Donation Account Services.

She has over fifteen years’ experience working in local government in the Tourism and Arts Sector, Civic and Event Management and Community engagement.

Carolyn has a Bachelor of Arts in Librarianship, majoring in psychology, and grew up on farming communities in Cohuna and Echuca and currently lives in Bendigo.