Insights and Impact

The best way to lead is through listening, learning and knowing the facts
After 25 years, we’ve learnt a lot about rural communities, about their challenges and opportunities.

The 2,000 funding requests and subsequent conversations our team has each year helps us to keep our finger on the pulse of the needs of remote, rural, and regional communities.

We know each situation is different and each community is unique. That’s why we prioritise spending time in communities and speaking with local leaders.

Through these conversations, we gain direct insights that inform our work, improve our practice and influence more targeted and relevant support for communities. We share this feedback with policymakers, with other communities and funders, so they too have ideas, knowledge and the benefit of lived experience. Wherever we can, we bring the voices of remote, rural and regional Australia to the table.

Further, we believe that it’s critical to look back on our past performance and to be as transparent as we can about the impact of our work. To that end, we regularly publish reports, which you can find below and publish details of each grant we make.

If you would like to stay up to date with our published Insights, follow our page on LinkedIn.

INSIGHTS FROM THE BUSH

In the course of our work, the FRRR team speaks with hundreds of community leaders. Each quarter, our staff share their observations from speaking with these leaders from across the country, either in person, or on the phone. Here are a few insights from the last reporting quarter.

More

OUR YEAR AT A GLANCE
FY23 Annual Review

This reporting year saw the most applications in FRRR’s history, signalling both that life is getting back to ‘normal’ following COVID but also highlighting the challenges in securing funding for the things that matter locally.

Online Annual Review

REPORTS, EVALUATIONS & SUBMISSIONS

We regularly publish program reports, insights and evaluations and policy submissions. These highlight best practice approaches to philanthropy, disaster recovery, the role of arts in rural communities, sustaining local service systems and economic resilience, just to name a few.

Explore our reports
Young spectators enjoying entertainment at the Tambo Show

INSPIRATION

Explore the impacts of the grants that FRRR awards across the country. Get inspired about what can be achieved when we bring the know and the how and connect good will with good purpose.

Community Stories

NEWS

Find out more about what’s happening, from details of the grants we have awarded, to our new partnerships and stories about the wonderful things communities achieve with philanthropic support.

Media Releases

ANNUAL REVIEWS

Looking back on some of the wonderful things that rural communities can achieve, with support and encouragement from philanthropy, all our past Annual Reviews can be found here.

All Annual Reviews
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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.