In this month’s Impact Fund Partner Update, Equality Australia is calling for signatures on its petition for the government to count LGBTIQ+ people properly in the Census. We also hear from partners making important progress in their campaigns for more and better social housing, shareholder activism, increased income support and protection of the Great Barrier Reef.
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Update from our Impact Fund Partners: August 2021
Written by ACFPosted on 4/8/2021
Everybody’s Home
Tackling Inequality Partner
National Homelessness Week is 1 – 7 August 2021, and Impact Fund Partner, Everybody’s Home, is currently calling for support for its petition to build more homes for domestic violence survivors.
To support the petition in the lead-up to the National Summit on Women’s Safety 2021, the campaign has just released its newly commissioned report by Equity Economics, Nowhere to Go: The benefits of providing long-term social housing to women that have experienced domestic and family violence.
As the analysis in the report demonstrates, family and domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children. Only 3.2% of women and children seeking homelessness services currently receive the long-term housing solutions they need.
Everybody’s Home received funding from the Impact Fund through the 2020 Reimagining Australia program.
Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility
Strengthening Democracy Partner
The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) is a research and shareholder advocacy organisation, whose mission is to mobilise institutional shareholders and ethical investors to scrutinise and challenge listed companies to improve their conduct on environmental and social matters.
ACCR is currently seeking funding for a new research project to evaluate the exposure of oil and gas companies operating in Australian waters to decommissioning liabilities. It will analyse the efforts of oil and gas companies to minimise costs for decommissioning their offshore infrastructure, and the potential impacts of these efforts on workers and the environment.
Findings will then be used to engage companies on report recommendations and their individual liabilities and actions.
ACCR was first supported by the Impact Fund in 2018.
Raise the Rate
Tackling Inequality Partner
The Raise the Rate campaign is celebrating a recent win in its efforts to fix Australia’s social security safety net.
With the current Covid situation in New South Wales, disaster payments have been announced for those who have lost work as a result of the lockdown. Payments are also being extended to those receiving income support who have lost paid work. This extra support applies to Youth Allowance, JobSeeker and Parenting Payment.
While the extension of payments to those on welfare has been welcomed by social advocates, the campaign continues to call attention to challenges faced by those on welfare missing out on support.
“The government is dividing communities by providing financial support to some and leaving others who have the least behind them facing destitution on $44 a day,” says Cassandra Goldie, Australian Council of Social Service CEO.
“This is a serious public health emergency – you can’t stay at home if you can’t afford to keep a roof over your head.”
The announcement of these payments has also led to renewed calls for the return of JobKeeper.
The Raise the Rate campaign has received ongoing support from the Impact Fund since 2019.
Australian Marine Conservation Society
Safeguarding the Environment Partner
Since receiving funding from the Impact Fund in 2017 for its Fight for Our Reef campaign, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) continues to work to save the Great Barrier Reef through regional conservation tourism.
UNESCO’s labelling of the Greater Barrier Reef as ‘in danger’ in June 2021 drew renewed attention to the fight to save the Reef.
While the World Heritage Committee (WHC) has not placed the Reef on the List of World Heritage in Danger, AMCS have noted the increased pressure on government to “put in place policies that will benefit the Reef, the marine wildlife and the communities that depend on it.”
AMCS first received support from the Impact Fund in 2017.
Equality Australia
Tackling Inequality Partner
In 2017, the Impact Fund supported the historic Equality Campaign, out of which Equality Australia, a national organisation for protecting the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, was established.
With every Australian household required to participate in the 2021 Census this week, EA is using this moment to highlight the fact that LGBTIQ+ people are not counted properly by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
EA is now calling for signatures on its petition to #CountUsIn and ensure the 2026 Census includes key questions about sexual orientation, gender identity and variations of sex characteristics.
After receiving funding from the Impact Fund in 2017, Equality Australia received further support from the Fund for its ‘All Schools, Same Rules’ campaign.