Leading with lived experience

Global Refugee-Led Network

^{Najeeba Wazefadost, Co-Founder, Global Refugee-Led Network}

Refugee leaders from across the world met in Sydney in late 2022 at the Global Refugee-Led Network Retreat. Co-Founder Najeeba Wazefadost says the important meeting would not have happened without the Impact Fund’s support.

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“We know that when refugees are involved in decision making then we end up with better policy”, says Najeeba Wazefadost, Co-Founder of GRN and its local chapter, Asia Pacific Network of Refugees.

“Too often refugees are asked to tell their personal stories but not asked to share their significant expertise.”

Najeeba came to Australia from Afghanistan by boat when she was ten, an experience which helped shape her identity as a global advocate for refugee leadership.

In August 2022, the ACF Impact Fund supported the GRN Retreat held in Sydney. The goal was to increase the meaningful participation of refugees in our region.

“This was the first time we met face to face since the pandemic, and it would not have happened without the quick and flexible support of ACF Impact Funders”, says Najeeba.

“As you can imagine, bringing together refugee leaders from all six regions of the world involved a lot of waiting for visa approvals. But it was very heartening for the leaders to know that Australians were willing to step up and pay for their travel to get here.

“We ran a highly productive week during which we set our strategy for the next three years, and engaged with key government departments and civil society groups to advance refugee leadership in the Asia Pacific.”

“No movement will be successful without the genuine support of allies,” says Najeeba. “To advance the goals of refugee participation in decisions that affect us, we need to deeply engage with the wider community.”

To that end, Najeeba and her colleagues developed the UNendorsed Refugee Leadership Pledge. In the Asia Pacific region, the next step is to engage with signatories to the Pledge, to help them realise their commitment to refugee leadership in their work, and to increase the overall number of signatories while building ambition around what refugee leadership means in this region.

A ground-breaking resource for truth-telling

Towards Truth

^{Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Indigenous Law Centre staff with Professor Megan Davis (fourth from left)}

A new website aimed at driving national truth-telling was launched this year thanks in part to early philanthropic funding, including support from the Impact Fund.

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Backed by Australian Communities Foundation’s Impact Fund and 10 other ACF Named Funds since early 2022, the Towards Truth website maps laws and government policies that have affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since 1788.

It is the first attempt to document and analyse the full scope and impact of these laws on First Nations communities.

A partnership between the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the UNSW Indigenous Law Centre (ILC), the project has also been made possible through pro bono support from across the legal field.

The website maps a history of dispossession and disempowerment across four key themes – Kinship, Country, Law and Culture, and People – alongside the ways in which laws have sought to protect and provide for reparation.

Described by Professor Megan Davis (Pro-Vice Chancellor Indigenous, UNSW and Co-Chair of the Uluru Statement from the Heart) as the ‘engine room of truth-telling’, the project is also testament to the long history of First Nations resistance.

“Before working on Towards Truth, I didn’t have an understanding of the pervasiveness of laws designed to erase First Nations culture,” Towards Truth Project Coordinator, Corey Smith, told the National Indigenous Times.

“From voting rights to participating in court, child removals and suppressing languages, our work shows a history of harmful government decisions that have a lasting impact on families and communities. My work has helped me understand the pressures my own family were under to hide or diminish their Aboriginality.”

“The willingness from our funders to recognise the long game and take the risk of our ambitious idea made all the difference.”

The website’s launch comes after years of dedicated work from the First Nations-led team, said PIAC Chief Executive Officer, Jonathon Hunyor.

“There’s nothing like this in the world. That’s been one of the reasons why these first years have been such hard work, but we’re now really interested to see how people engage not only nationally but overseas too.

“We’re a long way now from when it was just an idea, and philanthropy’s played a vital role in that.

“The willingness from our funders to recognise the long game and take the risk of our ambitious idea made all the difference, and the support from the ACF Impact Fund gave us that real shot in the arm.”

The flood crisis isn’t over

Partnering with the Northern Rivers Community Foundation

^{Sam Henderson, CEO, Northern Rivers Community Foundation}

With the support of partners like Australian Communities Foundation, the Northern Rivers Community Foundation is continuing to help communities in northern NSW recover from the flood crisis.

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The 2022 floods that hit northern New South Wales and southeast Queensland are now Australia’s costliest natural disaster. Over 8,000 homes were significantly damaged and 6,000 rendered uninhabitable, leaving 10,000 people displaced.

“We often hear from our communities that they’re tired of talking about wellbeing or attending community concerts – they just want their houses back!” says Sam Henderson, CEO of the Northern Rivers Community Foundation (NRCF).

“There’s a misconception that these communities are ‘on the road to recovery’ but the reality is that road is a really long journey.”

NRCF’s local knowledge and proximity to the affected areas proved invaluable after the floods.

By reaching out to other community foundations that shared their disaster experiences, NRCF was able to shortcut knowledge gaps, enabling efficient knowledge sharing and response time.

“The support from other foundations like Australian Communities Foundation’s National Crisis Response Fund was critical,” Sam explains.

“It allowed for our team to respond faster and get a clearer idea of the big picture.”

That knowledge and information has been compiled into a robust data set that NRCF continues to update.

Still, concerns remain, with 60 per cent of organisations anticipating a funding gap once recovery funding runs out, and 62 per cent reporting ongoing mental health challenges among their staff.

Unsurprisingly, 2022 was NRCF’s biggest year, with $2.9 million facilitated and distributed across six grant programs and over $4 million raised with partners for disaster response, women’s empowerment, affordable housing, education, environment, and community grants.

When asked about the most valuable lesson learned during such a challenging year, Sam says it was the importance of prioritising grassroots community groups.

“They understand the hard practicalities, the need for support, and can respond faster than many government agencies,” he explains.

“More importantly, these organisations have existing trust, social capital, and local networks which means they can so effectively provide support in emerging situations.”

Sam says a regional vision that focuses on the bigger picture of rebuilding and regenerating the region is sorely needed.

“Specifically, how do we rebuild and regenerate the Northern Rivers in a way that won’t be so badly impacted by the next disaster?” he says.

“How can we do it in a way that doesn’t contribute to climate change? How do we give our communities a sense of influencing a bigger global picture?

“That’s an important discussion that needs to happen so our communities have a feeling of hope and a sense that there’s something we can all be doing.”

Elevating the voices of people facing economic injustice

Economic Media Centre

The surging cost of living has had a devastating impact for people across Australia. With support from the Impact Fund, the Economic Media Centre is working towards more inclusive economic policy by amplifying the voices of people with lived experience.

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Research from the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) this year found six in 10 people on income support are eating less or reporting difficulty getting medicine or care.

As ACOSS and partners continue to call on the Government to lift income support, elevating the voices of people with lived experience into the public debate has been an increasingly central focus of the campaign.

Supporting this approach is the Economic Media Centre – a joint project between ACOSS and Australian Progress, led by Co-Directors Aliya Ahmad and Jess Kendall.

Established in 2020, the Centre identifies and equips diverse spokespeople on economic issues and connects them with journalists.

“The Economic Media Centre has a simple theory of change,” says Kirsty Albion, Australian Progress Executive Director. “By increasing the diversity of voices represented on economic issues in mainstream media, we generate more inclusive economic policies.”

Australian Communities Foundation’s Impact Fund provided critical support for the establishment of the Centre at the outset of the pandemic.

“When the pandemic and recession hit and governments were rethinking how to distribute billions of dollars in economic policy, civil society leaders around the country told us a lack of media advocacy skills were holding them back,” Kirsty explains.

“We were inundated with requests from small organisations that had the policy solutions to these complex issues but lacked the media capacity to secure them.

“We looked at best-practice models from around the world and piloted the Economic Media Centre which fills a critical capacity gap, delivering media training, strategy and messaging support to make it possible for social change advocates to get their campaign stories in newspapers, broadcast and digital outlets and set news agendas.”

“The Impact Fund has been absolutely pivotal in helping the Economic Media Centre go from a pilot project to a long-term piece of infrastructure.”

As of late 2022, the Economic Media Centre had trained more than 630 diverse spokespeople across a huge range of issues – migrant rights, housing, gender, LGBTQIA+, First Nations justice, and many more.

“The Impact Fund has been absolutely pivotal in helping the Economic Media Centre go from a pilot project to a long-term piece of infrastructure,” explains Kirsty. “The Centre is now meeting huge community need and getting people with lived experience into mainstream media, shifting economic policy debates and economic policy.”

The ability to be transformed

Henkell Family Fund

An avid supporter of the arts, and in particular, opera, Hans Henkell’s giving journey with Australian Communities Foundation spans twenty years.

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It’s impossible not to be swept up in the exuberance of an encounter with German-Australian philanthropist Hans Henkell.

The zest he brings to his passion projects underpins his approach to philanthropic giving.

“I just love it!” he says with gusto. “Opera gives me that ability to be transformed.”

“Opera changes your consciousness, your mental state and your disposition, and you come out of that experience with a more creative mindset.”

Hailing from the family for which Henkell sparkling wine is named, Hans immigrated to Australia in 1982 and built a successful Melbourne-based property business from the ground up.

Hans credits his business success as a major driver of his philanthropic giving. “I couldn’t be charitable without it,” he says.

The establishment of the Henkell Family Fund came about after a discussion with the family’s solicitor.

“I was thinking about creating a foundation on my own, but my solicitor explained that you need to have a few million dollars to get started and I didn’t have that sort of size,” Hans explains.

“Instead, my solicitor suggested a fund at Australian Communities Foundation as a sort of ‘in-between’ and that has worked out very well.

“I’m very proud to have been with Australian Communities Foundation for all these years.”

For Hans, one of the benefits of using a Named Fund is the ability to plan for the future, making giving decisions and distributions at a time that suits.

“I compare it to being like a farmer who has a dam where he stores the water,” Hans explains. “The water isn’t needed immediately for the pastures but it’s good to build up that supply. “Australian Communities Foundation gives me that ability. I pre-donate money into the Fund in order to be able to give it out when I want to.”

Over the years the Henkell Family Fund has provided support to the German-Australian community and hardship relief via a range of organisations, but Hans’ primary passion is his support of Australian opera.

While opera may be less revered in the Australian cultural landscape when compared to its long and illustrious history in Europe, it hasn’t dimmed Hans’ ebullience.

“There aren’t the battleships of opera houses here as there are in Germany that were started hundreds of years ago,” he says. “It’s different here, but it’s full of enthusiasm, and that’s what I like.”

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