The climate crisis is the defining crisis of our time. We see its impact everywhere, from the increasing frequency of natural disasters and extreme weather to the degradation of the lands and waters around us.
But its impact extends beyond just the environment, driving inequality and hindering progress across the broad set of causes our giving community supports. From health and wellbeing to housing and homelessness, a strong democracy, First Nations justice – the climate crisis is a crisis for every cause.
Join us at our next Learning Circle, presented in partnership with the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network (AEGN), to learn how you can apply a climate lens to your giving.
In this session, we will explore:
- AEGN’s brand new Climate Lens Tool, developed in partnership with Philanthropy Australia, and how it can enhance your impact
- the relationship between varying cause areas and climate change
- climate justice and where it intersects with First Nations justice
- examples of impactful individual and philanthropic partnerships with climate justice movements.
A changing climate touches every cause and affects everyone, but it doesn’t affect everyone equally. Learn to apply a climate lens to the causes you support, and you’ll be giving with greater impact, amplifying the efforts of communities at the forefront of the crisis.
We’ll be joined by Ione McLean (Environmental Program Manager, AEGN), Tishiko King (First Nations Program Manager, Australian Communities Foundation), and Bec Milgrom (Executive Director, Tripple).
Please note: This event will take place online via Zoom and in person at our Community of Giving, 6/126 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, 3002 at 12pm on 1 June.
Event information
Thursday 1 June
12:00pm – 2:00pm AEST
This event will be held in person at our Community of Giving and online. Online registrants will be sent a link on the day to join via Zoom.
Speakers

Ione McLean, Environmental Program Manager — Indigenous Land and Sea Management and Sustainable Food Systems, Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network
Ione joined the AEGN in 2013 and since that time has worked to engage with and connect members and other philanthropists to the AEGN network and to environmental issues and solutions. Previously she worked in business development and program management in the energy efficiency sector for community, state government, and small-to-medium organisations including Sustainable Energy Development Authority of NSW and Ecovantage, and as a fundraiser for environmental non-government organisations Environment Victoria and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.

Tishiko King, First Nations Program Manager, Australian Communities Foundation
Tishiko is a proud Kulkalaig woman from the Island of Masig, Kulkalgal Nation of Zenadth Kes. Prior to her role at ACF, Tish was part of the Groundswell Giving team as their Philanthropy and Engagement Officer, Campaigns Director at Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network and collaborates on the campaign Our Islands Our Home as an organiser. Based in Naarm, Tish is spirited about sharing culture and amplifying social inequality and the rights of First Nations people. With experience across different industries at CSIRO Oceans, Atmosphere, and the exploration and minerals industry, Tish brings a diverse perspective on First Nations and environmental justice.

Bec Milgrom, Executive Director, Tripple
Bec is Executive Director at Tripple, a 100% Impact private investment company that works across all asset classes and incorporates both investing and grant-making to use capital as a force for good. Outside of Tripple, Bec has extensive experience in marketing and strategy in the start-up and not for profit sectors and is a current board member of the Centre for Australian Progress, a not for profit enabling civil society to win social and environmental progress, and Steward, a crowd-lending platform focussed on regenerative farming. Bec has a particular passion for food, farming, social justice and systems change.
Register
This session is open to Australian Communities Foundation fundholders and our friends in the philanthropy sector. Contact us to register.
The critical role of income support is more apparent than ever. Over 1.4 million Australians relied on payments during the pandemic – a life raft to get through tough times and avoid falling into poverty.
But what happens when the system enabling this critical lifeline fails us?
Join us at our next Strengthening Democracy Learning Circle, presented in partnership with Mannifera, to learn about the reforms needed to make accessing and navigating our social security system easier and less punitive.
We will hear from Leanne Ho (CEO, Economic Justice Australia), Edward Santow (Industry Professor and Co-Director, Human Technology Institute UTS, and Former Human Rights Commissioner) and Paul Henman (Professor of Digital Sociology and Social Policy, University of Queensland), as well as funders who support this important work.
Our speakers will discuss how we can seize the opportunity of the Robodebt Royal Commission, as well as pathways to changing the law to ensure people experiencing domestic violence can make the choice to leave without plunging themselves and their children into poverty.
Event information
Thursday 20 October
1:00pm – 2:00pm AEDT
This event is online only. Registrants will be sent a link on the day to join via Zoom.
Speakers
Leanne Ho, Chief Executive Officer, Economic Justice Australia
Leanne Ho is a human rights lawyer and leader in the community and pro bono legal sectors. She has been leading Economic Justice Australia since 2017, having previously worked in various roles at the Welfare Rights Centre in Sydney, most recently acting as Principal Solicitor for several months on secondment from a law firm. Leanne also works as a pro bono consultant, currently working as Special Counsel at Wotton + Kearney, developing the pro bono programs of large corporate law firms to provide legal assistance to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups including refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia. She has previously worked as the legal adviser to United Nations peacekeeping missions and its Human Rights Advisory Panel.
Edward Santow, Industry Professor and Co-Director, Human Technology Institute UTS, and Former Human Rights Cmmissioner
Edward Santow is the Director, Policy and Governance at the Human Technology Institute, and Industry Professor – Responsible Technology at the University of Technology Sydney. From 2016-2021, Ed was Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner, where he led the Commission’s work on AI and new technology. Ed is leading a number of major initiatives to promote human-centered artificial intelligence. This approach aims to uphold human rights by ensuring that new technology delivers results that are fair, accurate and accountable. Ed’s areas of expertise include human rights, technology and regulation, public law and discrimination law. He has recently been appointed to the panel of experts undertaking an expansive audit of MyGov.
Paul Henman, Professor of Digital Sociology and Social Policy, University of Queensland
Paul Henman is Professor of Digital Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Queensland, and is a Chief Investigator of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society.
Paul holds degrees in both computer science and social science, and previously worked in the Australian Department of Social Security. He has studied the use of computers and digital technologies in social security systems for 30 years. Paul’s work includes the use of new digital research methods, including web-crawling, social network analysis, and online user experiments. Paul is author of Governing Electronically (2010), Performing the State (2018) and Administering Welfare Reform (2006).
Register
This session is open to Australian Communities Foundation fundholders and our friends in the philanthropy sector. Contact us to register.
Mobilising government action on climate change to protect Indigenous land and culture
Our Islands Our Home is a campaign led by Torres Strait Islanders to protect their island homes. As part of the campaign, eight claimants from Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait Islands) also known as the #TorresStrait8 have brought a human rights complaint against the Australian Federal Government to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations over the Government’s inaction on climate change.
Issue
Torres Strait Islanders are on the frontline of the climate crisis, and urgent action is needed to ensure they can remain on their Islands. Right now, king tides, erosion, inundation and coral bleaching are threatening the homes and cultures of Torres Strait Islander people, while the Australian Government refuses to address the climate crisis.
The Torres Strait 8 are calling for Australia to drastically reduce emissions and invest in protecting their islands against rising sea levels. At the current rate of rising sea levels, the Torres Strait Islands will be under water within about 10 years, forcing the relocation and loss of culture and way of life for some of Australia’s First Nations communities.
Response
350.org, the Gur A Baradharaw Kod (BDK) Torres Strait Land and Sea Council and ClientEarth are partnering on the Our Islands Our Home campaign to raise public awareness of the landmark legal case, seeking to shift the narrative on climate change and advocate for concrete change for Indigenous Australians on the frontline of the climate crisis.
Despite being amongst some of the most adversely impacted First Nations communities in the world, Torres Strait Islanders have not had their voices elevated in a campaign like this before. While not binding, this UN case could set a precedent and place global pressure on Australia to commit to climate action.
Impact Update
On September 23 2022 the United Nations Human Rights Committee found that the Australian Government is violating its human rights obligations to Torres Strait Islanders by failing to act on climate change.
In its decision, the Committee agreed with the complaint stating that:
- Climate change was indeed currently impacting the claimants’ daily lives;
- To the extent that their rights are being violated; and,
- That Australia was breaching its human rights obligations to the people of the Torres Strait by failing to cut its greenhouse gas emissions quickly enough.
- The committee majority found that Australia’s poor climate record is a violation of their right to family life and right to culture under the global human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- A minority also found that the Government had violated their right to life.
The campaign is now building on this win by calling on the Government to take urgent action to ensure the safe existence of the islands. A petition with more than 47,000 signatures will be presented by Torres Strait Eight members to the Australian Government at Parliament House in late 2022.
Read more: Torres Strait Islanders win historic human rights legal fight against Australia
Climate change is happening in front of our eyes.
As funders, some of us focus on the urgent need to shut down coal and gas rather than helping people at the pointy end of the climate crisis. And those of us motivated by inequality may support people over climate solutions, feeling like the latter need is too huge.
At this upcoming Learning Circle, we will discuss how supporting those living with the most severe impacts of climate change can also pave the way to preventing it from getting worse.
Join Emma Bacon, Founder of Sweltering Cities in conversation with David Ritter, CEO of Greenpeace Australia, and Professor Jane McAdam AO, Director of the Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW.
Our guests will discuss the importance of talking and consulting with those most affected by climate change, and how we can inspire rapid climate action from those who may otherwise find it hard to relate to traditional campaigns.
By acknowledging where people are coming from, and listening to their concerns, we can design a world that makes sense in a changing climate. In turn, this work leads to climate-friendly solutions.
Our speakers are working on solutions at all levels, from the micro, such as making sure bus stops have shelters so that they are easy to use in sweltering weather, to the macro like working with Pacific nations to focus the region’s attention on where people will go as sea levels rise.
Event information
Wednesday 10 August
12:00pm – 1:30pm AEST
Community of Giving
Level 6, 126 Wellington Pde
East Melbourne VIC 3002
Guests can also join via Zoom.
Register
This session is open to Australian Communities Foundation fundholders and our friends in the philanthropy sector. Contact us to register.
Getting to net-zero by changing the story on gas
350 Australia and the Climate Council are working to take the social and political licence away from the fossil fuel industry and build a broad movement of people and communities opposed to gas extraction. Together they are helping create the conditions that make it deeply unattractive for politicians and financiers to support opening up new gas fields.
Issue
In 2020, the Australian Government threw its support behind a massive expansion of the Australian gas industry, and has since announced $1.5 billion in subsidies. There is an urgent need to prevent these large new gas fields being developed, and ensure we move to renewable energy solutions instead.
Response
350 Australia and the Climate Media Centre (Climate Council) are working together to shift the narrative on gas, which is essential for building the political, financial, and community momentum to end gas expansion and build climate solutions instead. These groups bring together expertise in messaging and research, and shift power from the fossil fuel lobby to local communities.
Grants
- 2022 Large Grants round: $100,000
Giving a platform to farmers on the frontline of climate change
Farmers for Climate Action (FCA) is a movement of farmers, agricultural leaders and rural Australians working to ensure farmers are a key part of the solution to climate change. As the only farmer-led organisation that specialises in climate action, FCA works across the agricultural and climate sectors to manage risks and find opportunities to adapt to, and mitigate, climate change.
Issue
Agriculture is a significant contributor to climate change, yet there has been little resourcing to support the agriculture industry in Australia to adapt. In the absence of a clear, coordinated approach to climate change, agricultural emissions are unlikely to be substantively reduced within a meaningful timeframe and opportunities for carbon capture are not likely to be realised.
Response
FCA has been working with farmers to build awareness of the effect of climate change on farming families and shift the prevailing narrative to see farmers as part of the solution rather than an obstacle to climate action. This work has served as the foundation for FCA to build bipartisan support for a national strategy on climate change and agriculture.
Progress update
UPDATED MARCH 2022
- Growing support for net-zero by 2050: Backed by National Farmers’ Federation in August 2020 and the National Party in October 2021.
- National strategy on climate change and agriculture: In response to momentum built by FCA and other advocates, the Federal Government has developed the National Climate Resilience and Adaptation Strategy 2021-2025, published in October 2021.
What the Impact Fund’s support means
“Farmers are on the frontlines of climate change and, as some of the most trusted spokespeople on the issue, they are changing the conversation on climate change in rural Australia … Impact Funders should take great pride in what we have achieved so far.”
Read case study in Making Change Together: Five years of the Impact Fund
Grants
- 2018 Large Grants round: $125,000 for core funding (over three years)
Protecting country and culture through Indigenous land management
The Country Needs People (CNP) campaign is a growing group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians calling on decision-makers to:
- Double the number of Indigenous rangers.
- Create a fund for ranger training, capacity building, networking and capital costs.
- Double the funding for the Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) program.
- Ensure equal employment opportunities for women rangers by 2030.
CNIP is a growing alliance of over 41 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land and sea management organisations, Country Needs People Ltd and over 100,000 Australians.
Issue
Traditional land management practices on Country reinforce communities’ connection to land and culture, contribute to individual and community wellbeing, provide a source of employment, and promote landscape health and sustainability. While Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) were introduced nearly 25 years ago, the lack of a coherent policy or funding framework meant communities long struggled to secure enough long-term funding to support land and sea management.
Response
CNP has worked to build cross-partisan support to maintain and increase funding for Indigenous land and sea management. Furthermore, CNP has undertaken research to demonstrate the environmental and community benefit associated with traditional land management, and supported communities to apply for the protection of traditional lands under IPAs.
Progress update
UPDATED MARCH 2022
- Over $800 million in government funding secured to support 80 Indigenous ranger groups, including a commitment from the Federal Government of $102 million indexed annually between 2021 and 2028, and commitments from state governments in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
- Model being adapted internationally: The Land Needs Guardians movement in Canada is pursuing the same recognition of the benefits of traditional land management for both Country and people.
What the Impact Fund’s support means
“Impact Funders have helped us grow from a campaign to an independent organisation, delivering significant dividends for our environment and Indigenous wellbeing.” – Patrick O’Leary, Executive Director, CNP
Read case study in Making Change Together: Five years of the Impact Fund
Grants
- 2017 Large Grants round: $170,000 for core funding (over three years)
Taking government to court for inaction on climate change
The Australian Climate Case is seeing two Traditional Owners from Gudamalulgal in the Torres Strait take the Australian Government to court for failing to prevent climate change.
Issue
Australians are already suffering from the devastating effects of the climate emergency. The fate of First Nations communities, children, farming communities, small businesses and tourism operators, communities at risk of bushfires and more will catastrophically worsen if greenhouse emissions don’t decline to net zero within the next 29 years. Despite this, Australia’s emissions are currently estimated to decrease only 4 per cent by 2050. We are in grave danger if we don’t reach net zero in under 30 years.
Wadhuam Pabai and Wadhuam Paul are Traditional Owners whose ancestors have lived in the Torres Strait for more than 65,000 years. Now they are on the frontline of the climate crisis, and face losing their island homes under rising seas.
Response
Pabai and Paul have turned to the courts in the hope of protecting their communities from disaster. They are arguing that the Federal Government has a legal responsibility to ensure Torres Strait Islander Peoples are not harmed by climate change. In legal terms, this is called a ‘duty of care’.
Pabai and Paul will argue that by failing to prevent climate change the Australian Government has unlawfully breached this duty of care, because of the severe and lasting harm that climate change would cause to their communities. They are seeking an order from the court requiring the Government to prevent this harm to their communities by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Torres Strait Islanders have a long history of fighting for their rights – and some of those battles have transformed the face of modern Australia. Torres Strait Islander man Eddie Mabo, took on the Government through the courts and established that terra nullius was a lie, paving the way for land rights for all First Nations Peoples in Australia.
Shifting the politics of the recovery towards climate and quality jobs
Jobs, Climate, Justice is a campaign led by 350.org Australia in collaboration with trade unions and the climate movement, seeking to shift the politics of the economic recovery after Covid towards quality jobs and a renewable future.
Issue
At the height of Australia’s first wave of Covid-19, the National Covid-19 Coordination Commission was established, including a Manufacturing Taskforce to lead a ‘gas-fired recovery’ out of the current crisis. The Taskforce’s proposed recovery ignores the multitude of research from both climate NGOs and the trade union movement that demonstrates investing in high-quality jobs in renewable energy and sustainable manufacturing is the best path out of this crisis. If the proposed push for public subsidies for gas is successful, it will be a disaster for the climate, for Traditional Owners fighting to protect their land, for workers who deserve high-quality employment.
Response
350.org Australia has been working with trade unions and the climate movement to develop a collaborative campaign – Jobs, Climate Justice – and shift the politics of the economic recovery away from fossil fuel subsidies and towards quality jobs in renewable energy and sustainable manufacturing. This work fits within broader efforts by the trade union movement and climate NGOs to influence economic recovery spending, but adds a necessary intervention: finding common cause across the demands of organised labour and the demands of the climate movement, with justice at the centre.
Highlighting the links between climate and health
The Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) is a coalition of healthcare stakeholders who work together to see the threat to human health from climate change and ecological degradation addressed through prompt policy action. The membership of CAHA includes organisations and individuals from across the health sector, with organisations representing healthcare professionals from medicine, nursing, public health, social work and psychology, as well as healthcare service providers, research and academic institutions, and health consumers.
Issue
The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the potential for public health emergencies to cause dramatic disruption. It followed the unprecedented bushfires and dangerous smoke pollution that made the links between climate change and people’s health starkly obvious. Both of these events revealed the increasing vulnerability of the Australian community and our health system – unless we take action.
Response
Covid-19 has also highlighted the critical role of the health and medical professionals in preparing us for and responding to these crises. The Impact Fund supported CAHA at the start of the pandemic as it worked to seize an opportunity to highlight the intensifying climate crisis, which is increasingly taking lives and harming people’s health.
CAHA is continuing on its mission to build a powerful health sector movement for climate action and sustainable healthcare.