Impact Report 2021–22

The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund

Hands Across Canberra & The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund

YLEAP x ACT Police

Roundabout Canberra

The Chief Minister’s
Charitable Fund

The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund (CMCF) — administered by Hands Across Canberra — was established in 2018 with an initial contribution of $5 million from the ACT Government. The ACT Government continues to contribute to the fund. In 2021–22 the CMCF received $262,237 from the ACT Government.

In the 4 years since its inception, the CMCF has supported more than 182 projects with over $2m and has leveraged more than $4.15m in additional funds for community projects. Leveraging funds was made possible through Hands Across Canberra, which actively engages its network in co-funding and supporting projects — including the Snow Foundation, Aspen Medical, the Aspen Foundation, the Canberra Data Centre, the Chappell Foundation and private donors.

Funds distributed to date from the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund:

Year 1 (2018–19)	Year 2 (2019–20)	Year 3 (2020–21)	Year 4 (2021-22)
$398,756	$385,482	$1,070,118*	$1,515,045

* Note: $438,566 in grants as part of the Autumn Grant Round were approved in June 2021 but paid in July/August 2021

Responding to emerging needs throughout the Canberra region, in 2021–22 the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund in partnership with Hands Across Canberra:

joined with other supporters and 78 charities to run a successful Canberra Day Appeal, generating more than $600,000 in much needed funds for the community sector
administered 3 grant rounds (2 relief grant rounds during and post-lockdowns and 1 collective grant round with Canberra’s community foundations), which supported 140 projects throughout the year
granted $1,070,118 from the CMCF to the community sector and leveraged a further $3 million for the community through collaboration and co-funding

CMCF funding in 2021-22 focussed on addressing the challenges many Canberran’s are experiencing in connection to health, education and employment, housing and belonging. These social themes were highlighted in the Vital Signs Canberra research released in October 2021.

Organisation	Grant Purpose	Amount
ACT Council of Social Service	Leading Social Change online modules	$20,000
ACT Down Syndrome	Training for effective digital presentations	$6,648
Advocacy for Inclusion	App development to empower people with disabilities	$2,500
Assisting Drug Dependents [Directions ACT]	Healthy Food Healthy Me extension project	$10,000
Asthma Foundation of ACT	Develop an education & treatment program with refugees	$6,000
Beryl Women	Interpreting services to women suffering abuse	$5,000
	Domestic Violence Crisis Start Up packs	$9,900
	Computor upgrades	$4,996
Boundless Children’s Playground	Benefit from the 2016 Charity House Project	$1,133,000
C3 Church Monash	Expansion of Free Community Lunch Program	$9,738
	Essential technology	$2,500
Canberra City Care	Harvest kitchen in Charnwood	$20,000
Canberra Community Law	Essential technology	$3,036
	Evaluation of the Aboriginal Human Rights Program	$10,000
Canberra Men’s Centre	Pilot, early intervention in domestic violence (Connect 24)	$5,000
Canberra PCYC	Assistance for the establishment of the Canberra PCYC Foundation	$5,000
	PCYC Play for Change – Tuggeranong	$10,000
	PCYC Play for Change – Belconnen	$10,000
	Healthy Relationships program	$10,000
Canberra Rape Crisis Centre	Information management	$9,000
Care Inc	Connecting Care through the Cloud program	$9,984
CARHU (with CFMEU Trust)	Build a children’s outdoor playground	$50,000
Cerebral Palsy Alliance	Early intervention sensory inclusion package	$5,743
Communities@Work	Assist with establishing the community kitchen program	$10,000
Connections ACT	Fathering after separation program	$10,000
	Survival packs for sole father families	$10,000
Council on the Ageing (COTA) ACT	COTA Connects programme	$10,000
CREATE Foundation	Create Your Future – building confidence through empowerment	$8,874
Dancing Goddesses	Professional services to incorporate organisation	$680
Directions Health Services	Training for people working with the impact of drugs	$9,984
Domestic Violence Crisis Service	Growing Strong’ Support Group program	$4,974
EveryMan Australia	Domestic violence intervention	$9,600
	Benefit from the 2016 Charity House Project	$34,333
	Community order breach support service	$9,400
Focus Supported Living Foundation	Stay Safe program	$5,400
Friends of Brain In jured Children ACT	KICKSTART: Early intervention program for families of young children with brain injury	$5,000
	Bring two specialists to Canberra twice this year for treatment of patients	$4,600
Galilee Foster Care	Sleeping bags and t-shirts for youth foster camp	$5,000
Getaboutable	Accessible Canberra	$10,000
Gungahlin Uniting Church and Community Centre	Establish a food pantry	$5,000
Hartley Lifecare	Seed funding to establish a specialist information & advocacy service for people with brain injury	$5,000
	Improved management systems	$7,920
	Benefit from the 2016 Charity House Project	$309,000
Holy Cross Tuckerbox	Development of a permanent kitchen area	$8,360
Karinya House for Mothers & Babies	Domestic violence liasion worker	$10,000
	Provide outreach services to clients	$5,000
Karralika Programs	Children’s outdoor playground at treatment house	$5,000
Kookaburra Kids	Respite and psycho-education for ACT children living in families affected by mental illness	$10,000
LifeLine Canberra	Crisis support training	$9,520
	Mental health ambassadors	$10,000
	Applied suicide intervention skills training	$10,000
	3 Youth Networx (LyNX) workshops at 3 schools to instil mental health, suicide awareness & resilience skills	$10,000
Marymead	Individual items for children in care to empower them to create their own space	$5,000
	Essential technology upgrade	$5,000
	Grow the grandparenting program	$10,000
Menslink	Double the capacity of the mentoring program	$9,200
	Early intervention for young men and domestic violence	$9,800
Mental Health Foundation	Re-vamp website	$5,350
	Technology creating access	$4,701
Mental Illness Education ACT	Bullying prevention program	$9,939
National Heart Foundation (ACT)	Pilot, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander cardiac rehabilitation in the ACT	$5,000
Newborn Intensive Care Foundation	Kill welfare for the disadvantaged at birth	$1,000
No Sweat Fashions	Repair of 14 sewing machines to allow participants to complete qualifications and to develop products	$5,000
OzHarvest Canberra	Community cooking @ CC Cares	$5,000
Ozhelp	Benefit from the 2016 Charity House Project	$34,333
Paperworks Inc.	Paper Bridges project to assist vulnerable young people to reconnect with their families	$9,648
Prisoners Aid	Family support	$2,500
Riding for the Disabled of ACT (PEGASUS)	Equine facilitated learning	$6,300
Safe Shelter	Homelessness support	$5,000
Salvation Army	Benefit from the 2016 Charity House Project	$34,333
St Benedicts Community Centre, Queanbeyan	Kitchen support project	$2,000
St John’s Care	Christmas lunch support	$2,000
St Vincent De Paul Society	Benefit from the 2016 Charity House Project	$34,333
	VINES: Vinnies, Inspiration, Network, Education, Support	$10,000
	VINES Youth Group Pilot	$10,000
Tandem Respite Care	Outdoor shade structures and equipment for respite house	$5,000
Technical Aid to the Disabled ACT (TADACT)	Capacity building and improving capability at TADACT	$4,948
	Assistance with capital equipment	$10,000
The Deaf Society	Building healthy relationships	$3,000
The Right Direction	Mengineering program	$10,000
The Shepherd Centre	A Sound Start to School program	$9,500
	Confident Kids- Social Skills program for children with hearing loss	$9,490
The Smith Family	An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls intervention project	$6,440
The Tongan Association of Canberra & Queanbeyan	Empowering women – Home Away from Home project	$10,000
The Yellow Van	Commercial dishwasher	$6,000
This Is My Brave	This is my Brave Australia / Kanangra Community Garden refurbishment	$5,000
Tjillari Justice Aboriginal Corporation	Galambany Circle sentencing support	$10,000
Uniting Care	Benefit from the 2016 Charity House Project	$34,333
Uniting Care Canberra City, Early Morning Centre	Commercial freezer to store donated food, host Christmas lunch and hampers for shutdown period	$5,000
	Support hosting of Christmas lunch for guests	$2,000
	Operate shower facilities and provide hygiene products for guests	$2,000
	Computer access and literacy	$4,150
	Essential infrastructure – a fridge	$1,798
	Benefit from the 2016 Charity House Project	$34,333
Uniting Care Kippax	Rock, Rhythm and Roll, and Drop-In Playgroup project	$9,410
	Rock, Rhythm and Roll, and Drop-In Playgroup project	$7,950
	Playgroup for the disadvantaged	$9,640
	Kippax Connections program	$10,000
Volunteering and Contact ACT	Volunteering program for migrants	$10,000
Women With Disabilities ACT	Access to a circus program and documentary	$5,000
Women’s Centre for Health Matters	Assistance Beyond Crisis	$10,000
Yeddung Mura Aboriginal Corporation	Dhurrawang community outreach program	$10,000
YouthCARE Canberra	YouthCARE lifeskills camp	$10,000
	Assistance with the ‘tool up’ costs to increase outreach capability	$10,000
YWCA Canberra	A high tech digital studio where Tuggeranong youth collaborate with industry mentors	$10,000
	Richardson Primary School Computer Clubhouse	$10,000

Featured Grants

Making a difference to the Canberra community through grants

Canberra Community Law

Fearless Women

Little Luxton

Multicultural Hub

Palliative Care ACT

Rotary Club of Canberra 9405

Roundabout Canberra

Yerrabi Yurrwang

Canberra Community Law

Parachute Pilot – Providing a softer landing for women experiencing domestic violence

Total project cost: $29,000.00
Funding provided by CMCF/HAC and Aspen Medical

The Parachute Pilot was initiated to develop training, resources, and referral frameworks for women escaping family violence to access early legal assistance for housing and Centrelink issues. Canberra Community Law is now receiving a steady stream of referrals as a result of the Parachute Project training and related community legal education resources which were specifically targeted to addressing public housing and Centrelink issues affecting women experiencing family violence.

Impact #1:

To date the Parachute Pilot has provided legal assistance to 20 women experiencing family violence and has opened 8 cases to provide intensive legal assistance.

The cases have been opened to provide intensive legal assistance to help women access short term crisis accommodation whilst the organisation assists them to access public housing in the longer term. An important focus has been on developing and strengthening relationships with refuges and other crisis accommodation providers as a means of finding new emergency housing referral pathways for clients. As a result of this work, Parachute has been successful in assisting some very vulnerable women escaping family violence to obtain emergency housing in the current environment where there is a severe shortage of crisis accommodation in the ACT.

Impact #2:

“Due to the work which Parachute has been able to do as a result of the grant, CCL has now secured recurrent funding from the ACT Government which will enable the program to continue with a full time Solicitor dedicated to accepting referrals and assisting women experiencing family violence with Housing and Centrelink issues. This is an exciting development and would not have happened but for the grant provided by Aspen Medical, Hands Across Canberra and the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund.”

Genevieve Bolton, CEO Canberra Community Law

Fearless Women

Fearless Women Incorporated Foundation Funding

Total project cost: $40,000.00
Funding provided by CMCF/HAC, Aspen Foundation and the Snow Foundation

Research by Australian National University in 2018, and more recently by YWCA Canberra, identified that girls and young women in the ACT experience greater psychological distress than in any other region of the country. With only 36.7% feeling positively about the future, one in three girls aged 15 to 19 meeting the criteria for serious mental illness, and nearly half having thoughts about self-harm, it was clear there was a gap of services, and action was needed. The idea of Fearless Women was born out of this community need. In 2021 CMCF/HAC, Aspen Foundation and the Snow Foundation together with others backed the foundation of a community organisation which seeks to enhance self-belief, inner strength and resilience in young women in the Canberra region, so they can live their life ..fearlessly.

Impact: One year on Fearless Women has now built the framework, structure and tools that will enable its programs to best support young women.

The organisation engaged with young women in the ACT throughout the year and has determined the best way for programs to support those who are experiencing, or are at risk of, psychological distress. The response from the community and schools has shown the strong need for Fearless Women programs, and a pilot for its education and mentoring programs has begun. Please visit their new website to find out more about their programs: https://fearlesswomen.org.au/

Little Luxton

Coffee for Community

Total project cost:
Funding provided by CMCF/HAC

In 2021, Little Luxton sought funding to support the establishment and build of a social enterprise café at the Gordon Community Centre in order to operate in the community and for the community in the Lanyon Valley. Little Luxton donates one dollar from every coffee sold to support the excellent work of the Gordon Community Centre. One year on and the café is standing beautifully and is in full swing. Having a permanent space in Lanyon has allowed Little Luxton to create a space for connection, provide opportunities for employment and training and expand it’s support the Gordon Community Centre from donations of it’s coffee sales to support the most vulnerable in the Lanyon Valley.

Impact #1

Broader community engagement for better community development

Creating a space for community connection, is reducing isolation and providing meaningful volunteer opportunities for locals to support locals and is a great example of local resources meeting local need

Impact #2

Increased income for improved service delivery

As a social enterprise Little Luxton is leveraging the market and generating a regular and sustainable source of income for the Community Centre. Little Luxton will continue to donate $1 from every coffee sold to the Centre, this supports the work of the emergency food pantry and other community services. So far Little Luxton has donated $5000.

Impact #3

Work training program for Lanyon locals

Little Luxton is providing training for marginalised and disadvantaged people in the community. This includes unemployed adults and/or youth. Little Luxton plans to further develop and expand its current training program building on evidence based research and in partnership with existing services.

“We want to see locals thrive in all parts of their lives and prepare them with the necessary work skills and self confidence to secure ongoing employment.”
– Nate Swift, Co-Founder of Little Luxton and proud Lanyon community member

Multicultural Hub

Project: myLEAP – Multicultural Youth Leadership, Engagement and Participation Program

Total project cost: $30,000
Funded by Hands Across Canberra/CMCF

Young people are often reluctant to take on leadership roles for various reasons including lack of confidence, cultural norms, fear of offending or conflicting with community leaders or lack of knowledge/skills on how to. myLEAP plans to change this and is an innovative Multicultural Youth Leadership, Engagement and Participation program for young migrants, refugees and asylum seekers aged 16-26yrs across Canberra and Queanbeyan to aspire to and grow as community leaders.

Funds provided through this grant supported a pilot of the programme. myLEAP provides options for young people to participate and lead small and big groups within as well asoutside their communities in their preferred way e.g dance groups, sport and youth clubs. Activities completed during FY 2021-22 included:

meeting with and hearing from key community leaders
participating in a consultation with the Legislative Assembly Racial Vilification Committee
Helping to organise and run a youth week activity in Gungahlin
learning about Aboriginal history and stories at a session at AITSIS
meeting with ACT Police and getting insight into the operations centre – how they take 000 calls, how they monitor the live camera’s and to learn about the role community leaders play in working with the police

By developing confidence and experience through these myLEAP projects, young people can apply their cultural, community and leadership learnings of communication, engagement and promotion to initially become informal/casual leaders through which roles they can grow to become trusted, capable and informed community leaders.

Impact: A total of 22 young people are currently going through the “myLEAP” programme. Whilst the programme is ongoing, initial results from evaluations demonstrate that young participants feel much more confident to speak up, be heard and take the lead on issues that matter to them.

Palliative Care ACT

Project: A Toolkit for LGBTQIA+ Palliative Patients

Total project cost: $8,000.00
Funded by the Aspen Foundation through the CMCF Autumn 2021 Grant Round

Current research indicates that there are barriers that prevent LGBTQIA+ community members from accessing inclusive palliative and general health care..

Key barriers and promising approaches for improving access to, and experience of, palliative care for this population group include:

Lack of awareness/understanding of palliative care
Fear and experience of discrimination and bias, especially from faith-based services and in residential settings
Heteronormative assumptions, including in publicity material, forms, and interpersonal communication
Lack of recognition of LGBTQIA+ relationships and family of choice, including legal recognition
Service providers’ lack of knowledge, especially around trans and intersex health care
Issues related to HIV/AIDS, including stigma, multiple morbidity, and neurodegenerative conditions

In 2021, Palliative Care ACT received a grant through the CMCF Autumn 2021 Grant Round (funded by the Aspen Foundation) to develop a toolkit specifically aimed at enhancing the information available to support the LGBTQIA+ community. Palliative Care ACT engaged a PhD candidate working at the University of Canberra, to draft the fourth in a series of toolkits. During National Palliative Care Week 2022, the organisation launched it’s LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Palliative Care toolkit, to help carers working with people from LGBTQIA+ communities who have a life-limiting illness.

Impact #1:

Increased community understanding of key barriers to quality palliative care for LGBTQIA+ individuals and approaches for improving access to, and experience of, palliative care for this population group.

Impact #2:

Improved comfort of all of society in discussing issues relevant to death and dying—including individuals, communities, health and social care providers.

Impact #3:

A resource which assists health and social care providers to improve their skill and confidence in talking about and addressing these issues with people who identify as LGBTQIA+.

Rotary Club of Canberra 9405

Project: Ruby’s Place

Total project cost:
Funding provided by CMCF/HAC, the Snow Foundation

Homelessness for children and young people under the age of 16 has been identified as a significant problem in the ACT for over twenty years, by both community and government.

Ruby’s Place Canberra is a newly established therapeutic respite residence for children aged 8-15 who are at risk of homelessness and expands the current Safe and Connected Youth Program run by Conflict Resolution Service Canberra and Marymead.

It is a collaboration amongst community and family foundations, government, service providers, peak bodies, private sector and beneficiaries. The addition of the residential program has been a significant project by Rotary Club of Canberra supported by the ACT Government. Hands Across Canberra together with the Snow Foundation supported the renovations and internal/external fitout with a grant in 2021 that has created a home away from home for at-risk kids who would have otherwise had nowhere else to go. In June 2022, Ruby’s place opened its doors for the first time.

Impact:

Prior to Ruby’s place there was no residential services for at-risk children and young people in Canberra, which often led to them staying in harmful or unsafe circumstances. Ruby’s provides a place for them to stay with a focus on helping them return home through integrated services.

Roundabout Canberra

Project: Roundabout Canberra Community Collaboration Project

Total project cost: $10,000
Funded by Hands Across Canberra/CMCF

Roundabout Canberra was established in 2018 and is committed to providing high quality, safe and clean second-hand items to vulnerable mums, dads and carers with babies and children. Roundabout has had an organic reach within the Canberra community and has used word-of-mouth and informal connections to develop relationships with social service partners. Social workers lodge an online order form for basic and essential items needed by their clients, then collect the items from their premises in Holt.

With the Hands Across Canberra/CMCF grant received in 2021, Roundabout Canberra was able to increase awareness of the service amongst community organisations and consequently increase the number of children and families benefitting from the second-hand items available. Through a combination of promotional material distribution, education activities at the offices of support services, tours of the Roundabout Canberra premises, support to register for Roundabout Canberra platforms and provision of assistance to encourage placement of orders for items, Roundabout Canberra was able to successfully increase awareness and its impact on the community:

Impact #1:

Through the awareness raised , an additional 800 children (and their parents) benefitted directly. The average value of items provided to each child for orders through Roundabout Canberra was $450.

Imapct #2:

Social workers benefitted by understanding the opportunity to save time and resources by using Roundabout Canberra’s platform to access items. The project ensured that all potential social workers can use Roundabout services including how to register to ensure that the continuous supply of items donated can continue to be provided to families in need.

Impact #3:

This project fostered an opportunity for increased collaboration among the large range of community organisations and not-for-profits caring for our community’s most vulnerable children, their parents and carers. Roundabout Canberra has been able to further understand the purpose and needs of each community organisation and not-for-profit who they work with to better meet the needs of disadvantaged members of the community.

Yerrabi Yurrwang

Project: Yerrabi Yurwang Child and Family Aboriginal Corporation Mother’s Gathering

Total project cost:
Funded by Hands Across Canberra and the Snow Foundation

Yerrabi Yurwang was established in 2019 by Aboriginal Community Leaders who identified the need for an Aboriginal Community Controlled Child and Family Organisation in the Northern region of the ACT.

In 2021 the organisation received a grant from Hands Across Canberra and the Snow Foundation, to support the delivery of quality Child and Family services to Aboriginal Children and their families residing in Canberra’s north-west. This funding included culturally appropriate Mother’s Gatherings that brought together mothers, grandmothers, Aboriginal role models and an experienced worker to develop supportive relationships, parenting skills and culture, and connect with allied health and other social services.

The Mother’s Gathering were to meet frequently, however due to the impact of COVID19, meetings were not able to be held during this period.

Whilst the program is still ongoing, preliminary evaluations have rendered the following three main potential impacts the program will have, for the Aboriginal Community. These include:

Impact # 1:

Aboriginal mother’s and carers of Aboriginal children need a culturally safe place (free from judgement and discrimination), close to where they live, where they can meet and learn from other parents and qualified practitioners to develop their confidence as parents.

Impact # 2:

Children will benefit through participation in culturally strong play-based activities that enable their physical, social and emotional development.

Impact # 3:

Families who are reluctant to access services will be assisted to navigate the complex human and health service systems in the ACT to increase access to supports they need, when they need them. Families participating in future gathering meetings will have increased confidence to maintain productive relationships with service providers.

Hands Across Canberra and the Snow Foundation support Aboriginal self-determination and will therefore support Yerrabi Yurwang, as an Aboriginal Community Controlled organisation in the North Canberra region, to continue to consult and co-design their services with Aboriginal People, particularly Aboriginal Mothers, Grandmothers, and other experienced Aboriginal role models to ensure the programs are delivered in culturally appropriate and safe ways; a key long term indicator of success.

This grant is one of Hands Across Canberra’s first multi-year grants.

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Impact Report 2021–22

The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund

Hands Across Canberra & The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund

The Chief Minister’s
Charitable Fund

Organisation

Grant Purpose

Amount

Featured Grants

Canberra Community Law

Fearless Women

Little Luxton

Multicultural Hub

Palliative Care ACT

Rotary Club of Canberra 9405

Roundabout Canberra

Yerrabi Yurrwang

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