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By Greg Thom, journalist, Institute of Community Directors Australia
Initiatives designed to support members of the LGBTIQ+ community, help disadvantaged people become doctors and alleviate mental health issues in young Australians were among the winners of the 2024 Australian Philanthropy Awards.
The winners of the awards, which recognise and celebrate extraordinary achievements in contemporary philanthropy, were announced at a ceremony at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney last night hosted by Philanthropy Australia.
Climate change advocacy group Climate 200 picked up awards in two categories – the Environmental and Climate Philanthropy Award and the Innovation Award.
The organisation emerged as a major force during the 2022 federal election, raising $13.5 million from 11,200 donors which helped fund the election of the “teal” independents including Monique Ryan in Melbourne and Allegra Spender in Sydney.
Judges said the new batch of MPs supported by Climate 200 have helped federal parliament pass major climate reforms, including increasing Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target from 26% to 43%.
Climate 200 convenor Simon Holmes à Court welcomed the dual awards.
“Climate 200 was born out of the belief that the community wanted meaningful and lasting action for the environment, for political integrity and for gender equity – and with a bit of strategic funding and advice communities were ready to send that leadership to Canberra.
"I am proud to be part of a movement of 11,000 people, from every electorate in the country, who gave what they could and helped reshape Australian politics for good.”
Other award winners included:
The Collaboration Award was shared by two winners.
Acting Philanthropy Australia CEO Adam Ognall described the finalists in all 10 categories as outstanding and congratulated the winners on their efforts.
“The ten recipients are a true display of excellence in philanthropic giving across a broad range of cause areas and communities,” said Mr Ognall.
He said the winners exemplified the philosophy of “more and better giving for a generous and inclusive Australia”.
“We were delighted with the engagement by the not-for-profit and philanthropic sectors in the awards, with a doubling of nominations compared to the previous awards.”