The Australian Children's Trust was established in 2001 by Nicola and Andrew Forrest with the aim of assisting underprivileged children and with a particular focus on addressing the needs of youth.
The Trust Board members understand the enormous potential of children and in particular Indigenous children. Their primary concern is ensuring future generations maximise this potential.
At the heart of the Trust ethos is the concept of helping people to help themselves. The Trust believes there are greater benefits to be gained by those facing disadvantage by nurturing and instilling self belief through education, personal development and ongoing support such as in
Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek.
In addition to developing its own initiatives, the Trust is also an overarching charity that provides financial support to other established organisations and worthy pilot charities or communities with similar ideas and goals.
Critical to the success of the Australian Children's Trust is the:
• Dedication and passion of its leadership team;
• Quality of its asset backing; and
• Thorough and targeted assessment criteria for allocating funding.
Chaired by Andrew Forrest, the
Board includes Australian Olympic Great Herb Elliott; Peter Huston, a highly regarded Australian corporate lawyer; and Nicola Forrest, a philanthropist and director of the Womens and Infants Research Foundation. The Board has a
Management Committee. Members include Hope for Children founder Jacqui Gilmour; Nicola Forrest; Company Secretary Mary O'Hanlon Creed and Greg Parker. The
Chief Executive Officer is Malcolm James, who is also the CEO of the Australian Employment Covenant.
The Australian Children's Trust is committed to overcoming disadvantages in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Its core driver is to assist young Australians from all backgrounds, in particular underprivileged children, to realise their potential under a philosophy based on the principal of providing people with a means to help themselves - to provide the fishing rod, not the fish. This will give the next generation of Australians the ability to pursue their aspirations and dreams beyond what may have been generally available to them.
Funding provided by the Australian Children's Trust has helped enable organisations to create key professional positions whose skills are invaluable in addressing needs of children which may vary from physical disabilities and special learning needs to children who are socially disadvantaged. Regardless of background, sex, colour or creed, social or physical circumstance, we intend to assist them to improve themselves.