Bendigo and Adelaide Bank supports women and girls across regional and rural Australia
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has announced that it will donate $300,000 in Social Investment Grants to a group of organisations dedicated to supporting women and girls in vulnerable situations across regional and rural Australia.
The initiative will see grants of $100,000 made to three community-based organisations: South Coast Women’s Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation (Nowra, NSW), Children’s Ground (The Gap, NT) and inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence (Melbourne, VIC).
All three groups are dedicated to supporting women and girls affected by domestic violence, homelessness and pay inequality in regional and rural areas. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is committed to supporting gender equity and is one of only two ASX 200 companies to have a female CEO and Chair.
The program of grants is administered by the Community Enterprise Foundation, the Bank’s charitable arm which has raised over $150 million since inception in 2005 including $400,000 raised for those devastated by the Queensland and NSW floods as of Thursday 7 April.
Community Enterprise Foundation CEO David Impey said the decision to direct $300,000 in grants towards groups dedicated to addressing severe inequality reflected the seriousness of the issue and the lack of available resources in regional and rural Australia.
“We know there are systemic issues in our country which disproportionately impact women and girls. While the conversation about what we can do to create greater equality and a safer environment for women and girls helps raise awareness, actions speak louder than words,” Mr Impey said.
“The Foundation believes it’s vital we continue to back the valuable initiatives our community-based organisations are rolling out on the ground, particularly in regional and rural Australia, for individuals and families affected by these debilitating social issues.
"Our three grant recipients demonstrated a deep understanding of the problems they faced, deliver services that had a meaningful impact and strengthen the social fabric of the communities they operate in. I congratulate them all and wish them well in their endeavours to make this country a better place for everyone.
“As one of the largest grants programs offered by the Bank, we hope this investment we’re making will help improve the futures of vulnerable women and girls across Australia for years to come,” he said.
About the recipients
South Coast Women's Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation (www.waminda.org.au) aims to support Aboriginal women and their families to be strong, independent, prosperous, powerful, and self-determining. Its project, Empowering our sisters, aims to create pathways for meaningful employment for Koori women and girls by fostering Aboriginal women's participation in culturally safe workplaces, teaching skills and gaining knowledge in the care of country. Koori women and girls will have the opportunity to reconnect to culture and traditional knowledge as well as gain valuable experience through participation in plant-based industries - namely creating products from traditional plants for food and body care, and rejuvenating and growing local traditional plants.
inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence (www.intouch.org.au) provides services, programs and responses to family violence in migrant and refugee communities. With a commitment to changing lives and communities for the better, the group’s vision is for culturally diverse families to live without violence by influencing state, national and international agendas. Through its program, Supporting Migrant and Refugee Women in Bendigo, inTouch will establish a new formalised management program to support a regional and rural family violence service in the City of Greater Bendigo which will provide services and better outcomes for migrant and refugee women, their families and their communities.
Children’s Ground’s (www.childrensground.org.au) mission is for all children and families to live with dignity and justice, free from economic poverty. For First Nations people in Australia, the group aspires to provide children with opportunity, strong cultural identity, and personal wellbeing by having voice and agency over their social, cultural, political and economic future. It also aims to educate Australians about the nation’s history and celebrate First Nations culture. Its project, Angkentye arlterke interrkwetyeke: Empowering Women Through Employment, will focus on women’s leadership and elevate the voices of First Nations women.
