The Qantas Foundation - News
April 2010
The Qantas Foundation launched the "For Fred's Sake" campaign in support of The Fred Hollows Foundation on 9 April 2010 - the anniversary of the birthday of the late Fred Hollows. The campaign concluded on 23 April 2010, after receiving strong support from the Qantas Group community.
March 2010
Gabi Hollows, Founding Director of The Fred Hollows Foundation helped Qantas celebrate "90 Years of Women at Qantas and 100 Years of International Women's Day' as Guest Speaker at Qantas' International Women's Day event on 8 March 2010.
January 2010
Qantas Foundation partner Fauna and Flora International Australia held an Indigenous Knowledge Recording Workshop in Hervey Bay from 11-15 January. This Workshop aimed to develop the skills of the young Indigenous participants to enable them to record the stories and environmental knowledge of their family members and elders, which have been passed down through the generations. The Workshop is one of the projects that was funded by the A$100,000 donation to Fauna and Flora International Australia by the Qantas Foundation.
December 2009
The Qantas Foundation has formed a new partnership with Clean Up Australia and will be the Official Foundation Partner of Clean Up Australia Day on 7 March 2010. The Qantas Foundation is supporting Clean Up Australia by donating A$50,000 towards the costs of the delivery of the national Clean Up Australia Day campaign.
To extend its support in the areas of Community and Health, the Qantas Foundation has also formed a new partnership with The Fred Hollows Foundation. The Foundation will be running a campaign in April to celebrate Fred Hollows Birthday where staff will be encouraged to make a donation to the Foundation in support of the work of The Fred Hollows Foundation. The Qantas Group will also match all staff donations, to a maximum of A$40,000.
November 2009
In extending its commitment to the environment, the Qantas Foundation donated A$100,000 to the Centre For Sustainability Leadership to support the development of its Online Future Sustainability Leaders Program. This Program will empower thousands of young Australians (including those located in remote areas) to drive environmental sustainability in their respective schools, workplaces, sectors and communities.
The Qantas Foundation has formed a partnership with Mission Australia, donating A$57,000 in support of its Charcoal Lane Traineeship Program. This program is a social enterprise & transitional labour market program for disadvantaged, unemployed Indigenous & non-Indigenous youth in Melbourne.
October 2009
The Qantas Foundation donated A$50,000 to UNICEF to support major relief efforts in Samoa, Tonga and Indonesia following recent natural distasters. This donation was made in conjunction with the appeals of Qantas' two major sporting partners - Australian Rugby Union Samoa and Tonga Tsunami appeal and Football Federation Australia Samoa and Indonesia disaster appeal.
The Qantas Foundation hosted the second annual Qantas Foundation Social Impact Lecture at the Qantas Heritage Collection on 12 October. Mark Rose, Global CEO of Fauna and Flora International, delivered the Lecture entitled "Making a Business Case for Biodiversity" to almost 100 leaders from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Mark Rose is recognised for pioneering the move by the conservation sector to engage with the commercial world, having formed the view that there is far more to be gained in partnership with such companies than in conflict with them.
September 2009
The Qantas Foundation was a major sponsor of Landcare Week, held from 7-13 September to celebrate Landcare groups and their activities, continuing the Foundation's strategic partnership with one of Australia's most well-known conservation agencies. As part of the sponsorship commitment, members of the Qantas Green Team joined other participants in the Landcare Source to Sea Journey - a series of paddles down Sydney's Parramatta and Hawkesbury Rivers during Landcare Week.
August 2009
As part of the Qantas Foundation's community partnership with ABCN, Qantas held a Careers Choice Day, hosting a group of Year 10 and 11 students from Alexandria Park Community School to showcase a number of careers that are available at Qantas. The Qantas Foundation has worked in partnership with ABCN for over a year, and Careers Choice Day, as one of ABCN's flagship programs, aims to connect students from disadvantaged schools with some of Australia's highest profile companies, to enable them to have a positive experience associated with going to work. Through ABCN, Qantas has forged a very strong relationship with its partner school, Alexandria Park Community.
July 2009
The Qantas Foundation announced the winner of the 2009 Qantas Foundation Encouragement of Australian Contemporary Art Award. The Award is one of the richest art prizes in Australia with a total value of A$184,000. It is also unique, requiring entrants to submit a body of work, rather than one individual piece, to be in the running. A winner from each state and territory was awarded A$13,000 cash and air travel to the value of A$10,000. The state and territory winners are: ACT- Tiffany Cole, NSW - Izabela Pluta, NT - Marina Murdilnga, QLD - Laith McGregor, SA - Peter McKay, TAS - James Newitt, VIC - Nick Selenitsch and WA - Nicole Andrijevic and Tanya Schultz (Pip and Pop).
June 2009
Around 30 students from Alexandria Park School visited the Qantas Heritage Collection as part of Qantas' participation in the Australian Business and Community Network Transitions program. The program also involves employees from Qantas' emerging leaders talent program mentoring a group of students from Alexandria Park School. The students spoke to a range of Qantas employees from cabin crew, catering, airports, engineering and professional services, to learn about the different careers that are available to them. A surprise visit by Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce saw many of the students sit down with him, to ask what it's really like to run Australia's biggest airline!
The Qantas Foundation donated A$100,000 to Fauna and Flora International (FFI) Australia. FFI is a leading international conservation organisation with a mission to conserve threatened species and ecosystems. The Qantas Foundation donation will help FFI support its first Australia-based effort which aims to conserve internationally significant biodiversity areas such as the world heritage listed Fraser Island and Great Sandy Strait Wetland.
May 2009
The Qantas Foundation donated Taronga Zoo tickets to Alexandria Park School as a gesture of goodwill from the airline to the school. Alexandria Park is Qantas' partner school in an ABCN program which teams disadvantaged schools with some of Australia's well known companies. Alexandria Park Assistant Principal Jann Hanekroot accompanied the children, from the school's kinder to year three classes, on the excursion and said the outing opened up a whole new world for the children.
April 2009
The Qantas Foundation celebrated its first birthday in April, and is looking forward to helping Qantas continue its reputation as one of Australia's leading corporate philanthropists. In just one year, the Foundation has donated over A$1 million dollars to humanitarian, environmental and creative arts endeavours.
March 2009
The Qantas Foundation provided A$100,000 to Landcare Australia to support water quality projects across three states - Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Landcare is one of Australia's peak not-for-profit environmental bodies and also includes Coastcare, which aims to raise funds to undertake projects that restore and protect Australia's environment.
The Qantas Foundation donated A$100,000 to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF) to help fund research that will assist scientists in implementing an action plan to protect and preserve the future of the Great Barrier Reef.
February 2009
To support the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund, the Qantas Foundation Humanitarian Fund has donated a total of A$431 000 to the Australian Red Cross to help individuals and communities affected by the bushfires. Qantas employees donated an inspiring A$190,500 to the Qantas Foundation Humanitarian Fund and a further A$50,000 direct to the Australian Red Cross. Qantas matched dollar for dollar the total employee donations of A$240,500 to the Qantas Foundation Humanitarian Fund.
October 2008
The Qantas Foundation donated A$100,000 worth of support to the Royal Flying Doctor Services (RFDS). The donation will help the RFDS in their valuable work of delivering medical treatment and emergency assistance around regional and rural Australian communities.
The Qantas Foundation and the Centre for Social Impact co-hosted the inaugural Qantas Foundation Lecture on 14 October 2008. The first lecture was delivered by Lord Michael Hastings CBE, the Global Head of Citizenship and Diversity with KPMG International. Around 100 corporate and not-for-profit leaders attended the event, where they heard Lord Hastings speak about the relationship between the corporate and not-for-profit sectors and outline the importance of maintaining strong family values in western societies.
The Qantas Foundation's Reading Mentoring Program was launched on 22 October 2008 at the Chifley Primary School. The Reading program is the Foundation's first initiative with ABCN and involves Qantas' staff visiting the disadvantaged school in the local Mascot area, to read with their 7 and 8 year old students.
September 2008
The Qantas Foundation becomes a member of the Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) to provide support to disadvantaged schools and students. ABCN is a charitable organisation that funds and runs programs and partnerships in the area of youth education. Programs are created in response to real needs nominated by disadvantaged schools.
