Goodman Foundation
The Goodman Foundation brings together our people, properties and resources to address disadvantage in the world and make a tangible and sustainable difference. We partner with like-minded organisations and fund projects with clearly defined outcomes, to provide support where, and when, it’s needed most. We are proud of how enthusiastically our people engage with the Foundation’s partners across the world.
In FY23, the Goodman Foundation contributed $10 million in cash, with another $0.8 million in employee fundraising and in-kind contributions during the year. This takes our total investment to $42.4 million since 2019, close to reaching our 2030 target of $50 million ahead of time. Given the growing need for community support since 2019 when the 2030 Sustainability Strategy was launched, we will be increasing our 2030 target next year to $100 million – more than doubling our investment in the communities where we operate.
Our global strategy focuses on three key areas, supplemented by our work in disaster relief and humanitarian aid.
Responding as swiftly as possible to fund disaster relief or humanitarian aid supports all three of the Goodman Foundation’s focus areas. Where we can, we step up to help our community partners respond at speed or at scale to provide immediate assistance to impacted communities. Our support continues to help communities rebuild and recover, while we also contribute to disaster preparedness.
We continued to see serious disasters this year, such as the floods in Australia and New Zealand, the devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. As such, disaster relief was a significant part of the Foundation’s support for communities this year.
Supporting people affected by disasters around the world
The Foundation provided much-needed support to organisations responding to natural disasters around the world. When a massive earthquake hit Türkiye in February 2023, we supported Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (UZ Brussel) to purchase medical equipment, medication and other relief supplies for earthquake victims.
In New Zealand, the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle and flooding in Auckland saw the Goodman Foundation provide additional funding for food rescue organisation KiwiHarvest, mobile laundry and shower service Orange Sky, and the Red Cross. In Australia, our funding has contributed to Good360 distributing over 1.8 million requested items to flood-affected communities with a total retail value of $17.8 million.
Meanwhile, the state-of-the-art helicopter previously donated by the Foundation to the NSW Rural Fire Service, has assisted with rescue and recovery efforts for flooding, bushfires and other inclement weather events around the State. The helicopter also assisted police in searches for missing people and importantly, is a pivotal part of firefighting training in preparation for bushfire season.
The Goodman Foundation is working with communities around the world to give more children and young people the lifelong benefits of a high-quality education. Our focus is on education and employment pathways, mainly through targeted scholarship programs and mentoring.
Supporting young people around the world through education
Education is the great enabler but, both globally and in Australia, not everyone has access. Poor educational outcomes affect a person’s employment prospects, health and social connectedness.
In Australia, the school attendance rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is 14 percent lower than non-Indigenous students and as low as 63 percent, on average, in remote areas. To help address this, we have partnered with the Clontarf Foundation to help to close this gap and create multi-generational change, supporting at-risk First Nations boys to attend school, finish Year 12 and enter employment.
In Mainland China, New Zealand, Belgium and Brazil, we’re working with community partners to provide scholarships, mentoring and education programs to enable people from low-socio-economic backgrounds complete school, undertake tertiary studies and develop skills for gaining employment and commencing meaningful careers.
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Our focus this year has been on addressing violence against women, mental health issues, particularly for young people, and supporting those living with a disability.
Driving long-term change
Violence against women and children is a serious global social and public health problem. The Goodman Foundation is investing heavily to lead prevention efforts in Australia by co-founding the Our Watch Institute to create a national movement to effect change led by Australian business. We’re also working with organisations in Australia and the US to meet the immediate needs of women escaping violent situations with essential support such as shelter, financial assistance, clothing, psychosocial counselling and education for their children.
To help support those with mental health challenges, in Australia we’ve partnered with Black Dog Institute to develop a unique evidence-based digital therapy for young people experiencing depression. This year, we embarked on work to co-design a program with healthcare professionals to combine person-to-person therapy with the ClearlyMe® intervention. For the Raise Foundation, we increased our funding to support more than 800 young Australians to participate in their high school mentoring program, prioritising younger students who are at most risk of disengagement or poor mental health and wellbeing.
Community inclusion for those living with disability is an important part of this pillar and our work in this area supports babies born with cerebral palsy to receive early diagnosis and treatment, and meeting the needs of people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities in Japan and Spain.
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The Foundation supports leading organisations in food and product rescue that redistribute items to people in need, while helping the planet by diverting waste from landfill. Food waste, food security and food relief are entwined issues – and with the cost-of-living escalating, they are growing global concerns.
Addressing food security as cost of living escalates
The Foundation has supported food rescue organisations around the world for years, often as a Founding Partner. With the rising cost of living and mental health issues in communities, there is a growing need to not only provide food relief but also additional services. When two major food rescue organisations, OzHarvest and UKHarvest, saw the need to broaden their services into community support hubs, they turned to the Goodman Foundation for support.
In Australia, with the Foundation’s support, Refettorio OzHarvest in inner city Sydney not only provides nourishing meals but also provides people access to an OzHarvest-employed social worker who offers additional support for guests in a safe space.
UKHarvest is on a similar path, with community food hubs supporting people with nutritious food items, nutrition education, and service referrals and companionship. Goodman’s funds are helping to create more community hubs in the UK, expanding to areas with a combined population of 30 million.
In the US, we’re working with leading food rescue organisations to provide essential transport to help deliver meals to those in need. While in Japan, our support provides nutritious meal boxes to children under 12 in Fukushima, Kumamoto and Hiroshima prefectures. Back in Australia, we’re focused on addressing food insecurity experienced by First Nations people through our work with FareShare.
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Goodman supports our people to contribute positively to the communities we live and work in. Through our Give Back workplace giving and matching program, Goodman people globally donated and raised $0.5 million, including Foundation matching, for causes they feel strongly about.
Meanwhile, Goodman people volunteered more than 3,000 hours with our community partners, providing professional expertise, such as serving on the board of a not-for-profit, mentoring students and charity partners, as well as giving business advice or specialist skills to our partners. Hands-on volunteering, helping to get much needed food, clothes, equipment, household goods to our partners, continued to be a feature for the teams volunteering this year.
