Asylum Seekers Resource Centre www.asrc.org.au
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Inc. (ASRC) was founded in Footscray in 2001 to directly support asylum seekers, living both in the community and in detention. The Centre has dramatically expanded since 2001 and is now the largest provider of aid, advocacy and health services to asylum seekers in Australia.

Asylum seekers are amongst the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people in Australia due in part to federal government legislation that prohibits them from working and bars them from accessing mainstream services such as Medicare and income support.

The Centre provides an extensive range of free services to asylum seekers including legal services, a food bank, health care (including the purchase of medication), counselling and English language classes all of which are staffed by volunteers.

The Ross Trust provided its first grant to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in 2003 to fund the positions of a Volunteer Coordinator and a Financial Operations Coordinator. Beginning in March 2008 the Centre was also included in the Ross Trust Emergency Relief and Material Aid Program with an additional three grant towards its Material Aid program. In June 2008, the Centre was invited to become a Ross Trust Collaboration with a further grant to continue the employment of its Volunteer Coordinator and Financial Administration Coordinator as well as supporting the Foodbank Coordinator and a Community Health Worker position.

Centre for Community Child Health: improved outcomes for children in their Early Years www.rch.org.au/ccch
The Centre for Community Child Health is an internationally recognised centre of excellence supporting and empowering communities to continually improve the health, wellbeing and quality of life of children and their families, now and for the future. The centre promotes good health practices, preventive action, early detection and early intervention.

The Early Years (Phase One and Phase Two) - Refocusing community based services for young children and their families
The Ross Trust provided grants totalling around $1 million over four years (2001 - 2005) to the Centre for Community Child Health to carry out The Early Years project with Good Beginnings Australia www.goodbeginnings.net.au. Click on the following link to get more information about Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Early Years Project, including the Literature Review. Early Years Project

back to top

The Early Years Phase Three: Linking schools and Early Years services
A major issue identified in Phase Two of The Early Years Project was the need for strong links between schools and early years services to prepare both children for school and schools for their new students. Consequently, the issue was covered in the 2005 Ross Trust granting strategy review and resulted in the decision to conduct a Phase Three of the Early Years Project. The Centre for Community Child Health started work on the new Phase in October 2005: "Linking Schools and Early Years" will be delivered over six years to 2012. Phase Three also includes a continuation of the Early Years seminar series.

back to top

EASE: Solving the Jigsaw - Changing the culture of violence www.solvingthejigsaw.org.au
Solving the Jigsaw is a school-based project that seeks to change the 'culture of violence' and build a 'culture of well being'. The program is run by the Emergency Accommodation and Support Enterprise Inc (EASE), a domestic violence agency based in Bendigo.

The Ross Trust made its first grant to EASE for 'Solving the Jigsaw' in 2001. Between June 2001 and June 2005, the Trust provided over $395,000 towards the program's continued expansion in schools, quality improvement and the development of a comprehensive training program. In 2006, the Trust renewed its commitment to this innovative and effective program with a grant of $262,250 to be paid over three years until 2008.

back to top

Ganbina KEETA: improved outcomes for Indigenous Australians www.ganbina.com.au.
Ganbina was established as KEETA in Shepparton in Victoria's Goulburn Valley in 1997 following Indigenous community consultation and a regionally funded feasibility study. It acts in the capacity of peak indigenous representative body in the Goulburn Valley for economic employment and training issues. Ganbina performs this role as a consultation organisation for the local indigenous community and as a direct service provision agency.

Ganbina became a Major Project of the Ross Trust in May 2004 with a grant approved totalling $576,000 to be paid over three years. This grant followed earlier smaller grants made by the Trust in 2001 and 2004. It was clear to the Trust that the organisation could not continue to thrive without achieving greater financial security, so the Trust chose to pay for Ganbina's first paid Executive and Administrative staff and their infrastructure costs over three years to help the organisation attract wider committed and long term support.

back to top

Education Foundation Australia: improved outcomes in Public Education www.educationfoundation.org.au.
Education Foundation Australia is unique in its focus on philanthropic support for public education. It is the only independent, non-profit organisation in Australia that strengthens public education by investing private monies (philanthropic and corporate) into primary and secondary schools. Its focus is educational excellence and equality of opportunity.

Arising from the 2005 Ross Trust granting strategy review, the Ross Trust decided to include public education as a major project area. Public education for the purposes of the Ross Trust is delivered by schools which have a public curriculum, provide reasonable access to school for all students, and are accountable for duty of care and quality of delivery (after equity, excellence and effectiveness, Education Foundation Australia, 2005).

Excellence, quality, access and choice are affected adversely by socio-economic disadvantage. Research has shown that one of the strongest contributors to educational disadvantage is a growing geographic concentration of socio-economic disadvantage. Poorer students tend to be clustered in smaller, under-resourced schools with poor educational outcomes which are located in communities with low levels of the social and cultural capital needed to support educational achievement.

The Ross Trust invited Education Foundation Australia to examine how some schools seem to be meeting the challenge of socio-economic disadvantage and disengagement from learning. The Foundation's study on "Overcoming entrenched disadvantage through student-centred learning" started in September 2005 and the very valuable results and recommendations are reported in Crossing the Bridge (to be published in April 2007).

In April 2007, the Ross Trust renewed its support for Education Foundation Australia with a grant of $600,000 over three years.

back to top

Somebody's Daughter Theatre: improved outcomes for offenders, ex-offenders and some at risk of offending www.somebodysdaughtertheatre.com.
Somebody's Daughter Theatre Inc is a unique company with a 24 year history that works in art, music and drama with:

• women in prison and after they have been released;
• disadvantaged young people (particularly in regional and rural areas); and
• communities interested in establishing creative partnerships to enhance the health and well-being of marginalised groups of young people.

Over many years since the company's establishment, the Ross Trust has provided grants to Somebody's Daughter Theatre Company to support its work. In 2004, the Trustees approved grants totalling $300,000 over three years towards assisting the theatre company to become more sustainable into the future and less dependent on ad hoc, time and energy consuming fund raising. In 2007, Trustees approved a further $300,000 to be paid over three years.

back to top