Whether it’s focusing on finding work for women, supplying books in First Nations languages to Indigenous communities or protecting our native flora and fauna, these three Australian charities are looking to the future.
Fit For Work
Fitted for Work
With a mission “to help women experiencing disadvantage to get work, keep work and navigate their world of work,” Fitted for Work provides several services to help Australia reach gender equality in the workforce.
The organisation can help women create resumés, find professional clothes, hone interview technique, build job skills and more. It has provided job readiness support services to around 38,000 women since 2005.
This work has become especially important considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as disadvantaged women are at higher risk of being left behind as the world begins to get back to work. All the services provided by Fitted For Work are available online, so all women can get the help they need. Through the programs, women are typically able to obtain jobs in around 73 days. Women’s participation in the workforce is vital to Australia’s economy and to the lives of women across Australia. Our future
needs females, and Fitted for Work is doing a wonderful job in making sure that happens.
Donate here.
Indigenous Literacy Foundation
Remote Communities in Australia tend not to have the infrastructure for libraries or bookstores, leaving people who live there without access to reading materials. The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) is working to change that. ILF has three programs: Book Supply, Book Buzz and Community Publishing Projects. Book Supply gives Indigenous Communities access to reading materials. Packs of books curated by age group are sent to remote and very remote Communities, and at least 45 per cent are written or illustrated by Indigenous people.
Book Buzz is designed to develop pre-literacy skills for children under five. For this program, ILF partners with FaFT and KindiLink in the Northern Territory and Western Australia to engage kids in learning to
hold books, navigate from the start to the end and follow the story. Finally, Community Publishing Projects help remote Communities share their stories, often in First Nations languages. These books help revitalise and preserve Indigenous Languages and share stories that reflect remote Communities’ cultures and way of life.
These programs are incredibly important to realise ILF’s vision statement, that reading opens doors to future opportunities and choices. By listening and responding to what Communities want for their children, ILF ensures that Indigenous children and families, living in some of the remotest areas across Australia, have access to culturally relevant books, books in First Languages and early learning books and resources.
Donate here.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy
One of the world’s largest conservation organisations, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) has been doing amazing work for 30 years. Much of Australia’s wildlife is found nowhere else in the world. This makes conserving our biodiversity all the more important – and it’s no easy task. Australia has more than 80 animal species that are considered critically endangered, and the worst rate of mammal extinction in
the world.
The AWC has tackled this problem with a new approach to conservation, acquiring land through partnerships with Indigenous, government and local landowners. The team also do a lot of land management work – in fact they deliver the largest, non- governmental fire-management program in Australia. They also work to control feral cats, which are a huge threat to Australia’s native wildlife, killing millions of animals every day. The AWC has provided fenced areas free of feral cats, and is working with
CSIRO to develop long-term solutions. In this and myriad other ways it is working hard to live up to its mission of “effective conservation of all Australian animal species and the habitats in which they live.”
Donate here.
For more great Aussie charities, click here.