Towards the end of 2024, Sidney Myer Fund committed $1 million to five LGBTQI+ organisations.
By providing three years of general operating support for these organisations, Sidney Myer Fund’s investment seeks to provide certainty and flexibility, empowering them to progress their missions at an individual, community and national level.
While the legislating of marriage equality in Australia in 2018 was momentous and life changing for LGBTQI+ people and their families and a cause for celebration, LGBTQI+ people in Australia continue to experience discrimination and disadvantage, sometimes in ways not visible to the wider community. Despite evidence of the need, philanthropic support for LGBTQI+ people, organisations and causes sits at less than 0.05 percent of all philanthropic giving.
The recent grants by Sidney Myer Fund have been awarded to:
- Equality Australia – using legal, policy and communications expertise – backed by the people power of the community – to achieve equality for LGBTIQ+ people
- Pride Cup – working with all levels of sport to build a world where every LGBTIQ+ person feels included, accepted and proud to be who they are
- Refugee Advice and Casework Service LGBTQI+ Safety Program – supporting refugees and people seeking asylum who are fleeing danger based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics
- Minus18 – Australia's charity improving the lives of LGBTQIA+ young people
- Transgender Victoria – Victoria’s leading body for transgender, gender diverse and non-binary (TGD) people
In addition, Rainbow Giving Australia is supported with a grant over five years through the Sidney Myer Fund’s Inclusion & Equality Program.