Thanks to approximately 18,000 regular monthly donors, we’ve helped raise more than $2.7M towards education and engagement programs that help building resilient young Australians.
Resilience is your ability to cope with an unexpected change, challenge or adversity.
The challenges of today are as diverse as the young Australians that we support.
Our Community Partners; ReachOut.com, Red Dust & Beacon Foundation have been selected to address some of the key ingredients for building resilient young Australians.
Designed with – and specifically for – young people, ReachOut offers one-to-one peer support and moderated online communities, to tips, stories and resources – allowing young people to engage in the ways they want to, when they want to.
“ReachOut was there for me when no one else was, I was a teenager in a small town and the only thing that gave me an escape from my everyday life was the internet. And coming across the ReachOut website one night when I most needed something gave me a new hope, that I wasn’t alone and they honestly saved me.”
– Young person
By actively involving the community in program development, Red Dust integrates indigenous knowledge, languages, and perspectives, resulting in a more engaging and effective learning experience for generations of students.
“Red Dust programs are now reaching more than 1,800 young people from 9 remote communities each year. Together with your support, our Healthy Living Program is having a positive impact on the social, physical and mental health of young people in remote communities.”
– Scott Stirling, Red Dust CEO
Beacon Foundation brings real world relevance to education, inspiring young people to think about careers and to experience the workplace, long before leaving school. Beacon believes socio-economic background or geography should not determine the education or career opportunities you have in life.
“Today’s program was great and very useful for my future. And one of the things I learned today is that your career pathway is not always straight forward. Take all opportunities you get in life and don’t stay too focused on one thing.”
– Student at Burnie High School, TAS
1 in 5 Australians suffers from a mental health issue in any given year and almost half the population will suffer a mental health disorder at some point in their lives.
We understand that seeking help is a big step, and speaking to a GP or mental health professional can be difficult.
After friends and family, the internet is the first place young people turn to for information and support.
In fact, more than 50% of young people turn to the internet for help when going through a tough time (ReachOut, 2023).
Commander is one of three retail brands that sit within Vocus Group, providing communications and technology solutions for small and medium businesses.
What began as a small fundraising pilot with a sample of our Commander’s customers, has now led to our most successful fundraising initiative.
“A small idea from a group of people five years ago has made a huge change with tens of thousands of small businesses contributing and many thousands of lives impacted”
– Antony de Jong, Chief Executive, Business & Consumer, Vocus Group.
$30 can help up to 8 young Australians who may be going through a mental health challenge, get the responsive and effective online mental health resources they need.
The health inequalities experienced by young Indigenous Australians is just one example of the challenges we hope to overcome.
The rate of diabetes is 6 times higher in indigenous children than non-indigenous children.
But Red Dust’s unique ‘community-as-family’ model of health and well-being programs draws on the strengths of both western health knowledge and traditional cultural knowledges that influence young people in the community.
We are pleased to welcome More Telecom as our newest partner.
“We are proud to align ourselves with a forward-thinking, customer-focused telco who have demonstrated their strong commitment to overcoming one of our greatest social challenges.”
– Warren Sainsbury, General Manager, Telco Together Foundation
“We look forward to making a significant positive impact and we encourage every customer to opt-in as it’s so easy and can make an enormous difference.”
– Andrew Branson, Managing Director, More Telecom.
$75 can help one young Aboriginal Australian, living in a remote indigenous community, get access to positive role models who deliver an engaging, school-based health and wellbeing program that focuses on nutrition, physical activity, aspiration, resilience, identity and cultural strength.
In the last 12 months alone, Beacon Foundation have supported more than 30+ staff and 798 volunteers to deliver career-readiness programs Australia-wide for more than 4000 young people across more than 100 schools with an ICSEA (Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage) of less than 1,000.
A recent study of Beacon students found that:
Aussie Broadband is an Australian owned and operated superstar, taking out Customer Service Organisation of the Year (Australian Service Excellence Awards, 2021), Best 30 Workplaces to Give Back (2021) and Diversity & Inclusion (ACOMM Awards, 2021) just to name a few.
It’s no surprise that their strong company values have reflected the generosity of their customers.
“Being good to people is a fundamental part of the fabric of Aussie Broadband.
We’re so pleased that many of our customers share that view and have opted into the Small Change Big Change program, donating a dollar every month.
We want to sincerely thank our customers for participating; it’s their generosity that has enabled the program to reach this point.”
– Phillip Britt, Managing Director, Aussie Broadband
$125 can help one young Australian living in a low socioeconomic status area, prepare for employment by connecting with an online industry mentor, where they can ask questions and gain insights about their future career path.
Whether you’re a customer or employee at any Australian Telco, there’s a whole range of programs to get involved in.
As a customer at our participating telcos, you can give your small change to make a big change by simply adding a $1 donation to your monthly bill.
As an employee at one of our participating telcos, you can give your time to this important cause by becoming a volunteer mentor.
We accept big donations too so if $1 per month doesn’t cut it for you and you want to make a bigger change, put us in touch with your payroll team and we will work with them to make it happen.
What better way of engaging your team than to get behind a cause that affects all Australians? Let us know about your fundraising event and we will provide you with relevant and engaging content to help you promote it.
Your grandmothers have fought hard for what we have, but we are still a long way from real equity. It is important to know the difference between equity and equality, and to understand that gender equity and inclusivity is complex.
We saw shy children blossom into confident performers, and we watched as young people grappled with complex cultural themes in a safe and supportive environment.
A big thank you to Aussie Broadband’s customers who have now fundraised more than $500,000 through our Small Change Big Change.
Stay informed and up to date with our impact.
Stay informed and up to date with our impact.
Your grandmothers have fought hard for what we have, but we are still a long way from real equity. It is important to know the difference between equity and equality, and to understand that gender equity and inclusivity is complex.
We saw shy children blossom into confident performers, and we watched as young people grappled with complex cultural themes in a safe and supportive environment.
A big thank you to Aussie Broadband’s customers who have now fundraised more than $500,000 through our Small Change Big Change.
Small Change Big Change was recently invited to attend the 35th Anniversary Celebrations of Beacon Foundation at Government House in Hobart, Tasmania.
Thanks to approximately 18,000 regular monthly donors, we’ve helped raise more than $2.7M towards education and engagement programs that help building resilient young Australians.
Commander is one of three retail brands that sit within Vocus Group, providing communications and technology solutions for small and medium businesses.
What began as a small fundraising pilot with a sample of our Commander’s customers, has now led to our most successful fundraising initiative.
“A small idea from a group of people five years ago has made a huge change with tens of thousands of small businesses contributing and many thousands of lives impacted”
– Antony de Jong, Chief Executive, Business & Consumer, Vocus Group.
