What we fund

Daniel Crooks; Structured Light - National Gallery of Australia. Photo courtesy of Daniel Crooks

The Balnaves Foundation supports eligible organisations across Australia that aim to create a better Australia through education, medicine and the arts with a focus on young people, the disadvantaged and Indigenous Australia.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

Where positive outcomes reach beyond the immediate activity

OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUALS

Passionate, driven, ambitious and the capacity to deliver

STRONG COMMITMENT

From an organisation and its leaders, to the project or program

DEEP ENGAGEMENT

The opportunity to add value beyond the financial

Current Grants

The Adelaide Festival has delighted audiences since 1960 with an outstanding mix of internationally acclaimed theatre productions, an eclectic array of world-class musicians, breath-taking dance pieces, renowned writers and striking visual arts displays. Enjoyed amid warm March days and starry nights, Adelaide Festival’s celebration of creative excellence makes for an event of truly epic proportions.

Adelaide Festival

Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) cements Adelaide’s place on the international stage as a hub of vibrancy, creativity, and innovation. Over twelve days each October, this world-renowned festival provides a wide range of opportunities for festival goers to be inspired, entertained, and educated, through a unique program of the best of global and national cinema, forums, collaborations, and special events.

Adelaide Film Festival

The Art Gallery of New South Wales, founded in 1871 presents fine international and Australian art in one of the most beautiful art museums in the world.

Art Gallery of NSW

The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) is a leading cultural institution that attracts more than 700,000 visitors each year. Founded in 1881, AGSA is home to one of Australia’s great art collections, with more than 47,000 works across diverse media in Australian, international and Asian art.

Art Gallery of South Australia

For over 190 years the Australian Museum has been at the forefront of Australian scientific research, collection, and education. Australia’s first public museum was established in Sydney in 1827 and today the Museum has over 21 million cultural and scientific objects in its collection as it continues its roles in research and education.

Australian Museum

Bangarra is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation and one of Australia’s leading performing arts companies; widely acclaimed nationally and around the world for its powerful dancing, distinctive theatrical voice and utterly unique soundscapes, music and design.

Bangarra Dance Theatre

batyr is a preventative mental health charity, created and driven by young people, for young people. Through sharing lived experience stories and peer-to-peer education, batyr are keeping young people from reaching the point of crisis and changing lives.

batyr

Belvoir St Theatre is one of Australia’s most innovative and acclaimed theatre companies. It engages Australia’s prominent and promising playwrights, directors, actors and designers to realise an annual season of work that is dynamic, challenging and visionary. As well as performing at home, Belvoir regularly takes to the road, touring both nationally and internationally.

Belvoir St Theatre

Ensemble Theatre is Australia’s longest continuously running professional theatre company. Based in Kirribilli, on the edge of Sydney Harbour, Ensemble pride themselves on presenting and performing the best of international plays, beloved classics and new Australian works. Founded in 1958, Ensemble continues to produces live theatre of the highest quality that entertains, educates, enlightens and challenges.

Ensemble Theatre

ILBIJERRI is one of Australia’s leading theatre companies creating innovative works by First Nations artists. The longest established First Nations theatre company in Australia, ILBIJERRI creates, presents and tours powerful and engaging theatre by First Nations artists that gives voice to First Nations Cultures.

Ilbijerri Theatre Company

James Cook University (JCU) aims to create a brighter future for life in the Tropics and beyond, through education and research that makes a difference locally and globally. JCU is set amid irreplaceable ecosystems and cultures, and is unique among Australian universities, woven into the intellectual, economic and social fabric of the regional and remote communities they serve.

James Cook University

Kaldor Public Art Projects has played a critical part in Australia’s contemporary art history starting with the first project in 1969, Wrapped Coast, by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

Kaldor Public Art Projects

The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT) is an Indigenous-led organisation established by Traditional Owners of the Warddeken and Djelk Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) in Arnhem Land in 2010. The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (

Karrkad Kanjidi Trust

Mosman Art Gallery is a leading cultural institution within Sydney that aims to be a place of connection with both the visual and performing arts, offering visitors valuable experiences which enrich and inspire, through exhibitions, art collection and programs. Established in 1998, the Gallery enjoys an enviable reputation for excellence in its program of visual art exhibitions, associated events and education activities.

Mosman Art Gallery

Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia is located on one of the most spectacular sites on the edge of Sydney Harbour. It is dedicated to exhibiting, collecting and interpreting the work of today’s artists. It engages audiences with contemporary art and ideas through the presentation of a diverse program of exhibitions and special events onsite and offsite.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia

The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is Australia’s leading centre for education and training in the performing arts. Their team of educators is made up of seasoned professionals with proven expertise across the full range of dramatic disciplines including acting, writing, scenic construction, technical theatre, movement, voice, costume and production design.

National Institute of Dramatic Art

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi is the world’s largest, free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibition occupying the 2km coastal walk between Bondi to Tamarama each Spring, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.

Sculpture By The Sea

The Sorrento Writers Festival is a new, not-for-profit cultural and community organisation that aims to bring year-round literary events, discussions and talks to Sorrento and the wider Mornington Peninsula community. The inaugural Sorrento Writers Festival is planned for April 2023.

Sorrento Writer’s Festival

St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, in association with its affiliated research institutes and universities, endeavors to translate ground-breaking research and teaching into improved patient outcomes and best quality clinical care.

St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney

Story Factory is a creative writing centre for young people based in Redfern and Parramatta. They believe that all young people, no matter their background, should be given opportunities to develop the communication skills and flexibility of thinking that will allow them to live their lives to their full potential and flourish in a rapidly changing world.

Story Factory

Sydney Dance Company is one of Australia’s leading contemporary dance companies. Established in 1969, the Company has cemented its reputation as a creative powerhouse, with an acclaimed group of dancers presenting new work by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela and guest choreographers, designers, composers and musicians. SDC is recognised as one of the world’s strongest forces in contemporary dance, with a broad community beyond the practice and performance of the lead dancers. SDC has the largest public dance class program in Australia, with over 70,000 people a year connecting with the grace, strength and creativity that lives within us all.

Sydney Dance Company

Taldumande Youth Services is a not-for-profit organisation that supports vulnerable and homeless children and young people aged 12 to 24 years, and their families. Established in 1976, Taldumande’s accommodation and community housing programs provide children and young people a range of practical and therapeutic supports that enable independent living.

Taldumande Youth Services

Guardian Australia, launched in 2013 is a free premium digital news site in Australia, with a total reach of 2.926 million people each month. It is a trusted source of quality news with a particular focus on politics, the environment and social welfare. It is also part of the Guardian’s 24-hour global news operation, helping to cover breaking international stories in all parts of the world.

The Guardian

The University of Sydney – British Museum Project

The University of Sydney – British Museum Project

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is one of Australia’s most prestigious universities.

University of New South Wales

The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is WA’s state orchestra and the state’s largest employer of performing artists. WASO reaches over two million people with its music performances from staged works to online performances. The Orchestra also delivers a broad array of musical experiences through its broad and comprehensive Community Engagement and Education program.

West Australian Symphony Orchestra

Since 2005, Yalari has been providing Indigenous children from regional and remote communities across Australia the opportunity to receive a full boarding school scholarship for their entire secondary education. Yalari’s vision is to be one of Australia’s great enduring educational and leadership foundations empowering Indigenous people from regional and remote Australia.

Yalari