ABOUT UNITED WAY AUSTRALIA
In Australia, the income inequality gap is widening with 13% of Australians living below the poverty line. 17% of Australian children are living in poverty, most of whom have low literacy skills. Studies show children with slow early childhood development make them vulnerable to unemployment and social exclusion further down the line. As a result, UW Australia has made it their priority to address early childhood needs and employment opportunities for young people.
HOW WE WORK
United Way Australia supports communities country-wide alongside their four local partners; United Way Ballarat, UW Glenelg, UW West Australia and UW South Australia. Their primary focus is on early childhood development and youth success.
VISION
UW Australia seeks to understand the needs of the community and develop solutions that involve local actors. They also seek to deliver innovative and evidence-based programs which have an emphasis on education and youth transition to employment.
MISSION
United Way Australia’s primary mission is to unite community, business, philanthropy, government, and social purpose organizations in collaborative action to improve education, employment, health and housing outcomes in communities experiencing disadvantage.
UW Australia operates place-based and thematic-based approaches to achieving impact. This involves understanding the needs of the community and developing solutions that involve local actors. They deliver innovative and evidence-based programs which have an emphasis on education and youth transition to employment.
Through successful partnerships, their collective impact strategies have delivered lasting impact. The Macquarie Business Park partnership is a successful example of developing cross-sector collaboration with corporates, the government and NGO leaders.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT: MACQUARIE BUSINESS PARK
The first of its kind in Australia, the Macquarie Business Park Partnership represents an innovative approach to overcoming community disadvantage.
This collaboration between 8 leading Australian companies and the government has begun to successfully tackle the underlying causes of disadvantage in their community by contributing their resources and expertise to give local children and young people a better chance in life.
So far in 2018 the program has benefitted:
One of the initiatives the Macquarie Businesss Park partnership has supported is the Imagination Library, which gives free books and learning resources to young kids. In 2017, the Imagination Library reached 8,816 children in Australia. The photograph below shows the youngest member to sign up for the Imagination Library at only 9 weeks old.
Donate to our efforts to support childhood and youth success in Australia, including the Imagination Library.
