Macquarie and the community

Focus: Macquarie Bank Foundation/Cancer Research

Medical research has unlocked the answers to many illnesses and it is one of the key areas of funding from the Macquarie Bank Foundation.

In the year to 31 March 2005, the Foundation supported initiatives designed to assist researchers in the early stages of their career, as well as those at the cutting edge of medical innovation.

The Macquarie Bank Fellowship in Cancer Research was established in memory of Macquarie staff who have been lost to cancer. The Foundation will make a $60,000 grant to Cure Cancer Australia each year, with the inaugural fellowship awarded to Dr Michelle Henderson of Sydney’s Garvan Institute. Dr Henderson is studying DNA changes which lead to cancer.

Also at the Garvan Institute, the Foundation entered a three-year agreement to provide scientists with the latest equipment in gene technology. The laser capture microscope will help the Institute identify the genetic basis of various diseases, forming the basis for potential cures.

The Foundation continued its support of Cure Cancer Australia’s National Young Researcher of the Year Awards, which recognise outstanding cancer researchers in the early stages of their career, enabling them to develop their work and cement their position in the cancer research community.

In other areas of medical research, the Macquarie Bank National Asthma Research Fund was established with a $350,000 contribution from the Macquarie Bank Foundation, the Asthma Foundations of Australia and the Federal Government. This fund forms part of the Macquarie Bank Foundation’s $1 million commitment to asthma research over five years.

The Foundation also funds schizophrenia research through the Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders (NISAD) and is supporting a world-first development by the Queensland Institute of Medical Research as it works on a treatment for Guangdong Cancer, a virulent nose and throat cancer that could affect one in 10 people in southern China.

Macquarie in the Community

The Macquarie Bank Foundation contributes more than $4.5 million a year to about 250 community organisations in the areas of health care and research, welfare, education, the environment and the arts.

In its community activities, the Foundation seeks to actively engage Macquarie staff. In response to the Asian tsunami crisis, the Foundation matched all staff donations to the relief effort and also contributed to the Australian Red Cross. Through these measures, Macquarie and its staff made a total contribution of more than $1.6 million.

The Foundation also assisted a range of international programs which receive volunteer support from Macquarie staff. These included the Hackney Schools’ Mentoring Program in London, which mentors disadvantaged teenage girls; Casa da Paz, which provides educational activities for destitute children in Sao Paulo, Brazil; and San Francisco community arts organisation, Fischouse.

In Hong Kong, the Foundation contributed to Operation Santa Claus, which supports a range of community organisations, while Macquarie staff in Australia remain active participants in Oxfam’s annual Trailwalker event, which raises funds for international programs.

In its community endeavours, Macquarie also seeks to empower not-for-profit organisations, in addition to providing financial support. During the year, the Foundation entered a three-year partnership with Social Ventures Australia to launch a program giving community organisations the business skills to improve their performance, secure funding and run more efficiently.

The Foundation supported a wide range of other Australian community initiatives. It became a founding partner of OzHarvest, a new charity which picks up leftover food from caterers and restaurants and distributes it to shelters and refuges in Sydney. OzHarvest currently provides several thousand meals
to homeless people each week.

Scouts Australia established an Institute of Training with funding support from the Foundation, offering Australia’s first and only formal Leadership of Youth qualification.

In the arts, the Foundation’s partnership with the National Gallery of Australia saw the commencement of the third National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition, attracting entries from a record 636 artists.

The Foundation also supported a range of environmental programs, including the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Scotia project, the Australian Bush Heritage Fund, Waterkeepers Australia and the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington, New Zealand.

Macquarie Bank Sports, funded by the Foundation and several Macquarie businesses, significantly expanded its sports camp program during the year.

A number of other activities were initiated to support Macquarie staff in their community activities. Macquarie Volunteering was established, an online service linking staff with not-for-profit organisations looking for volunteer assistance. The Staff Participation Policy was also introduced, awarding $3,000 grants to community organisations on which Macquarie staff serve in an executive capacity.

Macquarie staff continued their active community involvement, raising funds for charities throughout the world, with supplementation from the Foundation. In addition to these volunteer and fundraising efforts, many staff provided pro-bono support. Members of Macquarie’s Information Service Division assisted with the technical needs of several community organisations, including the Spastic Centre of NSW, the Smith Family and the Bundanon Trust.