Macquarie Bank Foundation
Chairman's and Managing Director's Report

The Macquarie Bank Foundation contributed almost $A8.5 million in grants to more than 250 community organisations in the year to March 2006, almost double the previous year.

Macquarie staff continued to give generously to the community through donations and their time. Staff gave valuable volunteer, pro bono and executive support to the community during the year as well as raising $A2.5 million in donations, up from $A955,000 the previous year.

The Macquarie Bank Foundation continued to grow throughout the year, providing valuable support to community organisations through grants in the areas of health care and research, welfare, education, the environment and the arts.

Macquarie staff also generated substantial funds for community organisations around the world, through volunteering, mentoring, fundraising, serving on committees and boards, organising events and providing pro bono support.

A major new staff initiative involved Macquarie 's graduate students in the Adopt a House program. Staff will raise funds and renovate a residence for the Spastic Centre of NSW. The Big Buddy reading program (pictured overleaf) also continued to expand.

Three key health research fellowships were established with help from Foundation funding.

The Paediatric Cardiovascular Fellowship, offered through the National Heart Foundation of Australia, will assist research into childhood heart disease. The Macquarie Bank Foundation MS Research Fellowship will progress efforts to identify a cause and cure for multiple sclerosis, while a new Bionic Ear Institute research fellowship will build on the success of the cochlear implant in overcoming deafness.

The Foundation also provided funding to the George Institute for International Health to evaluate stroke care and treatment in China, where more than one million people die from strokes each year.

In a significant initiative to reduce youth suicide and attempted suicide, the Foundation partnered with the Inspire Foundation to provide a national schools program, educating 105,000 students about mental health and how to seek help in times of crisis.

The Macquarie Bank Foundation entered a major partnership with the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership to fund the Higher Expectations Program, allowing top indigenous students to attend Queensland's best boarding schools and gain the education required to enter university. Currently, as few as six per cent of Cape York students complete high school.

The Foundation also increased its support for other indigenous programs. New grants were made to the Wunan Foundation, to provide governance support services to indigenous communities in Western Australia's Kimberley region, and UNICEF'S Waltja indigenous nutrition project, to improve the health and nutrition of 300 indigenous children living in remote Northern Territory areas.

In education, the Foundation entered a five year partnership with the State Library of New South Wales to help make its world-class collection of Australian heritage available on-line.

More than 8,000 children throughout Australia participated in the sports camp program run by Macquarie Bank Sports during the year. Macquarie Bank Sports is funded by the Foundation and several Macquarie businesses.

Internationally, our support extended to Chicago's After School Matters, which provides apprenticeship programs to 22,000 American teenagers each year.

In the arts, the Foundation made grants to the Australian Youth Orchestra, to extend its audition process to rural and regional areas. Works from the 2005 National Sculpture Prize, a joint initiative between the Foundation and the National Gallery of  Australia, also went on public display at Macquarie offices in Sydney and Melbourne and at the Dell Gallery in Brisbane.

An environmental grant was made to the Australian Maritime College to fund a Chair in Marine and Coastal Conservation over three years.