The Foundation is open to innovative applications for projects to be undertaken within Australia. These were not historically the focus of the Foundation, but such applications are welcome. Two examples of successful applications of this type are: The Free Kindergarten Union was sponsored for the “Challenging Child Project”
which looked at innovative ways of responding to behaviourally-disturbed children in kindergartens.
The Centre for Community Child Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital
was sponsored for a sequence of visiting overseas experts in the pre-school child development field aimed at influencing public policy for children’s services. The sequence was not funded as a block, but each step was separately appraised.
Each of these applications was considered on its merits with regard to the best use of available funds for achievement of the Foundation’s aims, and in relation to competing demands for support of other applications.