2004-05 Annual Report - Australia Post

| 46 |
COMMUNITY
INVESTMENT
We are committed to a multifaceted
program of community
investment that incorporates
sponsorships, donations, staff
fundraising campaigns and
the provision of resources and
logistical support to community
organisations. Our policy is
to invest in programs that are
congruent with our business
interests or that deliver tangible
benefits to the Australian
community. We also place an
emphasis on supporting events
and programs in rural and
regional Australia.
In 2004–05, we spent over
$3 million on sponsorship and
community investment programs.
The programs we supported fall
into six broad categories:
° education and literacy
° health
° the arts
° community groups
and events
° philanthropy
° environment
(for details, see p. 49).
“Dr Rhonda Galbally AO, chief executive
officer of ourcommunity.com.au, applauded
Australia Post for its vision in supporting
a project that could benefit all community
groups – regardless of their size or location.”
– Boorowa News, New South Wales, 3 March 2005
(For more on Post’s partnership with ourcommunity.com.au, see p. 22 and 47.)
Education and literacy
As a paper-based
communications business,
we have a natural interest in
the promotion of literacy and
education. Therefore, our efforts
in this area are many and varied.
We have been a major sponsor of
National Literacy and Numeracy
Week since 1999. We offer a
range of educational resource
material on the history and
operations of the postal service
for school students and teachers
via our website (at auspost.com.
au/education). We also promote
literacy by providing a Santa Mail
service, and helping Santa to reply
to over 120,000 letters written
by children each Christmas. This
year we released an educational
children’s book, called Postie Kate,
designed for use during school
visits by staff.
In regional areas, we have actively
supported a range of initiatives
with literacy and education as a
focus. These include the Books
in Homes Australia program in
regional New South Wales and
the “Phiggles the Flying Scientist”
program, which takes hands-on
scientific learning to children
living in some of Australia’s most
remote outback communities.
During the year we partnered
the University of South Australia
(one of our major customers)
to support a scholarship in
honor of Port Adelaide AFL
footballer Gavin Wanganeen.
The Gavin Wanganeen Indigenous
Scholarship is dedicated
to helping a promising but
disadvantaged Indigenous youth
gain a university degree.
Health
Our commitment to community
health starts with our own
employees. Our employee health
and wellbeing program, Get
a Balanced Life, is delivering
quality-of-life benefits to staff
through the provision of health
information, referral services and
support programs (see p. 42).
In the wider Australian
community, we remain a very
active supporter of the Breast
Cancer Network Australia
(BCNA). This year, we sponsored
BCNA’s “Field of Women”
event at the Melbourne Cricket
Ground in May and provided
delivery of over three thousand
BCNA resource kits to women
who were newly diagnosed
with breast cancer. Our strong
support of Queensland’s Mater
Foundation over the past eight
years was recognised in May with
the opening of the Australia Post
Allied Health Ward at Brisbane’s
Mater Children’s Hospital.
We sponsored research in a range
of medical fields, including cystic
fibrosis, melanoma and ovarian
cancer research. Our $25,000
national corporate sponsorship of
the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation (JDRF) was supported
by hundreds of staff who raised
additional funds by participating
in the JDRF’s “Walk to Cure
Diabetes” in October 2004.