$110m for Minderoo initiatives

Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation has upped its giving to $109.6 million in the 2021 financial year, cementing its place as one of the largest philanthropic foundations in Australia.  

According to the foundation’s annual report, it distributed $20.9 million more in 2021 compared to 2020 when it spent $88.7 million.

The money was split between the foundation’s 13 priority areas.

Fire and Flood Resilience received the largest sum of $19.5 million, followed by its No Plastic Waste initiative ($17.4 million) and Collaborate Against Cancer ($12 million).

Thrive by Five ($11 million), Walk Free ($10.6 million), Frontier Technology ($8.2 million) also received sizeable funding.

The foundation received a total of $501 million in donations, down slightly from $522 million in 2020.

Minderoo's investment income was boosted to $91.8 million in 2021 from $53 million in 2020, due to an increase in dividend income.

The annual report also revealed well-known philanthropists Tonya and Malcolm McCusker stepped down from the foundation’s board in March 2021.  

The foundation was established by the Forrest family in 2001.

It is ranked as the largest philanthropic organisation in Western Australia on Business News Data & Insights.

Channel 7 Telethon Trust, ranked second on Data & Insights, distributed $36.6 million in the 2019 calendar year.

Nationally, Minderoo Foundation is about the third largest philanthropic donor, behind the Paul Ramsay Foundation and the Judith Neilson Foundation and Charitable Trusts.