Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697630427255.pdf (Australia)
Inquiry into Funding for public research into foreign policy issues Answers to questions on notice from Save the Children Australia Dear Committee Secretary, In our session with the Committee this morning, Senator Lambie asked Save the Children about our Pacific staffing footprint, the way we spend our money, and the nature of the work we do.

We were able to cite a few figures from our latest annual report, and we also offered to forward a copy of that report to the Committee.
Please find that report attached, with the following notes on points we wish to draw to the Committee’s attention: • (See p. 5): With our approximately 300 staff across the Pacific, we implement 34 projects in 5 countries, directly reaching more than 200,000 people and indirectly reaching many thousands more.
Some examples include: • The Rapidly Improving Standards in Elementary Education (RISE) program in Papua New Guinea, which improves foundational learning in PNG’s elementary schools by training teachers to develop literacy and numeracy among students.

This program also trains early childhood teachers to better prepare children for elementary school and engages parents and communities to support them to read to their children, play maths games with them, and encourage them to stay in school.
• A digital cash program in Fiji that could transform the way assistance is delivered to vulnerable children and families in the aftermath of humanitarian crises and other economic shocks.

The program uses Vodafone’s Mpaisa platform to transfer funds to pre-selected households once a month for four months.

These payments will reach around 14,000 families, making this program the largest humanitarian cash transfer in Fiji’s history.
• A partnership with Facebook to deliver a social media online safety campaign in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tonga, titled “I Am Digital.” The campaign will feature materials in key Pacific languages, including English, Fijian iTaukei, Fiji Hindi, Samoan, Tok Pisin, and Tongan.
It will also feature a music producer, a singer, a children’s television presenter, and a pro-wrestler, whose messages will educate and empower Pacific Island teenagers and young people to have safer and more positive experiences online.

• • • We also work in South and Southeast Asia, with additional projects in Africa, South America, and the Middle East.
One example is our leading participation since 2018 in a consortium of civil society organisations and local partners to reconstruct homes, basic services, businesses, and public infrastructure in Iraq after the devastation left by Islamic State.

(See p. 3): For the Committee’s information, please note that we also work in Australia, where our total reach in 2020 was 19,468 people, including 11,777 children.
Here, we have implemented literacy and psychosocial wellbeing programs and advocated for bushfire-affected children.

(See pp.

24-27): As for what proportion of our income is spent on Accountability and Administration, a category that includes our Policy and Advocacy Division, the 2020 figure was seven per cent.
(See p. 16): To understand what kind of work we do with that seven per cent allocation, we employ talented people to provide quality essential back-office functions including Information Technology Services, Human Resources, and Finance.

We also advocate for child protection, human rights protection for children, and improved social protection systems to protect Indo-Pacific children and their families from the health and economic devastation now being caused by COVID-19.
We draw on our Indo-Pacific project staffing footprint to bring grassroots knowledge back from the frontline of the region’s intersecting human security crises to inform Australian foreign policy debates.

• As we argued in our submission and this morning’s session, we wish to increase our capacity to participate in foreign policy debates so the knowledge we hold across our projects can be better mobilised and deployed as part of Australia’s stock of Indo-Pacific knowledge.
This knowledge should help shape how Australia pursues its foreign policy aims, strategy, and statecraft.

2020 Annual Report This is the annual report of Save the Children Australia.

Save the Children Australia is one of 30 members of the Save the Children Association (a Swiss entity).

Save the Children Australia directly implements projects in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Save the Children International (a UK entity) implements international projects in non-member countries around the world on behalf of the members of the Save the Children Association.

We use the term ‘Save the Children Australia’ when referring to the specific work of Save the Children Australia and we use the term ‘Save the Children’ when referring to the broader work of the Save the Children global network.
Save the Children Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community.

We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders past, present and future.

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the country through our use of programs that respect and foster cultural identity and self-determination.
Our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) focuses on building relationships, respect and enduring opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Save the Children Australia is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and a signatory to its Code of Conduct.

The Code requires members to meet high standards of corporate governance, public accountability and financial management.
Save the Children Australia is fully accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian government agency responsible for managing Australia’s overseas aid programs.
In 2020, Save the Children Australia was supported by the Australian government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP) to implement programs in Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Myanmar, Fiji, Thailand, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Vanuatu, Laos, Bangladesh, Iraq, and Indonesia.
Cover Image: Thirteen-year-old Hawo* and her family moved to a new village in Somalia after the family lost everything during the 2017 drought that affected many parts of Somalia.

All schools in Puntland have shut down as one of the measures taken by the government to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Somalia and keep children safe.

“I’m so sad that I will miss school.

I don’t know when we will resume so that I can continue with my education and meet my friends.
This really worries me.” Photo: Said Fadhaye/Save the Children Other featured photos are by Save the Children.

*Names on some case studies have been changed to protect identities.

CHAIR AND CEO REPORT 1 CHAIR AND CEO REPORT There is little doubt that 2020 was one of the most challenging years Save the Children Australia has faced.

But it was also a period of accelerated change and associated progress in the organisation.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the globe, including in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities, we responded to the overwhelming need with compassion, creativity, and a commitment to never give up on children.

We delivered health measures to protect children, resources to keep their education going while schools were closed, and support to keep poverty at bay during a health-induced economic catastrophe.

But this is why we exist.


Our 100-year history of responding to crises and developing evidence-based programs to help children, has given us the expertise to respond quickly, to adapt and find new and effective ways to deliver on our promise to make the world a better place for children.
This year cemented for us the importance of meeting challenges with creativity, using new technologies to increase our efficiency and working with new partners who can help us scale our operations to improve the prospects for millions more children.

As COVID-19 restrictions shuttered schools around the world, our priority was to keep children learning.

In remote Ethiopia, children picked up books to read at home through a visiting camel library.
In Laos, our subsidiary, Library For All, adapted their technology platform to ensure children kept home from school could continue to access digital books in the Laotian language.

In the Solomon Islands, we adapted our ‘Emergent Literacy and Maths at Home’ package for delivery over the radio.

The radio lessons supported parents of preschool-aged children to identify learning opportunities in their daily lives at home, and to accommodate the low adult literacy rates.
We know how critical reading is for children – it’s the foundation upon which learning is built and it’s their path to a better future.

In a year when 1.5 billion young learners were kept out of school and 10 million children remain at risk of never returning, keeping children engaged in learning brings us joy and optimism for the future.

Emergencies didn’t end with the pandemic.

Across the year we saw cyclones, bushfires and floods continue to wreak havoc on the world.
In Fiji, we trialled a new way to support families after disaster – mobile-delivered cash assistance.

Digital cash is instantaneous and cost- effective, enabling distribution of very large amounts of humanitarian support to beneficiaries with very low overheads.

Remoteness, restrictions or shattered infrastructure will not stop us getting the help to the people that need it most.

We’ve never stopped fighting for children, and this year has taught us that nothing can stand in our way.
With flexibility, progressive thinking and compassion, the dogged fight in us to never give up on children will continue.

But as always, we couldn’t achieve all that we do without our dedicated and loyal supporters.

Thank you for being on our side and fighting alongside us to give children the best we have to give.
Paul Ronalds Peter Hodgson Chief Executive Officer Chair 48 OUR AMBITION 2 RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC In 2020, Save the Children Australia focused on supporting children and families to address the health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19, while accelerating progress on our long-term development goals.

SURVIVE: NO CHILD DIES FROM SURVIVE: NO CHILD DIES FROM SURVIVE: NO CHILD DIES FROM PREVENTABLE CAUSES BEFORE PREVENTABLE CAUSES BEFORE PREVENTABLE CAUSES BEFORE THEIR FIFTH BIRTHDAY.


THEIR FIFTH BIRTHDAY.

LEARN: ALL CHILDREN LEARN FROM LEARN: ALL CHILDREN LEARN FROM A QUALITY BASIC EDUCATION.

A QUALITY BASIC EDUCATION.

BE PROTECTED: VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IS NO LONGER TOLERATED.

TOTAL REACH IN AUSTRALIA: 19,486 Across Australia in 2020, we were proud to reach over 19,000 people.
OUR IMPACT 3 Girls 5,220 Boys 6,557 Women 6,776 Men 933 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER REACH: 3,833* CALD REACH: 5,500* DISABILITY REACH: 867* Girls 1,303 Boys 1,398 Women 94 Men 192 Girls 1,296 Boys 1,479 Women 2,429 Men 296 Girls 215 Boys 314 Women 287 Men 51 We are committed to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families so that the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children can be realised.
We work with culturally and linguistically diverse families (CALD), including recently arrived migrants and refugees, across the country, supporting their integration in Australia.

We support families with children with disabilities to access early intervention programs, and promote opportunities for participation, decision- making and leadership.
* Does not include Hands On Learning reach AUSTRALIAN SERVICES NORTHERN TERRITORY Number of sites: 55 Reach: 3,344 WESTERN AUSTRALIA Number of sites: 29 Reach: 1,538 SOUTH AUSTRALIA Number of sites: 22 Reach: 880 4 OUR IMPACT QUEENSLAND Number of sites: 129 Reach: 7,112 NEW SOUTH WALES Number of sites: 69 Reach: 2,444 VICTORIA Number of sites: 147 Reach: 2,801 TASMANIA Number of sites: 57 Reach: 1,371 INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 5 MIDDLE EAST Number of projects: 2 Countries: 1 Reach: 74,772 AFRICA Number of projects: 1 Countries: 1 Reach: 18,717 SOUTH AMERICA Number of projects: 1 Countries: 1 Reach: 469 OUR IMPACT SOUTH & CENTRAL ASIA Number of projects: 8 Countries: 3 Reach: 128,941 SOUTHEAST & EAST ASIA Number of projects: 19 Countries: 6 Reach: 271,514 PACIFIC Number of projects: 34 Countries: 5 Reach: 211,566 A NEW MODEL OF WORK The challenges children face today are more complex than ever: climate change, increasing inequality, and advances in technologies that threaten to leave those without digital literacy behind.
For Save the Children, rising to meet that challenge means acknowledging it’s not business as usual anymore.

We need to be highly agile, connected, provide an enabling environment for creative solutions to flourish, and then find ways to scale those ideas so they can make an impact.
6 A NEW MODEL OF WORK Protect a Generation Library For All Raise the Age campaign Emergency Health Unit Australian Regional Leadership Initiative (ARLI) Building Peaceful Futures Our organisational adaptability relies on our willingness to act early on signals of change.
We invest in forecasting and analysis, so we can strategically plan and position ourselves to achieve immediate Retail ChildWise and long-lasting change for children, Inclusiv Education Centre for Evidence and Implementation Centre for Humanitarian Leadership RISE wherever they are.

Our ecosystem of direct and indirect programing, partnerships, enterprises and associations reflects our belief that we can have greater impact when we collaborate rather than compete.
Our strategy for developing the Save the Children network is ever- evolving and supports our ambition to share knowledge through innovation, organisational diversity and flexibility.
Policy and Advocacy International Programs Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation Diverse Ventures Australian Services Pacific Programs Innovation Hub Youth Partnership Project Play2Learn Hands on Learning Endowment Fund Green Climate Fund Disaster READY Impact Investment Fund Social Enterprises: Innovative for-purpose entities that have Save the Children Australia ownership.

Indirect Programing: Acting as consortium lead, managing contractor or working with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations.
Innovation Incubation: Developing disruptive approaches, including innovation incubation and scaling of social enterprises.

Direct Programing: Services and programs directly provided and managed by Save the Children Australia.

Cooperative/collaborative dialogue: Working through public and private channels to hold governments to account for effective policy and advocacy change.

Partnerships: Partnering with other semi-autonomous organisations to deliver specialised services and programs.
SURVIVE 7 A HEALTHY START IN LIFE Our work focuses on the health and nutrition of the poorest and most marginalised children, the ones left furthest behind.

We know that is the only way of ending all preventable child deaths.

PUTTING CHILDREN FIRST (LAOS) Access to basic healthcare can mean the difference between life and death for children and mothers in Laos.
Here survival is compromised by unsafe birthing practices, chronic malnutrition, low rates of immunisation and a lack of well-trained health workers.

So when COVID-19 brought the country to a standstill in March, we knew our life-saving services for mothers and newborns had to continue.

We taught mothers how to stay COVID safe and encouraged them to continue to access our essential services, like home visits by our health volunteers and vaccination clinics.
In April we started our mini-mobile clinics, which began in 10 villages.

We trained 60 medical students who deployed to health centres, a provincial hospital and a COVID-19 isolation centre.

By September we had reached more than 7,000 people, educating them on how to keep themselves and their newborns safe and healthy.

Twenty-three-year-old Si continued to receive prenatal and postnatal care for her baby across 2020.
“I did not know how to prepare supplementary food for my son when he was a baby,” she says.

“But I know how to prepare supplementary food for my daughter now.

At six months old, my son weighed around five kilograms, but my daughter weighs seven kilograms,” she says proudly.

In Laos, our work is creating health security, stability and resilience for mums and babies to survive and thrive.
SURVIVE MAKING HEALTHY CHOICES (VICTORIA) For the residents of Atherton In January new garden beds were Gardens in inner city Melbourne, set up and our staff took part Cubbies is not just an adventure in workshops to improve their playground.

It provides a understanding of healthy eating, community hub – a place to play, so they can better support the to connect, and to become self- families they work with.

sufficient through growing their own food.


Together with partner NGO Cultivating Communities, Cubbies Thanks to the constant care of ran cooking classes for 27 children, volunteers and Save children.

They used the produce the Children staff, the Cubbies grown in the garden to create garden is abundant in food, from a healthy three-course meal.

tomatoes and potatoes (which Through the class the children the kids prefer) to chilies and tried new foods and learnt new Chinese broccoli (for the parents).
ways to use what they had grown.

From seed to harvest, children are encouraged to get involved with all aspects.

As the community moves safely through the pandemic, Save the Children will continue In 2020, Cubbies partnered with to be there to educate and Save the Children’s Healthy Kids, encourage positive healthy Healthy Communities program.

choices within the community.

The program promotes healthy lifestyles and brings nutrition education, active play and fresh foods to children and their families.
8 As the world eagerly awaited a COVID-19 vaccine, a new report through Save the Children Australia and the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, our partnership with Deakin University, revealed that children trapped in war zones were missing out on life-saving vaccines.

Not Immune: Children in Conflict, shines a spotlight on the harrowing impact war has on the immunisation of children and calls for urgent global action to protect children from preventable diseases.
SURVIVE 9 End COVID For All Save the Children Australia joined forces with development, health and other organisations – as well as thousands of everyday Australians – to call for Australia to provide vital support to vulnerable nations as part of the End COVID For All campaign.

The Australian Government has now committed an additional $305 million to COVID-19 response and recovery in our region.
LEARN HELPING CHILDREN RISE (PAPUA NEW GUINEA) Passionate, dedicated teachers who can engage children in learning are a major contributor to children attending and staying at school.

To support teachers in Papua New Guinea, our RISE (Rapidly Improving Standards in Education) program enables teachers to develop their skills in play-based teaching and classroom learning environments.

OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN Desray has taught at the Yakobala Elementary School in Papua New Guinea for the last five years.
In 2019 she took part in our RISE training and in 2020 started her refresher training.

10 Education empowers children to rise above poverty, realise their potential and build a better future.

The effects ripple outwards – supporting families, communities and nations.

Desray says the RISE training gave her different strategies to engage with her students.
She learnt how to use techniques like “Think, Pair, Share” where students work together to solve problems, ask questions and share what they’ve learnt by reading.

An enthusiastic educator, Desray has never missed a class, even after having a child.

Unable to afford a babysitter, Desray would bring her baby to class and continue teaching.

With her commitment and new methods, her students are ready to learn the skills and knowledge they need to build a brighter future for themselves.
CAMELS BRINGING BOOKS TO CHILDREN IN THE DESERT In Ethiopia, 13-year-old Mahadiya is worried.

COVID-19 restrictions have forced schools and businesses to close, and there is little to do in the dusty village but wait for school to reopen.

She’s seen the consequences that this has had on some of her classmates.

Hassen spends between 15 and 25 days at a time bringing books to children across the 33 villages.

He loads the books, a tent, plastic sheets and mats into two boxes on one camel.
A second camel and a camel herder accompany Hassen as a backup.

At each village, the library stays for two and a half days bringing the joy of learning to the LEARN But Mahadiya has dreams of being an engineer.

A dream that will only be achieved if she can continue learning.

And thanks to Save the Children’s unique camel library she can.

So even though schools are closed, each week she eagerly awaits the arrival of the ‘library on four legs’.
The man who brings camels and opportunity 11 In the Somali region of Ethiopia, camels are traditionally used to transport goods across the hot deserts.

There’s often little other transportation in these remote regions.

Save the Children’s camel library employs 21 camels.

Each camel carries up to 200 books at a time in wooden boxes strapped to their back.

These amazing animals travel vast distances to deliver their precious cargo of learning to over 22,000 children in 33 inaccessible villages.
Hassen, 45, is the man who brings the library to Mahadiya.

He is one of more than 30 community volunteers trained by Save the Children as reading camp facilitators who help children living in isolated locations learn to read.

children there.

After each library visit, there is a three-day break for the hard-working camels, herders and librarians, during which the camels are released to go and feed and given a medical check-up.

When schools were closed, I was very sad.


However, the camel library continued to come to our village and supplied us with storybooks.

I feel very happy and I am now able to borrow and take home the storybook that I would like to read.” Mahadiya is determined not to let her dream slip away.

“Even at this time, I do not want to lose my hope of becoming an engineer,” she says.

And she wants all the children in Ethiopia to stay as determined and focused as she is.
“My advice to all the people including children in the lockdown is not to be sad, to stay at home and to be patient until the situation improves.

I hope the situation will soon improve and once again, you can enjoy the outdoors.” In the meantime, thanks to Save the Children’s ‘library on four legs’, even in the remote regions of Ethiopia children can continue to read, learn and dream as they wait for better days.
CONTINUING EARLY EDUCATION (NORTHERN TERRITORY) LEARN In March, as COVID-19 restrictions paused early childhood education activities, Save the Children Australia turned adversity into opportunity.

Recognising this was a crucial time to maintain learning in the many communities in which we work, we adapted our Play2Learn program for remote delivery, so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids could continue to connect with their culture and keep learning during lockdown.
Our Play2Learn free playgroups take place all over the country and give children the chance to learn and develop through safe and supported play-based education.

In Wadeye, many family groups moved to remote sites across traditional homelands to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Gwendoline was one of our staff that kept delivering the Play2Learn program along with special bush experiences, including fishing and hunting trips and bushwalks to gather bush tucker.
She also supported the development of children’s fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination through drawing, rhymes and songs in the local language, Murrinhpatha, in the sessions.

On Groote Eylandt, we prepared packs for families which included books, crayons, playdough and games, delivered through community health clinics.

We kept in touch through social media and weekly phone calls to families to continue engagement and support wellbeing.
Despite the lockdown, children were supported to learn to play, socialise, establish routine and prepare for school.

12 In 2020, our social enterprise Library For All delivered a library collection of culturally diverse and age appropriate children’s books to every primary school in Kiribati.

Shipping more than 40,000 books, more than 110 primary schools now have an extensive library of exciting stories to read and share.
In 2021, Library For All will travel to Kiribati to develop more original stories working with local authors, teachers and community members to produce learning resources in Gilbertese or taetae ni Kiribati.

LEARN Save our Education Over 1.5 billion children have missed out on school this year.

Our Save our Education report revealed that 10 million may never return, especially girls who risk being forced into early marriage.
Without school, the most vulnerable children are exposed to hunger, violence and abuse.

13 BE PROTECTED SAFER COMMUNITIES FOR CHILDREN (PAPUA NEW GUINEA) Save the Children Australia’s Safe Communities, Safe Children program aims to educate communities about how to identify and respond to cases of child abuse, how to communicate with their children about safety, and how parents can positively discipline children without resorting to physical violence.

Mampim Muas is a single father of three children.


He joined Save the Children’s Parenting without Violence program and attended all PROTECTION FROM HARM 12 of the program’s sessions.

14 The number of children affected by conflict has never been higher.

Now too, millions of children are suffering from other forms of violence: sexual exploitation, family violence, neglect or abuse.

“My wife left me and my children.


I don’t take care of my children, my mother does that for me and my nine-year-old daughter helps her grandmother.” The first session of this training really touched me.

I am heartbroken for my daughter who does a lot of work at home.

I am committed to take care of my children.

I know there are a lot of fathers in the village like me.

I will share what I learnt here with them.” In PNG, raising or caring for children is viewed as womens’ day-to-day responsibility.
The training provides opportunities and support for fathers, mothers and caregivers to transition from relationships with their children and with each other, that are based on power and control, to relationships based on cooperation, communication, listening and mutual respect.
BE PROTECTED PROTECTING REMOTE COMMUNITIES (QUEENSLAND) On remote Mornington Island, As families left the main in far north Queensland, Save community and returned to the Children’s Ngakulwen country, we travelled out to the Nyerrwe Children and Family camping areas each week to Centre is a central hub for deliver food and water, tarps for engaging with the community.

shelter, and educational games and books for the children.
During the height of the COVID-19 restrictions, as most For families who remained at service providers left the island home the teams delivered health and did not return for nearly and hygiene packs “over the three months, Save the Children fence”, including sanitisers, soap, stayed to protect the community personal hygiene packs and and continue to deliver essential household cleaning supplies, and goods and services.

children’s activity packs to keep them learning.


We kept engaging with families, throughout the lockdown and ensured they stayed safe and healthy through the worst of the pandemic.

15 During COVID-19, reports of online child abuse surged in Australia.

In the first three months of lockdowns, this increased by 122%.

Many offenders used the work-from-home environment to do this.
Our specialist child safety subsidiary, ChildWise, established a new partnership with NetClean to bring world-leading software to detect child sexual abuse material on work computers and notify law enforcement authorities.

BE PROTECTED Child protection is a key priority for Save the Children’s domestic and international programs, in both development and humanitarian contexts.
We are the key independent child protection actor globally, with long experience of working in partnership with civil society organisations, child-led initiatives, governments and other key actors to stop all forms of violence against children.

We have helped ensure that Australia develops a sanctions regime that protects children across the globe, through the parliamentary Magnitsky Sanctions Act Inquiry.

We provided a submission, supplementary submission and appeared before the Inquiry.
We were referred to extensively in the Committee’s final report, with many recommendations aligning with our position.

This includes the development of a new standalone sanctions regime by the Committee.

16 We have continued attempts to bring back more than 60 Australians, 47 of whom are children and the remainder young women, currently detained indefinitely in North East Syria.
We have campaigned publicly and privately to have them returned to Australia, working closely with representatives of the families, particularly Kamalle Dabboussy.

In recognition of the economic strain felt by Pacific families during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have advocated for expanded social protection measures such as a ‘Pacific Jobkeeper’.
We have made targeted policy submissions, provided evidence to a Parliamentary Inquiry, and used private advocacy and the media to call for bold Australian leadership in our region.

EMERGENCIES 17 ON THE FRONTLINE OF DISASTERS We fight to find the child who is shocked, lost and alone.

We reach them with the life-saving care, food and shelter they need to survive, reuniting them with their family and restarting their learning so they can build a better future.
JOURNEY OF HOPE (AUSTRALIA) Thousands of children in Australia were directly affected by the catastrophic 2019-20 bushfires that were unprecedented in their scale and severity.

After the bushfires had eased, Save the Children was there to help children through the recovery.

Our Journey of Hope program is a school-based group-work intervention for children and young people who have experienced a collective trauma.
Journey of Hope has now rolled out to 39 schools across Victoria and New South Wales where the fires occurred.

This evidence-based program was designed in collaboration with children and school counsellors.

Rather than focusing solely on the trauma, the eight sessions teach coping skills through discussion, interactive games, journaling, and art-based activities.

Britt is a Ulladulla local and facilitator of the program at Ulladulla Primary School.

Journey of Hope offers children a safe space, she says.
“They can feel like part of a community and tap into their support network.

And know that they’re not alone, and know that they have that inner strength and resilience inside of them to cope with the current trauma, what has happened, what is happening and what could happen in the future as well.” EMERGENCIES 18 A VOICE FOR BUSHFIRE-AFFECTED CHILDREN The Black Summer of bushfires in 2019-20 were like none other.
Throughout, we focused on the needs of children in emergency response, recovery, and preparations.

We made a detailed policy submission to the Royal Commission, appeared before a key Senate Inquiry, participated in government forums where we highlighted the specific needs of children during disasters and in recovery from them, and maintained a regular flow of media activity.

EMERGENCIES 19 Since August 2017, more than one million Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh.
Our partner, the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership produced a foresight analysis Where will most of the Rohingya be by 2022?

A scenario analysis that considers four scenarios to support planning for decision-makers in aid organisations, UN agencies and governments, from both an operational and advocacy perspective.
DISASTER READY (VANUATU) Tropical Cyclone Harold arrived in Vanuatu on The cyclone tore the town apart, but brought it 4 April, one of the most powerful storms to ever together too, says Robson.

“The whole village hit the Pacific.

In Sanma, one of the worst affected came forward and worked with us to cut up fallen provinces, 80% of people lost their homes.

trees and clear the roads.


And after TC Harold, Robson David, Sanma’s Climate Change Disaster Committee (CDCC) Chairman, saw the devastation first hand.

“When TC Harold reached Malo, the sound of the wind and rain was deafening.

Houses made from sago palms peoples’ perception of the CCDC has completely changed.

People run to us to find out everything.

When will Save the Children be distributing next?

What they should do to prepare for the next cyclone season?” were blown into the air.
The place was covered In response to TC Harold, Save the Children in smog.

I remembered a widow who had not left Australia has reached nearly 3,000 households her house, so I ran to help her and her children with assistance.

Our recovery work in Sanma out, just as their house was blown away.” focuses on recovering livelihoods through agriculture training and distribution of seeds across 23 communities.

20 A MOVEMENT OF MILLIONS Our work is not possible without our supporters.
Our partners, both public and private, including corporate, foundation and individual supporters, help us work for the world’s most vulnerable children.

In 2020, together we helped millions of children around the world survive, learn and be protected.

OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SUPPORT Our supporters help us to pursue real and lasting change in children’s lives – helping us reform policies, mobilise public support and advocate for improvements in government investment and services.
In Australia, our supporters have backed our strong advocacy for children’s needs in emergencies, following the devastation of the 2019-20 bushfires.

A MOVEMENT OF MILLIONS OUR VOLUNTEERS: 2,540 WA 1,282 SA 393 NSW 370 QLD 334 VIC 142 TAS 18 NT 1 We have analysed and called out the EVERYDAY HEROES largely invisible impact that COVID-19 is having on many Australian children’s learning, safety and wellbeing.
We have campaigned for much-needed reforms such as raising Australia’s very low minimum age of criminal responsibility.

We have worked to hold Australia to account globally for its human rights record.

With strong public support galvanising us, we’ll never stop campaigning for children and the future they deserve.

Greg started volunteering with Save the Children Australia in 2018 in our Malaga warehouse in Western Australia, which supports our 17 op shops in WA.
In 2019 we supported Greg to undertake an electrical course so he could take on the additional responsibility testing and tagging all of WA’s donated electrical goods.

Greg’s work with the electrical items ensures the shops can sell the donated goods safely and responsibly.

He also really enjoys repairing the treasures that have been donated, from antique lamps to high-tech computer equipment.

“I love the hands-on work,” he says, “and it’s a bonus that my work helps reduce landfill too.
I come back day after day because I love meeting and working with so many dedicated people, many of whom I now call friends.” I’m part of a great organisation, and I can do rewarding work surrounded by amazing people.
What more could you ask for?” A MOVEMENT OF MILLIONS A LASTING CONTRIBUTION INVESTMENT FOR THE FUTURE Ninety-five-year-old Phyllis the world ensuring children and their families are safe, educated and healthy, and building Davy was a vivacious supporter communities that are more resilient and disaster prepared.

In 2020, QBE funding enabled Save the Children Australia to respond to disasters around of Save the Children Australia.
During her lifetime, she was president of the South River Branch in Western Australia, and was a dedicated long-time member for over 50 years.

From baking sweet goods for fundraisers through to organising books for sales, Phyllis was passionate in her support.

The former nurse and mother of three lived life to the fullest and shared those special moments with her family and friends.

In Australia this support benefitted the thousands of children affected by the Black Summer bushfires.
From the nine Child Friendly Spaces set up so children could play and socialise and start to process what they had been through, to mobile outreach activities and ongoing support through Journey of Hope.

Overseas, Typhoon Goni battered the Philippines in late October.

Over the following month, with QBE’s support, Save the Children were able to distribute 360 family hygiene kits and 360 water kits to affected families.
Hygiene items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, bath soap, bath towels, sanitary pads, sanitising alcohol and face masks, together with the water kits helped families replace belongings that were damaged or lost to the typhoon, and stay safe as health infrastructure was rebuilt.

21 In 2018, Phyllis told us that she updated her Will to include a bequest to Save the Children Australia.

She had been supporting since 1962 and was delighted to continue giving.
Phyllis’ family are proud of her commitment and this gift is testament to her caring nature.

We celebrate Phyllis’ life and generosity through this special gift as well as the many lives she touched over the years.

We thank all those who have pledged a gift in their Will for their compassion and kindness.

Through a gift in your Will, you can continue to save the children who need you most.
“We know that when disaster strikes, it’s vital that resources can be deployed quickly to support communities, both in the immediate response and to assist in the long-term recovery,” says Viv Bower, Group Executive Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, QBE.
“Through our partnership with Save the Children Australia we’re pleased to be able to support disaster recovery initiatives and enable the rapid deployment of vital resources.” LEARNING AND EVALUATING NEW FINANCIAL MODELS Green Climate Fund SUSTAINABLE GROWTH Save the Children Australia’s Youth Impact Investment Fund 22 Partnership Project (YPP) is focused on preventing vulnerable young people entering the youth justice system.
Save the Children Australia’s Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI) is evaluating this early intervention model across three areas: implementation of the program, outcomes for young people and families before and after the program, and the model’s effectiveness in improving long-term outcomes for young people.

An integral part of this early intervention model is to evaluate the implementation so it can be continuously improved.
This means constantly assessing the appropriateness of the current implementation process and feeding back data into the model to deliver better outcomes for the young people and families involved.

This also involves measuring how well the practices are being delivered as intended by using a highly tailored and specific evaluation tool.

As traditional fundraising income and government aid decline, Save the Children Australia is bridging the gap through innovative financing models.
Launched in 2020, our Impact Investment Fund is an Australian first in the aid sector.

It provides loans and equity investments to help start- ups and social enterprises grow.

The objective of the Fund is to generate capital returns for investors and create social impact by making investments in enterprises that are working to improve the lives of vulnerable children and their families.
In its first year, we raised an initial $6 million from corporate investors, philanthropic foundations and high-net-worth individuals.

After ramping up our Investment Committee, screening and due diligence processes, in 2021 we aim to invest in tech-enabled enterprises aligned to Save the Children’s mission.

We want to identify the companies that can make the best use of our skills and back them for the long run to generate financial returns for investors in our Fund.
Our Fund is about creating solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems, whilst helping entrepreneurs and startups grow.

It has the potential to change the world for the better, together, faster.

In 2019, Save the Children Australia became the first development NGO in the world to be accredited by the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
The Fund will allow us to partner with countries hardest hit by climate change and apply for funding from the US$10 billion fund to help generate transformational change in the way developing countries address climate change challenges.

In 2020 we completed legal arrangements with the GCF so we could make applications to receive funding on behalf of governments.

We worked with interested governments developing project ideas to scale-up community-based climate adaptation projects.
During the year 14 project ideas were formally submitted to the GCF, and by December, ten had cleared the first stage towards approval, and two were on the way to becoming full funding proposals.

Save the Children Australia intends to focus on projects that address climate change and health, which is an underrepresented sector for the GCF.
Other potential projects we are exploring cover livelihoods, food security, social protection, water sanitation and hygiene, enhanced Disaster Risk Reduction, education and governance.

SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IMPROVING OUR ACCOUNTABILITY FOCUS ON GENDER 2020 saw the implementation of Salesforce for Australian 2020 has been a busy year for gender equality work at Save the Children Australia.

The COVID-19 pandemic required Services as its case management system.
us to understand how the various restrictions were impacting upon men, women, boys and girls.
Named ‘Charlie’, after the child in the Save the Children We carried out gender analyses across many of our country offices, which revealed that women and girls’ logo, it represents the largest single infrastructure unpaid care work increased; with school closures, girls were more likely to never return than boys, but upgrade ever undertaken for our frontline services staff, boys were facing mounting pressure to earn money to contribute to the household; gender and with approximately 400 users.
family-based violence, including intimate partner violence and early and forced marriages, were Using the Salesforce platform, Charlie will allow Save the Children Australia to have greater insight and flexibility around its Services data than ever before in order to tailor our services and measure their impact.

on the rise.

Women and girls were affected by disruptions to sexual and reproductive health information and services, including access to menstrual hygiene items.
We adjusted our programs across our portfolio with the insights gained from data collected during the various lockdowns and will continue to 23 In the same manner as a finance system identifying trends put a spotlight on unequal policies and practices that jeopardise the and producing analysis across budgets, we are now wellbeing of all children.

placed to do the same but for the impact of our services on the children and families we work with.
Internally, we embarked upon a self-reflection exercise to better understand gender equality and social inclusion issues within our Since August 2020, Charlie has progressively gone organisational culture and structures.

live across Australia with the roll-out completed in February 2021.
Advancing gender equality is central to accelerating change for all children, and we know that change must start from within, COVID-19 presented significant challenges in delivering so we invited over 800 staff members to provide feedback on staff training, and so 2021 will be a year of consolidation gender equality and social inclusion issues covering leadership, to ensure processes and practices are consistent and fairness and non-discrimination, capacity needs, safety in embedded.
Charlie represents a game-changer for our organisation and strongly positions Australian Services to be able to deliver our best work.

the workplace and organisational culture.

The findings are being disseminated across the organisation and will form the foundation of a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Action Plan to continue striving for a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.
FINANCIAL PROFILE WHERE THE MONEY CAME FROM Explanation of Terms Performance was significantly impacted in the second quarter of 2020 due to the effects of COVID-19 with reduced donor grants received and the closure of retail stores across Australia.

The latter part of the year saw an improvement with the re-opening of a majority of retail stores, strong performance in fundraising activities and a significant increase in grant income.
Community support income: Donations, fundraising, legacies and bequests received from the Australian public and corporations.

Continued generous public support enables our community support income to assist us to effectively deliver programs to children and to respond to emergencies such as the Syrian crises and Rohingya appeal.

In 2020, our total income was $163.4 million, an increase of $29.1m or 21.7% from 2019.

Other income grew by $13.6m (21.7%) largely due to JobKeeper.
Grants, consulting and sales income increased by $12.2m (12.1%) including a $2.5m contribution from a new social venture, Library For All.

Income from retail activities increased by $2.3m due mainly to income from 17 retail stores acquired from The Smith Family in the latter part of 2019.

Grants income grew in most regions with significant growth recorded in South and Central Asia (58.1% or $4.5m) and in the Middle East (38.6% or $2.9m).
Grants, consulting and sales income: Grants received from the Australian Government’s overseas aid program, other Australian Government departments, government bodies, corporates, philanthropy and international organisations.

Consulting income, training fees, sales revenue and revenue from other mission related activities by our various social ventures.

Retail: Includes revenue from our retail stores.

Other income: Includes investment income and JobKeeper.
WHERE THE MONEY CAME FROM Year ended 31 December 2020 (expressed as a % of total income) 0% 50% 100% Community Support income 16.2% Grants, Consulting and Sales income 69.2% Retail 5.9% Other income 8.7% WHERE THE MONEY CAME FROM 24 Four year trend 2017 2018 2019 2020 $0M $90M $180M Community Support income Grants, Consulting and Sales income Retail Other income WHERE THE MONEY WENT Year ended 31 December 2020 (expressed as a % of total income) 0% 50% 100% Fundraising costs 7.0% Accountability and Administration 7.0% Program, Consulting and Training spend 79.3% Retail 6.7% WHERE THE MONEY WENT 25 Four year trend 2017 2018 2019 2020 $0M $80M $160M Fundraising costs Accountability and Administration Program, Consulting and Training spend Retail HOW THE FUNDS WERE SPENT Explanation of Terms FINANCIAL PROFILE Program, consulting and training spend include: • Long-term development and emergency response work across both international and domestic projects.
• Community education that includes costs related to informing and educating the Australian community of development, humanitarian and global justice issues.

• Other mission-related expenditure within our social ventures.

Fundraising costs: Costs associated with developing and securing our donor supporter base to attract donations to fund project and advocacy work.

Accountability and administration expenses: Administrative and other costs required to efficiently run the organisation.
It includes items such as staff costs in finance, IT, human resources, administration, office maintenance, audit and legal fees, insurance premiums and IT equipment costs, as well as investments in further developing the organisation’s capabilities and infrastructure.

We have a conservative approach towards managing and protecting donations.
From every dollar spent in 2020: • 79 cents went directly to benefit children through our health, education, child protection and humanitarian response programs, and through increasing public awareness of international aid and development issues • 7 cents went towards raising the funds we need to deliver these programs • 7 cents was allocated to administration costs to make sure we have the talented people, infrastructure and systems we need to manage and deliver our programs for children • 7 cents was invested in our retail stores.
The percentage of overall spend attributable to programming, consulting and training increased by 0.4% to 79.3%, driven by an increase in spend from $105.1m in 2019 to $119.5m in 2020.

With the growth in our store footprint spend, our retail activities also increased (+$3.6m or 55.7%), an increase of 1.8% as a proportion of total spend.

Taking into account these increases, and a reduction in fundraising costs in 2020, the proportion of our spend on fundraising activities reduced by 1.4% to 7.0%.
Despite the continued growth, the organisation’s accountability and administration expenditure only increased by 2.0%, resulting in a decrease in this category as a proportion of our total spend by 0.7% to 7.0%.
FINANCIAL PROFILE PROGRAM EXPENDITURE PROGRAM EXPENDITURE RATIO Year ended 31 December 2020 (expressed as a % of total income) Four year trend 0% 50% 100% Pacific 14% Asia 24% Australia 53% Africa 0.2% Other 9% PROGRAM EXPENDITURE BY REGION 26 Four year trend 2017 2018 2019 2020 2017 2018 2019 2020 $0M $60M $120M Pacific Asia Australia Africa Other 0% 50% 100% Program expenditure ratio The total amount spent on projects, including project support costs, consulting, training and community education.
This is expressed as a percentage of total expenditure.

Our program, consulting and training expenditure ratio has increased from 79.0% in 2019 to 79.3% and is reflective of increased programming in most regions, highlighted by continued growth in Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East, as well as continued growth in mission-related activities undertaken by our social ventures.
FINANCIAL PROFILE ADMINISTRATION COST RATIO COST OF FUNDRAISING RATIO Four year trend Four year trend 2017 2018 2019 2020 27 2017 2018 2019 2020 0% 5% 10% 0% 50% 100% Fundraising cost to income ratio Fundraising surplus ratio Administration cost ratio The total administration costs expressed as a percentage of total expenditure.

The administration cost ratio in 2020 has reduced to 7.0% from 7.7% in 2019, with administration costs in aggregate increasing by 2%.
We continue to remain focused on providing the right support to our growing programs portfolio, whilst ensuring we do this efficiently to maintain this ratio at below 10%.

Cost of fundraising ratio The total fundraising cost as a percentage of community support income.

Net surplus from fundraising ratio is the balance of revenue from community support income after deducting fundraising costs.
In 2020 this was 6.4%, a decrease from the 8.4% recorded in 2019 due to the strong increase of $29.1m in total income in 2020 coupled with the reduction in fundraising costs.

Explanation for income streams and expenditure categories Our cost of fundraising ratio reduced to 40% in 2020 due to a significant one-off bequest received in 2020, reduced expenditure on community fundraising, and reduced spend in channels used to acquire regular givers.
We continue to focus on investment in our fundraising across multiple channels and anticipate reverting to similar historical trends in the future.

Another ratio often given attention is the fundraising cost ratio as a percentage of total revenue.

In the full audited financial statements, retail and social enterprise results are combined under commercial activities.
In the annual report financial brief and graphs, retail income and expenditure have been disclosed separately and social enterprise income combined with grants, consulting and sales income for revenue and program, consulting and training spend for expenditure.

Prior year comparatives have been amended to reflect this realignment.

Save the Children Australia 33 Lincoln Square South Carlton Vic 3053 1800 76 00 11 savethechildren.org.au