We acknowledge these traditional owners and we pay our respects to leaders past, present.
We acknowledge these traditional owners and we pay our respects to leaders past, present.
We acknowledge these traditional owners and we pay our respects to leaders past, present.
We acknowledge these traditional owners and we pay our respects to leaders past, present.
We acknowledge these traditional owners and we pay our respects to leaders past, present.
The Paul Ramsay Foundation supports and invests in partnerships to break cycles of disadvantage so that people can realise their potential.
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Discover the history & values on which we were founded
Consider our shared aspiration to realise potential
See how data science helps
find transformative pathways
Learn about the past present and future of the Paul Ramsay Foundation.
1934 - 2015
Our Story
Our Values
Our Values
Respect for People
Learning & Curiosity
Humility & Integrity
Authenticity
Courage & Innovation
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1934
partners
Our Founder
The history and values upon which we were founded are those of Paul Ramsay. Paul’s generous legacy is Australia’s largest philanthropic foundation. The Foundation is not only a testament to his deep empathy, collaborative spirit and disruptive thinking, it is Paul’s enduring commitment to those less fortunate. It is his resolute belief in action: that empathy, collaboration and new thinking can transform people’s lives.
New Projects Started
“It was the way he felt about people – he wanted to listen to people, to hear them. His motivation was to do things, to do deals, to get things done, to make a difference."
Michael Siddle, founding Director
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1936
partners
The Chapmans and the Ramsays
Paul was born in Sydney on 31 January 1936. The son of Oscar and Mary Chapman. Looking out for and caring for others was a strong family trait. His civic-minded grandfather, Sir Austin Chapman, championed the foundation of Canberra and the introduction of the old-age pension. Paul’s sister spoke of their formative years growing up in a run-down country house in Burradoo, New South Wales, shared with his grandmother and two great aunts. “It taught Paul and me how to get on with older people. It taught us to listen to them. It taught us patience and the value of their wisdom”.
New Projects Started
“A man with a wide political outlook, one who had great faith in the future of his native country; a man with a big, warm heart and a great love for his fellow man.”
Paul’s grandfather’s obituary, Shoalhaven News 1926
1949
partners
Paul's Education
In 1949, as a 13 year-old Paul starts his secondary schooling as a boarder at St Ignatius College, Sydney.
Paul later starts then drops out of a law degree at The University of Sydney. Instead of formal education, he embraces travelling, trying his hand at different ventures and most informatively, meeting people from diverse backgrounds quite different from his own.
New Projects Started
“His love of people was what drove him. He had a joy in seeing people educated, in encouraging and supporting young people to succeed.”
Peter Evans, founding Director
1964
partners
The First Private Psychiatric Hospital
Against the advice of many in his circle, Paul purchases an old guesthouse in Mosman, overcomes bureaucratic challenges and converts “Warrina” into one of Sydney’s first private psychiatric hospitals, with the help of John Ellard, a leading psychiatrist. And so begins a global healthcare business that grows to 460 facilities caring for communities worldwide. In the early 80s, alongside extraordinary ongoing success in healthcare, Paul makes a foray into media. Having acquired several regional television stations he launches the Prime Network which he goes on to chair for three decades. He also invests in Capital Radio and becomes the largest commercial radio operator in the UK.
New Projects Started
“He was brave, and never afraid to make bold decisions. He was a man who had the courage of his own convictions.”
Charlotte Siddle (pictured)
1992
partners
The Healthcare Expansion
Paul’s company successfully bids for two Australian hospitals dedicated to the repatriation of veterans.
In 1996 Paul defended Darlinghurst’s St Vincent’s Hospital from the state government’s threat of closure. The hospital is at the heart of HIV/AIDS research, care and treatment. As a hospital board member for six years and as a passionate supporter of the community, he collaborates and helps the fight.
New Projects Started
“He was one of our great supporters to save the hospital. He had this ability to get to what mattered in people’s lives and support them in it.”
Sister Clare Nolan
1997
partners
The Ramsay Healthcare Float
Ramsay Healthcare is floated on the ASX and becomes one of the world’s largest private hospital operators. It currently has 460 facilities across ten countries, employing more than 77,000 staff and treating more than 8 million patients each year. Paul is credited with having transformed private health in Australia.
New Projects Started
“There is nobody who has had a greater impact on the private hospital scene than Paul Ramsay. He was friendly, gregarious and very generous. He accepted that someone who had been so very successful in business, should give back.”
Former Prime Minister, the Honourable John Howard OM AC
2000
partners
The Top Five
Ramsay Health Care continues expanding worldwide, including the acquisition of Capio, the fourth largest private hospital operation in the UK. Meanwhile, at home Paul’s service to the community is recognised by the conferral of an Office of the Order of Australia.
In 2010 Ramsay Health Care builds a major stake in private health care in France. In doing so Paul’s company becomes one of the top five private hospital operators in the world.
In 2014 Paul and Ramsay Health Care celebrate 50 years of service in private health care (pictured, with Dame Edna) and continue delivering care defined by "The Ramsay Way" which was inspired by the values on which Paul based his life.
New Projects Started
“He believed that in business, people were first and foremost.”
Peter Evans, founding Director
2014
partners
The Legacy
Paul Ramsay passed away on 1 May, 2014, bequeathing $3 billion to the Paul Ramsay Foundation. In doing so, Paul Ramsay made this the largest philanthropic foundation in Australia. Guided by Paul’s life principles, and with his extraordinarily generous bequest, the Foundation sets to work, leaning on Paul’s friends (including Peter Evans, pictured), business partners, and family for guidance. The Foundation is a testament to his resolute belief in action: that empathy, collaboration and new thinking can transform people’s lives.
New Projects Started
“He was prepared to take risks. He backed people. There was a loyalty and trust in regard to people, through thick and thin.”
Michael Traill, Director
3
2015
3
partners
The Original Vision
Throughout 2015, Paul’s close friends and colleagues gathered together to plan out how his legacy would be sustained. His long time friends, colleagues, and confidantes Michael Siddle, Peter Evans, Tony Clarke, and inaugural CEO Simon Freeman were instrumental in steering the newly formed foundation.
The 2015 Vision statement emerged: "Empowering people, empowering change. The Paul Ramsay Foundation is committed to identifying the root causes of disadvantage and implementing strategic solutions to empower our communities. We will look to forge long term collaborative partnerships with our peers and fund scalable projects to grow capacity and enable lasting change.”
New Projects Started
“He wanted everybody’s life to improve. What he wanted was for everybody to do well.”
Kathryn Greiner, Director
4
2016
4
partners
Breaking Cycles Of Disadvantage
Around this time we asked the fundamental question:
What does collaboration look like, and how do we partner for maximum impact?
The Foundation started operating as a Foundation in 2016, building partnerships for potential and seeking to break cycles of disadvantage in Australia.
We began new projects in teacher leadership and development, early learning and transition to employment. Our values evolved as we learnt how to work in this new space.
New Projects Started
11
2017
11
partners
Partnerships for scale
By 2017 we started asking ourselves: How do we understand scale and shift systems that are contributing to and causing entrenched disadvantage?
This is where the Foundation started leveraging the power of partnerships and over the year we developed 11 partners.
New Projects Started
“We bring an expectation that we want to see outcomes, we want to see lives change for the better, we want to see social disadvantage, reduced, if not eliminated.”
Rob McLean, Director Paul Ramsay Foundation
22
2018
22
partners
Setting the Goal
Focus areas: Early Childhood Development, Mental Health, Healthy Populations and Targeted Prevention, School Education, Education and Work.
By 2018, the Foundation’s thinking had become more nuanced. We started looking at how we develop and nurture the conditions for social change.
At this time, our first long term strategy took shape:The Foundation aims to develop and nurture the conditions for social change by taking a long-term approach to investing in innovative and evidence-based approaches, developing and disseminating knowledge, building capacity and shifting systems in five key focus areas.
By the end of 2018, our network had grown to 22 partners, and we had begun recruitment for a new CEO.
New Projects Started
31
2019
31
partners
Defining Our Impact Areas
In May of 2019, we reset our core strategy statement: The Foundation aims to break the cycle of disadvantage in Australia. We partner with people, communities and organisations to build capability and achieve change that lasts.
Early in 2019, our second CEO, Professor Glyn Davis AC, took the helm.We began to consider the role of capability as part of the pathway to achieving social impact and addressing the root causes of disadvantage. We agreed to focus on building the capability of the Foundation, our partners and the sectors that we work in.By the end of the year, we had 31 Partners on board, and we were refining our focus on early childhood development and school education.
New Projects Started
82
2020
82
partners
The Pandemic
Around the world, 2020 marks the beginning of an incredibly challenging time. The COVID-19 pandemic was – and continues to be - an event that altered the course of the Foundation’s work, and the work of our partners.
We responded by forming the ‘Sustaining our Partners’ Taskforce and subsequent program; a deliberate piece of work around alleviating some of the stresses and pressures that the pandemic placed on our partners by allowing more flexibility with funding.
By the end of 2020 we had 82 partners on board and were proud to support their work and sustainability during one of the most challenging times the for-purpose sector has ever seen.
New Projects Started
114
2021
114
partners
Bushfires & Resilience
At the end of 2019, the Australian bushfires took hold, causing intense devastation. Early in 2021, the Foundation established the Bushfire Recovery Taskforce, which in turn funded the Bushfire Resilience Program, designed to help bushfire-affected communities experiencing multiple forms of disadvantage.
With this work, the Foundation marked a shift in how it was going to work on transforming the way that we tackle complex social issues, including preparing for, and responding to disasters and the human crises they too often create.
By the end of 2021, we had 114 partners on board with us, working to break cycles of disadvantage.
New Projects Started
84
2022
84
partners
A Community Precinct for Social Purpose
2022 saw the Foundation move into its landmark philanthropic headquarters at Yirranma Place. An investment in the future of social purpose in Australia, Yirranma Place heralds a new era in the way that philanthropy can work for social good. It is a space where for-purpose organisations, social enterprises, and people working for social change can collaborate; and for the local community to enjoy.
New Projects Started
“Poverty in Australia is not inevitable. With skill, commitment and determination our society can break the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage.”
Professor Glyn Davis AC, former CEO of the Paul Ramsay Foundation
partners
The Next Evolution
In August 2022 Professor Kristy Muir was appointed Paul Ramsay Foundation's third CEO. With a new CEO, came an evolution of our strategy, and we committed to sharpening our focus, increasing our impact and deepening engagement across sectors.
New Projects Started
"We know that people and communities around Australia deserve to have the opportunity to thrive, but it is not a level playing field. PRF is uniquely positioned to help shift the conditions causing these inequities."
Professor Kristy Muir, CEO of Paul Ramsay Foundation
Everyone deserves the
chance to reach their
full potential in life.
But in a cycle of
disadvantage, there are
barriers – often unseen –
which too often put that
potential out of reach.
Barriers tend to grow,
as one life event begins
to unfairly predict
the next.
We see the cycle of
disadvantage as the unfair
predictability of life
circumstances. They are
embedded in and
accelerated by the systems
that organise our lives.
Being born into poverty
too often means a life
lived in poverty.
Starting school behind
too often means
finishing school behind,
or not finishing at all.
Previous incarceration,
or the incarceration of a
parent or carer, too
often predicts future
incarceration.
These experiences
increasingly collide and
tangle together. Too
often these experiences
cross generations.
These cycles are most visible when listening to people and their experiences.
By hearing how young people imagine their own potential, and by using data, we can prioritise what matters.
We can see predictability that can be harnessed to tell us where support is most needed, and whether that support is making a difference.
The cycle of disadvantage is not inevitable.
Ending cycles of disadvantage starts with creating equitable opportunities for people and communities to thrive.
There are many forms and experiences of cyclical disadvantage. Each is fiercely complex and crosses multiple systems and institutions.
People deserve to have opportunities to thrive from the moment they’re born.
So our work with partners focuses on children, young people and their families.
thriving social
enterprises
capability
Justice
inclusive
societies
People deserve to have opportunities to thrive from the moment they’re born.
So our work with partners focuses on children, young people and their families.
thriving social
enterprises
capability
Justice
inclusive
societies
We begin with a focus on three intersecting impact areas.
Employment
Capturing the transformative opportunities created by secure and meaningful work: economic independence, confidence and self-esteem, a sense of purpose and belonging, and a connection to larger networks of people and ideas.
Investing in the potential of children and young people to prevent contact with the justice system and supporting communities to thrive can provide transformative opportunities to divert away from the cycle of incarceration.
lives
Harnessing the life-changing influence of education, development, skills, relationships and training, from the critical early years through schooling and beyond. The chance to learn offers people sustained opportunities to reach their potential.
Partnerships for potential
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Shared Curiosity
We build on the long history of innovation, knowledge and successful disruption by others, whose efforts continue to inspire and guide our own. By coming together to ask and prioritise the questions that matter most, we seek to continue the history of testing new ideas and learning.
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Authentic Collaboration
Through collaboration and partnership, we seek to fund and empower people, communities, and organisations to build capabilities for sustainable, disruptive change.
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Distinctive Contributions
We are mindful not to duplicate or displace the work of government. And whilst we often work where government can’t, or won’t, we also seek to walk alongside it on programs helping young people reach their potential.
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Combined Impact
Collectively, with our partners, peers, friends and collaborators, we seek systems-level impact. We remain curious, listening to, learning from and working alongside those we hope will benefit most from these collaborative efforts.
Visualisations from Melbourne Institute to show how we are breaking down barriers.
Poverty in Childhood
Poverty in Childhood
Poverty Transitions
Employment Outcomes
Shocks and Recoveries
Shocks and Recoveries
Insights into our
partnerships in action
Track how disadvantage has been discussed
Explore this collection of stories and collaborations about what we are learning and how we are coming together for greater impact.
The 2019-2020 Bushfires
While disasters happen quickly their impacts are felt for years.
The 2019-2020 bushfires were unprecedented in their scale and impact across communities and natural ecosystems.
Responding quickly was difficult without real time and accessible data. One of the shared challenges was that the maps of the fire only covered active fires, not the overall extent of the area burnt. We created opendata.org.au to support partners and those seeking to see the total burnt area to understand who had been impacted.
The impacts of the bushfires were felt unequally between and within communities. This unequal impact on some of our most vulnerable neighbours is poorly understood and often overlooked during disaster response.
Communities all experience disasters differently. For many, the bushfires magnified existing barriers and raised even more. And some were left out of disaster preparedness and response activities. But on the other side of the devastation, disasters can present opportunities for transformative change.
“For our most vulnerable communities, those already living with disadvantage, resilience is both essential and may be difficult to achieve.”
Glyn Davis, CEO Paul Ramsay Foundation
How has collaboration created transformative pathways for bushfire impacted communities?
1
Listening to communities & researchers tell their stories
From community radio and podcasts to national opinion pages and digital media, we’ve worked together to make sure the voices of those impacted are heard. In the telling, there is healing. In listening, there is learning. And the lessons have been invaluable - a more detailed picture of the barriers to recovery and where we can best collaborate to provide new transformative pathways.
2
Building social connections & community leadership
There are many relief efforts underway, at many levels of government, for individuals, families and communities impacted by the bushfires. This collaboration of partners is working to apply the principles of community-led recovery. Together we’re bringing First Peoples’ wisdom and healing to the fore, advocating for inclusion and helping ensure self-determination is put into practice.
3
Supporting youth in healthy recovery
Children impacted by the bushfires have their own unique needs. Meeting those needs has been the dedicated focus of this collaboration of partners. Specialist mental health support. Resilience building programs. Spaces to connect and share stories. Help to process trauma and engage with learning. By providing transformative pathways for young people the road to recovery leads to a bright future.
PARTNERS
Impacts in progress.
Through the work we’re doing with our partners there are four key areas in which we seek to make the greatest collaborative impact.
Local Impact
Disaster response needs to be community-led and owned, with support given to local leaders.
Resilient Community Learning Network
A platform for community knowledge, skills and expertise to connect, is imperative.
National Impact
Ensuring complementary, not duplicative, input for stronger community connections and partnerships with government.
Support for Youth
Recognising and meeting the unique needs of children and young adults impacted by disaster.
While disasters happen quickly their impacts are felt for years.
The 2019-2020 bushfires were unprecedented in their scale and impact across communities and natural ecosystems.
Responding quickly was difficult without real time and accessible data. One of the shared challenges was that the maps of the fire only covered active fires, not the overall extent of the area burnt. We created opendata.org.au to support partners and those seeking to see the total burnt area to understand who had been impacted.
The impacts of the bushfires were felt unequally between and within communities. This unequal impact on some of our most vulnerable neighbours is poorly understood and often overlooked during disaster response.
Communities all experience disasters differently. For many, the bushfires magnified existing barriers and raised even more. And some were left out of disaster preparedness and response activities. But on the other side of the devastation, disasters can present opportunities for transformative change.
“For our most vulnerable communities, those already living with disadvantage, resilience is both essential and may be difficult to achieve.”
Glyn Davis, CEO Paul Ramsay Foundation
The 2019-2020 Bushfires
The 2019-2020 Bushfires
Partner Spotlight: Open Support
Open Support is a specialist domestic and family violence organisation.
They provide safe accommodation and support to women and children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In 2022, they were awarded a Strengthening Early Years grant from PRF to expand their child wellbeing program. The program is designed to benefit children who have experienced domestic and family violence across Western Sydney, the aim of which is to support children to move towards healing after being in a domestically violent household. PRF's grant will provide funding for a Child Wellbeing Advocate.
Open Support is a specialist domestic and family violence organisation.
They provide safe accommodation and support to women and children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In 2022, they were awarded a Strengthening Early Years grant from PRF to expand their child wellbeing program. The program is designed to benefit children who have experienced domestic and family violence across Western Sydney, the aim of which is to support children to move towards healing after being in a domestically violent household. PRF's grant will provide funding for a Child Wellbeing Advocate.
Partner Spotlight: Open Support
Partner Spotlight: Open Support
YMCA ReBuild
YMCA ReBuild is a Melbourne-based commercial construction social enterprise that provides training and job opportunities to young people who’ve been in contact with the criminal justice system.
Over 50% of the young people leaving custody in Victoria will reoffend within the first four months, but for young people who engage with YMCA ReBuild, less than 5% will reoffend. In 2023 the organisation was awarded a grant from PRF.
YMCA ReBuild is a Melbourne-based commercial construction social enterprise that provides training and job opportunities to young people who’ve been in contact with the criminal justice system.
Over 50% of the young people leaving custody in Victoria will reoffend within the first four months, but for young people who engage with YMCA ReBuild, less than 5% will reoffend. In 2023 the organisation was awarded a grant from PRF.
YMCA ReBuild
YMCA ReBuild
Tiraapendi Wodli
Tirrapendi Wodli is a community-led space in Port Adelaide where Australian Red Cross walks alongside the local Indigenous community to address underlying causes of crime.
PRF is working with Tirrapendi Wodli to bolster program capacity and commence a community-based evaluation of TW's justice reinvestment approach.
Tirrapendi Wodli is a community-led space in Port Adelaide where Australian Red Cross walks alongside the local Indigenous community to address underlying causes of crime.
PRF is working with Tirrapendi Wodli to bolster program capacity and commence a community-based evaluation of TW's justice reinvestment approach.
Tiraapendi Wodli
Tiraapendi Wodli
Meet our partners and how we work together
Meet who we partner with and how we work together
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