We believe education changes lives and all children should experience a positive primary education. More than just the opportunity to go to school, it is often the little things which make the biggest difference.
Our foundation’s journey began in 2006 thanks to the Phillips brothers, who decided they wanted to make a meaningful impact in primary education by forming the Camp Australia Foundation (tCAF).
The aim was to create a not-for-profit foundation that could fund and contribute to a range of programs to open up opportunities for all children to have access to and benefit from primary education.
Initiatives included the creation of after-school programs, building curriculum to support young students, and donating to aligned charities doing great work in the education space. This has included organisations of the calibre of The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, The Smith Family, Oxfam Australia, The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, World Vision, and more.
We have supported diverse local, national and international projects from providing books, shelving, curricula and learning materials, through to building schools in remote communities.
By 2016, tCAF was able to positively impact the lives of more than 77,000 primary school children through Australian and overseas programs. The Foundation kept growing from a first annual donation of $120,000 into almost $4 million donated over its life, until it transitioned in 2018 into The Phillips Brothers Foundation.
In 2022, our name was renewed once more – this time to Amaroo Foundation. This word has special meaning to the Phillips brothers, as Amaroo was the court they grew up in as kids and forged their journey in life and business. It also means “a beautiful place” in the language of the Ngunnawal People, who we pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging and thank them for allowing us to embrace Amaroo for our foundation name.
Today, Amaroo Foundation continues to work with amazing organisations including Common Ground to support indigenous literacy and knowledge-sharing, Australian Schools Plus to support students in disadvantaged schools, and Plan International Australia to bring education, teaching and libraries to remote students.
We’re focused on helping kids shine, and we believe that all children can reach their potential through education. The challenge is that, both locally and globally, there are children that miss out on school and other kinds of education. Our aim is to provide access and engagement in education so kids have the opportunity to be their best self, go for their dreams – and reach for the stars!
We work closely with a number of not for profit partners. Amaroo Foundation invites its prospective partners to apply for funding at various times throughout the year.