The Foundation

A Philanthropic Initiative

The Documentary Australia Foundation is a private philanthropic initiative to provide information and resources to philanthropic grantmakers, charitable organisations and documentary filmmakers in order to explore, share and enhance their mutual objectives of creating a better society.

DGR STATUS

The Documentary Australia Foundation has registered charitable DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) status enabling foundations to make grants to documentaries. Due to its charitable status, individuals and corporations are also able to make tax-deductible donations to documentaries. The Documentary Australia Foundation is dependent upon funding from external foundations, corporations and individual grantmakers. The Documentary Australia Foundation does not commission or directly fund projects without funding from external grantmakers.

The Documentary Australia Foundation Donations Fund is listed on the Register of Cultural Organisations (ROCO) maintained under subdivision 30-F of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and, from 17 July 2007, is eligible to receive tax-deductible donations. The Australian Taxation Office has endorsed The Documentary Australia Foundation Donations Fund under Subdivision 30-BA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 with effect from 17 July 2007 as a public fund on the Register of Cultural Organisations pursuant to item 12.1.1 of Subdivsion 30-B of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

APPROVED LIST OF DOCUMENTARIES

The Documentary Australia Foundation Board will assess documentary proposals to determine their eligibility for private funding. If the documentary is considered eligible it will be placed on the Documentary Australia Foundation Approved List posted on the website.

To be approved, documentaries must:

• Be suitable for philanthropic support according to the Documentary Australia Foundation’s application form.
• Clearly demonstrate that they are a bona fide documentary being made by reputable or emerging filmmakers with either an Australian production company or a current Australian Business Number (ABN)

The submissions are not judged stylistically. They are assessed with reference to whether the subject, approach and outreach potential are appropriate for philanthropic support (see application form).

MAKING TAX-DEDUCTIBLE GRANTS TO DOCUMENTARIES

Through the Documentary Australia Foundation, grantmakers can only make grants to documentaries on the Approved List. A grantmaker can identify a preferred area of interest or documentary proposal for a grant, and Documentary Australia will consider that preference after it is satisfied that the particular documentary meets the criteria outlined in the application form. Whilst all preferences will be taken into account and assessed by the Board, foundations, corporations or individual donors cannot directly designate their grant to a specific documentary project.

Once approved, eligible projects will be listed on the Documentary Australia website. The Documentary Australia Foundation will enable foundations to make DGR approved grants and individuals and corporations to make tax-deductible donations to documentaries. Please note the restrictions on the Grantmakers application form.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ian Darling Chairman	Sam Meers Director
Dr Mitzi Goldman Executive Director	Michael Traill Director
Susan MacKinnon Executive Director	Jack Heath Director
Penny Richards       Director	JANE KENNY Director
Kel Fitzalan Director	Michael Hanavan Company Secretary
Sally Fryer Director	Mary Macrae Administrative Officer