About the 2026 Forum
Forum 2026
Meeting the Moment
17-19 May 2026
Abbotsford Convent, Naarm (Melbourne)
Community Foundations Australia acknowledges that the 2026 Forum will take place on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.
We acknowledge their sovereignty and pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
Meeting the Moment
As we ‘Meet the Moment’ globally, nationally and locally in addressing the interconnected challenges facing us all, in choosing this theme, Community Foundations Australia (CFAus) is also thinking of the personal moment for each of us to step fully into our potential at this pivotal time for the movement.
In our first Forum since the historic achievement of DGR reform for community foundations, our aim this year is to bring field actors together in a shared sense of collective action and energised momentum to carry forward their community and the greater movement.
A deeper dive into practical skill-building
‘Meeting the moment’ means equipping community foundations with the tools, relationships, and clarity they need now – wherever they are in their journey. It means offering differentiated learning pathways: practical skill-building for newer foundations, strategic dialogue for experienced ones, and opportunities for collective sense-making across the whole field.
We are excited to gather again to deepen our relationships and forge new connections and collaborations. We hope you will leave the Forum feeling lifted and energised as community-led social change brings the vision of a bright, fair and sustainable future into view.
The invitation is open
The challenges facing communities are becoming more complex and urgent: climate and energy transition, increasing inequality, eroding democracy, and the demand for new governance and funding models. These challenges call for an ecosystem response centred with communities and the needs of the people being impacted.
The beauty of the community foundations network is its fundamental impetus to work in collaboration with the wider field of changemakers.
A gathering for the ecosystem
We invite and welcome stakeholders from within and beyond the community philanthropy ecosystem to come together, explore common challenges and partner for shared solutions.
We also invite leaders including policy makers, funders and philanthropists to attend, and to strengthen their commitment and practical support for community foundations and community philanthropy in Australia and beyond.
Our co-hosts
The Inner North Community Foundation
The Inner North CF is building a better future for inner-north communities in Melbourne. It has been community owned and managed for 17 years and has a “future fund” of $12 million to fund community projects. Since 2007, the Inner North CF has distributed around $6.2 million to 250 local community organisations. The foundation’s community is made up of around 500,000 people, 45,000 businesses and 900 community organisations. The Inner North CF connects those ‘who care with those who can’. The foundation always works through community partnership and dialogue.
Southside Community Foundation
Founded in 2023, Southside CF brings together the people, businesses and organisations around the bayside area of Port Phillip in Melbourne to create a stronger, more connected and inclusive community. Southside CF believes that real change starts locally – resourcing local solutions to local problems, growing greater community connection, building stronger trust and cooperation. ‘From little things, big things grow.’
Australian Communities Foundation
Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) is a non-profit organisation that supports and enables smart, rewarding and effective giving. With over 28 years of experience in catalysing positive social and environmental change, ACF aims to make impactful philanthropy easy and accessible. As Australia’s only national community foundation, ACF’s community of givers is made up of thousands of people from all over the country. What unites them is a desire to make a difference. ACF’s purpose is to empower a vibrant community of philanthropists with Australia’s best giving solutions, unlocking funds to create meaningful change for people, place, and planet.
Greater Melbourne Foundation
The Greater Melbourne Foundation brings together the passion of supporters, the insight of communities, and its own experience to drive social justice and equity across Greater Melbourne. The Foundation inspires people to imagine a better future, and to make this happen, they work side by side with communities to break down barriers, address the root causes of disadvantage, and open pathways for opportunity. By collaborating with partners and amplifying collective action, the Foundation works to build stronger, more resilient and inclusive communities. ‘Together, our impact is greater.’
Video: Forum 2024
Our 2024 Forum gathering brought together community foundations, allied organisations and international thought leaders in the community philanthropy and development space under the theme ‘Horizons’.
Kulin Nation
The Wurundjeri‑willam people are one of the patrilineal clans of the Wurundjeri, who belong to the Woiwurrung language group of the Kulin Nation. Their Country extends across areas on both the southern and northern sides of the Birrarung (Yarra River), including land from Gardiners Creek through the northern slopes of the Dandenong Ranges, as well as areas stretching from the Maribyrnong River north toward Mount William and east toward Kew and the upper Yarra regions.
They have cared for these lands for tens of thousands of years, shaped by the creator spirit Bunjil, whose laws govern their connection to land, waterways, seasons, kinship and community. Before colonisation, the Wurundjeri‑willam were part of a sophisticated cultural system involving clan governance, shared law across the Kulin Nation, and strong kinship structures.