We specialise in funding emerging organisations driven by the communities they serve, as well as established organisations that play a critical leadership role in Australia’s social and environmental justice movements. We also participate in collective giving through Mannifera, a collective of Australian funders supporting a fairer democracy and economy.

From time to time, we run targeted grant rounds, inviting applications from organisations whose work aligns with the specific focus of the round — such as our open grant round on tax justice. We also provide rapid support to organisations responding to urgent social or environmental justice issues.

In addition, we administer the Lore Germain Bequest. Lore was a friend of the Reichstein Foundation and generous arts patron, who partnered with us over many years to co-fund arts-related projects. Over the coming years, we will continue to honour her bequest by funding art programs delivered by our existing grant partners and/or arts programs consistent with our mission and values.

A fundamental part of our work involves strengthening the advocacy efforts of our grant partners through amplifying their messages to our community, lending our names to their campaigns, and helping to grow their base of support through facilitating connections to other donors.

We also actively participate in advocacy campaigns alongside our partners in the social justice and philanthropy communities, helping to further initiatives linked to our thematic focus areas as well as protect and promote civic space and democratic values in Australia.

Image: Neighbours of Fish Farming (NOFF) campaigner Jess Coughlan speaks to the media in Parliament House’s Mural Hall, Canberra, opposing amendments to the EPBC Act favouring salmon farming, which were ultimately passed despite warnings of serious environmental impacts. Photo courtesy of NOFF.

We know that the problems we seek to solve are too big to tackle alone, which is why collaboration and partnership are central to the Reichstein Foundation’s philosophy.

A core element of our work is focused on bringing philanthropists and civil society groups together to foster connections, share learning and build collective power.

We also focus our convening work on growing, shaping and sustaining Australia’s philanthropic community. This has included providing the early-stage funding and strategic assistance needed to establish what is now Philanthropy Australia, the leading body representing the philanthropic sector in Australia. We are also proud to be a founding partner of Australians Investing in Women, the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network, Pride and Mannifera, and early supporters of GiveOUT (now Rainbow Giving Australia) and Woor-Dungin.

Until recently we’ve maintained a fairly traditional investment profile, but we are now working towards ensuring that our endowment is invested responsibly and in ways that support our vision and values.

Moving forward we will be learning from, and working with, partners across philanthropy, civil society and the responsible investment community to help us rethink our investment approach.

To this end, in 2024, the Reichstein Foundation convened a small group of trusts and foundations, and together we launched the Endowments for Impact Challenge — Australia’s first collective open tender competition to find the nation’s best mission-aligned, responsible and impact investment advisors. In March 2025, we crowned our winners, but the real work has only just begun to transform how Australian trusts and foundations invest their assets.

Our Investment Committee includes Jill Reichstein, Simon Lewis, Susheela Peres da Costa and Stuart Barry. We are also a member of Philanthropy Australia’s Foundation’s Group for Impact Investing.

Image: Reichstein Foundation CEO Rachel Ball, speaking at the Endownments for Impact Challenge Grand Finale, 2025.