Got a big, bold idea to end disadvantage? The Paul Ramsay Foundation wants to hear from you

In announcing the 2026 round, the foundation’s chief impact officer, Carolyn Curtis, said PRF was seeking community leaders, practitioners, academics and thought leaders who were looking to explore “transformative ideas that challenge conventional thinking and help shape conditions so people and communities can thrive across generations.”

Applications are encouraged from people with personal, professional or academic experience who can promise an 18-month commitment “to substantially progress their idea”.

If you’re not sure whether you fit the criteria or if you have other questions, you can attend an online information session tomorrow (October 30).

The fellowships were created in 2020 to support the development of diverse and innovative thinking and solutions aimed at breaking cycles of disadvantage, but the program was revised last year and moved to a cohort-based model “to enhance collective learning and impact.” It also adopted more of an open call selection process, seeking greater diversity of experience, and it has formed an alumni network to generate momentum within and outside the program.

Curtis said the fellowship program was all about building a community of leaders and influencers who can work to amplify social change in Australia.

“We know that great ideas can come from lived experience, professional practice, or academic insight,” she said. “This fellowship is about giving passionate individuals the time, resources and support to pursue ideas that could shift systems and unlock lasting change.

“We’re looking for ideas that can make a new and substantial contribution to stop disadvantage in Australia, and that are expansive on not just ‘what’ needs to change but also ‘how’ better outcomes could be achieved.”

Curtis told the Community Advocate that the fellowships were “an investment in people who can help shift conditions so people and communities can thrive. We believe individuals can catalyse change and social movements in a way that is different to organisations because they are unbounded, independent, relational, and passion-driven.”

Up to five Fellows will be invited to join the existing national cohort, participating in workshops, retreats and collaborative learning experiences.

Successful applicants will receive up to $220,000 in support of their work, to be used “flexibly in pursuit of their idea and strictly for the public benefit”, and an additional $30,000 for personal development, including coaching support.

The foundation said fellowship applications should align with PRF’s purpose and one or more of its three strategic ambitions:

• Places and communities are connected, imagining and leading their own futures.
• Children and young people have positive life paths free from entrenched poverty and harm.
• First Nations peoples and communities are self-determining.

Heading into 2026, the Paul Ramsay Foundation has so far supported 11 Fellows in total, working on everything from inequality in schools to the future impact of AI on First Nations communities.

Six Fellows were supported between 2020 and 2023, and five joined last year as part of the new cohort-based model. Fellows include renowned journalist and political advisor Anne Summers, film director Rachel Perkins, public servant and former head of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Barry Sanderson, and more.

One of the 2024 Fellows, Jane Kohlhoff, who is working to identify ways to enhance access to evidence-based childhood mental health supports for children and families living in rural areas, said the fellowship had allowed her work and sense of self to expand.

“The PRF Fellowship gave me an opportunity to explore a topic that is meaningful to me and has important wider implications for breaking cycles of disadvantage,” she said. “I had the freedom to develop my fellowship project in the way I needed. There is emphasis in the fellowship program on investing in the Fellows, rather than on strict deliverables. It gave me an opportunity to break my usual mould and explore different parts of my career, abilities and potential.”

More information

Applications are open until November 19.

Interested individuals are encouraged to review the detailed guidelines, join an online information session tomorrow (October 30), and submit their application via the PRF grantee portal.

For more information, contact hello@paulramsayfoundation.org.au.