What is Hands Across Canberra?
Hands Across Canberra is the ACT’s community foundation.
- We raise funds for Canberra’s most vulnerable people.
- We invest the money to make it grow
- We give it back in grants.
Community foundations are about giving where you live, for the long-term benefit and enhancement of a community.
Hands Across Canberra is only 13 years old but community foundations in Canada, the United States and New Zealand have become powerful tools for giving grants and making investments in their community’s future, sometimes for a century or more.
Canberra is the most generous community in Australia. With your help, big or small, we can make a lasting, transformative difference for all our neighbours and friends right here where we live.
Make
an Impact
There are many ways you can contribute to Hands Across Canberra and it’s network of community organisations. You can give your time and talent through volunteering, attending events, spreading the word about the work of organisations, or running fund-raising events and activities. There are also a range of ways to donate funds, such as directly through one-off donations, regular contributions such as workplace giving programs or by participating in fund-raising activities and events.
You can give in several ways:
- Hands Across Canberra (fcsuite.com) at any time. This money funds our grants to 350 local charities.
- Donate to the charity of your choice through our platform
- Establish a named fund, distributing interest each year to causes you care about. Named funds are professionally managed long-term investments.
- Contact us to offer your services as a volunteer or a community partner.
Are you an emerging leader and a person with disability? Don’t miss this opportunity! The Sue Salthouse Leadership Fund Scholarships are open now, but be quick, applications close in just a few days.
With $15,000 in funding available this year, the scholarship supports emerging leaders with disability in the Canberra region to grow their skills, pursue new opportunities and make an impact in their community.
If this sounds like you, or someone you know, there’s still time to apply.
📅 Applications close 9 September 2026
🖇️ Learn more and apply via the link
handsacrosscanberra.org.au/grants/sue-salthouse-leadership-fund-scholarship-grant-round-2026/ … See MoreSee Less
The Hands Across Canberra Charity Raffle features a total prize pool worth $6,722. 💛💙 Take a look through what you could win!
Most importantly, every ticket helps us provide grants to local charities supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
A huge thank you to the generous businesses that have donated prizes and helped make this raffle possible.
Get your tickets and support local impact.
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www.raffletix.com.au/?ref=nbt33 … See MoreSee Less
This episode brings together Debra Parker, founder of family law firm Parker Coles Curtis Lawyers, and Jess Scanes from Canberra tech company Netier, for a conversation about what it really looks like to build community wellbeing into the everyday work of business.
Debra shares how growing up without much privilege shaped the values behind her trauma-informed, compassionate approach to family law — and how her firm consciously budgets for pro bono work and community partnerships every year.
Jess opens up about Netier's culture of "loving your work," the initiatives that have brought over 200 medical garments to Canberra Hospital through their Supertee partnership, and why giving back is something her team actively asks for, not something they're asked to do.
It's a conversation about care, culture and what happens when giving becomes part of a company's DNA rather than an afterthought.
🎧 Listen to the full episode featured on Region Canberra
region.com.au/the-givers-why-givings-good-for-your-workforce/994802/ … See MoreSee Less