Our Stories of Impact

Read the latest stories, research, and interviews from across Minderoo Foundation and our partners.

Feature stories

Four deep sea fish are grouped around a bait of a dead fish on an aluminium pole. The fish all have tadpole-like tails, rather than the more familiar shallow sea fishtail shape. The seabed at this level is brown, bare and looks silty. Beyond the pool of light, the background is dark inky blackness.
Natural Ecosystems

Out of sight must never be out of mind

The deep sea is a vast and fragile ecosystem that helps regulate our climate and sustain life on Earth.

Yet as deep-sea mining edges closer to reality, the world faces a defining question: will we protect what we still barely understand?

Learn more
Impact Missions
Minderoo continues support for the people of Ukraine.
Communities
What happens when we listen rather than tell in our communities?
Plastics
The Plastic Detox: Revealing the hidden dangers of plastic in our homes.
Natural Ecosystems
When the whales whisper, we must listen.
Communities
Community is not a thing of the past: It begins in the present.
A close up of a man’s hands, manually planing a large round mast of light wood. The image is in a circle and surrounded by black, as if illuminated by a spotlight. At the top left is the word ‘SPOTLIGHT’ lightly glowing as though it is a light source.
Impact Missions
Spotlight: Leeuwin mast building
Impact Missions
Sudan is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Artificial Intelligence
Australians want a balanced approach to AI, one that delivers benefits and protects people.
Communities
Ten-year partnership to help children and their communities in Adelaide’s north to thrive.
Gender Equality
Context: Sharing the Care.
Gender Equality
Walk Free’s international data collaboration to fight modern slavery wins global recognition.
Minderoo Pictures
Songs Inside: What can music bring to a place like prison?
Natural Ecosystems
It’s our choice – let’s create a future where coral reefs thrive.
Plastics
Spotlight: Project Vibrant.
Plastics
Impact investing is driving purpose and profit at scale.
Natural Ecosystems
Sailors are helping scientists chart the ocean’s hidden cast of characters.
Gender Equality
Five ways you can support 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.
Natural Ecosystems
How can we protect nature while thriving alongside it?
Communities
KeyFrame: The State of Australia’s Children
Communities
Australia’s future depends on how we treat our children today.
Communities
The State of Australia’s Children: Why early action matters more than ever.
Artificial Intelligence
ConTEXT: Artificial Intelligence.
Two fire fighters spray water on a bushfire. The photo has a slow shutter speed so that bright sparks of fire have made glowing trails. The light is extremely orange, making the whole photo have a strong orange cast. The mood of the photo is of a scary and dangerous situation.
Gender Equality
Four ways gendered expectations affect everyone in climate disasters.
Communities
Spotlight: WAAPA’s new production, Tivoli Lovely.
Natural Ecosystems
Nine things to know about COP30 and what it means for Australia and the Pacific.
A mid shot of Dr Alaeldin Elmalik holding a microphone up to his mouth and in the middle of speaking. He is wearing a charcoal coloured suit and sitting on a tall stool. To the left of frame is Julie Rosenberg, and to the right, Simon Eccleshall. They are both looking at Dr Elmalik.
Philanthropy
Crisis Catalysts: The role of philanthropy and other unusual suspects in times of humanitarian need.
A close up of Ryan Ginard, holding a microphone up with his left hand and gesturing in an open hand, palm up gesture with his right. He is wearing a white shirt and greenish blue jacket, has black rimmed glasses, and has a SXSW Sydney branded lanyard and pass around his neck. Behind him, the blinds shutting out the light from the large windows are a similar blue to his jacket, and are somewhat textured, making a pleasant background.
Philanthropy
Five insights about the future of generosity from SXSW Sydney.
Four First Nations children perform on a clay pan in a remote site in New South Wales, at sunset. They are walking with their hands held out in front of them, parallel to the ground. The sun is low in the sky and creates a warm glow over the image, and means the children are back lit.
Communities
Investing in creativity to strengthen communities.
Natural Ecosystems
Eight ways to advance ocean conservation through gender equity.
Foundation
Five ways UNGA80 moved global action forward.
Cancer
Nearly everyone has a cancer story. That’s why we act.
A somewhat rough ocean with white froth on the top of swell and a grey overcast sky. There is a flock of seabirds flying in what looks like a strong wind.
Natural Ecosystems
The High Seas Treaty has been ratified! Here’s 5 things that must come next.
A man and two women walk towards a small village, wearing bright red jumpers over which they have bright red bullet proof vests. They are heading away from the camera but are turned a little towards it so their faces can be partly seen. It is sunny but in the background, there are dark grey rain clouds, giving a moody atmosphere to the photo.
Impact Missions
Humanitarian personnel are dedicated to improving the lives of others. This should never cost them their own.
A signpost with a number of major global cities on it and the distances to each. The signs are arrow shaped and point in a number of different directions. This is a low angle shot so the sign post is set against a blue late afternoon sky.
Foundation
Article 109: Unlocking the UN’s potential for the 21st century.
A refinery complex at sunset. Across a field with frost on it, the industrial complex can be seen, putting out large amounts of heavy vapour. The sunset is beautiful and dramatic colours of pink and orange.
Natural Ecosystems
Five ways lethal humidity is changing our world.
A long shot of the tallship Leeuwin under sail on a calm blue ocean. The photo of the Leeuwin is in a circle and surrounded by black, as if illuminated by a spotlight. At the bottom right is the word ‘SPOTLIGHT’ lightly glowing as though it is a light source.
Impact Missions
Spotlight: Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation.
A low angle shot of Ben Von Wong’s installation entitled The Thinker’s Burden. It is a 6m tall facsimile of Rodin’s The Thinker, with winding flat strips of bronze representing a DNA double helix wrapped around the Thinker. At the foot of the sculpture and the base of the seat is plastic waste, mostly single-use drink bottles, which over the course of a week was added to, to completely eclipse the Thinker himself. Behind the installation is a large yellow board with the words PLASTIC TREATY on it.
Plastics
Five key takeaways from the recent round of Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.
Communities
Create without limits: Minderoo Artist Fund 2026. (Expressions of interest are now closed.) 
A group of primary aged children sit variously on grass and a blue esky, eating slices of watermelon. In the background, glimpses of their mums can be seen.
Communities
Four ways early intervention can change the lives of children and families.
Caroline Croser-Barlow stands in front of a podium, with a pull up banner behind her. She is raising her hands in a gesture supporting her point. She wears a maroon top with a pattern of flowers outlined in a lighter colour and has solid rimmed glasses.
Communities
Early intervention is not a nice-to-have – it is a necessity.
Nicola Forrest, wearing a denim jacket, sits in a play boat at a day care centre, accompanied by three young First Nations girls. One sits at the bright blue “wheel” of the boat while another watches her. The third is standing next to where Nicola sits, and is wearing a yellow ochre coloured dress with matching headband.
Communities
Our children are precious – and the future.
Amy Graham sits in a blue armchair, wearing a whit blouse and yellow ochre coloured slacks. She is holding a mobile phone and has a lapel mic fixed to her top. At top right, there is an overlay of the ConText logo.
Communities
ConText: The Cost of Late Intervention report.
A screenshot of a table called "Plastic Chemical Evidence Grid" set at a slight angle. The subheading says "A synthesis of findings on chemical groups and health". The table headings are Outcome, Bisphenols, Phthalates, PCBs. The grid shows that there is at lease one significant harmful health outcome for each of the 3 chemical groups listed.
Plastics
Like an umbrella in your back pocket! The plastic health harms e-dashboard.
A close up of several pairs of hands weaving natural plant fibres, in a loose circle over a traditional First Nations dot painting with vibrant red, blue, white, yellow and black colouts.
Communities
Six ways we’re connecting regional WA through art, culture and creativity.
Minderoo Pictures
The Cranes Call: Justice in real time.
A close up of a vigorously boiling brown broth with lots of bubbles.
Plastics
Simmering danger: What’s brewing in our bodies from plastic exposure.
A wide shot of a stage set up in a paddock. The viewing area is bounded by walls of hay bales and inside hundreds of people sitting in camping chairs are waiting for the show to start. The shot has been taken at sunset and the sun is artistically shining through the gap between the stage and the stage roof.
Communities
The village still matters but it’s becoming rarer.
Dr Christos Symenoides standing outside a commercial building on a CBD street. He is wearing glasses and looks determined and trustworthy.
Plastics
As seen on Four Corners: The health risks of plastic chemicals – and how we can change course.
A humpback whale breaching out of a bright blue ocean, with a distant coastline in the background.
Natural Ecosystems
UNOC3 Recap: 4 key wins for our oceans and what needs to happen next.
A bird's eye view of a school of fish swimming in a long group over a rocky reef. The water is relatively shallow and is a bright, beautiful turquoise.
Natural Ecosystems
Why we support 30x30.
A metal spoon heaped with bright multi-coloured pieces of plastics on a light blue background.
Plastics
Could plastics be hiding in your food? New tool helps measure the invisible.
A half-half image of the same coral bommie at Ningaloo Reef - on the left, a healthy reef with a cloud of small damselfish swimming around it. Above the bommie is a free diver in a black wetsuit and mask, holding a camera. The right half shows the bommie with the corals bleached. They are bright white and no fish can be seen in this photo.
Natural Ecosystems
InFocus: Ningaloo Coral Bleaching.
A bird's-eye view of a small fishing trawler with a red hull that has cast out a bright green net. The net is spread out in elegant folds around the boat. The ocean surrounding the boat is dark blue and has no waves.
Natural Ecosystems
A major global ocean summit is happening – here are 6 things you should know.
A close up of the polyps of a bright orange and yellow soft coral. The branching tentacles of each polyp can be clearly seen and are translucent. The shallow depth of focus means that some of the coral is softly blurred, while the deep green background is extremely out of focus.
Natural Ecosystems
eDNA: A new way to understand and protect marine life.
A pygmy blue whale against a background of mid blue of a shallower area of the ocean. Rays of light are shining through the water column, looking as though they are radiating from the bottom of the photo, rather than from the surface.
Natural Ecosystems
Endangered whales in the firing line – and the science the industry missed.
Dr Asha de Vos, a Sri Lankan woman, is speaking into a headset microphone, holding a clicker for a screen. The shallow depth of field means that the background is out of focus, but it can be seen she is standing in front of a slide deck and to the side is a range of pull up banners.
Natural Ecosystems
I refused to be pushed aside - and it transformed the way we protect our oceans.
A crowd of people walking along a pedestrian mall. The plane of focus is on the leafy trees in the background, so all the people's faces are blurred.
Gender Equality
Five surprising truths about how Australians really feel about gender equality.
A midshot of a yellow plastic duck with an orange beak floating on top of a bath full of white suds. The water below the suds is very blue.
Plastics
Five shocking ways phthalates in plastics are hijacking your hormones.
Gender Equality
Reporting is the floor, not the ceiling: Encouraging ethical leadership beyond compliance.
An aerial view of a series of tropical reefs with ocean channels between them. The parts of ocean are dark blue, while the shallower areas are a bright turquoise and green. The words "OCEAN with David Attenborough" are superimposed over the picture.
Minderoo Pictures
OCEAN with David Attenborough.
Plastics
Countdown to INC-5.2: The final push for a Global Plastics Treaty.
Natural Ecosystems
ConTEXT: Unlocking the ocean’s secrets.
An underwater scene of a coral reef in shallow water that has suffered extensive bleaching. Many of the corals are bright white, while some are in the process of turning white but still have some colour.
Natural Ecosystems
Australia’s coral reefs are in crisis.
Communities
“Write clear and hard about what hurts.”
Plastics
ConTEXT: Unpacking the PFAS Problem.
Natural Ecosystems
From floods to forced migration, climate change is reshaping security risks worldwide.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already reshaping our world, whether we realise it or not.
Minderoo Pictures
Three leaders, one mission: Breaking the silence on domestic violence.
A graphic made up of a dark coloured circuit board with a small raised square in the middle, in which the letters ‘AI’ are made up of small brightly coloured cubes.
Artificial Intelligence
Genie in a bottle? AI’s potential and peril.
Plastics
Top 5 sustainable solutions to the global plastics crisis (none of which are recycling).
Plastics
Another piece of the plastics puzzle: how phthalates can affect brain development.
Minderoo Pictures
Magic Beach: where childhood imagination meets breathtaking animation.
Minderoo Pictures
Plastic People: the shocking truth about toxic chemicals in our everyday lives.
Minderoo Pictures
Unbreakable: the Jelena Dokic story of survival, strength, and speaking out.
Gender Equality
Is analysis paralysis the real barrier to gender equality?
Plastics
Five plastic items to take off your Christmas wish list.
Plastics
The tug of war on plastics: why the Global Plastics Treaty talks stalled.
Communities
ConTEXT: Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
Communities
Are you one pay check away from homelessness?
A 3D illustration of a cascade of bright multi-coloured plastic fragments. Amongst the bits of plastic are recognisable items, such as rubber ducks, plastic food containers and bottle caps.
Plastics
A once in a generation chance to halt the insidious march of plastic.
A 3D illustration of a plate of multicoloured ‘spaghetti’ that looks like the plastic insulation for wires. The strands are wound around a fork that is raised in the air.
Plastics
What’s hiding in your bowl of spaghetti? The toxic truth about plastics.
Gender Equality
Have efforts to address gender inequality in Australia gone too far?
Natural Ecosystems
As world leaders gather for COP29, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Communities
A 25-year commitment to support future generations of West Australian artists.
Minderoo Pictures
The individual and collective: co-creating social impact to transform trauma.
Natural Ecosystems
Located in the heart of Perth, the Swan-Canning Estuary is rich in cultural and ecological significance.
Plastics
Dying mermaids and giant taps: this is how art is uniting the fight against plastic pollution.
Plastics
Take an Umbrella: opening the power of plastics chemicals research.
Minderoo Pictures
“Left Write Hook” follows eight survivors of childhood sexual abuse as they embark on a transformative journey through a unique recovery program.
A graphic that says ‘Artist Fund’ in a white all caps condensed sans-serif font. The R, I and F have been stretched horizontally. After the word fund is ‘25’ in the same font, but the text is outlined rather than solid and is a bright neon yellow in colour. In the corner of the graphic the words ‘Apply Now’ are written on a curve in a nondescript sans-serif font.
Communities
Unleashing WA’s creative power: Minderoo Artist Fund 2025.
Natural Ecosystems
Uncovering the sea-crets of inner (*not outer) space.
Communities
How the Artist Fund is helping a Broome dancer build her community’s dreams.
Plastics
Seven ways plastic is poisoning us (that you probably didn’t know).
A woman wearing a light orange jumper pushes a small trolley with a green plastic basket around a supermarket. In the background, out of focus, it can be made out that there are open supermarket fridges full of vegetables wrapped in plastics.
Plastics
Five unsuspected everyday items that contain plastic (hint: you’re consuming them).
A photo of Jaron Green.
Communities
My journey from homelessness to hope: a story of transformation.
A long shot of Minderoo Foundation staff at the 2024 Philanthropy Australia conference posing in front of tall blue neon light up letters that say 'PA2024'. The characters P and 4 are obscured by people standing in front of them - to the left, four women and three men; to the right, three women and one man. They are all wearing business casual attire and conference lanyards.
Philanthropy
A reimagined approach to philanthropy in Australia.
Communities
Partnering with local communities to create change for Western Australian children.
Minderoo Pictures
Mozart’s Sister: The story of Maria-Anna, a child prodigy forgotten to time.
Plastics
Betty Osei Bonsu is my name. This is my plastic toxic story.
Plastics
Would you like a side of plastics with that?

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