Kaziw Meta aims to create a ‘home away from home’ and to develop culturally-connected Torres Strait Islander future leaders. The five boarding houses accommodate 88 boarders who have access to a ‘house parent’, tutor, and additional support services to ensure student wellbeing.
Life at Kaziw Meta is holistically balanced to build self confidence in every boarder, by focusing on both education and extra-curricular activities including sport, dance, cooking, technical, and life skills. The Torres Strait Kaziw Meta Dance Team regularly perform a curated repertoire of culturally significant stories with permission from the children’s outer islands leaders.
Kaziw Meta has recently shared with TFFF the good news story that it has recently become the first certified Indigenous boarding facility in Australia. After three years of sustained improvement across governance, boarder wellbeing, staff development, facilities and community engagement, Kaziw Meta has passed an independent audit for Australian schools and residences, marking a major milestone for safe and high-quality boarding in the Torres Strait.
This milestone leads the way for the Indigenous boarding sector and is a big achievement for a remote Torres Strait boarding facility, made possible by the hard work and commitment of Kaziw Meta’s management committee, staff, and boarders.
Kaziw Meta CEO, Thomas Dunsmore, said the certification has strengthened safeguards for young people in the boarding school’s care, supports stronger policies and procedures, and gives families and partners greater confidence in how boarding is run each day.
This certification reflects our boarders, families, Elders, staff and partners working together for a safe, caring and high performing boarding community. Meeting the Australian Boarding Standard shows what is possible for remote and Indigenous boarding students when strong culture and strong systems walk side by side. We are proud to set a leading example on behalf of Torres Strait Islanders and Indigenous boarding communities.
– Thomas Dunsmore, CEO
Australian Boarding Schools Association CEO Richard Stokes congratulated Kaziw Meta and explained how the certification provides a practical structure for ongoing reviews, staff training, student voice and continuous improvement so that high standards are maintained over time.
“We are delighted to see another boarding facility recognised as meeting the Australian Standard,” Mr Stokes said.
“The commitment shown to achieving full compliance and to ensuring the highest levels of care and safety for boarders at Torres Strait Kaziw Meta has proven both worthwhile and exemplary. On behalf of the Association, ABSA congratulates Torres Strait Kaziw Meta on this significant achievement, and we look forward to continuing our work together to best support their boarders.”
Ningana Trust approved a $15,000 grant in October 2025 to support the improvement of boarding school facilities at Kaziw Meta, to create a more welcoming, comfortable, and functional environment that fosters a sense of belonging to support positive daily routines.
Cover photo: Boarders enjoying the view after a long bike ride to Green Hill on Waiben. All photos courtesy of Torres Strait Kaziw Meta.
Torres Strait Kaziw Meta is supported by Ningana Trust.
The BHiQS initiative has been designed to equip children and young people, their families, and teachers with the skills they need to live their best lives. It will employ knowledge of childhood brain development, and an understanding of the developmental significance of the school years, to improve the life trajectory of Queensland’s children and young people.
BHiQS will initially be delivered in rural Queensland schools, to both optimise child development and prevent the onset of mental health issues.
The delivery of this initiative will see:
About 138,000 Queensland children aged 0-14 experience mental ill-health, a number that increases throughout adolescence. Suicide remains the leading cause of death for young people, with incidences higher in places characterised by limited specialised mental health services, such as rural and remote areas. The case for prevention is clear.
Smiling Mind’s 2024 State of Mind Report, which explores the mental wellbeing of Australian children aged 4-12 and their parents and caregivers, concludes that the childhood years are the optimal time to equip children with the knowledge, skills and confidence to identify and manage challenges as they arise, laying the foundations for resilience and a mentally healthy life.
The National Children’s Mental Health Strategy identifies education settings as ideal environments to build resilience, prevent the onset of mental illness and optimise development in pursuit of lifelong wellbeing as well as academic success. Schools are relatively universal, non-stigmatising environments where children can be engaged over time, which is particularly true in rural and remote communities. Rural schools are often also community hubs, with strong partnerships with families and community organisations that have great potential to support student wellbeing.
Brain Health in Queensland Schools intends to build a prevention-focused whole of system response that increases the capacity and capability of schools to support student and staff wellbeing, whilst also establishing clear pathways for referral for students requiring assessment and intervention.
The initiative is multi-faceted and will be piloted for the first time in Queensland through a collaboration between Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and partner, the University of Melbourne, and the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland; implemented as a significant part of the Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership Brain Builders initiative.
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne designed and deliver the successful Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) initiative, which is currently being rolled out across all Victorian primary schools with the support of the Victorian Department of Education.
Support from TFFF has enabled the Mental Health in Primary Schools team to collaborate with the Queensland Department of Education’s Partnership and Educational Precincts Initiative to co-design and pilot a version of this initiative tailored to the needs of Queensland schools, families, and young people.
Following the assessment of possible precincts to participate in the trial, and in ongoing discussion with the Queensland Department of Education, Mount Isa was identified as a suitable location to undertake the pilot program, and community consultation began.
Several trips, and many conversations, later, all schools in the Mount Isa Precinct have agreed to participate in the first ever pilot of this groundbreaking initiative, and were engaged in the first co-design workshop, held last week in Mount Isa.
Alongside this work, the Queensland Brain Institute is co-designing a workforce development package with Independent Schools Queensland and regional Catholic schools, which includes guidance for schools when selecting existing evidence-based neuro-informed programs.
The Brain Health in Queensland Schools initiative was officially launched in October when all parties involved came together for a symposium to scope out and plan initial steps. A rural launch is planned for June in Townsville, which will involve a showcase of best practice and dedicated time for co-design.
The TFFF would like to thank the schools in the Mount Isa Precinct – Barkly Highway State School, Happy Valley State School, Healy State School, Mount Isa Central State School, Mount Isa School of the Air, Mount Isa State Special School, Spinifex State College - Junior, Sunset State School, and Townview State School – for their participation, and for the opportunity to pilot such an important initiative.
Brain Health in Queensland Schools is a strategic initiative supported through the Futureproof stream.
The Tim Fairfax Family Foundation is pleased to announce three separate, 9-year, general operating support grants have been awarded to three of Queensland’s most important cultural organisations: Dancenorth, Camerata, and Crossroad Arts. This new strategic partnership program – the terms of which may constitute a first for Australia’s arts sector – builds on the Foundation’s existing grantmaking programs to further support these organisations to undertake genuine, meaningful, long-term planning for themselves and the communities they serve.
“This new funding program reflects our Foundation’s commitment to Queensland and the Northern Territory organisations and the communities they serve. Multi-year funding is what organisations need to plan with confidence, to strategise how best to realise their artistic vision, and to build meaningful relationships in their communities. Through this program, we aim to foster a vibrant cultural landscape for rural, regional, and remote communities, and hope to inspire other funders to adopt similarly long-term approaches to their philanthropic activities.”
– Tim Fairfax AC, Chairman, Tim Fairfax Family Foundation
It is with big vision and full hearts that Dancenorth can continue creating opportunities for our dance sector and with our communities, in deep partnership with the TFFF. A funding commitment of this nature is so catalytic, it creates echoes in the ecosystem that will reverberate for years to come. Our landscape is changed because of this trust-based investment and philanthropic leadership.
- Kyle Page, Artistic Director, Dancenorth
Camerata is beyond excited about this incredible and tangible acknowledgement and support of our work. We are sincerely grateful to Tim and Gina Fairfax and their family – these are fine people who aren't just our supporters but our longstanding friends. Our relationship with the TFFF has endured over a long period of time because there is so much we value in common, not least of all sharing music with Queenslanders in regional areas. The TFFF also have a keen understanding that our work cannot happen without the strong foundations of a healthy organisation.
- Dr Pamela Greet, Chair, Camerata
I am thrilled that the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation is continuing to invest in Crossroad Arts and the brighter future for arts and disability that we will create. The future development of Crossroad Arts is essential to advancing a more inclusive arts sector in Mackay, Queensland, and Australia.
The nurturing environment of Crossroad Arts provides many opportunities and benefits for artists and the community at large, allowing artists like myself to thrive and contribute meaningfully. This organisation truly deserves all the support that it can be given, for continuing its brilliant practices and immeasurable impact on our lives.
- Cynthia Gregg, Crossroad Arts Artist and Inclusive Arts Advisory Group member
This significant commitment from the TFFF elevates the representation of Arts and Disability and Regional sectors which Crossroads Arts is very proud to be part of. It sets up our artists to dream and realise long-term creative vision, to be recognised as leaders nationally on the runway to the 2032 Paralympic Games and beyond.
- Autumn Skuthorpe, Artistic Director/CEO, Crossroad Arts
Cover photo: Chris Dyke and the Dancenorth Ensemble — Lighting the Dark (2024). Image Credit: David Kelly. Photos courtesy of Camerata, Crossroad Arts and Dancenorth.
Camerata, Crossroad Arts and Dancenorth are supported though the Resilience funding stream.
Gina Fairfax is well-known in Queensland: for more than 20 years, she has given extensively to support charitable causes, volunteered on for-purpose boards, and delivered Meals on Wheels. In partnership with her husband Tim, their year-on-year contributions to Brisbane Festival has been significant and since 2018 she has directly supported the commissioning of new contemporary works and enabled artists to live and thrive in Queensland.
As a Trustee of the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, Gina has overseen the distribution of $54 million, including substantial contributions to Queensland arts initiatives. Gina and Tim Fairfax AC were last year made Life Members of Philanthropy Australia.
Gina is Chair of Ningana Trust and through the Trust has distributed impactful grants to organisations working in Queensland and Northern Territory improving the lives of young people, particularly women and children experiencing disadvantage, for almost 20 years.
As volunteer President of the Breast and Prostate Cancer Association of Queensland, Gina raises funds to support projects which assist rural Queenslanders suffering from breast cancer or prostate cancer. As a volunteer Trustee of the Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Gina oversees two State institutions. Queensland Arts Gallery was established in 1895 and the Gallery of Modern Art opened in 2006. The galleries house a globally significant collection of contemporary art from Australia, Asia, and the Pacific.
Gina served as a volunteer Director of La Boite Theatre for nine years. La Boite is Australia’s longest continuously running theatre company, celebrating its 100th year of operation in 2025.
Gina is Cultural Patron of Flying Arts Alliance. Flying Arts Alliance is an arts and cultural development organisation which has been delivering visual arts projects and services to regional and remote Queensland communities since 1971.
In 2016, Entertainment Assist released the Working in the Australian Entertainment Industry: Final Report, after surveying 2,904 workers across a full cross section of the industry from performers to administrators and technical and production crew. The report produced several key findings of critical concern, including that Arts and Entertainment workers are:
A primary contributor to these alarming mental wellbeing statistics was irregular work conditions that put individuals at high risk of work-related injuries and motor vehicle accidents, sleep disorders, social isolation, and being less likely and able to access support systems.
This pilot will see members of La Boite administration staff, venue staff, technical and backstage crew and Artist Company co-design and participate in an eight-week program tailored to improve its workforce’s health and wellbeing.
Delivered through an individual’s smart phone, participants complete confidential self-assessment wellbeing surveys as part of their workday. This data is analysed through mibo’s advanced algorithms and smart systems, which then prompts participants to access resources and assistance personalised to their mental health needs. These resources range from movement and mindfulness exercises and seeking peer support, through to being connected with a medical professional.
La Boite is Australia’s longest continuously running theatre company (96 years) and is home to the country’s only purpose-built theatre in-the-round.
mibo was co-founded by Sean Fyfe (Physiotherapist) and Dr Anthony Ross (Psychologist), combining their elite sport mind and body expertise with wellbeing practices to create a new workplace health methodology adaptable to various industries.
CEO and Executive Director of La Boite Zohar Spatz said: “The arts sector’s challenges are unique and supporting artists and art workers’ health and wellbeing is critical. Thank you to the TFFF for supporting such an innovative pilot.”
Chairman of the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation Tim Fairfax AC said the health and wellbeing of the arts community should be one of the highest of priorities right now.
“Our arts sector has been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and this has only compounded the poor state of the sector’s general health,” Mr Fairfax said.
“I hope this pilot delivers a successful intervention that could then be rolled out more broadly across the sector.”
This partnership is one of the cornerstones of TFFF’s recently announced Strategy for the next three years, which will see the Foundation support organisations and endeavours which build connected, resilient, and futureproof communities across Queensland and the Northern Territory. Learn more about the Strategy here.
“For me, one of the highlights of philanthropy is not so much the giving, but the receiving, the fact that you can make a difference whether it’s helping an Indigenous arts centre in Alice Springs or empowering those who live in rural and remote Australia or giving creative arts education to young Australians, and the satisfaction and rewards of listening to the outcomes of various funding initiatives,” Tim said.
“Giving can take many forms. It’s certainly not all about dollars – we all have the capacity to make a contribution to society and I think as a nation, we lead by example. Just look at our volunteers – to me they are the unsung heroes … it is one of many forms of philanthropy which we should recognise.’’
