Benevolent Society


The Benevolent Society, founded by Edward Smith Hall in 1813, is Australia's first and oldest charity. It is an independent, non-religious, not-for-profit organisation which aims to help families, older Australians and people with disability live their best lives.
The Benevolent Society has always advocated for a just society and positive change. Many of today's essential services in Australia were pioneered by The Benevolent Society, and its legacy of advocacy for progressive, positive change continues to inform their work today.
The organisation currently delivers services from 60 locations across New South Wales, including 4 main Sydney hubs and a national office, and the ACT, and 16 sites in Queensland. It has 1600 staff, plus a volunteer force of about 700. More than 56,000 people were reached through The Benevolent Society's 90 services, community programs and events in 2016-17. The current Chief Executive Officer is Joanne Toohey. The Chairman is Lisa Chung.

Focus on ageing, disability and child and family

The Benevolent Society focuses its programs on providing services to older Australians, people with disability, keeping children safe and well, and assisting families, especially those at-risk.
Ageing:
The Benevolent Society provides older Australians with a variety of services to help them be independent as long as possible in their homes confidently, safely and securely, as well as assist carers with their own needs and those as the person they are caring for. Tailored services include
- housekeeping, laundry, nursing care, personal care assistance, meals, transport, social activities and outings
- health support such as physiotherapy, podiatry, counselling and dementia care
Disability:
The Benevolent Society is the largest provider of disability services in NSW. It has been an approved NDIS provider since 2016, working to help people transition to the NDIS and providing many of the services under the scheme. Whether it's at home or elsewhere in the community, The Benevolent Society offers allied health services like:
- physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, nutrition support, psychology, nursing, counselling, exercise
- personal care including respectable assistance with washing and dressing
- assistance with meal preparation, or delivered ready-made meals
- help with hobbies, outings and events
Child and family:
The Benevolent Society helps families thrive with 64 services provided to more than 44,000 people, from playgroup to parenting education and coaching, household budgeting, to practical support and family counselling. In 2016-17, more than 10,000 were assisted through the Early Years Centres in Queensland

Leadership

Social Leadership Australia was established by The Benevolent Society in 1999 to design and deliver a suite of innovative leadership development programs to develop the capacity of individuals, organisations and communities to create lasting, positive change on entrenched issues. Programs included Sydney Leadership, Queensland Leadership and a four-day Introduction to Adaptive Leadership. They worked directly with organisations to develop and deliver customised programs to build internal leadership capacity. All programs were based on an Adaptive Leadership approach developed by Professor Ron Heifetz at Harvard University. The Benevolent Society made the difficult decision to close SLA in 2017 as a result of the evolution of the market and the proliferation of leadership programs available.

History

On 8 May 1813, Edward Smith Hall and several other 'like-minded gentlemen' formed what was initially known as ‘The New South Wales Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and Benevolence’ – the first charitable organisation dedicated to doing universal good in Australia, and the humble beginnings of the organisation today known as The Benevolent Society.
Edward Smith Hall also helped establish the Bank of New South Wales – Australia’s first bank, founded in 1817, now known as Westpac; and its first non-government newspaper, The Monitor, first published in 1826.

Timeline

1800 to 1899