Our current strategic community investment partners echo the Optus values and enhance the communities we live and work in.
Our national partnerships with Kids Help Line, the Starlight Children’s Foundation and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy continue to thrive as we collaborate on many key initiatives aimed at achieving long-term positive social and environmental outcomes.
Through workplace giving contributions, fundraising events and awareness activities, we are proud to continue providing our deep and involved support to our major community partners.
Supporting regional and rural communities
Optus supports a wide range of regional and rural community initiatives that help provide solutions to local community needs. Through our annual Connecting Communities Grants Program, we award grants of up to $5,000 to chosen charities and not-for profits all across Australia.
With Optus funding, networks, technology, services and products, combined with our people’s skills and knowledge, we partner with organisations with the common goal of helping connect disadvantaged youth in order to improve their education as well as overcome the barriers of distance faced by many living in regional and rural areas.
Mobile Student2Student mentoring program
In May, 2010 we launched a pilot program with The Smith Family to help improve childhood literacy through mobile technology.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds living in regional Australia such as Dubbo, Orange, Elizabeth, Toowoomba and Townsville will have the opportunity to improve their reading skills as a result of this new pilot delivered by The Smith Family and supported by Optus.
The Smith Family’s Student2Student program matches students who need to improve their reading with student mentors who are trained to help develop literacy skills in others. Until Optus got involved, this support was limited to students with access to a landline phone. Now through our support, the new mobile pilot program will enable 50 students from disadvantaged backgrounds and without access to landline phones to participate in weekly reading sessions with their mentor via Optus mobile technology.
Upon successful completion of the pilot program at the end of 2010, the participants will get to keep the Optus mobile handset along with pre-paid credit. This pilot aims to also explore whether rewarding the student and their family will lead to additional family support for the child and improved reading skills.
Each student participant in this program will receive an Optus mobile handset, pre-paid credit, guidelines for responsible mobile phone use, and ongoing support from both Optus and The Smith Family to ensure they get the most out of the experience.
Optus is proud to be working closely with The Smith Family to make a tangible difference to the future of disadvantaged children and families in our regional communities.