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The Telstra Foundation Community Development Fund supports projects with one purpose in mind – to connect children and young people to their communities.

Regular contact with family, friends and community, contact between young people and their parents, telephone and internet access and access to basic human entitlements are critical to a child and young person’s health and wellbeing.

The Community Development Fund supports community-based projects that provide children and young people with opportunities to reach their potential, enrich their social links and build their sense of belonging. Priority is given to projects that support children and young people, aged 0 to 24 years, experiencing social or geographical isolation.

Priority is also given to projects that make use of information and communication technologies to address identified needs and connect kids to their communities. Having a focus on new technologies means that we can add more than just monetary support to our recipient’s projects, as we can also call on the knowledge and expertise of Telstra's entire workforce.

The Community Development Fund covers two programs – Social Innovation Grants and a Spotlight on Cyber Safety – each has the objective of connecting children and young people to their communities. Indigenous Community Development is also a priority within the Social Innovation Grants program.

These program areas reflect the Community Development Fund’s priorities of encouraging social innovation, utilising information and communication technologies, capacity building of communities and having a measurable impact.