From having a high level of disadvantage, Benalla in Victoria is now recognised as a leading national example of community-led, place-based change, thanks to the work that its independent community foundation, Tomorrow Today, is doing there.
In the 2024 edition of Third Sector Awards, Tomorrow Today won the Collaboration Excellence Award for its Education Benalla Program. The program actively collaborates with public and private agencies, community groups and businesses to work on shared objectives, including the Victorian Government, Benalla Rural City Council, Benalla Health, NE Tracks Local Learning & Employment Network, and all local schools and kinders.
One of the many people behind the Education Benalla Program’s success is Sally Matheson, the program’s manager. Learn more about her and the work she and Tomorrow Today are doing through this exclusive interview by Third Sector.
What inspired you to pursue a career in the social sector?
My background is in speech pathology, and I’ve always had a very keen interest in helping people, particularly helping build communities to be stronger and more prepared to take on the challenges that they are facing.
What is the most fulfilling part of your work?
The job’s always interesting. Just seeing children and families being able to access programs that we run, being able to make a difference in people’s lives—whether it’s being able to give them a bit of funding assistance to give them that leg up or upskill them with some skills to help their child with their development—the work that we do here is always rewarding.
What is the most impactful project you’ve worked on so far?
There are many, but I would say that our Parents Early Education Partnership (PEEP) program is the most impactful. We’ve been running that program in Benalla since 2012, and it’s a program that brings preschool-aged children and their parents together once every week.
It acknowledges and supports parents as their child’s first and most important ongoing educator. It’s all about supporting the parent to better parent their child and helping with their child’s development. And we’ve seen some amazing outcomes working in partnership with many organisations across Benalla in terms of vulnerability when children start school.
The Australian Early Development Census is completed on all school students in their first year of school every three years. Between 2015 and 2021, we saw a big decrease in the percentage of children starting school developmentally vulnerable, and that is thanks to the work that we’re doing within the PEEP program, and also our partners are doing to support the work that we’re doing in Benalla.
What advice would you give aspiring social sector leaders?
Go for it. Go out there, talk to people, listen to what’s happening on the ground, use the data from your community, bring people together and respond to the need. And don’t give up.
Can you tell us more about Tomorrow Today? What is something unique about the organisation?
We’re a place-based organisation that was established by local people for local people. We were established back in 2002 as a community foundation with the idea of raising a corpus of funds to give back to the community every year through annual grant giving.
In 2007, a major report about disadvantaged Australia was released, wherein Benalla ranked in the top 5% of disadvantaged communities in Victoria. That came as a big shock for many people in our town because the town is very attractive. But there’s a lot of hidden poverty and need in it.
The Board of Tomorrow Today came together and decided, “We need to do something about this report and about Benalla making it to the front page of the newspaper for all the wrong reasons.” We did a lot of research and communicated with our partners across the town to find out what we need to do to tackle this issue of disadvantage.
So, in 2010, we launched the Education Benalla Program. Initially, we had two programs: (1) hands-on learning to support students in high school, and (2) play groups to support families and children to play and learn together. We now run over 22 programs every year, and our staff and volunteer base has grown as a result to increase our capacity to support our community.
What is the impact of Tomorrow Today’s win at the 2024 Third Sector Awards?
The impact is that we’ve been able to get our name out nationally. In Victoria, a lot of people know about Tomorrow Today, but to be able to be recognised on the national stage for the work that we’re doing is important for us. Being able to share the work that we’re doing and hopefully inspire other communities to take on the challenges that they face is critical. And it gets our name out there to potential future funders to continue funding the important work that we’re doing here in Benalla.
Help individuals and organisations within our sector amplify the work they’re doing by nominating someone for these award categories until 27 June.
Fill out the 2025 Third Sector Awards nominations form here.
Geraldine is currently the Content Producer for Third Sector, an Akolade channel. Throughout her career, she has written for various industries and international audiences. Her love for writing extends beyond the corporate world, as she also works as a volunteer writer at her local church. Aside from writing, she is also fond of joining fun runs and watching musicals.
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