Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) brings business and schools together to address educational disparity. Mentors are connected with students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and through structured programs they help develop students’ skills, confidence and aspirations.

Ecstra’s multi-year partnership has funded the integration of financial literacy concepts into ABCN’s suite of mentoring and careers programs. In 2025 ABCN is launching Money Mastery—a new deep dive financial capability program and workshop series for Year 10 and 11 students as they plan for life beyond school.

Two Good Co. is a social enterprise providing survivors of domestic and family violence with meaningful employment. The Program hires women from the same community shelters they provide meals to and employs these women in their commercial kitchen for Two Good’s catering business.

In collaboration with Ecstra, Two Good Co. has created Pathways, a tool designed to connect thousands of women to resources and services that empower them to achieve financial freedom and independence. Pathways include; healing after financial abuse, financial literacy, and preparing for employment.

Women’s Health in the North (WHIN) works to eliminate gender inequities and improve outcomes in women’s health, safety and wellbeing.

Ecstra’s grant supports the extension and scaling of the Let’s Talk Money Program, an award-winning financial literacy program that aims to support the economic empowerment of migrant and refugee women living in Northern Melbourne. Let’s Talk Money uses a peer educator/trainer approach, employing women from culturally diverse backgrounds to deliver practical and tailored in-language financial capability.

Ecstra’s multi-year partnership with Global Sisters has helped make micro business possible and sustainable for women across Australia.

Global Sisters’ Back Her Brilliance program provides a roadmap of long-term business education, incubation and acceleration support that helps women overcome barriers and guides them on their micro business journey. This includes building financial capability through business education courses, expert coaching, microfinance and marketing support.

Financial Rights Legal Centre’s (FRLC) Mob Strong Debt Help is a free nationwide legal advice and financial counselling service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Ecstra’s funding is assisting FRLC with longer term community engagement on issues of funeral insurance and alternative products/savings options for consumers, and countering exploitation of community by businesses using the government’s Centrepay service.

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) believes no Australian should live in financial distress alone. They provide churches across multiple congregations with practical tools, services and skills through their Money Mentor program.

The program trains and supports volunteers to operate as financial capability workers (FCWs) in community outreach, to work with people experiencing money issues and help build financial wellbeing in their communities. Ecstra’s funding supports the expansion to more communities and assists in evaluation and impact reporting.

Super Consumers Australia (SCA) is the voice for consumers in the superannuation sector. SCA believes all Australians should have access to a single, high-quality super fund. Through independent research, investigative journalism and campaigns they hold industry and decision makers accountable for the outcomes superannuation provides to Australian consumers earning low to middle incomes.

Ecstra is providing multi-year capacity funding to support SCA’s consumer focused policy work and practical guidance for people seeking information on a range of retirement topics.

Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa (KJ) is a Martu-led organisation that supports the traditional owners of the Pilbara region in Western Australia to build strong, sustainable communities grounded in Martu values and culture.

In 2022 KJ developed and launched a community-led financial capability program, delivered in language by trusted Martu mentors. The program was designed to meet local needs and build financial knowledge in a culturally appropriate and relevant way.

Careseekers is a social enterprise using tech solutions to connect people in need of aged care or disability support with independent workers. The platform empowers people to choose care workers who suit their needs, values and preferences, helping to build longer term and trusted relationships.

Care2Work, a program aimed at helping women facing barriers to employment enter the care workforce, was piloted by Careseekers and delivered across six cohorts in 2023 and 2024. Participants developed essential job skills tailored to the care sector, including financial capability training on tax, superannuation, invoicing, and understanding contracting terms.

White Box Enterprises launched their Financial Wellbeing Program (FWP) in February 2023 created specifically for, and with, jobs-focused Australian social enterprises to enhance the vital wraparound support they provide. The goal is to help people gain the confidence and skills to take control of their finances.

Funded by Ecstra, the bespoke program is delivering measurable impact by helping social enterprises embed financial education into their support models. In 2024, 96% of program participants surveyed by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI), Swinburne, said that their confidence to manage money had improved. The training is also empowering social enterprise staff with greater readiness to deliver financial wellbeing initiatives as part of their service offering.

The UNSW Tax & Business Advisory Clinic (the Clinic) offers independent, free, and confidential tax and business advice to individuals and small business owners experiencing severe financial distress.

In collaboration with partners such as Redfern Legal Centre’s Financial Abuse Service NSW and the Centre for Women’s Economic Safety, the Clinic has successfully advanced policy reform and public awareness. Funding from Ecstra has supported the Clinic’s contributions to regulatory reform, including being endorsed in the Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches to End Gender Based Violence, marking the first recognition of tax system abuse as a serious form of harm.

Welfare Rights Centre’s (WRC) community legal education program aims to equip community sector workers with the resources and skills they need to help clients with Centrelink related issues.

With Ecstra’s support WRC has reached a five year milestone, with a full program of webinars and outreach on common Centrelink areas including accessing disability support pensions, migrant settlement, carers allowances, domestic and family violence, First Nations community work, and managing Centrelink debts and payments.

Centre for Women’s Economic Safety’s (CWES) Money Clinics provide expert financial counselling for women impacted by financial abuse and domestic or family violence. Founded by Rebecca Glenn, CWES advocates for specialist economic abuse responses like Money Clinics to be embedded into the family violence response eco-system.

In 2024, the Money Clinics delivered over 950 appointments to 524 women, resulting in more than $790,000 in debt waivers. Three out of four clients reported improvements in their financial wellbeing.

CWES also leads national advocacy through Economic Abuse Awareness Day, and in partnerships with an international coalition of organisations, is raising global recognition of economic abuse.

Supported by Ecstra, and led by Redfern Legal Centre (RLC), the National Economic Abuse Reference Group (EARG) brings together more than 50 organisations across sectors and states, to identify and address systemic issues of family and domestic violence including economic abuse.

EARG advocates for systemic responses, including policy and law reform to improve outcomes for victim survivors. The EARG assists in guiding government and industry responses to family and domestic violence, contributing expertise to state and national advisory groups, roundtables, and panels.

WestJustice’s Restoring Financial Safety project is an integrated multi-disciplinary services partnership with McAuley Community Services. The service provides legal advice, financial counselling, support and advocacy for women who have experienced economic abuse and otherforms of family violence.

Funded through Ecstra’s Womens’ Economic Security Project, the project is delivering tangible and measurable positive outcomes for women and their families.

Westjustice has been able to use the experiences of their clients as evidence to advocate for systems level change in law and policy responses to economic abuse.