The Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy (ELiP) accept a cheque from Gold Fields Australia Foundation for the PMH Foundation. From left to right: Cameron Waugh (KPMG, ELiP team member), Sharon Warburton (Brookfield Australasia, ELiP Champion), Dr Gareth Baynam (recipient), Hannah Atkins (Herbert Smith Freehills, ELiP Team Member), Sheila Dunlop (Gold Fields), Daniel Whiston (NS Projects, Team Leader of ELiP Team Leader).
Gold Fields Australia’s dedicated Foundation has today provided $50,000 to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation to fund the first stage of building a facial analysis database of Indigenous children’s faces from the Goldfields region.
Chairman of the Gold Fields Australia Foundation Alex Munt explained the importance of this program which will enable a significant number of medical conditions and diseases to be diagnosed through facial analysis.
“Some of the benefits will include reducing the need for an Indigenous child and family to have to travel from their remote community to a regional hospital or even Perth for diagnosis. There is great potential for this program to enable a quicker and cheaper diagnosis in a less invasive way,” said Mr Munt.
Princess Margaret Hospital Geneticist Dr Gareth Baynam said there is a need for a portable, non-invasive, non-irradiating imaging solution that enables the equitable provision of health care to a population that is currently suffering from a deplorable gap in health care.
“It’s fantastic to have the support of Gold Fields to help us leverage current capacity and community engagement to deliver innovative and more portable approaches,” said Dr Baynam.
“Gold Fields is committed to investing in the regional communities we operate and we are looking forward to seeing the progress of this new Indigenous health initiative,” said Mr Munt.
Aboriginal Tertiary Scholarship Program
Gold Fields Australia is also committed to creating sustainable social and economic improvement for Indigenous Australians through their Foundation.
In 2010, Gold Fields established an Aboriginal Tertiary Scholarship Program with input from its Local Area Consultative Committee. The committee, comprising a majority of Goldfields Region Aboriginal people, believe education is an important medium in overcoming disadvantage and delivering longer term successes.
Over the past five years the Gold Fields Australia Foundation has offered annual scholarships to Aboriginal senior school students to assist them with their tertiary studies. During this time 13 Aboriginal students have been selected to participate in the program.