Australia's Most Charitable Athletes

Many Australian sports stars are using their power, influence and money to drive change in the community.

Most athletes give back as much as they can, wherever they can. Some lend their voice to support a charitable cause or foundation, others get hands-on and work with charities, others donate significant funds and some athletes even create their own foundations to bring maximum impact.

Every athlete has their own story and personal connection to charities they work with.

Here are just a few of Australia's most charitable athletes.

Dylan Alcott is committed to changing the narrative on disabilities, a noble cause for which he was recently announced the 2022 Australian of the Year.

Alcott himself has been in a wheelchair all his life; born with a tumour wrapped around his spinal cord which was successfully removed but left him a paraplegic. It wasn't until he was about 13 years of age when Alcott learned to accept his disability, and he has credited his love sport and the support of his family and friends as what changed his life for the better.

Aside from his remarkable achievements on the court (both basketball and tennis), Alcott has also emerged as one of the most influential and respected disability advocates both in Australia and abroad. Through his charity The Dylan Alcott Foundation, Alcott has been able to help young kids like him come to terms with their disability, and fulfil their potential and achieve their dreams. The foundation fundraisers for grants, scholarships and mentoring to help kids with disabilities overcome the barriers they face in sport and school.

Alcott has also co-founded 'Get Skilled Access', a disability inclusion and accessibility consulting firm who have worked with hundreds of businesses across Australia to achieve equality for all. On top of that, in 2021 Alcott's wildly popular inclusive 'Ability Festival' returned again after COVID saw it called off in 2020, providing those living with a disability the opportunity to let loose and utilises music as an inclusive platform to normalise disability.

Cathy Freeman is a bonafide Australian icon. Her athletic achievements are well known, and her gold medal race at the 2000 Sydney Olympics is perhaps the most memorable moment in Australian sporting history.

Throughout her career Freeman always paid homage to her Indigenous roots and was a voice and inspiration to Indigenous people world wide. Following her retirement in 2003, she pursued interests important to her, especially those related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and in 2007 launched the Cathy Freeman Foundation.

The Foundation's simple mantra is that education can change lives. Their purpose? To close the education gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and provide pathways to a brighter future.

The foundation partners with indigenous communities across Australia to promote education and give young people opportunity. The Foundation delivers three programs designed from Pre Prep through to Year 12. HIPPY (Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters) which helps develop literacy skills for pre-schoolers to prepare them for future education, Starting Block which encourages students to achieve at school and strive for personal goals, and Horizons which is a mentorship program which provides the opportunity to join their peers from our partner communities for an intense personal development experience.

A former NBL Champion with the Perth Wildcats, Greg Hire was named the 2018 WA Young Australian of the Year for his extensive work in mental health through his not-for-profit, A Stitch in Time.

Founded in 2014, it aims to provide programs for at risk youth, aged 12-25 years in the Perth Metropolitan Area and Regional Communities. The organisation's programs are focused on mentoring, building resilience, and the importance of positive mental wellbeing, to change the mental health landscape in Western Australia.

Hire is also an ambassador for Youth Focus and has been awarded a Pride of Australia medal after he was commended for saving the lives of two young people through his charity work.

One of Australia's highest profile athletes and a boxing champion, Green launched the Cowards Punch Campaign (CPC) in the hope of reducing impulsive violence. To get the message out, CPC implemented a number of educational advertisements across radio, television and outdoor billboards to highlight the effects of violence on the victim, the perpetrator and their families.

It's now been ten years since he helped found the campaign in 2012, and Green continues to be the face of the CPC, having appeared on TV shows such as The Morning Show, Sunrise and The Project promoting this cause. The advertisements now also have the backing of NSW and QLD Governments who joined the campaign and now use Danny’s advertisements as community service announcements.

The two former Sydney Swans premiership teammates founded the GO Foundation in 2009. Initially, GO participated in various Indigenous community initiatives in Dareton, NSW. In 2014 they refined their focus to prioritise education dedicated to empowering the next generation of Indigenous leaders in all walks of life. The organisation believes education is the key to increasing health and employment amongst young Indigenous Australians.

Currently, GO offers three scholarship programs; a primary school, high school and a university scholarship. GO provide financial assistance for a range of educational needs as well as learning support and employment/internship pathways to support the students and their families.

Glenn McGrath achieved incredible success as one of the world's great cricketers, leaving an indelible mark on the game, but the impact of his charity, The McGrath Foundation, is equally as remarkable.

The foundation was named after Glenn's late wife, Jane, who had a public battle with breast cancer. The comfort, compassion, support and empowerment that the entire McGrath family received from Jane's breast cancer nurse is what sparked the idea for the foundation, which the couple started in 2005.

McGrath Breast Care Nurses help individuals (and their families) experiencing breast cancer by providing physical, psychological and emotional support. The support is free and available from the time of diagnosis and throughout treatment. It’s as simple as checking their website to find the nearest nurse. The McGrath Foundation has funded 171 breast care nurses in communities across Australia, and over 100,000 families have been supported since the foundation was founded.

Glenn has used his platform and cricketing background to create several initiatives to fundraise for the foundation, including, The Pink Test and Pink Stumps Day.

Related: The world's most charitable athletes

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