The mission of the Hamer Family Sprout Fund is “to build communities inspired to take action for a sustainable future”.

Our aim is to support projects and organisations that:

• Promote innovation in environmental education

• Facilitate engagement in environmental action

• Advocate for environmental sustainability

• Foster collaboration between young people engaged in environmental leadership

The Sprout Grants are provided as an incentive to new or established groups to develop initiatives that achieve this aim.

Each year, the Hamer Sprout Fund will consider applications from organisations that share the fund’s goals. We are particularly interested in giving to smaller organisations and projects to get them off the ground. Please contact us with your ideas and projects and we would love to discuss them with you.

Background

The original Hamer Family Fund was set up in 2004 as a sub-fund of the Australian Communities Foundation. It commemorates the lives and work of the senior generation of the Hamer family:

• Sir Rupert (Dick) Hamer AC KCMG (1916-2004): Soldier, lawyer, state premier, supporter of equal opportunity, the arts, the environment and an Australian republic.

• Alan Hamer (1917-2012): Rhodes Scholar, chemist, businessman.

• Alison Patrick (1921-2009): historian, academic, author.

• Senator David Hamer (1926-2002): naval officer, federal MP, author, supporter of parliamentary reform.

The Hamer Sprout Fund is an offshoot of the Hamer Family Fund and represents the next generation of the Hamer family. We are part of the fifth and sixth generations of the family encompassing almost 100 cousins spread across the globe. We share the goals of the Hamer Family Fund with an emphasis on the environmental aspects of the Hamer family’s legacy. 

Click here to seethe Hamer Sprout Fund brochure.

Ben Patrick

Ben is lawyer with his own boutique litigation practice in the Melbourne CBD. Despite this persistent distraction, he remains determined to help Australia prioritise the environment, particularly in relation to climate change. The Hamer Sprout Fund provides a great vehicle for this by combining family, great environmental organisations and a very good cause. He has two delightful sprouts, Julian and Elja, that he cultivates with his wife Inger.

Dave Browning

Dave is passionate humanities lecturer and teacher who is excited about continuing his family’s environmental and philanthropic legacy. He believes there is an exciting opportunity to invest in leadership, curriculum and communities that work towards promoting environmentalism and sustainability. As the pinnacle of these efforts, he is working on starting a new school in Melbourne with these issues as a major focus. He actively promotes philanthropy amongst his generation, particularly through social media.

Lizzie Hamer

Lizzie is an architect passionate about intelligent, environmentally sustainable design. To quote Lizzie: "I am trying to get communities to shape their built environment through participatory design." Her most recent creations are a refurbished wunderkind of a house for Ben and Inger's family, and Clementine and Mietta (her daughters, a collaboration project with Matt). She is excited by the potential of the Hamer Sprout Fund to encourage young people to get actively involved in creating a better, more sustainable future.

Inger Boerema

Inger works for local government as an environmental educator, focusing on issues of waste and litter. She is inspired by the natural environment and this motivates her to help protect it for future generations. She is passionate about education and inspiring positive change in the community, and feels that the Sprout Fund is an excellent way to help progressive initiatives grow. Inger joined the Hamer clan after marrying Ben in April 2013. They have added two buds to the family tree, Julian and Elja.

Katherine Hamer

Kat is the owner of Some Velvet Morning, a bar, cafe, live music venue and bookshop in Clifton Hill. She has a background in communications & marketing and loves working behind the scenes with the Sprouts. She’s the one editing this paragraph right now. She may just present you with a glass of wine at the next event too.  

Clare Hamer

Clare has more degrees than the Planet Earth will have in 2100 (unless we do something about climate change, that is). She is a shiatsu practitioner with a passion for organic and biodynamic farming and holistic health. She is a Steiner and yoga teacher (not at once). She has an arts/science degree. She has a neuropsychology degree and is studying therapy. She went to Berlin to play cello. All this, and she just loves helping the Sprouts as much as she can, and helping keep the world to less than 1.5 degrees.

Julia Muniandy

Julia lives in Brisbane, has a young family and is an active member of her local community garden. Having worked in the community environmental sector for more than 15 years, she understands the importance of enabling young people to connect with nature using heart, head and hands, as a pathway to effective environmental action. She is excited by the potential the Hamer Sprout Fund has to support initiatives of young Australians who want to meet our current global environmental challenges.

Rory Brennan

Rory is living and working in Sydney as an electrical engineer, having graduated from university in 2012. He’s filled with hope for the ability of young people to meet this century’s big challenges, and believes in the potential of the Hamer Sprout Fund to leverage this into action for sustainability and community engagement.