NIFTeY, while it is closely linked to the broad spectrum of agencies involved in the welfare of children and families, is a totally independent organisation. It receives no regular funding from any agency, either corporate or political.
There is no cost to joining the NIFTeY list.
NIFTeY is free and all the work is done voluntarily by members on the NIFTeY Australia Board and on the various State committees, except for some secretarial and accounting support.
The cost of incorporation of NIFTeY was facilitated by a grant of $10,000 from the then Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services (FACSIA).
The Commonwealth also supported three NIFTeY conferences with funding.
NIFTeY has received grants from the Myer foundation to support our objectives and has earned income, in co-operation with other agencies, from the conduct of conferences.
The Federal Parliament supported a Parliamentary Friendship Group, initiated by Barbara Wellesley and Rosemary Sinclair AO, a bipartisan group of Federal politicians interested in exploring the needs of small children as expressed in NIFTeY’s aims. It met many times over an 18-month period around 2005, and helped prepare parliamentarians for what have become current initiatives that advance the health, development and wellbeing of all children in Australia.
Macquarie Bank and NIFTeY hosted a luncheon with Julie Bishop, then Minister for Education, in 2007, funded by MacBank.
In addition NIFTeY has received informal support from a number of State Government offices and other organisations. In particular from the NSW Commission for Children and Good Beginnings for the use of premises for meetings and for teleconferencing facilities
NIFTeY does not conduct or fund research, nor does it provide a direct service to clients.
As an agent for change, advocacy and information sharing, it is unable to attract grant money from conventional sources. NIFTeY continues in its efforts to obtain funding to support such basic functions as teleconferencing, the occasional face-to face meeting to plan strategy and to employ an assistant to do our financial statements and tax, to maintain the NIFTeY-List and perform secretarial tasks.