History

Establishment

The Fund was established under the Wills of Annette Collier (1864 - 1947) Alice Collier (1863 - 1950) and Edith Collier (1869 - 1954). The three Wills created charitable trusts in identical terms with the directive that they be merged, and they are now administered as a single trust by four Trustees and an Executive Officer.

History 

Annette, Alice and Edith Collier were the daughters of a prominent grazier and contractor, Jenkin Collier.  He was born in Wales in 1829, emigrated to Australia when he was 23 and died aged 91 in 1921 after a long and very successful career as an engineering contractor, as a builder of railways and as a pastoralist.  He left his considerable wealth to his three unmarried daughters. The sisters lived simply and unpretentiously and gave generously but anonymously from their income to charities and people in need. 

Annette, Alice and Edith Collier

Apart from small personal legacies and gifts to the National Gallery of Victoria, the Will of each of the sisters stipulated that the whole of her net assets were to be held for the charitable purposes as designated in their Wills . Their vision was to help make a real difference to the lives of those in need and to organisations that supported them. 

On the death of the last surviving sister, Edith, the Fund was valued at £1,262,041 (in today's value this was worth approximately $40m). In each of the years since Edith's death, the Fund has made distributions of its income to worthy organizations and causes covered by the terms of the will. The total amount distributed now exceeds $117 million (and the net assets of the Fund are approximately $87 million).

The foresight and generosity of these three unassuming early Australian philanthropists continues to contribute to the welfare of the Australian people.