Sponsor a Child Today

FAQs

• What are the contact details for Compassion's regional offices?

  Victoria Office

  Street Address: Suite 3, Level 2, 5 Burwood Hwy, Wantirna VIC, 3152

  Postal address: PO Box 6137, Wantirna VIC, 3152

  Phone: +61 3 9800 1887

  Western Australia office

  Street Address: 28 Thorogood Street, Burswood WA, 6100

  Postal address: PO Box 328 Burswood WA 6100

  Phone: +61 8 6150 9177

  South Australia / Northern Territory office

  Street Address: 12/59 Fullarton Road, Kent Town, SA 5067

  Postal address: PO Box 7224, Hutt Street, Adelaide, SA, 5000

  Phone: +61 8 7225 2044

  Queensland office

  Street Address: 28/67 Depot St, Banyo QLD 4014

  Postal address: 28/67 Depot St, Banyo QLD 4014

  Phone: +61 7 3267 7743

  Sydney Metro

  Street Address: c/o Village Church Annandale, Cnr Booth and Johnson St, Annandale NSW, 2038

  Postal address: PO Box 221, Camperdown NSW, 1450

  Phone: +61 2 9660 7946

  View all Compassion contact details.

• Can Compassion fund me, my family or my organisation?

  Unfortunately we cannot support individuals, families or organisations outside our program. Compassion's work in developing countries is led by a national office in partnership with local churches, and involves an in-depth process of determining the communities and individuals with the greatest needs that can be served through Compassion's program. All decisions as to which children receive support through Compassion's program are made locally.

  You can:

  Learn more about child sponsorship

• Can I volunteer with Compassion?

  Yes! We would love for you to become more involved with Compassion by volunteering.

  Currently, our greatest volunteering need is in churches and at events. You can advocate for a child in poverty by presenting in schools and churches, running fundraising initiatives and helping out at events. If you are passionate about advocating for a child living in poverty and would like to get involved, please let us know by filling out the form on our advocacy page.

  If you are based in Newcastle, we are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help support our team in the Newcastle office.

  You might also like to consider becoming a Compassion Prayer Partner to support our ministry through intentional prayer. As a member of Prayer Partners, you will receive a monthly newsletter that includes prayer points from local churches in our field countries. 

  We are expanding what it could look like to volunteer with Compassion, so if you have any ideas, we would love to hear from you. Just email us at volunteer@compassion.com.au with your thoughts.

• Why is Compassion Australia not listed with the Australian Council for International Development?

  Compassion Australia is not a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) because of the church-based nature of our child development programs.

  Relying on private funding rather than government grants allows for a primarily church-to-church model of development. We do place a priority on governance, accountability, stewardship and transparency and, as a result, consider the best fit for our organisation are Christian Ministry Association accreditation, Missions Interlink membership, and Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission financial reporting requirements.

  However, this does not mean Compassion Australia could not obtain ACFID accreditation, which we would do if pursuing government grants.

• What sort of development work does Compassion do?

  Compassion’s holistic child development model is designed to help the most vulnerable and marginalised children on our planet grow up to become thriving followers of Jesus who are positively influencing their world. Poverty is complex and has a devastating impact on every area of life. Compassion seeks to address the different dimensions of a child's development simultaneously, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all solution. Holistic child development takes an individual child through a process of growth and fulfilment in all dimensions by seeking to address their physical, social, emotional, spiritual and economic needs. It sees each aspect of a person in an integrated way and resists the common practice of treating one area of life as independent of the others.

  Therefore, our programs are tailored to meet the specific needs of individual children through all stages of their development. Compassion sees holistic child development as a contextualised, long-term approach that begins before a child is born and continues through to school age and beyond. Our Child Sponsorship Program and Critical Needs work in partnership to provide holistic development to children living in poverty.

  Find out more about:

  • Our Child Sponsorship Program

  • Critical Needs

  • How Critical Needs works with Child Sponsorship