National Trust of Victoria Foundation

Giving the Past a Future

The National Trust of Victoria Foundation is a secure fund allowing the National Trust in Victoria to continue its mission and vision for preserving and conserving Victoria’s heritage well into the future.

The Foundation allows for invested capital to be preserved, in perpetuity, to support the long-term sustainability of our purpose.

To learn more download our National Trust of Victoria Foundation brochure.

Our Strategic Plan 2023-2030

The Foundation has an ambitious plan to support the National Trust’s significant heritage buildings and places, historic gardens and environments, art and heritage collections, and social history. Much of our cultural heritage, whether built, natural or places of historic beauty, remains at serious risk and there is a significant funding and resourcing gap. Read about the Foundation’s key strategies to improve this over the coming years and how you can assist.
Download our Strategic Plan 2023-2030 here.
Why? Because left unprotected and cared for, this irreplaceable heritage will be irrevocably lost forever.

Becoming a Foundation Champion

There is a misperception that the National Trust has excess funds to draw from, when the reality is far the opposite. As an independent and not-for-profit organisation, most of the 39 properties and some 35,000 items in our care are without funding for their future preservation. Without the support of the Foundation and the wider Victorian community, our heritage remains at risk.

By becoming a Foundation Champion, either through annual donations or a bequest, you are joining our commitment to giving the past a future. The Foundation will be able to direct priority funding to urgent conservation projects, but as a Champion, you can also choose to tie your donation to the support of a specific property or purpose.

The bottom line is that Victoria will be a better place for all future generations if we can join together to protect our natural, cultural, Indigenous and historic places and communities.

Click here to learn more on how to become a Foundation Champion. 

Bequest Program

Creating a Legacy

Leaving a gift or bequest in your Will to either the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), or the National Trust of Victoria Foundation, or both, is a powerful way to create a lasting legacy by providing ongoing support for the protection of Victorian heritage and the places you care about.

To learn more download our Bequest Program. 

To find out more, discuss possibilities or make a future bequest please contact our Bequests Manager on (03) 9656 9871 or email willsandbequests@nattrust.com.au or foundation@nattrust.com.au

“Our heritage environment provides links with the past from which we can draw sustenance. Memories, cultural associations, and our sense of personal, local identity
are strengthened. People that join in supporting the National Trust of Victoria Foundation will be making history through saving it”.

The late Weston Bate OAM Historian

Foundation Board, Patrons & Ambassadors

We thank Patrons and Ambassadors for their support of the Foundation and for their commitment to the preservation and protection of Victoria’s built, natural and cultural heritage. Our Patrons and Ambassadors encourage you to support the Foundation and actively ensure a bright future for the great heritage of Victoria.

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Ms Kristin Stegley AM

Ms Kristin Stegley AM

President

Kristin has extensive leadership experience in the Victorian cultural, philanthropic and local government sectors. An arts educator for over 20 years, Kristin has been a local government Councillor, Trustee of several philanthropic Foundations, and a political activist. She has volunteered with the National Trust for many years to promote the importance and value of heritage to our cultural well being. She has served as both Deputy Chair and Chair of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).

 

Kristin is the Founding President of the National Trust of Victoria Foundation. She believes, that with growth, support and time, it will become the major funding endowment for heritage purposes in the State. She established the bequest program, The Armytage Society, in 2012 and has stewarded its growth, believing that legacy creation is a worthy consideration for us all.

 

Kristin has qualifications from Latrobe and Deakin Universities and The Study Centre for the History of Fine & Decorative Arts (London). In 2012 she was awarded an OAM and in 2023 was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to heritage advocacy and to the community.

Mr Barry Janes

Mr Barry Janes

Director

Barry moved to Australia from the UK in 1969. After becoming the Fashion controller for the Myer Group for all stores in NSW, he took on the role as Marketing Director of a Pacific Dunlop subsidiary, Osti Fashions, and then Marketing Director of Merv Brown Pty Ltd. In 1996, after the sale of his Facilities Property Management company that he created in 1980, Barry’s business interests moved to entertainment and theatrical production, encompassing the Athenaeum Theatre, the Comedy Club and the Australian Shakespeare Company.

 

Barry has developed a significant presence in a variety of charitable and not-for-profit sectors, including President for the Victorian Aids Council, and more recently having joined the board of, Melbourne Opera, the Foundation Board of The National Gallery of Victoria, and the Foundation Board of Monash Health.

 

Barry believes in giving back to society through philanthropy. Together with his husband Paul Cross, they are major donors to the NGV,  are Patrons of the Princes’ Trust in Australia and supporters of the ACMD medical research facility, and Como Reimagined; contributing to the renovations of Como House, South Yarra. Barry is also a Trustee of Como House and a Foundation Board member of the National Trust of Victoria.

Ms Patricia Burke OAM

Ms Patricia Burke OAM

Director

Pat has been part of Philanthropy Australia since 2011, the peak body for philanthropy and giving, holding the key role of State Manager for Victoria and Tasmania, and more recently as their Senior Philanthropy Advisor. She holds a Master in Social Investment and Philanthropy from Swinburne (2013), had an early career in corporate HR in the US finance sector, and has held leadership positions with not-for-profit boards with experience in policy and program development, grants, fundraising and board governance both in the USA (prior to her 1998 arrival in Australia) and here in Australia. A giving circle advocate, Pat is the current Board Chair and Co-Founder of the Melbourne Women’s Foundation – a giving circle established in 2014 to support women and families in need in greater metropolitan Melbourne.

 

Pat is a Director of the National Trust of Victoria Foundation, and a recently appointed  Director of the Invergowrie Foundation, committed to assisting in the development of the workforce of the future through support of girls and women pursuing careers in STEM. Former Australian directorships include: Variety the Children’s Charity, Victoria; a director of the Victoria University Foundation, and director and Chair of the Foundation of Firbank Girls Grammar School in Brighton, Victoria She was awarded an OAM on Australia Day 2020 for service to the community through charitable organisations.

Mrs Angela Tomisich

Mrs Angela Tomisich

Director

While having a science background, Angela’s career has spanned a very broad range of responsibilities and experiences. Graduating as an analytical chemist, Angela started her career in the automotive industry in quality control and quickly advanced into quality management, developing her audit and certification skills. She then progressed through marketing roles in the pharmaceutical industry and diversified into IT support and project planning in construction.

 

After a period living in the USA, Angela acquired a retail fashion business in Melbourne and transformed its branding and business model into one of the first loyalty customer retention schemes. With her first love being in science it wasn’t long though before she returned to study again, this time in biomedical science. With her refreshed qualifications, Angela moved into clinical trials where she worked for Quintiles here in Australia for five years before co-founding Trajan Scientific and Medical with her husband Stephen in 2011. Today Trajan is an ASX listed global team of more than 600 people.

 

With the acquisition of Invergowrie in 2021 and her retirement from Trajan, Angela has found a new passion in the preservation of Australian heritage.

Foundation Patron

 

 

 

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Lady Potter AC

Primrose Potter, Lady Potter AC, is a lauded Australian philanthropist. She has been Chair, patron, and supporter of numerous cultural organisations including, the ballet, theatre, opera, museums and galleries. Lady Potter is highly awarded for her leadership and outstanding contributions through philanthropy in the arts, sciences, education and social welfare.

Projects supported by the Foundation

The Foundation makes annual financial distributions for important conservation and preservation projects for heritage places and collections. These projects give the past a future and are published in the National Trust Magazine.

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Restoration works at Como House

Kinkanarami Wallpaper restoration at Rippon Lea Es

Stables Restoration at Mooramong

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