The Grace Tame Foundation is set to close its doors due to insurmountable financial difficulties that have made its continued operation unsustainable.
Established by Grace Tame, a former Australian of the Year, this not-for-profit organization was committed to advocating for reform and providing support to those affected by abuse.
In an announcement shared on Instagram, the foundation described its current predicament as a turning point.
“Sustaining long-term funding for our work has become increasingly difficult, a challenge faced by many small advocacy groups,” the statement explained.
Following thorough deliberation, the board has decided to wind down the foundation, with final closure steps expected to conclude in the upcoming weeks.
Grace Tame, herself a survivor of child sexual abuse, began her journey in public advocacy in 2018. She successfully lobbied for changes to Tasmania’s laws, ensuring that survivors could share their experiences without facing legal restrictions.
The organisation said its work forced difficult conversations and led to concrete legal changes nationwide.
“Thanks to our campaign efforts, every jurisdiction in Australia has stopped naming the crime of ‘persistent child sexual abuse’ as a ‘relationship’,” it said.
In March, Tame, 31, said she had been dropped from speaking engagements following what she described as a media smear campaign.
The remarks followed criticism from some Jewish groups after she led a chant at a Sydney protest during a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The organisation, with four board members, including Tame, undertook initiatives such as advocating for consistent survivor-identification laws, promoting anti-grooming education, and helping hundreds of survivors pursue justice.
“None of this would have been possible without Grace’s fierce and uncompromising advocacy for survivors,” it said.
“[As well as] her determination to ensure the experiences of those harmed as children could no longer be ignored.”
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