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The Smith Family's Collingwood head office goes on the market

Media releases

07 April 2014

National children’s education charity, The Smith Family, is putting its Victorian head office in Collingwood on the market and is on the hunt to lease new premises.

The building, located at 73 Wellington Street, Collingwood, was built in the 1970s and purchased by the charity in 1999. The site is showing its age and is no longer appropriate to The Smith Family’s needs.

The Smith Family’s Victorian General Manager, Anton Leschen, said the sale reflected the charity’s desire to make sure its resources weren’t tied up unnecessarily and were bringing benefit to disadvantaged families in the state and the education needs of their children.

“When we purchased the Wellington St property, The Smith Family was quite a different organisation,” said Mr Leschen.

“Back then, our work in Victoria consisted mainly of providing emergency financial assistance and second hand goods to families in need.

“However, in the mid-2000s The Smith Family went through a significant change in direction. We took the view that simply providing handouts didn’t provide enough effective help to families.

“Instead of welfare, we would break the cycle of disadvantage by providing children from the same families with long-term education support.

“As everyone knows, education attainment is an important predictor of future employment, welfare and health prospects. It improves an individual’s ability to contribute socially and economically in the community.

“It’s through this approach that we’re having an enormous impact on the lives of disadvantaged Victorian families. We provide educational programs to more than 7,000 students and their families in the state each year.

“But while our work has changed, our Victorian head office hasn’t. It’s built for a different organisation and a different time. It’s no longer fit for purpose.

“The amount of space required for our operations has also reduced significantly since the building was purchased. The reduced space requirement now makes the option of leasing office accommodation more attractive.

“The sale no way reflects The Smith Family pulling back on its presence in the state or the local area.

“In fact, we’ve made the decision to use the proceeds from the sale to support and expand our educational programs in Victoria. We’ll also continue to have the same presence in the broader Collingwood, Richmond and Fitzroy communities,” said Mr Leschen.

For property inquiries, contact: Alan Martin 0411 537 399
For media inquiries, contact: Kate Nash 0406 997 647 or Paul Andrews 0409 665 495

Media contacts:

Andrew Dickson | National Media Manager (National) - 0421 285 529 | andrew.dickson@thesmithfamily.com.au
Carla Horton | Senior Media Advisor (QLD & WA) - 0423 618 776 | carla.horton@thesmithfamily.com.au
Reid Jermyn | Media Advisor (VIC, SA & NT) - 0412 803 566 | reid.jermyn@thesmithfamily.com.au
Ben Chenoweth | Senior Media Advisor (NSW, ACT & TAS) - 0413 346 934 | ben.chenoweth@thesmithfamily.com.au

The Smith Family is a national children’s education charity that helps young Australians experiencing disadvantage to create better futures for themselves through harnessing the power of education. We partner with around 800 Australian schools and work with over 162,000 children and young people experiencing disadvantage access our education support programs to help them overcome . For more information, visit thesmithfamily.com.au