The Maybanke Fund
The Maybanke Fund honours the work of Maybanke Anderson, writer, leader, feminist, early childhood education pioneer and promoter of the rights of women and children in Australia.
The Maybanke Fund connects its community of donors with organisations working to reduce social inequality through education, women’s advocacy and social reform – causes that continue to be as important in the 21st century as they were for Maybanke in 1893.
You can make a difference by donating to The Maybanke Fund. Your donation today helps build the Fund for tomorrow and also provides the Maybanke Anderson Award for Indigenous students in Education, at Macquarie University.
Make your donation to The Maybanke Fund and help keep Maybanke's legacy alive.
Who was Maybanke?
Maybanke Anderson (1845 – 1927) was once a household name to several generations of Australians, yet today is almost unknown.
Maybanke was a woman who made things happen. Courageously taking leadership on controversial issues when the times demanded it. For more than 50 years, Maybanke actively promoted the rights of Sydney’s women and children and was a leader in the women’s suffrage movement.
Always, for Maybanke, the vote was ‘the kernel of all reform’ and was president of the Women’s Literary Society (WLS) from 1893 until 1897 as the organisation grew to be the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales. Maybanke founded the Australasian Home Reading Union in 1893 – an education program for people in rural Australia and the forerunner to the Workers Education Association (WEA), the organisation she also helped found.
In 1895, Maybanke established the first free kindergarten in Australia, pioneering the free kindergarten movement, helping children and their working mothers.
Maybanke Lecture Series
Each year, The Maybanke Fund hosts The Maybanke Lecture around May 6, commemorating the anniversary of Maybanke's first public speech. The lectures continue to advocate the social change that Maybanke dedicated her life to achieving.