Our History

Inspired by the legacy of Sir Robert Menzies, one of Australia’s great leaders, the non-partisan Menzies Foundation was established in 1979 to create opportunities to support the next generation of Australian leaders.

For its first 40 years the Foundation awarded scholarships to support outstanding young Australians to pursue their interest in the law, engineering, medicine, allied health and more.  During this time the Foundation made a number of significant grants to support medical research.

In May 2018, in celebration of the 40-year Anniversary, we honored past achievements, unveiled our new catalytic strategy to address the pressing leadership challenges of our time and reaffirmed our commitment to raising the profile and importance of ‘outstanding’ leadership.