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Image: (L-R Top) Medical Pantry, Cockburn Integrated Health
(L-R Bottom) Ambulance Wish WA, Farrer Primary School
Sydney, AUSTRALIA – 22 September 2025: Canon Oceania has today announced the winners of its 2025 Grants Program, recognising grassroots organisations for their work in addressing key social and environmental challenges in Australia.
To help this year’s winners amplify their work and expand their impact, Canon is awarding each organisation $5,000 in funding and technology, across the categories of Community, Education, Environment, and First Nations.
In a time of increasing disconnection and polarisation, community groups act as a powerful remedy. Since its inception 19 years ago, and guided by Canon’s Kyosei philosophy of living and working together for the common good, the Canon Grants Program has worked to ensure these organisations do not go unseen. In that time, Canon has provided more than $600,000 dollars in support, giving groups the tools and resources they need to amplify their stories.
“Canon’s belief that community is the fabric of our society is at the heart of everything we do, and technology can play an important role in sharing stories and bringing people together,” said Kotaro Fukushima, Managing Director for Canon Oceania.
“This year’s Grants Program winners are a powerful example of that belief in action, and we are proud to celebrate the spirit behind their work. We share in their celebrations and look forward to seeing how these grants make a real and lasting difference in communities across Australia.”
For those in their final days, it is often the little things that mean the most. Ambulance Wish Western Australia was created to fulfil these simple, final wishes. Run by a dedicated team of medically trained volunteers, Ambulance Wish provides the specialist transport and care needed to bring a person home one last time, to let them feel the ocean breeze, to attend a child’s wedding, or to say goodbye to a beloved family pet. By providing a moment of joy, Ambulance Wish helps clients enjoy a final, lasting memory for families to cherish. The grant will provide a camera for each of the charity’s three ambulances, ensuring these irreplaceable stories are captured with the care they deserve.
Susie Wilson at Ambulance Wish WA, said, "For the families we support, capturing their loved one’s final wish is something they will treasure forever. Canon’s grant gives us the tools to capture these moments with care and quality, ensuring that legacy of love is preserved. We’re incredibly grateful to Canon for helping us capture these important stories.”
Medical Pantry was born from two interconnected problems: the immense waste in the healthcare system and the lack of medical access in vulnerable communities. The not-for-profit rescues surplus medical supplies and redistributes them, having already saved over 15,000 tonnes of equipment from landfill since 2021. The grant will now fund their ‘Plastic Map’ initiative. Using a Canon camera, volunteers will photograph and document over 500 types of medical plastics, creating an open-source visual map to expose the true scale of the waste problem and advocate to manufacturers and policymakers for change.
Dr Martin Nguyen at Medical Pantry, said, “Canon’s support helps us spotlight a hidden problem: medical supplies carry no recycling symbols. With PlasticMap, we’ll identify the plastics in common products and build a free repository for sustainability champions, recyclers, and industry. Canon’s backing will help us scale with clearer data, stronger partnerships, and a faster path to a zero-waste health system.”
“Too many healthcare products end up in landfill because packaging offers no guidance. Canon’s support powers PlasticMap, an open, practical repository of what these products are made from, so hospitals, educators, and recyclers can turn waste into value for people and the planet.”
Middle ear disease disproportionately affects Aboriginal children, with one in two impacted by their first birthday, causing hearing loss that has a lifelong effect on development and education. Cockburn Integrated Health provides a community-led service to close this gap. In partnership with local health services and universities, their Aboriginal Ear Health Program provides free ENT, audiology, and speech pathology services to over 400 children a year. Canon’s grant will provide cameras and printers to create therapy resources and capture the high-quality visual evidence needed to demonstrate the impact of their work.
Professor Francis Lannigan at Cockburn Integrated Health, said, “The incidence of chronic ear disease in Australian First Nations’ children is unfortunately one of the highest in the world. Our program therefore strives to close the ear health gap by providing timely, free, culturally safe ear health services for Aboriginal children in Western Australia. It’s wonderful to have the support of such an internationally recognised company as Canon, assisting us to do this important work. With our Canon grant, we will have the opportunity to acquire essential digital resources, supporting our team as we strive for excellence in health service provision for these children and their families.”
Victoria Bishop at Cockburn Integrated Health, said, “Our Speech Pathology team works both in our clinic, and out in the community with Aboriginal children in their homes, schools and day care centres. We’re always looking for ways to capture important moments in a child’s daily life, and to build communication learning into these routines. We’re so excited for the opportunity to use Canon portable photo printers to turn images from our sessions into personalised resources that a child can practice and re-practice with their family, friends, and teachers.”
Farrer Primary School is embedding local Indigenous history into the heart of its identity by creating a new school song in the Ngunnawal language. To bring this commitment to life, the school is partnering with composer Dan Walker and local Ngunnawal Elder Tyronne Bell. This project is about more than music; it is about giving students a living connection to local culture and empowering them to grow in their identity and confidence. The grant will provide a camera and microphone to document the entire creative process, capturing the workshops, interviews, and rehearsals to create a lasting cultural resource for the whole community.
Sarah Harris at Farrer Primary School, said, “Farrer is committed to reconciliation and embedding cultural integrity in our learning. This project gives students the chance to create something enduring; a song that reflects their voices, builds their understanding of culture, the truth about First Nations’ languages history, and their community.”
More information about Canon Oceania’s 2025 Grants Program, including current and previous winners, is available on Canon’s website at: https://www.canon.com.au/about-canon/community/grants
