Qantas Regional Grant
The Gunggandji Aerospace Foundation has been named a 2026 Qantas Regional Grant recipient, joining a select group of organisations from across Australia receiving support to strengthen their impact in regional communities.
The support will help the Foundation take the Raising Horizons program further, building on work already underway to connect young people with aviation, aerospace and defence through real industry experiences, role models and connections to education, training and employment.
Through classroom sessions, industry experiences, workshops and events, young people are given the opportunity to experience industries firsthand, explore different roles and see where their interests take them. For some, that can mean discovering a career they had never considered. For others, it can strengthen an ambition they already hold or help them understand how they might pursue it.
“The Qantas Regional Grant is an incredible opportunity to create more opportunities for First Nations learners to explore aviation and aerospace through connection with people, industry and possibility,” Gunggandji Aerospace Foundation CEO Josh Vick said.
“We’re excited to work with our community and industry partners to make sure this support has a meaningful impact for young people, families and communities across Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait.”
Taking Raising Horizons further
Raising Horizons began with a simple belief that young people cannot aspire to careers they do not know exist. The progam has already connected more than 200 students with over 22 industry partners, with participating students drawn from more than 29 regional and remote communities across Cape York and the Torres Strait, making opportunities visible.
For young people living in regional and remote communities, entire industries can feel distant even when they are part of everyday life. Being surrounded by aviation is not the same as understanding the breadth of careers within it, stepping inside the workplaces where those careers happen or meeting the people already doing those jobs.
Closing that distance is at the heart of the Gunggandji Aerospace Foundation’s work. Raising Horizons is one way we are doing it.
A bigger ambition
Qantas’ support gives us greater capacity to continue that work and build on what Raising Horizons has already made possible, but our ambition extends beyond any single program or experience.
Raising Horizons has always depended on community, education and industry working together. The Qantas Regional Grant will not only support what is already happening, but also create greater capacity to build relationships, respond when young people identify opportunities they want to pursue, and connect more young people with experiences that can shape what they see as possible for their futures.