Shane Warne Foundation was an Australian not-for-profit organisation founded in 2004 by former cricketer

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australi ...

. The organisation closed in 2017 following a regulatory investigation and controversy over its finances.

History

Warne founded the charity in 2003, with the intention of assisting "seriously ill and underprivileged children and teenagers".

Dermott Brereton Dermott Hugh Brereton (born 19 August 1964) is an Australian former professional Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League (AFL) who is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. Of Irish descent (his p ...

appeared on

The Celebrity Apprentice Australia (season 3) The third season of ''The Celebrity Apprentice Australia'' began airing on 30 April 2013 on the Nine Network. The series was announced following the conclusion of the The Celebrity Apprentice Australia (season 2), second season in 2012. Mark Bou ...

in 2013 and raised $294,687 for the charity. During 2015,

Barry Hall Barry Hall (born 8 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club, Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is considered to be one of the be ...

appeared on '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! '' and was runner-up, with his charity being the Shane Warne Foundation.

People

Past members of the Board *

Lydia Schiavello Lydia ( Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish prov ...

Glenn Robbins Glenn Maxwell Robbins (born 30 December 1957) is an Australian comedian, writer, actor, television and radio presenter. Robbins has appeared on '' The Panel'', '' Thank God You're Here'' and ''Have You Been Paying Attention?''. He is best known ...

* Andrew Bassat *

John Ilhan John Ilhan (born Mustafa İlhan; 23 January 1965 – 23 October 2007) was a Turkish Australian businessman. He was the founder of Crazy John's mobile phone retail chain and, in 2003, was the richest Australian under 40 years of age. Early life ...

James Packer James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control ...

* Lloyd Williams *

Garry Lyon Garry Peter Lyon (born 13 September 1967) is a former professional Australian rules football player and was captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Since his retirement from football, he has been mainly ...

* Ray Martin *

Eddie McGuire Edward Joseph McGuire AM (born 29 October 1964) is an Australian television presenter, journalist and Australian Football League commentator. He is also an occasional '' Herald Sun'' newspaper columnist. He hosts Channel Nine’s Millionai ...

The charity also had a number of patrons and ambassadors, including

Fifi Box Fiona Box is an Australian radio broadcaster, television presenter and actress. Career Box's early career was spent in regional Australia working at stations 2MC/ROXFM Port Macquarie, 3TR Traralgon and 3GG Warragul. In 2000, Box co-hosted a la ...

, Michael Clarke,

Nick Riewoldt Nicholas Fredrick Riewoldt ( ; born 17 October 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the first draft selection in the 2000 AFL draft. He was the ...

Liz Hurley Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English actress and model. As an actress, her best-known film roles have been as Vanessa Kensington in '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997) and as the Devil in '' Bedazzled'' ( ...

, Russell Crowe and

Karl Stefanovic Karl Stefanovic ( sr-Cyrl, Карл Стефановић; born 12 August 1974), also spelt Karl Stefanović, is an Australian television presenter and journalist for the Nine Network. Stefanovic is currently a co-host of the Nine Network's ...

Difficulties and closure

Consumer Affairs Victoria Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) is a government agency that protects and promotes the interests of consumers and is based in the Australian state of Victoria. It is responsible for reviewing and advising the Victorian Government on consumer legislat ...

commenced an investigation in 2015 into the Foundation after it failed to submit financial returns. Financial returns in 2014 had revealed the charity spent $281,434 on fundraising during the year, but its efforts only raised $279,198. Newspapers alleged that the organisation was only donating 16 cents on the dollar of its income. During one year, the Chief Executive of the Foundation, Shane Warne's brother Jason, was paid a salary of $80,000, whilst only $54,600 was distributed to beneficiaries. The organisation spent more than $300,000 on catering, alcohol and prizes for events while posting significant annual losses. In January 2016, in response to what it termed "unwarranted speculation", the Foundation announced its intention to distribute its final funds on 18 March 2016 and close down.

References

{{reflist Shane Warne 2003 establishments in Australia 2017 disestablishments in Australia Children's charities based in Australia Foundations based in Australia Organizations established in 2003 Organizations disestablished in 2017