About Courage to Care
Courage to Care Victoria is an independent not-for-profit organisation that has been delivering educational programs in schools for more than 30 years. It was founded in 1992 as an initiative of B’nai B’rith, the world’s oldest Jewish service organisation, and operates independently today as a separate legal entity with its own governance and educational mission. Programs are centred around the concept of creating a generation of Upstanders – ordinary people with the courage and skills to safely stand up against discrimination in all its forms.
No. While Courage to Care was founded by members of the Jewish community, our mission is universal: to educate young people to recognise and challenge discrimination in all its forms. We are not an advocacy organisation and do not promote political viewpoints or agendas. Our programs are focused on education, student wellbeing, and building inclusive communities.
No. We deliberately avoid discussion of contemporary political conflicts. Our facilitators are trained to keep discussions focused on the educational objectives of the program. Introducing live political debate would shift focus away from our learning objectives and risks moving sessions toward division and potentially traumatic content — which would not be in line with our trauma-informed practice, based on student safety and wellbeing. This approach also helps ensure all students can participate respectfully and safely, regardless of their backgrounds or beliefs.
Our Upstander Programs are delivered by trained and passionate volunteer facilitators.
We are proud to offer our Upstander education programs to schools across Victoria free of charge, with no obligation or expectation for schools to donate. This ensures all students can access these important messages, even when school budgets are tight.
While our volunteers generously donate their time, there are costs involved in delivering our programs. Where possible, we ask schools to support our volunteers by providing lunch on the day; however, we fully understand this is not always feasible. Any financial contribution a school can offer is warmly welcomed but entirely optional.
Please email operations.manager@couragetocare.org.au to learn more.
Programs are delivered to government, Catholic and independent schools across the state, in metropolitan, regional and rural communities. This ensures equity of access regardless of a school’s location or resources.
We have also partnered with cool.org to create 12 online lesson plans, free to access at cool.org/courage-to-care-upstander-education-resources.
Our programs have been delivered to more than 200,000 Victorian students over the past three decades.
What Our Programs Teach
An Upstander is someone who chooses to act, safely and effectively, when they witness discrimination or hatred, rather than remaining a bystander. The purpose of every Courage to Care workshop is to empower young people to recognise prejudice, challenge discrimination, and take safe, positive action when they see injustice — whether that injustice targets someone because of their religion, race, ethnicity, gender or background.
No. Our program is anti-discrimination and Upstander education, not a Holocaust history curriculum. The learning objective is behavioural: helping students recognise discrimination and act safely when they witness it, in their own lives and communities, today.
If you would like to participate in a Holocaust Education program, reach out to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum at mhm.org.au/learning-programs.
The Holocaust is one of the most extensively documented examples of the systematic mass murder of people based on their religion and identity, with rich documentation of life before, during and after it. This makes it a powerful, reliable case study for helping students understand how discrimination and hatred can escalate — and how ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference by choosing to stand up against it. Historical distance allows students to explore these concepts safely while drawing lessons that remain relevant today.
The Pyramid of Hate is a pedagogical framework used to help students understand how harmful attitudes and behaviours can escalate — from stereotyping and prejudice, through discrimination and institutional discrimination, to genocide at its most extreme. For younger students (Middle Years), we use a modified, age-appropriate version of the framework, adapted for their developmental level, which omits the terms ‘violence’ and ‘genocide’.
We also reference other historical genocides, including Rwanda, Cambodia and Darfur, as examples where the pattern of escalation is similar — reinforcing that the Pyramid of Hate applies across contexts and that unchecked hatred can escalate anywhere.
Yes. Upstander Programs are curriculum-aligned across Health and Physical Education, Civics and Citizenship, Ethical, Personal and Social Capability, and Respectful Relationships, and support schools’ positive behaviour approaches.
Program Impact
Funding and Independence
Approximately 50% of our funding comes from the Victorian Department of Education. The remainder is raised through fundraising and philanthropic donations, including support from a number of foundations and trusts.
No. Courage to Care maintains full editorial independence from its funders.
