CHARITABLE FOUNDATION PARTNERS

This initiative was established with a clear objective of delivering tangible community benefit. Three Charitable Foundations partners were selected to participate, each presenting a real world challenge for hackathon teams to address. 

The Charitable Foundation Partners involved are: 

• Lake Macquarie & Newcastle Suicide Prevention Network 
• Dress for Success 
• HealthWISE

PROBLEM STATEMENTS - THE CHALLENGES

Lake Macquarie & Newcastle Suicide Prevention Network

Many people don’t know where to turn for mental health support or how to take the first step, especially when they are already overwhelmed or distressed. Despite operating the free, walk‑in Evolve Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub, LMNSPN is not consistently reaching people early enough. Supports are not always visible or easy to access, leading some individuals to delay seeking help or escalate to crisis, including repeated presentations to emergency departments (ED).

What success looks like: A scalable way to reach households with clear, accessible mental health information and simple pathways to support. People can connect easily through  digital or hybrid channels and are quickly guided to the right help. This leads to increased early engagement with services like the Evolve Hub, More people access support earlier, feel connected, and navigate the mental health system with confidence.

Dress for Success 

Dress for Success is not reaching enough women who could benefit from their services - referral pathways are inconsistent, awareness of services across partner organisations is fragmented, and outreach relies on manual, time‑intensive processes. Internally, referrals, bookings, outreach, and volunteer coordination sit across disconnected systems, creating inefficiencies and limiting visibility. As a result, many women are referred too late, or not at all.

What success looks like: Clear, consistent, and embedded referral pathways that make it easy for partners to refer women at the right time. Increased client bookings, with earlier and repeat referrals from engaged agencies. Reduced manual effort for staff, better insight into what’s working, and volunteers consistently support client-facing delivery. This leads to more styling appointments, stronger referral partnerships, and improved client readiness and confidence outcomes.

HealthWISE 

HealthWISE lack a centralised system for booking, managing and auditing their fleet of work vehicles.

Currently, vehicle information, bookings, and usage records are fragmented across emails, shared calendars, and spreadsheets - rather than being stored in a single, reliable system. This leads to confusion, inefficiencies, and limited visibility across the organisation. 

Pool vehicles are used daily by staff travelling between sites and into the community, making reliability and clarity essential. 

What success looks like: A centralised, device‑agnostic system that provides real‑time visibility of vehicle availability, to enable quick and confident bookings, and record usage automatically. 

SUBMISSIONS

• Submissions are not confidential. Do not include trade secrets or confidential information you are not permitted to disclose.
• Submissions must be original and created by you and/or your team (only) during the event period.
• You will not receive any compensation from NGM Group in connection with any submission.

RESOURCES

Innovate for Impact is designed to provide all participants with access to Microsoft and GitHub suite of AI tools, enabling them to build practical capability and confidence in applying AI throughout the event. 

Throughout the Hackathon, a dedicated group of technology specialists will be onsite as coaches, providing real time guidance, skills development and hands on support to participants as they design and build their solutions. 

FAQs

Do I have to have a team before the day? 

• You'll be placed into a team (if you don't have your own) with a mix of students and NGM Group employees. 

How do I know what I will be working on? 

• Each team will be assigned a challenge on the day. You'll have dedicated time to brainstorm, plan and build your solution before presenting to the judges. 

Will we be able to ask questions about the challenge? 

• Yes! Mentors will be avaialble throughout the day to guide you. 

Do I have to be a coder or tech expert to participate? 

• No! All degrees and skillsets are welcome.