The Aunties Fund
“Looking away is letting it happen”. A message from The Aunties Fund poster takes centrestage during their fundraising event ‘An Evening of Food, Story and Social Change’ at Kyiv Social, a Plate It Forward venue. It highlights how striking up a conversation or dialogue about domestic and family violence can be a mammoth task within South Asian families and communities. The Aunties Fund as a collective aims to fuel conversations, spark change, and mobilise funds for South Asian women and their children experiencing domestic and family violence in Sydney. Fundraising proceeds have supported four service partners – House of Sakinah, Speak Out, Indian Sub-Continent Crisis Support Agency and Harman Foundation.
Since their formal launch in August 2025, the Aunties have been organising intimate gatherings – Chai and Change events and a Potluck series. In another initiative, they collaborated with a community partner on a media literacy awareness event. The team raised $20,000 in their first year.
The Kyiv Social event was their biggest gathering to date, with 70 people in attendance. “It is our first ticketed event as we partnered with Plate It Forward. Their mission aligns closely with ours,” says ‘Aunty’ Rhunjhun Pacholi Bhardwaj. Like them, Plate It Forward is also dedicated to the community and has succeeded in making a dent in hospitality with their restaurants Kyiv Social, Colombo Social and Kabul Social. The organisation is rooted in offering authentic cuisine experiences which are driven towards social impact, dining, hosting events, or catering – supporting to fund meals, training and creating employment pathways for people who are rebuilding their lives.
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Malini Raj acted as the organiser ‘Aunty’ of the event, while other Aunties Indu Balachandran, Dershini, Sneha Arun and Rhunjhun Pacholi Bhardwaj provided active support.
Hearing directly from a domestic violence survivor and Aunties Fund founder Indu Balachandran on a discussion panel brought the urgency of the issue – and the critical need for support – centre stage.
That spirit of coming together to tackle the issue head-on, was reflected in the meal itself, prepared by Ukrainian chef Babusya (grandmother) and Pakistani sous chef Areeba, whose culinary traditions came together in a hearty meal prepared and served with warmth and love.
Indu shared how the organisation started and why they are here for the long haul. Delving into their name, which might carry an adverse connotation in South Asian corners, she noted, “The word Aunty also carries this sense of kindness and bringing together that only Aunties can do – the capacity of Aunties to host, to love, and to hold people and community.”
She added, “We’ve found that once people connect in a few different ways through the Aunties, they stop feeling like visitors. They begin to feel like they’re part of the fabric of the community. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to build.”
While much of Indu’s past work was focused on how to make community services financially viable and how to design effective programs, this work is deeply personal for her. “Women’s issues have always been important to me, and domestic and family violence is such a prevalent issue. The question that kept coming back to me was: why aren’t we, as a community, mobilising ourselves to address it?”
There is also the stigma about speaking up as the narrative tends to connect to the fear of ‘breaking a family’. “Domestic and family violence doesn’t exist in isolation,” Indu reflected. “It often involves broader family dynamics, cultural expectations, and community norms. It takes an entire community to create the kind of support network where people don’t fall through the cracks. That’s why building relationships is important to us.”
Malini chimed in, “Not many people realise how many women in our communities experience violence that never becomes visible to mainstream systems. It doesn’t mean violence is less prevalent. It often means the experiences never reach the services where they can be counted, recognised, and ultimately funded.”
“We need a community of people willing to have difficult conversations and challenge harmful attitudes,” mused Indu. “Imagine if there were 5,000 South Asian people across Sydney who were committed to speaking up, having conversations, calling out harmful behavior, and influencing change within their own families, social circles, and community networks.”
The Aunties hope to do this by creating multiple entry points for people. The home-based events by hosts bring their own friends and family into the conversation. Public events create accessibility. Together, they help grow the community.
Looking ahead at the collective’s next challenge, Indu noted, “We need to figure out how to activate the community. If we grow to 500 or 1,000 people, how do we equip them to become champions for change within their own circles? That’s where our service partners become essential. They’re the experts. They’re the ones who can help build skills, provide education, and support people to have these conversations safely and effectively. That’s really the long-term vision.”
What can you do to help? You can purchase raffle tickets from the fundraising evening which will stay active until 13 October, 2026. All proceeds will go to the Aunties Fund and winners will be eligible for prizes, donated by businesses and individuals from our community.
Donate here
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