Guardian Australia is appointing journalists to two new specialist roles – Indigenous affairs and political accountability – after receiving its first philanthropic grants.

On best estimates, around 3,000 journalism jobs have been lost in Australia over the past five years. That coincides exactly with the time Guardian Australia has existed. Established in 2013, we remain a relatively small operation. We need to get bigger but in the current climate, that’s an often exhausting swim against the tide.

But unlike other countries, Australia doesn’t have much of a tradition of philanthropic support for journalism – another potential way to finance what we do. To tap into philanthropy as a new revenue source, we had to find a means to receive tax-exempt donations and we needed to make the case to foundations that the crisis in public interest journalism justified their support.

The Guardian Australia Civic Journalism Trust, established through the university, is receiving grants that allow us to do more investigative reporting on subjects we care about the most. In return, we are helping the university educate the next generation of journalists via internships, mentoring and guest lectures.

As journalism academic Margaret Simons recently wrote in Guardian Australia, just a few years ago the idea that not-for-profit public interest journalism enterprises should be able to receive tax-deductible philanthropic donations was ridiculed by some in Australia. But in a recent Senate inquiry, it received broad bipartisan support.

Read the full article about how philanthropy will start to support journalism by Lenore Taylor at The Guardian.