About the Academy
Schaffa Foundation Academy is the first social enterprise of The Schaffa Foundation, the Sydney charity behind Street Buffet.
Where we come from
The Schaffa Foundation was founded by Ian Schaffa, who knows homelessness from the inside. Since 2009 its volunteers have served free hot meals, groceries and essentials every Sunday at Woolloomooloo through Street Buffet. Support is never conditional, and nobody has to prove they need it.
Ian always wanted the Foundation to run a social enterprise: a business that pays its own way and creates work for the people it exists to help. The Academy is the first. The Foundation's board approved it in October 2026.
What we do
- Free courses for families doing it tough. Young people learn real coding, with the same course, tools and reporting a paying family would get.
- Paid work for people who need a start. Our course testers, mentors and family support team are people who've found it hard to get a job. Work with us
- Courses for training providers. Tutoring businesses, training providers and schools, in Australia and overseas, license our courses. That income pays for the first two.
What we'll report
Each year we'll publish what the Academy did with its income, so families, providers and funders can hold us to it. No report ever identifies a child or a member of our team.
- Free placesHow many young people learned with us for free, and how many finished their course.
- LearningHours of learning, quests completed, and the syllabus outcomes covered.
- JobsHow many people we employed, the hours of paid work, and where people went next.
- MoneyLicence income, grants and gifts, and how every dollar was spent.
How we're governed
The Academy is run by The Schaffa Foundation, a public company limited by guarantee and a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. ABN 54 612 158 755. Registered office 16 Lyon St, Mascot NSW 2020.
The Academy follows the policies adopted by the Foundation's board: Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest, Privacy, Complaints and Feedback, Child Safety, and Communications and Social Media. Read the Foundation's policies
Our partners
HostSavers, a Sydney hosting and web development business, designed and built the Academy's platform and hosts it in Australia at no cost.
Help us grow
Refer a family who could use a free place, point a job seeker to our roles, or license our courses for your learners. To support the Academy through a grant or sponsorship, contact the Foundation.