Meningitis Centre Australia
Meningitis Centre Australia is an Australian not-for-profit charity, founded in 1992, that delivers free meningitis awareness, education and community support services nationwide through a 24/7 helpline, printed and digital resources, and the MENding Hearts bereavement program.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1992
- HeadquartersNedlands, Australia
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Meningitis Centre Australia does
Meningitis Centre Australia (MCA) is a Perth-headquartered, federally registered Australian not-for-profit charity that operates as the national peak body for meningitis, meningococcal and pneumococcal disease awareness, education and community support. Founded in 1992 by Professor Fiona Stanley AC and Bruce Langoulant AM after the latter's infant daughter contracted pneumococcal meningitis, MCA has run the country's only dedicated 24/7 meningitis helpline (1800 250 223) for over two decades and distributes free educational resources - including fridge magnets, brochures, posters and information packs - directly to households, hospitals, GPs, childcare centres and social workers across all Australian states.
The organisation's core technology is a WordPress-based information platform (meningitis.com.au) coupled with a digital/print resource library segmented by audience (baby, teen, adult/senior, Indigenous), an email newsletter capture flow, and a video catalogue including general and Indigenous-focused awareness content. Distribution is free and self-serve via online ordering and PDF download, with healthcare-professional outreach conducted through direct mail of information packages.
MCA's business model is exclusively donation-based: it generates income from individual donations, bequests/gifts in wills, community fundraising events and volunteer labour, with no paid products or services and no disclosed revenue figures. It supplements its core awareness work through partnerships with research bodies (University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute, Telethon Kids Institute), peak international bodies (Confederation of Meningitis Organisations - CoMO, of which MCA is a founding member), and government actors (Lotterywest subsidises its office; SA Government funded the MenB vaccination program). Leadership consists of Founder/Chair Bruce Langoulant AM, Founder/Patron Professor Fiona Stanley AC, CEO Karen Quick, Treasurer Clint Joseph (KPMG Director), and board members Anne Mathews and Lisa Thornbury.
Meningitis Centre Australia firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Meningitis Centre Australia
- Legal name
- Meningitis Centre Australia Inc
- Website
- https://meningitis.com.au
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1992
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Meningitis Centre Australia is an Australian not-for-profit charity, founded in 1992, that delivers free meningitis awareness, education and community support services nationwide through a 24/7 helpline, printed and digital resources, and the MENding Hearts bereavement program.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Meningitis Centre Australia industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Public Health Advocacy and Disease Awareness Services
- NAICS
- Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Individual and Family Services (6241)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Medical Missions & Global Health NGOs (BPAGACAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Communicable Disease Prevention & Control (HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria, NTDs) (BPADAIAA)
Keywords
Where Meningitis Centre Australia is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nedlands
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Meningitis Centre Australia business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations: The organization accepts monetary donations from individuals to support awareness programs, educational materials, and support services for those affected by meningitis and related diseases.
- Bequests / Gifts in Will: Meningitis Centre Australia encourages supporters to leave a gift in their Will as a long-term funding mechanism.
- Fundraising: Community members can organize and participate in fundraising events to raise critical funds for the organization's operations and programs.
- Volunteering: Volunteers contribute their time and skills to support the organization's mission, providing community presence and operational assistance.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Meningitis Centre Australia product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Meningitis Centre Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that provides free meningitis, meningococcal, and pneumococcal disease awareness, education, and community support services across Australia. Its core offerings include free educational resources (fridge magnets, brochures, videos, posters), a 24/7 national helpline, peer support programs (MENding Hearts), and vaccination advocacy. The organisation is funded by donations, bequests, fundraising events, and volunteer support.
Product overview
Meningitis Centre Australia is a not-for-profit organization providing meningitis, meningococcal, and pneumococcal awareness, education, and community support services. The organization operates as a single unified service offering rather than a platform product. Its portfolio consists primarily of educational resources including printed and digital materials (fridge magnets, brochures, posters) for different demographics (babies, teens, seniors, Indigenous communities), support services through the MENding Hearts support group, and educational video content. The organization focuses on awareness campaigns, prevention education through vaccination advocacy, and providing support resources rather than commercial software products.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- MENding Hearts: A support group for families who have experienced Meningitis, Meningococcal, and Pneumococcal.
Products and services
- Signs and Symptoms Fridge Magnets Free downloadable and mail-delivered fridge magnets providing warning signs and symptoms of meningitis for quick reference by Australian families. Available variants target babies, teenagers/adults, and seniors (pneumococcal).
- Meningitis Educational Brochures (Baby, Teen, Indigenous, Seniors) Free downloadable and orderable informational brochures covering meningitis, meningococcal, and pneumococcal disease prevention and symptoms. Tailored versions are available for new parents (babies), teenagers, Indigenous communities, and seniors (pneumococcal-specific).
- Hygiene and Prevention Posters
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to one in ten people infected with meningococcal disease may die, and around one in five will suffer from serious long-term disabilities including brain damage, deafness and limb loss.
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Meningitis Centre Australia
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Meningitis Centre Australia technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Meningitis Centre Australia partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO)coreMCA is a founding member of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO), an international organisation that unites meningitis groups globally with the common goal of reducing the incidence and impact of meningitis worldwide. MCA hosted the head office and local registration in Perth, WA for CoMO in 2009. Bruce Langoulant is a trustee and founding President of CoMO.
- University of Adelaide's Robinson Research InstitutecoreMCA supported the landmark 'B Part of It' study led by Professor Helen Marshall at the University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute, which involved nearly 35,000 senior school students and over 42,000 South Australians, producing globally significant research on meningococcal B disease, carriage and immunisation.
- Telethon Kids InstitutecoreMCA was originally based at the West Australia Research Institute for Child Health (now Telethon Kids Institute) where Professor Fiona Stanley was director. Professor Fiona Stanley is a founding member of the Telethon Kids Institute.
- LotterywestcoreMCA moved to the Niche building in 2018, a Lotterywest subsidised initiative, providing subsidised office space for the not-for-profit organisation in Perth, WA.
- South Australian GovernmentcoreThe South Australian Government funded the meningococcal B vaccination program following the B Part of It study, protecting over 60,000 young people and making SA the first state to introduce the Meningococcal B vaccine to its immunisation plan for babies and toddlers.
- ACONminorACON (AIDS Council of NSW), a community health leader, partnered with Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics and the Kirby Institute on a study investigating whether meningococcal B vaccine protects against gonorrhoea in gay and bisexual men.
- Griffith University's Institute for GlycomicsminorMCA news articles report on a $2.7 million world-first trial led by Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics testing whether a meningococcal B vaccine protects against gonorrhoea in gay and bisexual men, involving five Australian universities.
- Kirby Institute at UNSW SydneyminorThe Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney partnered with Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics on the gonorrhoea vaccine study, providing modelling and epidemiological expertise, with Professor Basil Donovan involved.
- Australian Government (Federal)coreMCA successfully lobbied the Federal Government over many years to add multiple vaccines to the National Immunisation Plan (NIP), including Hib (1993), Meningococcal C (2003), Pneumococcal (2005), and ACW-135Y vaccine for teenagers (2019).
- Healthcare Providers and HospitalscoreMCA extends support, information packages and educational materials to hospitals, doctors, childcare centres and social workers nationally, distributing resources through healthcare settings to reach affected families.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Meningitis Centre Australia competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Australian Red Cross: Major Australian humanitarian charity. Comparable as a large not-for-profit competing for the same donor pool, beneficiary support programs (bereavement, community health), and government partnership channels as MCA.
- National Heart Foundation of Australia: Major Australian disease-focused charity with similar helpline, educational resource distribution, and government advocacy functions. Comparable in operational model though focused on cardiovascular disease.
- Cancer Council Australia: Australia's largest disease-specific charity umbrella. Comparable as an Australian health charity that competes for the same discretionary donor dollar and government attention on disease-awareness advocacy, though operating at vastly larger scale across cancer rather than meningitis.
Others
- Telethon Kids Institute: Perth-based child health research institute where MCA was originally housed and whose founder (Prof Fiona Stanley) also co-founded MCA. Strong historical and governance linkage as MCA's scientific and research partner.
- Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP): Professional body distributing meningitis and immunisation guidance to GPs nationally. Comparable distribution channel for healthcare-professional educational materials, with overlap in target audience for MCA's doctor-targeted information packs.
Emerging players
- Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO): International membership body for meningitis organisations, co-founded by MCA's chairperson. Comparable as a coordinating umbrella in the same disease category, with overlapping leadership and shared mission to reduce meningitis incidence globally.
- Immunisation Coalition: Australian not-for-profit focused on immunisation education and advocacy. Directly overlaps with MCA's vaccine-policy advocacy mandate, though covers all vaccine-preventable diseases rather than meningitis specifically.
Direct peers
- National Meningitis Association (NMA): US-based meningitis awareness and family support organization with a near-identical mandate to MCA: survivor stories, awareness resources for parents and teens, and vaccine policy advocacy.
- Meningitis Research Foundation: UK-based charity focused on meningitis awareness, research funding, and family support. Directly comparable as a meningitis-specific peak body with research grants, helpline, and vaccine policy advocacy similar to MCA's Australian mandate.
- Meningitis Now: UK-based meningitis charity providing family support, awareness materials, and vaccine advocacy. Closely comparable mission, helpline services, and free educational resource distribution model to MCA.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Meningitis Centre Australia social profiles
Digital presenceMeningitis Centre Australia financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Meningitis Centre Australia leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Meningitis Centre Australia funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Meningitis Centre Australia M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Meningitis Centre Australia
What does Meningitis Centre Australia do?
Meningitis Centre Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that provides free meningitis, meningococcal, and pneumococcal disease awareness, education, and community support services across Australia. Its core offerings include free educational resources (fridge magnets, brochures, videos, posters), a 24/7 national helpline, peer support programs (MENding Hearts), and vaccination advocacy. The organisation is funded by donations, bequests, fundraising events, and volunteer support.
Is Meningitis Centre Australia a public or private company?
Meningitis Centre Australia is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Meningitis Centre Australia founded?
Meningitis Centre Australia was founded in 1992. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Meningitis Centre Australia based?
Meningitis Centre Australia is headquartered in Nedlands, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Meningitis Centre Australia make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Donations are the primary driver. The others are bequests / Gifts in Will, fundraising and volunteering.
Who are Meningitis Centre Australia's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Australian Red Cross, National Heart Foundation of Australia and Cancer Council Australia. Others are Telethon Kids Institute and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). Emerging players are Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) and Immunisation Coalition. Direct peers are National Meningitis Association (NMA), Meningitis Research Foundation and Meningitis Now.
Does Meningitis Centre Australia have an API?
No public API is recorded for Meningitis Centre Australia.
What industry is Meningitis Centre Australia in?
Meningitis Centre Australia's product category is Public Health Advocacy and Disease Awareness Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGACAI, Medical Missions & Global Health NGOs, with a secondary code of BPADAIAA, Communicable Disease Prevention & Control (HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria, NTDs). Its NAICS code is 813212 and its SIC code is 8300.