"To enrich the lives of the community", The Pratt Foundation, for the past 30 years, has funded a variety of philanthropic projects. It does so in consultation with community partners across a broad spectrum of society.
On July 1, 2001 Jeanne Pratt received the inaugural Victoria Day Award for the Arts. In thanking the Victoria Day Council for the honour, she announced a new biennial award for the best original work of musical theatre to be known as The Pratt Prize for Musical Theatre.
Many high calibre entries were received in the inaugural competition and The Pratt Prize in 2002 was awarded to Side Show Alley, a musical by Gary Young and Paul Keelan. In 2004 The Pratt Prize was awarded to Matthew Robinson for his musical, Metro Street.
The Pratt Prize in 2002 and 2004 comprised a cash prize of $50,000 to the composers and writers plus a $30,000 workshop performance of the winning work. The Production Company has produced the workshop performances in 2003 and 2005.
In 2006, rather than give the award to one particular work, The Pratt Prize was awarded in the form of new commissions to three outstanding young Australian composers and writers. Anthony Crowley, Dean Bryant and Mathew Frank were the recipients of these commissions. These commissions had a total value of $40,000 and they are now in train.