Invite only: Rich Australians raise money for sick children at exclusive Gold Dinner charity gala

Australia’s rich and famous will come together in Sydney tonight for the “most exclusive charity gala in Australia”.

Australia’s rich and famous will come together in Sydney tonight for a dinner so exclusive you can only attend if you’re tapped on the shoulder and handed an invite.

The Gold Dinner is like no other charity event. It is deemed the “most exclusive charity gala in Australia” and raises money for Sydney’s Children’s Hospitals Foundation.

There will be no Instagram influencers in sight when the elite crowd sits down for the annual event at Fox Studios in Moore Park.

The invites come directly from the Gold committee members including Julie Bishop, Karl Stefanovic and committee chair, the low-profile billionaires Monica Saunders-Weinberg — and guest have to fork out the big bucks.

Guests pay $1500 per head to attend the event, where there are absolutely no “freebies”.

News.com.au can reveal the guest list will include Simon Baker, Karl and Jasmine Stefanovic, Rebecca Rigg, Tim Minchin, Julie Bishop, Monica Saunders-Weinberg and Richard Weinberg, Skye Leckie, Steven Lowy, Graham Richardson, John and Amber Symond, Mike Cannon-Brookes from Atlassian, David Sharma, Marc Freeman and Dan Rosen.

Stefanovic will make a return on to the Sydney social scene, not just as a guest but also as a member of the new look Gold committee.

“I’m really looking forward to going head-to-head with Julie Bishop in the room to raise more funds,” he said. “We’ve always been quietly competitive.”

Amy Shark will perform. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

The Gold committee: Alina Barlow, Phil Schofield, Monica Saunders-Weinberg, Michael Filler, Emma van Haandel, Richard Weinberg, Kathryn Carter, Emma Cooper, Karl Stefanovic, Wallis Graham, Roslyn Hakim, Julie Bishop.

Celebrity chefs Guillaume Brahimi and Nobu Matsuhisa will create the menu for the night, and longstanding partners Bollinger will keep drinks flowing. Pop royalty Amy Shark will perform on the night.

So what is it all for?

The dinner, now in its 22nd year, has raised more than $26 million for paediatric healthcare.

Throughout the evening, guests will generously pledge their support for this year’s beneficiary — Critical Care across The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network — hoping to raise more than $3 million in aid of the state’s most critically ill or injured children.

Members of the committee certainly have their fair share of pulling power.

“I have been involved with the philanthropic side of SCHF (Sydney’s Children’s Hospitals Foundation) for the past 10 years, and have served as a Gold Dinner committee member for the last seven,” said Alina Barlow, whose husband Scott Barlow is the chairman of Sydney FC.

“As a mother of two, I feel very passionate about the SCHF and the difference they make to children’s lives.”

Fellow committee member and event producer, Mikey Filler, said “It’s such an honour and a privilege to sit on the Gold Dinner Committee with family and friends working together to raise funds and awareness for such an important cause.

“We’re mixing things up a bit this year to take guests on an emotional and sensory journey through the evening allowing everyone to both reflect on and celebrate their achievements in fundraising for the Foundation.

“We’ve been so fortunate to have many of our suppliers, caterers and performers generously contribute to the event — we have Guillaume and Nobu collaborating on a delicious menu, we have a unique performance in the dining room and a surprise reveal later in the night.”

The Gold Dinner is invitation-only and not open to the public.

AUCTION PRIZES

One of the auction prizes is a date with Julie Bishop coined Confessions of a Former Foreign Minister — a prize which organisers say is priceless.

It’s a private lunch or dinner for 10 people with Ms Bishop, who will, no doubt spill a little secret or two about her time in politics.

The major prize is a private tour of the Paspaley pearl room and a $20,000 gift voucher for some ‘Kool-mint’ pearls.

Any food leftovers will be placed straight onto OzHarvest trucks which make sure nothing goes to waste.

Monica Saunders-Weinberg says the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation is a deeply personal cause. The businesswoman is also the joint deputy chairwoman of The Terrace Tower Group.

Monica is The daughter of Westfield shopping centre empire co-founder, the late John Saunders and her sister Betty Klimenko, both having been major donors to the Sydney Children’s Hospital for 20 years.

Take a look at schf.org.au/gold-dinner-2019