PKF x Assistance Dogs Australia: 11 years of backing a life‑changing cause 🐾

If you’ve ever met a Labrador who thinks they’re “just here for pats,” you’ll know they’re never just here for pats. Sometimes they’re here to change a life.

For the past 11 years, PKF has proudly supported Assistance Dogs Australia (ADA), an organisation that breeds, trains and places accredited assistance dogs with people who need them, free of charge.

This year marks 30 years of ADA changing lives, and their impact is enormous. Right now, they have over 200 dogs working in the community supporting people with physical disability, children with autism, and veterans and first responders living with PTSD. Their dogs also support schools, courts and correctional centres; they're calm, capable companions in places where calm really matters.

So why does this partnership fit PKF Australia so well? 

One of our core values is “Be the change.” That value is about backing practical, lasting work that helps our community in ways far beyond our immediate reach. ADA does exactly that, every day, with four paws and a very serious sense of purpose. 

A big part of driving this support forward internally is our PKF Impact community, including Kym Reilly and Jonathan Hannah.  Their involvement helps keep the partnership active and visible across the network, turning good intentions into consistent action to meet the needs of our people.

That support came to life at our NEXUS conference, where ADA joined us to share more with our wider team, and they didn’t come alone. A very special attendee made the trip too: Thorin the Labrador.  Thorin had the room exactly where he wanted it (soft smiles and full attention), while ADA shared the story behind the dogs. It takes around two years to train an assistance dog to achieve accreditation at the highest level (Assistance Dogs International gold standard), with early puppy kindergarten, volunteer puppy raisers, advanced training, and then placement with someone in need.

ADA also reminded us of something important: they rely on the generosity of the community and are grateful for pro bono partners like us.  That’s a powerful alignment; our people using their skills and support to help ADA deliver life‑changing outcomes. 

Join us on Giving Day and your donation will be matched

If you’d like to be part of it, ADA makes it easy to get involved, whether that’s donating or volunteering. On the 14th of May 2026 they are running a campaign called Giving Day, a chance for our community to donate (big or small) to the development of their breeding program.