Australian foundations have traditionally sought and received high levels of privacy and are often reluctant to disclose information publicly (McGregor-Lowndes & Williamson, 2018). This article explores how perceptions of publicness within Public Ancillary Funds (PubAFs) inform and shape their practice, conduct and identity. PubAFs are a diverse foundation group with little homogeneity in their operating models. They include community and corporate foundations, fundraising foundations for single organisations such as hospitals or schools, and those established by wealth advisory firms. PubAFs must encourage public donations, and may offer sub-funds or donor-advised funds to larger donors. As part of a broader study on perceptions of accountability and identity in Australian foundations, in-depth interviews were undertaken in late 2017 and early 2018, capturing detailed perspectives from 28 PubAFs. Findings suggest that despite PubAFs’ diversity, understandings and applications of publicness were significant to PubAF managers and trustees. The two dimensions of publicness were donations (public money) and grantmaking (public benefit). From a donor perspective, ‘public’ connotes that PubAFs are available to anybody wishing to donate, although in practice, application of this concept varied. In the grantmaking dimension, ‘public’ connotes a pro bono or charitable purpose, such that in an Australian or global context, ordinary people and the general community benefit from the foundation’s work. Further elements of publicness were expressed around foundations’ visibility and the transparency of their operations. This article discusses perceptions and dimensions of publicness in public foundations from an internal perspective, sharing learnings from managers and trustees. It provides valuable insights for external stakeholders including donors, beneficiaries and regulators.