CHARITIES WELCOME THE RELEASE OF PHILANTHROPY INQUIRY; CALL FOR REFORMS TO BE IMPLEMENTED
The Stronger Charities Alliance welcomes the release of the Productivity Commission’s Philanthropy Inquiry report in the Senate last week. While we are continuing to consider the report's details, we wish to congratulate the Commission on completing this process and recognise their thorough consultations with the charity sector throughout the inquiry.
The report presents various recommendations for bolstering philanthropy and improving the charity sector’s role in Australia’s democracy. These include:
- Reforming the deductible gift recipient (DGR) system;
- Establishing a dedicated organisation for First Nations organisations to access philanthropy;
- Improving regulation of the charity sector (such as through a National Charity Regulators Forum); and
- Improving transparency by making better use of existing data about charities and enhancing public data on giving, including volunteering.
We welcome the Commission’s recommendation to simplify the DGR system and broaden the categories of organisations that can receive DGR. The current DGR system includes over 50 categories under which charities can apply to receive deductibility status – we consider this categorisation outdated and not reflective of the diversity and current realities of the Australian charity sector.
Through our engagement with the Inquiry, we recommended simplifying the DGR system and progressively extending it to all registered charities. We are pleased that the Commission has partly addressed this recommendation in the report.
The government is still considering its response to the report, which we are eager to understand. The Alliance will also continue to consider the report in detail and engage with the Government on its implementation. However, urgent sector priorities for protecting charitable advocacy need action before the expiry of the current parliamentary term.
“The sector has long demanded simplifying the DGR system and broadening DGR categories to fit the modern Australian charity sector. We are glad to see the Commission’s recommendation to both simplify DGR and extend it to advocacy organisations, many of which currently struggle to get tax-deductibility status under the current system. Charities that engage with policy-making work will benefit from this and help Australia make stronger policies that work for all of us”, said Stronger Charities Alliance Coordinator Hassan Nasir Mirbahar.
However, enabling a vibrant charitable sector to participate in policy advocacy requires reforms beyond improving philanthropic giving. Federal charity laws do not provide certainty around charities' right to undertake advocacy, which affects both the charitable and philanthropic sectors. Our Voices for Change Survey (2022-23) found that donors were reluctant to fund advocacy work due to legal uncertainty about charitable advocacy.
“We have identified three areas where charity legislation should be amended to clarify, protect and enhance the charitable sector’s advocacy role. We have proposed three simple, easy-to-implement and budget-neutral solutions to these areas in our proposed Charities Legislation Amendment Bill. Last month, we presented the Bill to the Government and other members, calling on the Parliament to pass these reforms as soon as possible. If the Government is serious about doubling philanthropic giving in Australia, it must act to overcome the current legal uncertainties and give donors the confidence they need to fund charities engaged in advocacy work.” said Robyn Sampson, Executive Director of Baptist Care Australia.
“Now we have the Commission’s final report, we call on the Government to move forward with a suite of long overdue reforms. This includes bringing the deductible gift recipient rules up to date with the needs of our sector today. But critically we also urgently need to protect charity advocacy, a priority which is felt by so many sector leaders and is crucial to improving government policy and decision-making. The Charities Legislation Amendment Bill will help us future-proof advocacy and contribute to a stronger, more vibrant charity sector. We call on the government to prioritise the reforms in the Bill before the expiry of the current parliamentary term.” said Saffron Zomer, Executive Director of Australian Democracy Network.
The Alliance expresses gratitude to the Inquiry team (Productivity Commissions’ Deputy Chair Professor Alex Robson, Commissioner Julie Abramson, and Associate Commissioner Krystian Seibert) and their staff for their dedication and hard work in completing a thorough review and report.
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For further inquiries, please contact Hassan Nasir Mirbahar, Coordinator, Stronger Charities Alliance at strongercharities@australiandemocracy.org.au
