Briefing: potential changes to federal electoral laws and what this means for civil society

Stronger Charities Alliance, #OurDemocracy and Australian Progress co-hosted a briefing on the interim report by Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.

The key takeaways from the briefing were:

• There’re some exciting potential reforms to limit the undue influence of industry on our democracy: changes many charities have been advocating for over the years.
• However, we’re alarmed by the inclusion of an anti-charity recommendation to cap donations to charities that participate in election advocacy (see our media release on the issue).

At this briefing, hear our experts, Saffron Zomer (Australian Democracy Network), Alice Drury (Human Rights Law Center), and Ray Yoshida (Stronger Charities Alliance), as they explain the key changes proposed and their impacts on civil society.

Resources from the Briefing:

• Slides from the briefing.
• #OurDemocracy’s scorecard on the JSCEM Interim Report.
• Human Rights Law Centre’s report Selling Out: How Powerful Industries Corrupt Our Democracy and the Australian Democracy Network’s report Confronting State Capture. Both reports contain relevant evidence and case studies about why limiting the influence of corporations will make it more possible to win common-sense reforms on the issues we advocate on. 
• Human Rights Law Centre’s explainer Not-for-profits’ guide to complying with Commonwealth electoral laws (as the rules currently stand!)