Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the motion of the member for Fraser regarding the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and in particular for his call for the government to drop its ill-considered and unpopular plan to axe the commission. As the CEO of the Community Council for Australia, David Crosbie, put it:

Nobody wants to go back to the bad old days of having the Australian Tax Office regulating charities. It's a failed model from the past. It will not work.

Earlier this year a coalition of 40 of Australia's biggest and most respected charities along with legal experts, philanthropic organisations and arts communities joined together to warn the Abbott Liberal government that it would be a huge mistake to close down the newly formed Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. They argued that the commission was in fact doing exactly what it was set up to do: operate efficiently and effectively to help charities, donors and taxpayers alike.

The success of the commission should come as no surprise to those who have followed the extensive 15-year period of reviews and consultations to establish the independent national charities regulator. The charities and not-for-profits sector worked closely with government to get it right, so the Abbott government's plans to now abolish the commission has understandably drawn strong reaction from the sector. According to a recent survey, four out of five charities support the work the commission is doing. In a separate survey, only six per cent of charities wanted responsibility for charities to be returned to the ATO. That is a massive 94 per cent endorsement of the current arrangements under the commission.

Indeed, some of Australia's most well established and respected charities felt so strongly about the issues that they took the very courageous step of publishing an open letter urging the Prime Minister to reconsider. Lifeline, ACOSS, Save the Children, the RSPCA, Youth Off The Streets, World Vision, St John's Ambulance Australia, the McGrath Foundation and Maroba Lodge, from my own electorate of Newcastle, are among those who signed the letter and called on the government to keep the commission. The organisations confirmed a number points in their letter to the Prime Minister, including that they wanted to make it very clear to the Commonwealth Government and wider Australian community that most charities across Australia valued the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and wanted to see it continue its impressive work. Significantly, this coalition of Australian charities agreed that the ACNC 'has done what few new regulators could ever achieve: it had gained widespread support across the sector it was regulating'. These are strong words that should be taken heed of.

The charities and not-for-profits sector plays a vital role in our community, contributing both economically and socially. The sector employs more than one million Australians, turns over $100 billion, involves almost five million volunteers and nurtures and supports our communities, including my community of Newcastle. According to the commission's charity register, the Newcastle electorate is home to more than 450 registered charities. That is 450 organisations, large and small, doing great things to support our local community. None are more or less important than the others, from the Dixon Park Surf Life Saving Club supporting our young nippers, to our homelessness support organisations like the Samaritans, our disability service providers like ConnectAbility, our aged-care facilities like Maroba Lodge or our local school P&C groups. Charities support our entire community, not just the vulnerable. They need the support of a strong, dedicated regulator, a job the commission is doing aptly.

Another important role the commission plays is to help reduce and eliminate scammers. Today, we are unfortunately exposed to so many scams. We need the commission to help protect registered charities and members of the public who donate their hard-earned money to worthy causes. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Little Black Book of Scams details the situation well. Scammers will do anything to get our money. In the same way that ASIC provides investors with the confidence they need to buy shares in companies, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission provides donors with confidence that registered charities are actually performing charitable works.

Finally, this government is hiding behind an illusion of consultation here, in order to ram home an ideological agenda. The vital work of the ACNC must be maintained, for the benefits of charities, not-for-profits and the many, many communities they serve. (Time expired)

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