John Cobb (Calare, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on the Environment, I present the committee's report, incorporating dissenting reports, on its inquiry into the Register of Environmental Organisations, together with the minutes of proceedings.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—We are all aware of the important contribution that not-for-profit organisations make in communities across Australia. Many of these groups rely on financial support from the public to survive, and in many cases these donations are tax deductible.

To ensure that these groups continue to enjoy the support of the community, so they can get on with their important work, it is essential that the public has confidence that tax concessions are granted appropriately and that tax-deductible donations are used in line with community expectations.

For this reason, the Environment Committee has been inquiring into the Register of Environmental Organisations, which is a government scheme to enable not-for-profit environmental organisations to receive tax-deductible donations.

The committee adopted the inquiry in March of last year, under the leadership of the former chair, and now Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, the honourable member for Mitchell.

The committee received 685 submissions, including submissions from around 200 environmental organisations. The committee also received thousands of form letters and other correspondence about the inquiry.

Due to the strong public interest in the inquiry, the committee travelled to communities around the country to hear about the environmental work being carried out by organisations on the register.

The committee held 12 public hearings, where it heard from a number of environmental groups, industry representatives, government agencies and interested members of the public.

The committee is grateful to all of these organisations and individuals for taking the time to meet with the committee and contribute evidence to the inquiry.

The committee also had the privilege of seeing first-hand some of the great work being done by environmental organisations and their volunteers on the ground.

To ensure that tax-concessions continue to support this important work, the committee has made a number of recommendations in its report.

It was clear from the evidence given to the committee that the current administration of tax concessions is inefficient and involves unnecessary duplication.

The committee also heard community concerns about the nature of the activities undertaken by a small number of environmental organisations, and about a lack of oversight of these activities by the Department of the Environment.

To make the system more straightforward, and to improve accountability, the committee has recommended that tax concessions for environmental organisations be administered by the Australian Taxation Office.

These organisations would also be required to register with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

Furthermore, while the committee acknowledges that the vast majority of environmental groups are doing the right thing, in response to genuine community concerns, the committee has recommended sanctions for groups involved in illegal activity.

The committee is confident that these recommendations would lead to a system that is simpler for environmental organisations to navigate. Most importantly, these changes would ensure that environmental organisations are accountable to their donors and the public.

The inquiry also received a range of evidence about the activities undertaken by environmental groups. The committee came to the conclusion that environmental work is most effective when it is informed by a good understanding of conditions on the ground.

Therefore, the committee has recommended that environmental organisations be required to allocate 25 per cent of tax-deductible donations to on-ground environmental work.

In this way, the public can be assured that tax concessions are used to support organisations doing practical work to improve the natural environment in communities across Australia.

Once again, on behalf of the committee, I thank the organisations and individuals who participated in the inquiry.

I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of my colleagues on the committee. Although we did not always agree on all of the issues, I thank all members of the committee for their constructive approach to the inquiry.

I commend the report to the House.

See this speech in context