Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There's a lot that I agree with in this motion raised by the member; there's a lot that I don't agree with. The part that I do agree with is that I completely endorse the sentiments behind it. That is that charitable organisations play an extremely vital part in our community. Socially, they provide support to people in need and food packages to those without, as well as mental health support and lifesaving at beaches. The list of what volunteers do is incredibly long. Socially, volunteer organisations also provide an opportunity for people to volunteer. This encourages and strengthens the social fabric of society. It's often forgotten, but, when one person helps another, it's not just the recipient who benefits; the recipient, the giver and the wider society benefit from an act of volunteerism. Economically, there are more than 57,000 charities employing more than 1.3 million Australians which are registered with the ACNC. I agree with the member as well that what our charities have done over the course of this year has been nothing short of phenomenal. From the fires through to COVID, they have been there helping people in need.

In recognition of the vital role that they play and to provide support for this, the government has done a number of things this year. Charities have been able to access a JobKeeper test, which is more generous than that offered to any other sector, with a 15 per cent turnover decline test and the option to exclude government revenue from their calculations. Charities have also been able to access the Boosting Cash Flow For Employers program and a $200 million Community Support Package was announced by the government to support the assistance programs delivered by charities during COVID-19, including emergency and food relief and financial literacy services. Charities will also be the beneficiaries of incentives to encourage increased philanthropic giving in response to COVID-19, primarily through planned amendment to ministerial guidelines for public and private ancillary funds.

I also agree with the member that having seven different fundraising regimes is an administrative and bureaucratic nightmare for any charity which operates across more than one area in Australia. It absolutely wastes time and it absolutely wastes money. The member seems to suggest this is of relevant recent origin, whereas the fact is that the complexity of crossjurisdictional regimes that govern charitable fundraising has been a challenge for governments for the better part of 20 years. These regimes involve different definitions of what a charity is, different processes for getting approval to undertake fundraising activities, differences in how to account for funds raised, differences in reporting generally, and there are a multitude of oversight bodies. The Senate report referred to by the member in 2019 outlined a number of these. The Senate report did a very good job. A review of the ACNC in 2018 also identified a number of these issues. But the suggestion that an apology is needed because the government has not yet changed it is a stretch. For a start, it's not yet two years, but, also, it ignores the fact that you can only harmonise in a federation if you have willing and able players, and, with seven different players, you can well understand that this will be challenging. Even if they are willing and able, there are things that need to be negotiated.

What has been done is this. The government has formally responded to the ACNC review and to the Senate paper. The government has committed to enacting 21 of the 30 recommendations of the ACNC review, which focuses on three key themes: reducing red tape, increasing transparency and having an effective regulator. The key goal here is a balancing act: ensuring that the regulatory burden faced by charities is as low as possible whilst simultaneously ensuring that the level of accountability is such that all Australians can continue to have trust in the sector, which they so generously support.

On 31 August, the New South Wales government, in conjunction with other states and the ACT, released a public consultation discussion paper outlining a proposed cross-border recognition model for charitable fundraising. The release of this discussion paper is a significant step towards reducing the unnecessary red tape burden our charities face, and this government is strongly supporting this initiative.

So I do agree with the member's motion on the importance of charities. I do think that this needs to be tidied up. But, unlike him, I actually support this being done as a partnership between federal and state governments. As a proud Western Australian—

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