The Albanese government is facing questioning on why it is yet to respond to recommendations for reforms to the charities sector, including to religious charities, about 16 months after receiving them.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge has placed questions on notice in the federal parliament asking the government about when it intends to respond to the Productivity Commission’s report for its inquiry into philanthropy.
The Productivity Commission’s report recommended, among other things, removal of the ‘Basic Religious Charities’ category from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) Act 2012 in order to “enhance regulatory consistency and public transparency”.
The report was handed to the government on 10 May 2024 and released to the public on 18 July 2024.
BRCs – organisations with charity status for ‘advancing religion’ – enjoy exemptions to the governance standards and financial reporting requirements that apply to other charities, including religious organisations that do not have BRC status.
In the report, the Productivity Commission said it had carefully considered submissions and evidence provided at public hearings but “could not identify a policy rationale that justifies retaining” BRCs.
The Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA) wrote to the minister responsible for charities, Andrew Leigh, last December to ask him when the government would respond to the report, but Dr Leigh has not replied to the RSA.
In the new questions placed on notice in the Senate, Senator Shoebridge seeks answers from the government on who is tasked with working on a response to the report and why it is taking so long.
In the days before Christmas last year, the Treasury Department told Senator Shoebridge that the timing of a response was “a matter for Government”.
Upon the release of the Productivity Commission’s report, Dr Leigh swiftly and publicly rejected another key recommendation – the removal of Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status for school building funds, despite the report showing that DRG status for such funds overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest (mostly faith-based) private schools.
The Productivity Commission also recommended the removal of DGR status for religious education activities in government schools and all activities for the purpose of ‘advancing religion’.
At Senate estimates in 2022, Senator Shoebridge raised concerns about the “fraught environment” created by a lack of transparency and accountability over BRCs, with government officials even confirming that “potentially billions” of dollars were going unreported in the economy because of BRCs.
In two submissions to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry – in mid 2023 and in early 2024 – the RSA said the exemptions enjoyed by BRCs undermined the integrity of the charities system and public trust.
In its own submission, the charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), recognised that the exemptions may be reducing public trust and confidence in the charities system.
The RSA has directly urged Dr Leigh to support the Productivity Commission’s recommendation on BRCs. In September last year, it also joined with a number of pro-secular organisations in writing to Dr Leigh on the matter.
Religious lobbyists responded angrily to the Productivity Commission’s recommendations, describing the independent research and advisory body as having “a clear anti-religion agenda” and as having mounted a “direct attack” on faith communities.
In August last year, the RSA reported that religious lobbyists were demanding the government continue to recognise faith-based charities as “special” and give them “due respect”.
The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively campaigning for reform of the charities sector. Follow our campaign updates here.
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Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.