Catholic school authorities that “cautioned” parents against voting a certain way during the 2025 federal election period appear to have so far avoided scrutiny in the federal parliament’s inquiry into the conduct of the election.
While much of the committee’s focus has been on the alleged behaviour of the Plymouth Brethren Church, formerly known as the Exclusive Brethren, the actions of Catholic Schools NSW and the Victorian Catholic Education Authority have hardly been raised during committee hearings.
In the lead-up to election day, the Catholic Schools NSW and the Victorian Catholic Education Authority – who are registered charities for the purposes of advancing religion and education – sent communications to parents and carers in their school communities, cautioning them against voting for certain candidates or parties.
In a media release titled ‘Greens and Teals a threat to Catholic education’, Catholic Schools NSW “cautioned Catholic school families against voting for the Greens or ‘Teal independents’ in the upcoming federal election” and said that “only the major parties” were “committed to supporting parental school choice”.
The Victorian Catholic Education Authority told parents and carers in one particular electorate that the local member of parliament had been a “strong supporter of Catholic education for many years”, and advised that “both major parties have assured Catholic education” that strong support would continue for the sector.
As reported in the press at the time, these interventions angered independent and minor-party candidates.
In response to these media reports – plus reports about the alleged activities of the Exclusive Brethren church – the national charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, published a statement reminding charities of their obligations not to engage in a “disqualifying purpose”, including “promoting or opposing a political party or a candidate for political office”.
The committee’s Interim Report, released in June this year, did not discuss the Catholic education bodies or concerns about charities.
Transcripts from the hearings of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters’ inquiry show only two mentions of the conduct of a Catholic education authority.
At a hearing in November last year, Susan Barrett, representing volunteers who supported independent candidate Zoe Daniel, noted: “Days before the election, the Victorian Catholic Education Authority sent misleading letters to parents in Goldstein about school funding.”
During the same hearing, Yaron Gottlieb, who was employed as a data analyst for the Daniel campaign, said “communal institutions campaigned for preferred candidates”.
“One example was the letter sent out by Catholic schools falsely claiming that Zoe would undermine their funding. When communal organisations become partisan, they alienate portions of their communities, causing a breakdown in social cohesion.”
At another hearing in November, Labor Senator Corinne Mulholland noted that there were “religious organisations with charitable status who were very active during the campaign”.
In a submission to the inquiry, the Rationalist Society of Australia raised concerns about the activities of religious charities with charitable status for ‘advancing religion’, and argued that these cases highlighted the need for parliament to reform the charities system, including to remove ‘advancing religion’ as a charitable purpose.
The submission urged the parliament to ensure that the charities regulator has sufficient enforcement powers to take appropriate compliance action when there was sufficient evidence of charities stepping over the line, especially during election campaign periods.
“Australians expect that the ACNC will also demonstrate a willingness to exercise such powers,” it said.
“We are concerned that perceived inaction will result in continued flouting of ACNC guidelines and further erosion of public trust and confidence in the charities system, especially in regards to religious-based charities.”
In a submission to the inquiry, Catholic archbishop Peter Comensoli, on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, argued that participation in political debate “should never be curtailed because an individual is motivated by religious conviction or because they are a member of a religious faith group”.
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.
Image: Australian Electoral Commission (Flickr)