Charities have welcomed the news that Commonwealth, state, and territory Treasurers will reform charity fundraising laws by introducing nationally consistent fundraising principles.
The long-awaited principles will mean less red tape for Australian charities, which have previously needed to apply for a fundraising licence in each state and territory to comply with online fundraising laws.
Announcing the news in a joint press release, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Dr Andrew Leigh, said the new principles will “streamline and harmonise state and territory requirements” and “give charities and donors a clear understanding of appropriate conduct while allowing for greater flexibility”.
Our democracy is stronger with a robust and vibrant civil society and charitable sector
Each participating jurisdiction will release an implementation plan by July 2023, according to Leigh, and once implemented, will benefit upwards of 60,000 charities.
The reform comes just days after Leigh noted the Federal Government had kicked off a ‘once-in-a-generation review of charitable giving as part of the goal to double philanthropy’.
The overhaul of current fundraising laws has long been advocated for by various not-for-profit groups and charities, who banded together to form the #FixFundraising coalition.
Led by Justice Connect, whose Not-for-profit Law program provided legal support on the matter, the #FixFundraising campaign aimed to release charities from excessive paperwork so they could instead focus on their vital work.
Justice Connect led the #FixFundraising coalition.
Harriet McCallum, Executive Officer at Mannifera, a collective of Australian philanthropic funders and who give through their fund at Australian Communities Foundation, says the new fundraising rules will “free up the time and resources spent on compliance for charities to do the work they exist to do, as well as more confidently and effectively raise funds for this work”.
“In April 2021 Mannifera provided the #FixFundraising campaign with dedicated funding towards the core costs of this long-running advocacy campaign,” says Harriet.
“We could see that a #FixFundraising win would both preserve and grow the resources of the charitable sector, and benefit every charity in the country. Mannifera believes that our democracy is stronger with a robust and vibrant civil society and charitable sector, so the change this campaign win would bring, along with the political opportunity, were reasons to resource the core advocacy costs at such a critical moment.”
Harriet notes that following bushfires, Covid-19, and floods, there was finally political will to uniform fundraising rules and reduce the burden for charities.
“This is a great example of the systems change that can be achieved with Mannifera’s timely investment in advocacy. A change that every charity in Australia will benefit from,” says Harriet.
The success of the #FixFundraising campaign is a milestone moment for Australia’s not-for-profit sector
Similarly, Australian Communities Foundation CEO Maree Sidey was thrilled with the development, noting that the long-awaited changes represent a significant win for joint advocacy within the sector.
“The success of the #FixFundraising campaign is a milestone moment for Australia’s not-for-profit sector,” Maree says.
“After years of coordinated effort and coalition building led by Justice Connect, Australia’s 60,000 plus charities will no longer have to contend with outdated fundraising laws.
“These changes will effectively remove a burden of time-consuming paperwork that has diverted precious resources within not-for-profit organisations and allow fundraising in Australia to finally come of age.”
You can read more about the #FixFundraising campaign here.
Mannifera is a Collective Giving Fund at Australian Communities Foundation. To learn more about Collective Giving Funds, click here.
