I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises the contribution made by charities, volunteers, philanthropists and community foundations to Australian communities;

(2) supports the Government's goal of doubling philanthropic giving by 2030;

(3) welcomes reforms to encourage more resources to flow to charities and communities, including:

(a) setting the minimum annual distribution rate for both public and private giving funds at 6 per cent of net assets;

(b) allowing giving funds to smooth distributions over a three-year period, giving them greater flexibility to support major charitable projects; and

(c) adding 34 organisations to the ministerial declaration for community charities, the largest expansion since the category was established in 2024;

(4) further recognises that community foundations allow local people to pool resources, support local organisations and build lasting institutions in the places where they live; and

(5) affirms the importance of making philanthropy easier, more accessible and more closely connected to Australian communities.

This is a sector that is very close to my heart. When I was 24, I left the public service to move to Adelaide, a place I'd never been, to head up their state reconciliation council. I then spent more than 13 years working in the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people access educational opportunities. I also had the privilege of leading a national youth mental health charity supporting children and young people affected by mental illness within their families.

I share those experiences here because they gave me an enormous appreciation for the dedication of people working across our charity sector. I saw the difference good programs, committed staff and generous supporters can make in people's lives—a life-changing impact. I saw the challenges that charities face too—the constant search for funding, the pressure of growing demand and the considerable time spent on administration, reporting and compliance. It's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about making Australia a better place for charities to operate and for people to give.

Across Australia, registered charities employ around 1.6 million people, supported by approximately 3.9 million volunteers. In my home state of Queensland, we're fortunate to have around 10,000 charities doing extraordinary work. But Queensland faces some particular challenges. Our state accounts for around 20 per cent of Australia's population, yet estimates suggest Queensland receives just seven per cent of national philanthropic funding. At the same time, six of Australia's 10 most disadvantaged local government areas are in Queensland. For communities already facing poverty, limited access to services and repeated natural disasters, the work of local charities is particularly valuable. These figures highlight why we need to do more to strengthen philanthropy in Queensland and across Australia.

In my electorate of Griffith, I'm fortunate to work with some remarkable organisations. Micah Projects, Romero Centre, Eating Disorders Queensland, the Children's Hospital Foundation—I could go on literally all day naming them. Earlier this year, I hosted a charity and not-for-profit roundtable with the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, bringing together around 80 representatives from our local organisations. We heard about growing demand, uncertain funding and administrative burden placed on charities.

We must recognise that charities do far more than deliver services. They bring people together, strengthen communities and give Australians opportunities to contribute, volunteer and belong. They have an incredibly valuable role in our democracy. Yet, under the former coalition government, the charity sector spent years defending its right to speak. The coalition tried to abolish the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission then pursued measures that threatened charitable advocacy. Under this government, we believe charitable advocacy belongs in Australian democracy. We want charities to contribute their expertise, challenge our decisions where necessary and tell us where government policy is falling short and how we can do better. That independence makes our democracy stronger.

In the charities I've worked for and led, a key role for me has been leading teams of fundraisers. Before starting that work, the thought of asking someone for money, even for a good cause, was, frankly, mortifying. But I came to realise what an integral role philanthropic giving plays in serving our community's most vulnerable. This passion eventually led me to join the Fundraising Institute Australasia's board, and I commend their work.

The Albanese Labor government came to office with a commitment to support our charity sector and double philanthropic giving by 2030, and we're making good progress towards that goal. We've commissioned the Productivity Commission's Future foundations for giving report, which recommended reforms to charitable tax deductions, regulation, public information and access to philanthropy for First Nations Australians, and we're making progress across each of these areas. We've announced an increase to the minimum annual distribution rate for public and private giving funds to six per cent of net assets, expected to direct an additional $60 million every year towards Australian charities. We're giving these funds greater flexibility to spread distributions over three years, supporting larger projects and long-term investment. We've removed the outdated minimum $2 threshold for tax deductible gifts. We've created a new pathway for community foundations to access tax deductible status. We're making it easier for environmental, cultural, harm prevention and overseas aid charities to seek tax deductible status.

I particularly welcome the work of Queensland Gives and Queensland Community Foundation to encourage more local philanthropy. Queensland has enormous generosity, but we need to get more philanthropic funding into the communities and organisations that need it most. Having spent much of my working life in this sector, I know how hard people work to keep these organisations operating. I'm proud to put forward this motion and of our government's ongoing commitment to a stronger, more generous Australia.

Is the motion seconded?

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Volunteers—where would we be without them? Our nation relies so much on our volunteers, so much on these people who willingly give up their time and their valuable money and everything else to be there when the community needs them most. On the weekend before last, it was absolutely fantastic to attend the 48th Murrumbateman Field Days. Splendid spring weather greeted a huge crowd, there's lots to see and do, and it proved a great family event. More than 300 volunteers from 27 local community organisations help put on the two days, including—wait for this!—11 brigades from the local rural fire service. What an amazing achievement. Since 2010, Murrumbateman Community Association has pumped more than $1.7 million back into these volunteer groups. Each year, the field days generate as much as $8 million of local economic activity.

When I talk about the RFS—of course, it's CFA in Victoria and has different variations of names throughout the states—many of those men and women have been serving for decades and decades. I recently attended the funeral of Jim Simpson, who had been a rural fire brigade person since he was eight years old. He was in his 80s when he passed away. These people do a remarkable job, and I do fear for them as we enter what potentially is going to be a very hazardous and destructive fire season. They'll be there in their bright-coloured uniforms, they'll be there in their trucks, they'll be there whether they've got soot all over their face from a hard day's firefighting or they'll be there making the sandwiches for other firefighters who are coming back. Their families do an amazing job in that regard too.

They'll be there, and that's the point. In country areas, we rely on our volunteers perhaps even more so than our city friends. I have to say, when it comes to the RFS and it comes to the State Emergency Service personnel, they don't just attend the usual fires and the like. There's the road trauma that they turn up to, and, on country roads, the road trauma is often far more disastrous than it is in metropolitan areas because of the speed involved in these crashes.

Then you've also got the volunteers who willingly help out at the agricultural shows. I know the Harden show is coming up on 14 November. I'm looking forward to that. Robert Hamilton, at Wagga Wagga—my home town—is a generational family member and show society president. It's not just Wagga Wagga Show or the Harden show. All the little towns have all got their own shows. Ganmain is one of the greatest shows in my Riverina electorate. They're all run by volunteers. Then you've got the football clubs, netball clubs, league tag clubs, hockey clubs—you name it—the sport is run by volunteers. They get involved, and sometimes they get involved because of their children, but, sometimes, when their children have long since moved away from the area or hung up the hockey stick, netball or football and put it away in the cupboard, their parents are still involved. They're still turning up, they're still on the sausage sizzle, they're still on the committees, and they're still doing the hard yards. We thank them.

Our Rotary and Lions clubs at that level apex have found it difficult in recent years to attract members. As I attend many of the changeover dinners and many of the Rotary functions in particular, I do note the age of the members and the dwindling number of members. I think it's probably pertinent. I had an idea, once, that we should make the funds tax deductible. I have not shied away from that. I think we need to do more to encourage people with the right intent, financially, to help support those Rotary clubs, which do such an amazing job right throughout our country, city or regional. We should very much look at what we can do to support membership because they also play a great role, whether it's on the gates, marshalling people, parking or helping out at various community events, fetes, fairs and the like. Thank you to our volunteers, you keep this nation running. (Time expired)

I rise today to recognise the enormous contribution that charities and not-for-profit organisations make to our communities. I spent many years of my working life working for charities and the not-for-profit sector, so I have seen firsthand the difference that charities and not-for-profits make in people's lives. I've also experienced firsthand the motivations that drive people who work for charities and not-for-profits, and the ethic of service and giving back that, in turn, drives those organisations. Charities and not-for-profits make an enormous contribution to our society, and on behalf of our community, I thank them enormously for their work.

Charities and not-for-profits are all about what is in the interests of those they serve and the public interest. Charities and not-for-profits make sure that Australians don't fall through the cracks. They safeguard our tradition of fairness, the tradition that makes Australia the best country in the world. Charities and not-for-profits do their best work when they are allowed to speak out. Advocating for the people they support is in the very DNA of our charity and not-for-profit sector. It therefore makes sense that we should ensure that those organisations can contribute openly and freely to public debate when they are advocating for Australia to be a better place. Without their advocacy, we would not have many of the important reforms that go to the essence of what we stand for as a nation.

I worked in the charity and not-for-profit sector during the days of the previous coalition government, and I remember the time when advocacy became a dirty word. Many organisations were highly sensitive to using the word 'advocacy' to describe their work, both publicly and in documents being sent back to government about their work. This, in my mind, was not right. How could we live in a flourishing and functioning democracy if those people committed to supporting society's most vulnerable could not speak up for them? I am proud to say that our government has sent a clear signal that advocacy is supported and welcomed by this government. We've taken a very different approach to the previous government, because we came to government promising to support the community organisations that are working to lift up the most vulnerable Australians and make our communities better places to live.

A homelessness charity should be able to talk about improving housing policy. An environmental charity should be able to talk about protecting the environment. A community legal centre should be able to talk about our most vulnerable citizens and the need for law reform. A disability charity should be able to talk about where Australians are at risk of falling through the cracks. Our government recognises that charities do more than deliver services; they bind our nation together, and they continually motivate, prompt and challenge us to create a better society. Across our nation, millions of Australians benefit from the generosity and dedication of people who give their time, resources and expertise to others. It happens in community halls and neighbourhood centres, sporting clubs, schools, shelters, food banks, cultural organisations, and local charities. It's often volunteers who are the first to respond when a community faces hardship.

Sometimes people don't always have the time to volunteer in our communities as much as they would like to, so instead they make donations to the organisations that they support. That's why I strongly support the government's goal of doubling charitable giving by 2030. Australia is an incredibly generous community and our government also wants to make it easier for Australians to give back. For example, our government has removed the $2 minimum threshold for tax deductible donations, helping to make the gift of small gifts easier, including rounding up giving at the checkout. These small amounts at scale can make a real difference to charities. We've also lifted the minimum amount that giving funds must distribute to charities each year, and this is expected to see an extra $60 million a year flow to charities.

I thank the many charities and not-for-profits in my wonderful electorate of Whitlam and across the country for your fantastic work. It doesn't go unnoticed.

I thank the member for Griffith for this motion. Our charity sector is foundational to a kind and generous community. It's where people can turn in times of need, it's where neighbours meet and become friends, and it's where Australians can find meaning in their own lives and do good for others. I've spent five years working in the non-profit sector and many more years sitting on various not-for-profit boards. Working at Anglicare WA, I saw the incredible work being done to help people thrive in WA, and I was proud to be part of an organisation that delivered a range of services funded by government, and also through donations, that treated people with dignity and compassion, and changed lives.

People who give their lives to helping others, either working for not-for-profits or volunteering, taught me so much, and the purpose we shared provided so much meaning every day. Now, as the representative of the kind and generous electorate of Curtin, I have a different perspective on that. Curtin has one of the highest volunteering rates in the country. I'm so proud of all the people in Curtin who I see volunteering. They are contributing to our civic life, whether it's working for a social or environmental cause or for clubs, cooking the sausage sizzles, pulling weeds or sitting on boards.

I see the incredible work being done by people in so many impactful community organisations, like the people at Dress for Success WA in West Perth, who support women to find meaningful employment by providing professional clothing, career development tools and a support network; the people at Deserving Better WA in Subiaco, who are supporting women experiencing violence and coercive control; and the people at Lifeline WA in Subiaco—where I once sat on the board and was chair—who provide support and compassion to Australians who are finding life unbearable. There are another 66,000 charities across Australia doing similarly important work: food distribution networks, helping people in need; neighbourhood groups, teaching English; and community legal centres, helping tenants with nowhere else to turn.

The incredible thing about these organisations is the extent to which they run on the goodwill in our community. Australian charities have nearly 3.9 million volunteers. That's more than two volunteers for every paid employee. Twenty-two thousand of these charities are run entirely by volunteers, with no paid staff at all. These organisations deserve all the support that we can give them. We should be encouraging volunteering, charitable donations and all forms of generosity because this is the sort of society we want to live in: one where people are kind and generous and where communities come together to solve problems rather than falling into despair or relying solely on the government.

I support the goal to double charitable giving by 2030, and the government has taken some steps towards that, as pointed out by the member for Griffith. But there is much more to do. Giving is not on a path to doubling in this timeframe. The Productivity Commission's 2024 review Future foundations for giving had 19 recommendations for strengthening the charity sector and supporting charitable donations. The 2024 Not-for-profit sector development blueprint had 18 recommended initiatives, and many remain unactioned. I want to highlight three, which were the subject of an open letter from the Stronger Charities Alliance to the Prime Minister last year, with 103 signatories. The asks remain important in protecting and strengthening the charity sector: firstly, recognising that advocacy benefits the public; secondly, prohibiting government officers from restricting the voices of charities when receiving funding, even informally; and thirdly, requiring the merit based and transparent appointment of the Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. None of these cost money. All of them protect the right of charities to speak for the people they serve and support.

I want to conclude with a message to all Australians. This motion is about policy, but policy only helps if people take part. The charities sector depends on people who give their time and their money, and we can all ask what we ourselves are doing. Volunteer for a good cause, if you have time. Give to a good to a good cause, if you have money—and give regularly. Join the board of the club your kids play for. Support your local community foundation. This is what it takes to be a kind, generous country that looks after its own.

I thank my friend the member for Griffith for bringing this motion, as well as thanking the members for Riverina, Whitlam and Curtin for their contributions. We can all agree that volunteers, charities and not-for-profits are an absolutely vital part of all of our communities. I think, this week especially, it's great that we can find things that we can all agree upon.

Sometimes, when I'm out at schools, or reflecting on this job, I think about what the best part of it is, and I think absolutely the best part of this job is getting the opportunity to know our communities even better and getting to meet some of the wonderful volunteers and getting to know some of the wonderful organisations that do incredible work in our community, and seeing the kindness and the generosity with which people give up their time, and, often, give up their hard-earned money, to support causes that they believe in, whether it's the local rotary or a food bank or a community organisation that helps newly arrived migrants. There's so much good that we see day to day. Sometimes, when we read the news, there's nothing but war and conflict and acts of cruelty, and I think seeing the goodness that's out there in everyday Australia is the perfect antidote for that.

I'd like to tell you about three experiences that I've had recently with some of our local community organisations and some of our local volunteers that really struck me. I was out at Warrandyte IGA on the weekend, standing outside with one of our candidates for the upcoming Victorian state election. It was a pretty drizzly day, and we were standing there for a couple of hours giving voters the opportunity to meet their local candidate. But, while we were standing there, some members of the local Warrandyte Cricket Club—in particular, Greg Warren, the Secretary—came past; they were carrying pallets of Gatorade and were heading to the bakery to pick up some pies and some sausage rolls; and a few minutes later I saw his son Luke Warren and a few other members of the cricket club head in to the IGA as well. Of course—as they do every week, multiple times a week—they were just supporting some of the players who were having a game on the weekend. Unfortunately, the game got rained out, and it was a pretty steep hill they were trying to climb—they were chasing 270—but they were nonetheless making sure that their volunteers were well hydrated and well fed. When I popped over there later, the game had been rained out and suspended for a while, though I think they were able to get back on a bit later. But I had a chat to Greg about the cricket club, and it was clear how much pride and how much passion he had about the important work that they do, supporting the players and the community. He was able to talk about every single team that was taking the field that season. I met the new captain, Bailey, and he talked about how it's a multigenerational game. He had grandparents playing with their grandchildren—and there are not many sports you could name where people are able to provide that opportunity for different generations to play together.

But there's also the community that a local sports club provides. It's such a valuable service that people like Greg provide to their community. But it's not just a sport. His son Luke was up here in parliament to receive one of our good sports awards, because, through the Warrandyte Cricket Club, they also provide mental health education and mental health support for their players, and I think sports clubs in particular can play a really important role in de-stigmatising seeking help around mental health issues.

I also got along to the Clota Cottage AGM recently. It was very capably chaired by Trevor Eddy, with a healthy amount of ribbing for the different members! Trevor's also involved in a number of other local organisations: Greenland Indigenous plant nursery and Burke and Beyond disability services. Like a lot of people in our community, once they get started volunteering in one area, they end up volunteering across a lot of different organisations. His wife, Emi Luppino, is also a very active member of the Box Hill RSL, and I know that she's received a number of awards this year for her volunteering, including one of the volunteering awards that our office provides. At the Clota Cottage AGM, they spoke very proudly about the gardening program that they have and also how they've increased the number of English classes that they're providing to new migrants by 2½ times just this year. So thank you to Clota Cottage for everything that you do—for the wide range of programs that you provide to our community.

As I said, thank you to all the volunteers across my community in Menzies, but to those across everyone's communities, right across Australia, for everything you do. You make our communities and Australia a better place.

Like the previous speaker, I want to acknowledge some of the amazing organisations within my electorate that have a massive impact—those important charities, those volunteers, the philanthropists and the community foundations which the motion refers to. I want to outline some of the work that they're doing but also to outline some of the challenges that they've been facing and some of the areas where they want to see government focusing, to try to assist them in, firstly, reducing the amount of demand on their services, but, secondly, having the capacity to respond to growing demand. When I think about charities and volunteers within the Redlands, I think about the many service clubs that thrive in my neck of the woods and particularly the rotary clubs. I've got this great project in my electorate called RARE, or the Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment project. Effectively, it is a large series of warehouses where equipment gets donated from around South-East Queensland. It gets brought there to their site at Alex Hills. It is a council leased facility. They do a terrific job and have so many hundreds of volunteers working hours throughout the week. Every time I'm there I see lots of activity going on.

They are accepting donations of different equipment that is no longer required within South-East Queensland but is being posted out to our Pacific partners—out to Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, the Solomons and further afield. They've got a great tally on the board of their office there, where they outline every shipping container that they've sent to another country. Each of those shipping containers is filled with hospital beds or chairs and tables for classrooms or books—full of everything you could possibly think of that a community might need. They do a terrific job.

I also think about the food banks in my electorate. I think about the Redlands Community Centre. I think about the great food service at the Rock church at Capalaba and also at the Champion support services in Thornlands. I recently met with the Champion support services, and they told me that they've had over an eight-fold increase in demand in the last couple of years. That is not through any extra advertising or getting the word out that they're offering this great service—of course, that's happens naturally through word of mouth—but is just purely through more people requiring support when finding themselves below that breadline.

Of course, there are the Night Ninjas who operate within my electorate at three different sites that are providing meals to the homeless. Last week, I attended their annual general meeting, and the numbers were quite staggering. In the financial year of 2023, they served only 856 meals, which is still quite a lot. Last financial year, the financial year they were reporting on at the AGM, they had served 2,934. That's a significant increase in just three financial years. They've nearly tripled or more than tripled their level of service. When I was speaking to them, that reflects the growing demand. That growing demand is coming from the increased cost-of-living pressures that we're seeing, the higher inflation and the higher interest rates. It's meant there is a greater demand on all these services, and they're struggling to keep up with the number of local households who are doing it tough and with people who are finding themselves homeless. It's becoming increasingly difficult for charities and the not-for-profit sector to operate across the country.

I was interested to see recently the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission's latest annual charities report, which confirmed that cost-of-living pressures were placing an increased strain on Australian families, as we know about because we're all hearing that within our electorate offices, but also on the charities that support them. The latest report shows that charities generated a record $239 billion in revenue. That was from the 2024 year. That was up 7.5 per cent, but expenses rose even faster, increasing by 8.6 per cent to $231 billion. So we've got more Australians turning to charities, but also charities are struggling to keep up with the growing expenses for everything that they're purchasing. Charities now employ 1.6 million Australians, with employee expenses increasing by 10 per cent. The report also highlighted the growing demand for support among older Australians, with particularly people aged 65 and over now among the most common beneficiaries of charitable services.

We've got to do better to support those not-for-profits and charities, and we've got to do better to reduce the cost-of-living pressures on these Australians.

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.