Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

On the foreshadowed amendments on sheet 3645, I support much of what you said, Senator Shoebridge. I'm a big animal lover. I've been very involved with the RSPCA here in the ACT. My life after politics will involve animals, for sure, and rescuing animals; I look forward to it. However, the arguments you run could also be run around a whole range of voluntary and community organisational work that gets done across the community.

We have the categories that are eligible for consideration for DGR status, and I can run through those: health, education, research, welfare and rights, defence, environment, the family, international affairs, sports and rec, cultural organisations, fire and emergency services, ancillary funds and community charities. Indeed, there are a number of wildlife organisations who are already eligible for DGR endorsement under the existing DGR general categories. Organisations with the principal purpose of short-term, direct care or rehab of animals, such as the Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service—or WIRES—and Wildlife Recovery Australia, are endorsed as DGRs, as well as certain animal welfare organisations which have been specifically listed in the tax law as DGRs. For example, the RSPCA and each of its state and territory affiliates is specifically listed in the tax law; it treats, protects and rehomes animals, along with empowering and educating communities to improve animal welfare across the country.

However, we will not be supporting the amendments in Senator Faruqi's name that you foreshadowed. In 2023, the Albanese government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a review of philanthropy to identify opportunities for and obstacles to increasing philanthropic giving. The PC was independent in undertaking this review, and its final report made several findings and recommendations, including that reforms to the DGR system should be introduced to create fairer and more consistent outcomes for donors, charities and the community. The PC found that the complexity of the system continues to increase as new DGR endorsement categories are added in a piecemeal manner.

The government announced in the 2024-25 MYEFO that it would initially implement the following recommendations from the Productivity Commission's final report Future foundations for giving: removing the condition that a gift to a deductible gift recipient be valued at $2 or more before the donor may claim a tax deduction; aligning and increasing the minimum annual distribution rate for public and private ancillary funds, to be renamed giving funds; and allowing funds to smooth distribution over three years. The government continues to consider its response to the PC report's recommendation on DGR reform. We have worked through these reforms with careful consideration, and we will continue to be guided by the recommendations of the PC's report and the sector-led not-for-profit sector development blueprint as we work to double giving in Australia.

Alongside those commitments, we've been working methodically to reform Australia's DGR system and support our charities. We've streamlined the DGR system by returning four key categories to the ATO; created the new 'community charity' category to encourage more local and place based giving and to broaden the pool of regular Australian donors; given the charities commissioner greater discretion to comment on compliance activity; and expanded the ACNC advisory board to be more representative of the sector and to strengthen the network of charity regulators across the Commonwealth and the states and territories.