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

I thank Senator Whitten for the question, and I can speak in general terms so as not to interfere with a bill that is currently before the Senate in the committee stage. There are two avenues, essentially, for deductible gift recipient status. One goes through the process that Senator Whitten outlined in fitting under the criteria that are used for administrative approval, and then there is the capacity for government to bring legislation before the parliament which seeks to include other organisations that the government believes are suitable for DGR status through legislative processes where they get debated on the floor of the Senate, which is currently what is happening in relation to the organisation that Senator Whitten outlined in his question.

Within legislative approaches, there are often a wide—sometimes it's only a couple of organisation; sometimes it can be 10 or more. They are often across a broad spectrum of civil society, from community organisations to faith based organisations and fundraising organisations for particular causes. The government considers this through our normal processes and brings that legislation here for debate, and it requires a vote of the Senate in order to pass that.