Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

I rise to speak on the President's report to the Senate on the status of government responses to parliamentary committee reports. This report shows the status of responses as at 31 December last year. At that time, the response of the Senate Select Committee on Charity Fundraising in the 21st Century was more than six months overdue. Today this report is still overdue, by more than 15 months. Why has the Morrison government been so slack in responding to this report, which addresses important issues for the charities and not-for-profit sector?

Is it because they've had six ministers responsible for charities over the seven years they've been in power, or could it be because they've got nothing to report? It has been two years since the independent review and the ACNC called on the Morrison government to fix our outdated charity fundraising laws. The select committee inquiry reiterated this call in its report. Even government senators—Senator Abetz and Senator Stoker—joined the call for their own government to act urgently.

The responsible minister, Senator Seselja, continues to claim he is in discussions with the states and territories. We're all wondering if these discussions will ever end? Will there ever be an outcome? What is the agenda? What actions have been agreed to so far? Has the assistant minister lobbied the COVID-19 Coordination Commission or its not-for-profit working group? Has he added this simple solution to national cabinet's list of harmonisation priorities? If he has, why has nothing happened? If the assistant minister cannot answer these basic questions then we can only conclude that nothing has been progressed and he is dragging his feet while charities are dragged down by unnecessary regulation.

Every month that goes by that this government fails to act on this red tape nightmare is costing charities over $1 million. That's money donated by Australians for important social and environmental causes just going down the drain, because of the government's failure to act once again. If Senator Seselja and the Morrison government would hurry up and do their jobs they could provide some much-needed relief to a sector which is facing a perfect storm.

According to JBWere donations are expected to fall by seven per cent in 2020 and a further 12 per cent in 2021. At the same time charities are experiencing a massive increase in demand for their services, 50 per cent in the case of Foodbank and almost 80 per cent for Cystic Fibrosis Australia. A report by Social Ventures Australia and the Centre for Social Impacts notes that one in six charities could be forced to close by Christmas—one in six!

A range of charities have come together during the pandemic to form the Charities Crisis Cabinet. The CCC has told the government, in their prebudget submission, that the time for action on reforming charity fundraising regulation was, 'more than 25 years ago'. It's completely outrageous that after almost two years this government has failed to act on an inquiry report which had support from all parties that participated. It's time for the Morrison government to take some leadership, to fix Australia's outdated and burdensome charity fundraising laws and to actually show that they care about the people who work in charities and not-for-profits. They are happy when something like COVID-19 comes along and they need support from the charities. They're out there. They probably do a bit of a spin around a couple of them, but they won't actually do anything to fix the issue, and that's what the issue is here today.

It's nearly 15 months since the Senate select committee handed down its report and nearly two years since the ACNC handed down their report. Both say the same things. Both are asking for this government to actually do something, to get off their backsides, to pull up their socks and to sharpen their pencils. If they can't do it all at once then do it in pieces, but for heaven's sake do something. Don't just keep spinning. Don't just keep giving us media releases, little TV advertisements and little bits of social media; actually do something. COVID-19 has made this hit the mark for so many Australians: the one thing this government has proven is that it is pretty good at spin—I don't deny that—but they don't actually ever deliver the goods. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted.