Esther Abram, Giving Green Manager

Environmental advocacy will become more tightly regulated and important philanthropic income will be banned, if a new bill is passed by Parliament next year. One of three bills in response to concerns about the negative impact of foreign donations on Australia’s democracy, the Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform Bill casts a broad net, encompassing charities and a very wide range of advocacy activities.

If the bill goes through, environmental organisations will not be able to seek or use overseas philanthropy for advocacy. This has a special significance for the environment. Think of the terrific work of Pew Charitable Trusts, championing a world class system of marine protection and the crucial role of Indigenous people in managing some of Australia’s most important natural places. Climate change campaigning has received support from overseas foundations which take a global approach to their philanthropy. Private land conservation organisations have raised significant resources from overseas, often to do innovative work of which advocacy should be a component.

Foundation Centre research on US foundation funding for Australia revealed that between 2011 – 2013 US foundations provided over $11million in grants to “environment and animals”, so there are millions of dollars at stake.

The bill is complicated and still under scrutiny. However, early analysis shows that it targets advocacy at a number of levels, and draws a large number of charities into the ‘electoral law’ space than previously. This is because the bill:

• Includes a very wide range of advocacy activities in the definition of ‘political expenditure’, regardless of whether the advocacy is occurring in the context of an election. For instance, “the public expression by any means of views on an issue that is, or is likely to be, before electors in an election whether or not a writ has been issued for the election”.
• Creates new categories of entities which are subject to the electoral laws – political campaigners and third party campaigners. Political campaigners are organisations which incur more than $100,000 of ‘political expenditure’ in the previous four years, or which spend more than 50% of their annual budget on ‘political expenditure’. (A number of environmental organisations have reported this level of electoral expenditure in the past so they are definitely captured by this clause). Third party campaigners incur more than $13,500 (indexed) on ‘political expenditure’ – so there are potentially hundreds of environmental organisations which could be deemed to fit this category.
• Requires political campaigners and third party campaigners to register with the Electoral Commission, appoint a ‘financial controller’, and report annually on political expenditure. Political campaigners also need to establish separate bank accounts for political and non-political expenditure.
• Features provisions for political campaigners and third party campaigners to include details of their donors who support political expenditure.

The AEGN is working with Philanthropy Australia and others in the charitable sector to better understand the bill and determine how to respond. In the lead up to the tabling of the bill, the AEGN signed a statement coordinated by the Australian Council for International Development.

The Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform Bill is one of a number of changes that took place in the first week of December. You may be interested to see the resources Philanthropy Australia has put on its website, providing an analysis of the changes from a philanthropic perspective and also making a statement in response to the appointment of Gary Johns as the new ACNC Commissioner.

The AEGN will be organising a briefing for members in the new year to discuss these issues, so keep a look out for a member email.