Reforms to strengthen protections for public interest advocacy by charities need to be legislated this year.
With Parliament paused for the winter recess, one reform that has broad support risks quietly running out of time. It won’t dominate Question Time. It is unlikely to lead the evening news. Yet it will determine whether charities can continue speaking freely on behalf of the people and communities they serve.
For our charity, the St Vincent de Paul Society, advocacy has always gone hand in hand with offering compassionate and practical assistance. Every week our members and volunteers meet parents skipping meals so their children can eat. We meet pensioners choosing between heating and medication. We meet families living in cars because they cannot find affordable housing. We meet people working hard but still unable to make ends meet.
Most people understand why charities respond to these situations with practical support. What is less understood is why charities also advocate. The answer is simple.
After helping enough people through a crisis, you start asking why so many people are ending up there in the first place. At the Society, advocacy grows directly out of our charitable work.
When we repeatedly encounter families unable to find affordable housing, we have a responsibility to speak about housing policy.
When we see more people seeking emergency relief despite being employed, we have a responsibility to speak about the cost of living and economic insecurity.
When we see people trapped in poverty despite their best efforts, we have a responsibility to speak about the systems contributing to that outcome.
A food voucher may help someone today. But unless the underlying problem is addressed, we will likely see that person again next month.
For more than 170 years, the St Vincent de Paul Society has understood that charity requires both compassion and justice. It requires practical assistance for people facing hardship today and action to address the conditions that entrench hardship long-term.
That is why advocacy has always been part of our mission. For the Society, advocacy is not confined to a single issue. We advocate on housing and homelessness, cost-of-living pressures, income support, secure work, energy affordability, gambling harm, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice, refugee protection, and the wellbeing of children and families. We do so because these are the issues affecting the people and communities we serve.
Three years ago, the Albanese Government set out to rebuild its relationship with Australia’s vital not-for-profit sector. It commissioned the Not-for-profit Sector Development Blueprint, bringing together sector leaders, experts and community organisations to identify the reforms needed to strengthen one of Australia’s most important civic institutions.
The Blueprint recognised what charities have long known: advocacy is a legitimate and valuable public service. It acknowledged that charities strengthen democracy by bringing community experience into public policy discussions and helping decision-makers understand the realities facing everyday Australians on the ground.
The process was extensive. The recommendations were delivered. One of the conclusions was clear and widely supported: charities must be able to advocate on behalf of the people and communities they serve. Yet one of the most important reforms arising from that process remains unfinished.
The government asked the sector what reform was needed. The sector answered.
Detailed legislative proposals have now been developed by the Stronger Charities Alliance to provide greater certainty and protection for legitimate charity advocacy.
Yet the final step remains unfinished. Without legislative protection, charities remain vulnerable to the changing attitudes of governments and regulators. History has shown that goodwill alone is not enough. The ability of charities to advocate for the communities they serve should rest on law, not patronage.
The government deserves credit for starting this reform journey. It commissioned the Blueprint. It invited the sector to identify solutions. It received those solutions. Now it must complete the job. The Albanese Government should introduce and pass legislation to protect our advocacy before Parliament rises in 2026.
The proposed reforms would provide greater certainty for charities, strengthen protections for public interest advocacy, reinforce the independence of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and help ensure governments cannot use funding arrangements to silence legitimate advocacy.
The government has an opportunity this year to provide lasting certainty for one of Australia’s most important civic institutions. It should take it.
Mark Gaetani
Mark Gaetani is National President of St Vincent de Paul Society Australia