BRENT FORD:
But there is a change that is coming in terms of the Albanese government looking to make it easier for Australians to support causes close to their heart. And Josh, I know you like supporting causes, so this is one that will be something that you find quite interesting.
JOSH HAIZER:
Yeah.
FORD:
So, the way that they’re looking at doing that is they will remove the requirement that a gift must be at least $2 before a donor can claim a tax deduction.
HAIZER:
Oh, before it’s tax deductible.
FORD:
Yeah.
HAIZER:
Yeah, okay.
FORD:
I think it’s a great idea. And to talk to us more about it is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. He’s also the Member for Fenner. Of course I’m talking about Andrew Leigh. A very good afternoon, Andrew.
ANDREW LEIGH:
Good afternoon, gents. Great to be with you.
FORD:
Why bring about these changes to the donation laws?
LEIGH:
Well, this really is getting rid of an odd old law. The $2 donation threshold goes back to before decimal currency. It used to be a one pound threshold. And if you look back then, one pound is probably worth about 30 bucks today. But it’s just stayed in our laws and it’s an impediment to these round-up for charity schemes which encourage you to round your purchase up and give the extra money to charity. There’s a range of charities doing round up that could then collate your donations together at the end of the year. You know, 20 cents here, 50 cents there, over the course of the year it really adds up.
HAIZER:
Okay, very good. Because I remember, you know, in the old way of speaking, people were of the impression, you know, one pound is $2, weren’t they? So, that probably explains how it came to $2. Do you expect to see an increase in donations with the changes to these laws? Like a massive influx to money being given to not‑for‑profit organisations and charities?
LEIGH:
Well, it won’t be massive as a result of this one change, but small change does add up.
HAIZER:
Yeah.
LEIGH:
So, for example, Woolworths in a single month did a round up for charity that raised over $700,000. That’s one retailer one month. And so plausibly there will be millions of dollars given to these sorts of round ups for charity approaches. Of course, it’s just one of the many things we’re doing to meet the government’s target of doubling philanthropy by 2030. The other thing we announced today is a consultation with giving funds about the minimum donation amount. And we’ve also been doing a lot of work with community foundations and simplifying the process of getting deductible gift recipient status for charities.
FORD:
It is a barrier, isn’t it, Andrew, that $2 mark? Because there is a couple of times, and I will admit that this – I have done this where I have looked at it and I have been asked whether I want to round up and I’m thinking, well, I’m not getting anything back. And I know that is a bit selfish to say, but I know that there will be others out there. So, removing this barrier, and as you’re saying, you can make 20 of these donations to different charities and get $2 back and suddenly it starts adding up. And over a course of a year, if you do it, you know, 500 times, that’s $50.
LEIGH:
Absolutely. It’s just another way of making donations easier. The other thing we’re looking at is workplace giving. About half of Australian workers are in a workplace that has a workplace giving scheme in place, but only about 1 in 50 Australians do workplace giving. It’s a pretty handy way of doing things because it comes out of your pre‑tax pay, so you don’t need to bother about claiming receipts at tax time. So, we’re trying to increase the uptake of workplace giving as well.
HAIZER:
Good stuff.
FORD:
I can’t really fault it, right. I think it’s a great thing. And you were talking about Woolies there and the amount of money rounding up. What – have we set a target for how much – or how much amount of donated money we would like to see across the country?
LEIGH:
We’d like to see a doubling, which sounds pretty ambitious, until you realise that if we double donations in Australia then donations per person only get to the level of New Zealand. And while I love our New Zealand friends, if we can’t beat New Zealand in generosity, what are we going to do?
FORD:
That’s exactly right, isn’t it? And you’ve noted a couple of other different things that you guys have boosted since coming into government. Working with state and territory governments to streamline and harmonise fundraising rules across jurisdictions – I didn’t know this was stuff that needed to be fixed, Andrew.
LEIGH:
Yeah, it really is about modernisation, again. If you look at our fundraising laws, they’re made in a time when going online was something you did with wet washing. They’re all designed around face‑to‑face fundraising, and in a digital age, charities are discovering they need to register in every single state and territory because you don’t know whether you’re going to be getting a donation from across the border. So, harmonising charitable fundraising has taken us a while, but now we’ve got that legislation passing through state and territory parliaments. It just takes the pressure off charities, means they’re spending less time doing paperwork and more time helping the environment, teaching music to kids, planting trees, all of those good things that charities do.
HAIZER:
Well, unfortunately, that’s the thing, really – certainly when it comes to the bigger charities, isn’t it? I mean, the idea is that they’re out there giving and, you know, making changes within our community for the better, but, you know, it seems as though half their time is caught up in the administration and the laborious side of things just in order to make that happen. So, any way in which we can relieve that, I think, could only be a good thing.
LEIGH:
Spot on. Yeah. I mean, I talk to so many charities when we’re doing our regular charity forums or chatting with charities on other occasions, who talk about how they’re keen to have the system made simpler so they can spend more time getting out there. And we’ve got all these fabulous Canberra charities as well, putting together hampers around Christmas time. A lot of really lovely work being done for the community. Labor wants to back that work in and make sure that we’re helping the helpers.
FORD:
Yeah. In particular, great organisations like OzHarvest and the like. They’re doing just some amazing things. Andrew, it’s always good to chat.
LEIGH:
Likewise. Thanks so much for the time.
HAIZER:
No worries. Thanks, Andrew.
FORD:
There we are. Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Charities, Competition, Treasury. He’s also the Assistant Minister for Employment. I think some great things happening there.