Hands Off Our Charities

The CBAA alongside major charities including Amnesty, Anglicare Australia, Brotherhood of St Laurence, CARE Australia, Oxfam and UnitingCare Australia have taken out a full page ad in The Australian calling on the Prime Minister to immediately abandon proposed regulations that target them with deregistration for speaking out on behalf of their communities.

In the face of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and compounding crises, charities (including community radio stations) have worked to support increasingly more communities with limited resources. 

The CBAA is concerned that the Federal Government’s proposed charity regulation changes could stifle legitimate advocacy that is part of furthering our sector’s purpose and shared commitment to the public good.

The Government has issued an exposure draft of proposed changes to governance standard three of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Regulation 2013. This would change the way charities are regulated, and place advocacy organisations at risk of being deregistered by the Charities Commissioner, even if they have not broken any laws.

This could include community radio stations registered as charities, who might, for example, be affected if they broadcast from a protest or about an advocacy issue or event.

This is why, together with over 70 other charities and community organisations as part of the Hands Off Our Charities alliance, we’re advocating against the proposed changes. See our open letter.

Find out more about the proposed changes and the campaign.