ACOSS welcomes a win for democracy in Federal Parliament today that saw the Opposition and crossbench join forces to disallow the Morrison Government's heavy-handed charity regulations.
ACOSS acting CEO Edwina MacDonald said:
"This is a victory for common sense and a huge relief for all charities that provide essential services to people in need.
"We thank Senator Rex Patrick, whose disallowance motion in the Senate effectively stopped the Government's proposal in its tracks.
"Thank you to all Senators, including Labor, the Greens and key crossbenchers, who voted to protect charities, ensuring these unnecessary, burdensome regulations did not proceed.
"This was the culmination of efforts from more than a hundred of Australia's most respected charities and community organisations working together in the Hands Off Our Charities (HOOC) alliance.
"Everyone across the country benefits when charities are able to advocate for systemic policy reform. It strengthens the decisions made by government, and improves the services delivered.
"With the defeat of this proposal, charities everywhere can continue to focus on their core work of helping people experiencing disadvantage and hardship to build better lives. The community sector has been crucial over the past eighteen months of the pandemic to ensure those people in greatest need are not left behind.
"Given the economic and social disruption caused by COVID-19 this year, now is the time for a closer, more constructive partnership with government. We know that our member organisations are seeing increasing poverty and homelessness in their communities, increased demand for services as well as increased complexity of individual need.
"Now is the time for the government and community sectors to come together to address these challenges in a way that makes our country stronger and fairer as we recover from the pandemic."
