Our campaign to #FixFundraising

Our goal  

For over a decade, the #FixFundraising coalition has advocated for the harmonisation of fundraising rules.

Harmonising fundraising laws nationally means 60,000+ Australian charities would be freed up from debilitating red tape and be able to focus on delivering vital services, like helping communities affected by floods, working to prevent homelessness, tackling family and domestic violence, or delivering life-changing community services.

Since 2008, we’ve used data and evidence from our work advising thousands of charities to make more than 20 separate submissions to governments, inquiries, and commissions, shining a light on how fairer laws will positively impact the charity sector.

Recent progress and challenges

The governments’ commitment to the National Fundraising Principles

In February 2023, our #FixFundraising campaign proudly marked a monumental advocacy win with the announcement that the Commonwealth, state and territory Treasurers agreed to implement the National Fundraising Principles, a set of nationally consistent fundraising principles.

The National Fundraising Principles offer a simple solution: a single set of modern, fit-for-purpose rules for all registered charities to comply with wherever they fundraise in Australia. The change would drastically reduce the amount of costly and time-intensive paperwork charities must deal with in order to fundraise effectively.

The current state of implementation

Progress to implement the National Fundraising Principles has been painfully slow, and it remains unclear how quickly decision makers will progress these urgently needed reforms.

It’s up to state and territory governments to roll out the changes in each jurisdiction. They will only be effective if they are implemented in a harmonised way, including:

• Ensuring the agreed principles are adopted into law without amendment. If governments make even minor changes to the wording of the principles (now or in the future), there will no longer be a single set of principles for charities to follow.
• Switching off all local fundraising rules. If they don’t switch off all existing local fundraising rules, charities will continue to have to navigate different rules in each jurisdiction.

Not all states and territories have fully implemented the principles, so there is not yet a nationally consistent fundraising regime, and differences in fundraising rules across jurisdictions remain.

Last updated: November 2024

If you’re involved in a charity or not-for-profit organisation, you can find out more about your organisation’s current legal obligations in Not-for-profit Law’s fundraising resources.

What needs to happen next

The sector needs all levels of government to prioritise implementation of the principles, and to do so in a manner which achieves the goal of national harmonisation. Together with our allies in the #FixFundraising coalition, Justice Connect will continue to hold respective governments to account to ensure these crucial reforms are implemented as soon as possible.

After the principles are implemented, we will need governments to:

• Work together in a coordinated and collaborative way, and in consultation with the sector, to develop uniform regulatory guidance to support charities to understand and comply with the principles.
• Remain committed to maintaining nationally harmonised fundraising laws in years to come.

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