Submission on Human Rights Advocacy to Henry Review of Taxation

The Human Rights Law Resource Centre, together with Blake Dawson, has made a Submission to the Henry Review of Australia's Tax System.  The submission requests that the Review Panel recommend amending the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) to introduce a deductible gift recipient category for human rights organisations. Currently, the common law definition of 'charity' excludes organisations involved in political activities (such as advocacy or lobbying government), which means that organisations involved in advocating social or structural change in favour of recognising human rights are denied access to a number of tax concessions.  This restrictive approach means that human rights organisations, which are not-for-profit entities working towards the betterment of society, are denied access to a number of tax concessions and are limited in their ability to attract donations from philanthropic organisations and individuals donors.

Download the HRLC/Blake Dawson submission here.