Australia’s charities say their fear of political retribution for criticising government has “dissipated to some extent” after the Coalition’s election defeat, but have called on the new Labor government to enact reforms to protect their right to engage in political advocacy.
The charity sector has complained for at least five years that many non-government organisations were avoiding dissent or criticism of government policy due to fears they would be punished financially, either through the loss of funding agreements or by compliance action from a hostile regulator.
