NEWS & EVENTS
Media Release: Australia must commit to supporting Pacific trade capacity
The Constitution of the Office of Chief Trade Adviser (OCTA) was the main point of contention at the Forum Trade officials meeting in Palau last week, with Australia calling for a delay in the establishment of OCTA as an independent legal entity.Despite OCTA’s...
Take Action: Make a submission to the aid review and make aid fair!
This year the Australian Government will spend $4.3 billion in aid – and by 2015-16 this is expected to double to over $8 billion. Australia’s aid program can make a huge difference to the lives of millions of people.Unfortunately, the aid program...
AID/WATCH in the News: Charities can be political
In a David-versus-Goliath moment in 2006, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) deprived the small grassroots organisation Aid/Watch of their charitable status. Goliath was finally defeated in this recent judgment and the High Court confirmed that Aid/Watch can keep its...
AID/WATCH in the News: High Court finds Aid/Watch a charity
Wednesday's decision overturns a lower court ruling in favour of the Australian Taxation Office.The ATO had argued successfully that Aid/Watch's lobbying activities meant its main purpose was political and that it could not be categorised as a charitable...
AID/WATCH in the news: Does foreign aid do more harm than good?
THE STATESMAN MALCOLM FRASERAMID the backdrop of disasters in Australia and when foreign aid is under scrutiny some who maintain 'charity begins at home' may suggest that aid does more harm than good. My own experience has overwhelmingly convinced me that aid does far...
Aid Review
Dear All,The Australian Government has commissioned an Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness. This is our chance to make real changes to Australia’s aid program so that it makes a positive and long-lasting contribution to the lives of the poor.This year the...
Charities win tax ruling on lobbying
Article originally appeared in The Australian By Rowan Callick LOBBY groups that campaign against government policy will be entitled to claim charity status after a court ruling yesterday. The court swept aside Australian Taxation Office restrictions on charities'...
AID/WATCH in the News: Aid/Watch wins back charity status
The fight broke out four years ago, when the Commissioner of Taxation ruled that Aid/Watch wasn't entitled to the tax exempt status enjoyed by charities because it engaged in political activity. Since then a series of courts have considered the matter,...
Military spends $215m to give $37m in aid to Afghanistan
And the $37m that was spent directly on such projects included more than $6m used to build and maintain patrol bases and other military and security facilities used by the Afghan forces or shared with them.The remaining $215m has been spent on 'the net additional...
AID/WATCH in the News: Bridle on outspoken charities was wrong
The test case concerned Aid/Watch, a self-described ''activist'' group concerned with the relief of international poverty. It seeks to achieve its goals through unorthodox means for a charity. Rather than raising money for or engaging directly in anti-poverty...
AID/WATCH in the News: Charities win tax ruling on lobbying
The court swept aside Australian Taxation Office restrictions on charities' advocacy work, pronouncing that such campaigning could itself be a charitable activity entitling tax deductibility -- as long as it was intended for public benefit. This opens the door to...
High Court decision a win for charities
Aid/Watch and Maurice Blackburn lawyers say the decision (Aid/Watch incorporate v Commissioner of Taxation 2010), has enormous implications not just for Aid/Watch but for any charity that seeks to influence government policy in the public interest.The four-year legal...