Charities fight Coalition’s attempt to limit advocacy

Australian development and aid charities have joined forces to fight government moves expected to limit their ability to advocate for policy changes, passing a strongly worded motion at an annual conference to kick off a concerted campaign by the sector.

The Coalition will introduced legislation to parliament in the coming weeks that will ban or limit the use of donations from overseas for advocacy in Australia.

The move follows a parliamentary report into the 2016 federal election, which called for a ban on foreign donations not just to political parties and “associated entities” but also to “third parties”, which could include any organisation or charity that advocates changes to policy in Australia. At the annual general meeting of the Australian Council for International Development (Acfid) – the peak body of Australia’s international development and aid charities – a motion was unanimously passed on Wednesday that called on the government to drop any plans to limit how much charities can engage in advocacy, or how much they can receive from overseas philanthropists.

The motion was moved by the chief executive of WWF Australia, Dermot O’Gorman, and seconded by the chief executive of Oxfam Australia, Helen Szoke. It was passed unanimously by the membership, which includes organisations such as medical colleges, the Salvation Army, Save the Children, Australian Red Cross and World Vision …

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Guardian