THE Catholic Church is worried a draft Charities Bill could threaten the status of some of its entities as charities.
In its submission to the Board of Taxation’s Consultation on the Definition of a Charity, Catholic agencies said the draft legislation was ‘unworkable’ in the way it would apply to the Church.
The submission also argued that some of the restrictions that could result could be seen as ‘a restriction on religious liberty and religious freedom’.
Catholic organisations contributing to the preparation of the submission included the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Australian Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes, Catholic Health Australia (CHA), Catholic Welfare Australia (CWA), National Catholic Education Commission, Melbourne archdiocese (in its own right and on behalf of all dioceses) and Catholic Church Insurances Ltd.
Treasurer Peter Costello released the exposure draft of the bill on July 22, and asked the Board of Taxation to report on its consultation by December 1.
CHA chief executive officer Francis Sullivan said there were concerns about how agencies such as Catholic private hospitals, welfare services and aged care services would be affected by the legislation.
The Church’s submission said the bill was unworkable for the Church because the Church had a complex structure comprising many entities, but the draft legislation required an assessment to be made of the characteristics of each entity in isolation.
‘If such entities are required to be assessed in isolation, some entities may cease to qualify as charities.
Any restriction on the ability of the Church to respond to need, or any legislative framework that makes this more difficult, such as in the bill, may be seen as a restriction on religious liberty and religious freedom,’ the submission said.
Mr Costello, in responding to Church concerns earlier this year, said the draft kept to the current situation in providing that a charity must be not for profit, have a dominant purpose or purposes that are charitable, and be for the public benefit.
