Co-operative Mutuals Foundations Network – Guest Dr Andrew Leigh

18 April 2023

Leaders of Co-operative Mutuals Foundations Network recently invited Dr the Hon Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury and a great supporter of co-operatives and mutuals, to present at their recent meeting. Dr Leigh spoke about the Australian Government’s charity law reform agenda and the vital role of member-based charities and foundations.

Dr Leigh outlined the cultural trends relating to community participation, charity and volunteering we’ve seen in Australia. He reports, since the late 1970s, Australia has seen a significant decline in the average number of organisations each person is a member of. This means organisations such as Scouts, Rotary, Lions, Guides, churches, political groups and sporting clubs have a smaller membership base than they did 50 years ago.

Today, Australians are also less likely to volunteer – and the downward trend accelerated during Covid, with the percentage of Australian adults who volunteer dropping from just over 30 per cent to 25 per cent of the population. Not surprisingly, the proportion of Australians who donate to charity has also reduced, with philanthropy now being seen as a contribution made by an elite few.

Social connections have taken a similar turn. During the mid 1980s, the average Australian had nine close friends. Today, that number has shrunk to five. Even our neighbourhood connections have shrunk – in the 90s, most people counted 10 neighbours among their friends, but today that number has halved. As Dr Leigh says, “all of this really points to the need for strong community movements”.

In his role as Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Dr Leigh is actively working to address this situation. The government has set a target to double philanthropy by 2030 and is working to improve the rules around charitable deductibility, as well as engaging with the charitable sector to tackle issues such as IT capacity and reducing red tape. Most importantly, Dr Leigh asks “how we change the norms around philanthropy?”; to have a viable charitable sector, Australians need to see ourselves as more “a nation of ‘we’, and less a nation of ‘me’”.

Dr Leigh has two visions for his role. One is to create “a nation that has a smaller gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. The other is [to create a] community and nation where people know more of their friends, are more engaged with their neighbours, and more likely to join community groups”.

When it came to its impact on communities, Dr Leigh points out that the pandemic changed behaviours: “it was a challenge for community and people got out of the habit of going to church. They got out of the habit of going along to community sport. They got out of the habit of attending the political party meetings … and all of those organisations have struggled to rebuild”. He sees the solution as being driven in part by legislation, but also through intentional community engagement.

The nature of volunteering has also shifted, with employee programs often creating a “single day” approach, where staff teams provide hands-on support as a one-off initiative. Dr Leigh highlights the need to accommodate this episodic volunteering, noting that it may result in a long-term commitment down the track. He notes that another key to successful volunteering programs is a good match between volunteer and organisation, which can be achieved through matching websites. This facilitates meaningful connections where volunteers can offer their unique skills to organisations who need them.

Asked about the need for such a large number of charities in Australia (over 60,000), Dr Leigh points out that social purpose startups often bring essential innovation to the charity sector. However, he notes that the sector should remain open to mergers so that organisations can meet the ever-changing needs of their clients and maintain their viability. This is an issue beyond charities, however, with businesses (including co-operatives and mutuals) facing similar pressures.

One of the strengths of co-operatives and mutuals is that these organisations reflect the diversity of their communities and have done so for many years. However, Dr Leigh points out the need for the sector to ensure its message is centred in the here and now: “It’s vital that people see … their relevance to a modern era”. Dr Leigh believes in the transformative power of co-operation, noting that “co-operatives and mutuals do offer a really valuable alternative”.

About the Co-operative and Mutual Charitable Foundations Community of Practice meetings

The BCCM along with UK counterpart (Co-operatives UK) and the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) host Co-operative and Mutual Charitable Foundations (Community of Practice) meetings. Attended by 40 active members, including global foundations and charities associated with co-operatives and mutuals, the Community of Practice includes a range of Australian Foundations that provide millions of dollars of funding annually to a range of causes every year as well as large global charities (foundations from Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Kenya, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, UK and USA).

At each online community of practice, a special speaker is invited to present. Minister Leigh was chosen due to his portfolio resposibilities and his keen understanding of the co-operative and mutual movement and model. He has an inspiring track record in relation to charity reform. The group was provided with a rundown of the work of the Australian Government as well as the Minister’s thoughts about the connection between charity and member-based organisations.