Research Australia’s submission to the initial draft of the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill 2017, in January 2018, highlighted that the Bill would have a disproportionate and unintended impact on the not for profit sector, including many health and medical research organisations. We called for the Bill to be amended to avoid these unintended consequences, and are gratified to see that this outcome has been achieved with the latest amendments.
The health and medical research sector is regularly invited to respond to reviews and consultations by Government departments and agencies and to Parliamentary inquiries. We are pleased to see that these activities do not fall within the new definition of electoral matter or the associated definition of electoral expenditure, effectively resolving our concerns with the previous iteration of the Bill.
Research Australia’s submission
Update: The Bill was passed by the Parliament on 27 November 2018.