The Local & Independent News Association (LINA) welcomes the recommendation of the Productivity Commission’s philanthropy inquiry that access to Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status be expanded to include public interest journalism.
The Future Foundations for Giving inquiry report, released publicly on 18 July, makes several recommendations to the Government, including an overhaul of the DGR system.
The inquiry found that about 40 percent of registered charitable news organisations have DGR status, but “this has been obtained through meeting the various criteria of different DGR endorsement categories, such as a PBI or the Register of Cultural Organisations, or through seeking specific listing”. The reforms, which were supported by LINA’s submissions to the inquiry, would allow public interest journalism charities a more direct route to register for DGR status.
LINA Executive Director appearing before the Productivity Commission at a philanthropy inquiry hearing in February 2024.
Public interest journalism is one of the foundational pillars of a functional democracy, builds social cohesion, fosters community engagement, and plays a critical role in public safety, emergency preparedness and community resilience.
As the inquiry report noted, journalism can also prompt giving to other important causes by drawing attention to specific areas of need.
While the media industry is facing significant challenges, studies are showing more and more people are willing to donate to support trusted, independent news.
The Commission anticipates that the recommended changes would increase the overall number of charities that can receive tax deductible donations from about 25,000 charities to around 30,000 to 40,000 charities.
In its submissions to the inquiry, LINA had also recommended that a defined charity subtype be established for public interest journalism, instead of ‘shoehorning’ journalism activities into the broad ‘other’ category of DGR endorsements. The Commission did not, however, “find a case for adding an explicit purpose of journalism to the list of charity subtypes”.
Find out more about how LINA supports public interest journalism here.
See LINA’s policy submissions here.