We invite you to attend our Annual General Meeting featuring special guest speaker Jonathon Welch AM, creator of the ‘School of Hard Knocks’ choir on Thursday 28 October 2021, 11.30am-1.00pm, online via zoom. Jonathon Welch AM is a multi award winning singer, conductor, teacher, composer, director and recording artist who has performed around the world with some of our biggest stars. His work creating choirs for the homeless and disadvantaged in Australia was the subject of the internationally acclaimed ARIA, Logie and Helpmann award winning TV documentary ‘Choir of Hard Knocks’. In 2009 Jonathon created and launched ‘Social Inclusion Week’ making Australia the only country in the world to celebrate Social Inclusion nationally. He is also the driving force behind the arts, cultural and wellbeing program ‘Play IT Forward’. For more information about Jonathon see https://www.jonathonwelch.com/. For more information and to book your place click here.

The Australian Government has recently announced that the Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue will inquire into and report on the contribution of tax and regulation on housing affordability and supply in Australia. Community Industry Group will be developing a submission to the Inquiry and we encourage everyone to have their say on this important issue. Remember, you don’t need to write a detailed, academically referenced paper – a simple email is fine. And you can find some simple, sector developed recommendations on the Everybody’s Home website. Inquiry terms of reference and how to make a submission are available here.  

Charities and not for profit organisations (NFPs) need your support. Write a letter to your local Members of Parliament to protect the rights of charities and NFPs to participate in direct, or indirect, advocacy activities. The Federal Government is proposing significant changes to ACNC Governance Standard 3. If passed, the draconian regulations will prohibit charities and NFPs from participating in, or supporting other organisations with, peaceful protests and common advocacy activities. 59,000 charities across Australia work tirelessly on limited resources to support disadvantaged and vulnerable communities across Australia. They now face being restricted by severe and excessive regulation for giving voice to the communities which they serve. Organisations will need to demonstrate compliance with the new regulation, increasing the administrative burden charities and NFPs already face, and diverting more resources away from frontline service delivery and into paperwork. A list of Federal MPs is available here for you to contact. […]