Charities should operate according to the Queensland Rules

By Harry Phibbs
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Last March saw the sweeping victory for the Conservatives in Queensland led by Campbell Newman.

Among the changes brought in has been that charities funded by the state must sign up to a contract including the following clause:

“Where the Organisation receives 50 per cent or more of its total funding from Queensland Health and other Queensland Government agencies, the Organisation must not advocate for State or Federal legislative change.”

A spokesman said:

“It's now a clause that we apply.

“We're making it clear that we want to fund outcomes but not advocacy.

“When we sign an agreement for a grant that's what we put in.

“We want to fund outcomes. The dollars that are going into health are there to provide health outcomes. If we were there to fund political campaigning we wouldn't be the health department.”

Will the British Government apply the same principle?