Charity Law for the 21st Century (LAWS90055)

The place of charity law in the life of the nation is a hot topic. As the government retreats from the direct provision of social welfare and public goods, and as charities seek as never before to integrate commerce and advocacy with their traditional purposes, much attention is being focused on charity law. These profound developments also suggest that charity law is becoming as important to contemporary societies as corporations law or administrative law. In this subject, we will look in depth at the key elements of this critical body of law. We will reflect on important questions raised by charity law in its contemporary setting, questions relating to the definition of charity, the taxation of charities, and charity regulation. We will adopt comparative, theoretical and practical perspectives in working through these questions. The subject will be taught by two of Australia’s leading charity law experts.

Principal topics include:

• The legal definition of charity in Australia and other analogous jurisdictions
• The public benefit test and recent developments in the law of public benefit in Australia and abroad
• The extent to which charities can undertake for-profit activities and member benefit arrangements
• The treatment of religion in charity law
• The treatment of political advocacy in charity law
• The tax treatment of charities from a critical perspective
• Charities and discrimination on grounds like race, religion and sex
• A comparative examination of the regulation of the charity sector.