New research shows Donations from Australia’s wealthiest lag in comparison to their rise in wealth

The Centre for Social Impact’s Australian-first report investigating trends in Australian income, wealth, and philanthropic giving revealed that even though the affluence of Australia’s wealthiest has risen significantly over the years, their donations—with the exception of a few individuals—have stayed mostly the same and have actually lagged behind international peers. 

Established in 2008, the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) is a national research and education collaboration built on the foundation of four of Australia’s leading universities: UNSW, The University of Western Australia, Swinburne University of Technology, and Flinders University. 

According to the report, the wealth held by the Top 200 Australian Financial Review (AFR) Rich List for 2022 has grown by 15.7% over the previous year. At the same time, the Centre for Social Impact research, which uses the best available data, also showed that the donations by those in the Financial Review Philanthropy 50 List for 2022 had decreased 2.3% from the previous year. 

“If the top-200 wealthiest Australians donated one percent of their wealth, it would generate $5.55 billion for the sector – around the estimates of what it would cost to provide subsidized dental care or access to affordable childcare for everyone.” 

ATO data analyzed in the report showed only 2% of top income earners gave a higher proportion of their income than people in lower income groups; 5% of top income earners gave 1% or more of their income and more than half of top income earners in 2018-2019 did not report any tax-deductible donations or gifts at all. 

In terms of international comparisons, Australia gives a lower percentage of GDP (0.81%) compared to the United Kingdom (0.96%), Canada (1%), New Zealand (1.84%), and the United States (2.1%). 

“Charities play a critical role in society, and this has been particularly evident through recent natural disasters and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Encouraging Australians who are vastly wealthy to donate more of their wealth would transform social outcomes in this country.” said Arminé Nalbandian, CEO of CSI

The report also suggests that as high net wealth grows, more ideas for compulsory giving (for example, an inheritance tax) could be put forward to add considerable resources to the charitable sector.

Menchie Khairuddin

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Menchie Khairuddin is a writer Deputy Content Manager at Akolade and content producer for Third Sector News. She is passionate about social affairs specifically in mixed, multicultural heritage and not-for-profit organisations.

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