2011 - Informing the Australian nonprofit sector

In this month's podcast we're going to be hearing from Allan English and Simon Herd. They both spoke at the Centre's Annual Alumni Anniversary Breakfast which was sponsored by the FIA. Local entrepreneur Allan English will chart his journey from part-time giver to full time philanthropist and he's going to lay on the line what business folk want from charities.

For this month's podcast we'll be hearing from Terry de March when he spoke at an ACPNS event. Terry is a specialist in policy and strategy, organisational development and learning. Due to the nature of the recording, there may be a bit of loss in the audio quality but we hope that you'll enjoy it anyway.

For this month's podcast we'll be speaking with Mark Stephens. Mark is a Fleet Contracts Manager for Blue Care and will be sharing with us about his work in making fleet safety a core function of fleet management.

For this month's podcast we'll be speaking with Dr Matthew Turnour. Matthew is the Managing Director at Neumann and Turnour Lawyers and heads the Corporate and Commercial Law Division of the practice. He is also a Senior Research Fellow here at QUT, teaching on the ethics of Philanthropic and Nonprofit Organizations. Today Matthew will be speaking with us on the presumptions associated with public benefit charities and the legalities associated with such presumptions.

Joining us this month is Lesley Harris and Colin Ball. Colin Ball is here to comment on his new controversial book 'It's The Community, Stupid!', which sets out a manifesto for radical change in the Australian Not-for-Profit sector and also takes aim at government, corporations and the education system. However, first of all we will be hearing from Lesley Harris. Lesley has recently completed an Internship at The Myer Foundation in Melbourne. She will share about her experience and the research that she undertook while doing the internship.

Dr Jill Franz from QUT School of Design will provide an insight into the Livingin Project, a collaborative project involving the not-for-profit community organisation Kyabra, QUT and a group of design practitioners and consultants. Dr Jill Franz is a Professor in the School of Design, Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. She has extensive experience in senior management at the discipline, school and faculty level as well as in design research, curriculum development and teaching. She has successfully supervised 3 PhD students and 3 Masters' students to completion and is currently supervising 11 PhD students undertaking research in a range of areas including: design and healthy environments; architectural design methodology and practice; universal design and design for disability; work environments and productivity; design discourse and education; and school library environments. Nick Ward will share about his new UK based charity, Friday People, set-up to help create paid work, training and mentoring for unemployed young people. Dr Jill Franz is a Professor in the School of Design, Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. She has extensive experience in senior management at the discipline, school and faculty level as well as in design research, curriculum development and teaching. She has successfully supervised 3 PhD students and 3 Masters' students to completion and is currently supervising 11 PhD students undertaking research in a range of areas including: design and healthy environments; architectural design methodology and practice; universal design and design for disability; work environments and productivity; design discourse and education; and school library environments. Nicholas Ward, the founder of Friday People, is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He draws on extensive commercial experience ranging from directorships in marketing, advertising and media consultancies and since 2001 has taken on parallel roles leading fundraising directorates in service delivery charities. He is married with nine children and now lives in Kent, in South East England. Nicholas Ward, the founder of Friday People, is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He draws on extensive commercial experience ranging from directorships in marketing, advertising and media consultancies and since 2001 has taken on parallel roles leading fundraising directorates in service delivery charities. He is married with nine children and now lives in Kent, in South East England

Prof Myles McGregor Lowndes will provide a brief examination of the latest data on tax-deductible giving in Australia by individual taxpayers as claimed on their 2008-09 tax returns. Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes OAM is the Director of The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS). He has advised and held board positions in a large variety of nonprofit organisations over a period of twenty-five years. Solicitor with a current practice certificate (admitted in the Supreme Court of Queensland and High Court of Australia). He is a consultant to McCullough Robertson Lawyers engaged solely in high level legal and taxation advice to large national and international nonprofit organisations. He is also a member of the ATO Charities Consultative Committee. He is presently a Governor of the Queensland Community Foundation and member of the Community Gaming Benefit Fund which distributes up to $35m annually to community organisations. In June 2003, Myles was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) "For service to the community by providing education and support in legal, financial and administrative matters to nonprofit organisations." Links with sector: Queensland Law Society, National Law Institute, Fundraising Institute - Australia, Founding Director - Australian and New Zealand Third Sector Research Limited, Volunteering Australia, International Third Sector Research, Association for Research on Voluntary and Nonprofit Associations. Dr Oonagh Breen is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Law, University College Dublin where her teaching includes comparative charity law and policy. A graduate of UCD and Yale Law School and a qualified barrister, her research appraises the potential for the development of more structured legal relationships between the State and the non-profit sector from the joint perspectives of regulation of the sector and facilitation of its work in a comparative context. A former Fulbright Scholar and holder of an Emerging Scholar Award from ARNOVA (2006), Oonagh was awarded an ICNL/Cordaid Distinguished Research Award in 2008 for her work in the area of European regulation of charitable organization. Oonagh has spent time as a visiting Research Fellow at the Hauser Centre for Nonprofits, Harvard (2009) and as a visiting Scholar at the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law, Brooklyn Law School (2010). She has published extensively in the field of charity regulation both nationally and internationally and has participated actively in policy processes leading to the reform of charity law, including fundraising regulation, in Ireland. Most recently, she was appointed to the Special Advisory Council of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Washington DC.Dr Oonagh Breen's presentation from the Reforming Fundraising Regulation Conference on fundraising regulation in the UK and Ireland.

Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP opens the Reforming Fundraising Regulation Conference by recognising the unique strengths of the nonprofit sector and the critical role that fundraising plays in preserving the independence and innovation of nonprofit organisations. Tanya was elected to the Australian Parliament as the Federal Member for Sydney at the 1998 federal election. In her first speech to House of Representatives, Tanya spoke of her strong interest in social justice and her conviction that ordinary people working together can achieve positive change. Tanya became a Shadow Minister after the 2004 federal election and for the next three years was responsible for a range of portfolios including childcare, work and family, women, youth, human services and housing. Following the election of the Rudd Government in 2007, Tanya was appointed Minister for Housing and Minister for the Status of Women. As Minister for Housing, Tanya delivered a wide ranging reform agenda, including significant new investments in affordable rental housing. Tanya was also responsible for a Homelessness White Paper that set out a comprehensive national strategy to tackle homelessness in Australia. As Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya was responsible for development of the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children. Following the 2010 federal election Tanya was appointed Minister for Human Services and Minister for Social Inclusion. Tanya lives in Sydney with her husband Michael and children Anna, Joseph and Louis. Tanya is fond of bushwalking and 18th Century novels. Robert Fitzgerald was appointed as a full-time Commissioner in January 2004 and been recently reappointed until 2014. Robert is the Presiding Commissioner on the study into the Contribution of the Not for Profit Sector and a Commissioner on the current inquiries into Gambling and Executive Remuneration. He is the convener of the Indigenous Disadvantage Working Group of the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision, which produces the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators report. Robert has a diverse background and extensive experience in commerce, law, public policy and community services. Prior to being appointed to the Commission, Robert was the Community and Disability Services Commissioner and Deputy Ombudsman in NSW. Robert practiced as a commercial lawyer in NSW for over 20 years, including with the firm Clayton Utz, and established his own law practice specialising in franchising, licensing and trade practices. During that same time he was engaged as a senior management consultant, including with Horwath Accountants and Management Consultants (now Deloitte), as well as holding senior executive positions with a number of private trading companies. For over 30 years he has also been involved in a voluntary capacity in numerous community services. He is currently a Director of The Benevolent Society and Foyer Foundation.Robert Fitzgerald will give his presentation on the place of fundraising regulation in the wider Australian nonprofit reform agenda.

Andrew Thomas joins us to speak about the tax structures for giving to charities, family foundations and donor advised funds in the US and Australia. Philippa Hawke discusses how a global movement of diverse children's telephone and online counselling services developed consensus on a set of minimum standards for their organisations. Andrew is the General Manager Philanthropy responsible for Perpetual's total Philanthropic Services including the management of over 450 Charitable Trusts, Private Ancillary Funds and The Perpetual Foundation. In Andrew's professional career he has been the Executive Director of a large national not-for-profit organisation which operated in every State and Territory in Australia, providing a very hands on view to the matrix of various regulations that non-profit organisations face. Andrew's professional qualifications include a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy), CPA and MBA. Philippa Hawke has a background in social work and law, and holds post-graduate qualifications in Business (Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies) and Health Services Management. She has specialised in the evaluation of mental health, counselling and youth services in both government and community sectors. She has held the position of senior researcher and strategist with Boystown Australia for the past 5 years, has been a member of the Supervisory team at the national telephone and online children's counselling service, Kids Help Line, for over eleven years, and has managed face to face child and family services for the De La Salle Brothers. Philippa also spent 10 years working in government and was manager of a community mental health service recognised internationally for its client centered approach and inclusion in service planning, delivery and evaluation. Philippa has presented papers in the United States on developing client empowering practices in health services and was involved in the development of the first crisis response alternatives to hospitalisation for young people with serious mental illness in Australia. Philippa has just completed a two year commitment as the Asia-Pacific regional representative on a 5 person taskforce developing international quality management standards for child helplines through the Child Helpline International network and is now contributing to their development of impact assessment tools for child helplines.

Linda Lavarch, recently appointed Chair of the Federal Government's newly formed Not-for-Profit Sector Reform Council, joins us to discuss the purpose and proposed activities of the council. Linda is a former State Member of the Queensland Parliament serving from 1997 to 2009. She represented the then seat of Kurwongbah on the northern outskirts of Brisbane. In 2005 she was appointed Attorney-General – Queensland's first woman Attorney-General. Incidentally Linda was the first woman lawyer elected to the Queensland Parliament. During her service she chaired the Scrutiny of Legislation Committee, the Members Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee and headed a number of inquiries ranging from the decriminalisation of Altruistic Surrogacy to reforms in the residential rental market. Linda is a lawyer having gained her law degree from QUT. She also holds a graduate diploma in legal practices from QUT. She currently serves as a Director on the Boards of The Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation and Hockey Queensland. Dr Wendy Scaife will discuss donations to the Premier's Flood Appeal and giving to disasters in general. As a Senior Research Fellow, Wendy (Bachelor of Business (Communication), Master of Business Management, PhD) researches and lectures in nonprofit management and marketing and fundraising. Her Master's thesis focused on corporate sponsorship of community causes and her PhD on improving the marketing and funding for Australian medical research. Recent team and individual work includes; a project on building a culture of giving in a city; motivations and barriers for high net worth giving; reviewing entry level fundraising training for Australia; the year-long Giving Australia project; work on best practice fundraising in the arts, sport and medical research; benchmarking educational fundraising and looking at education and training needs of nonprofit marketing professionals. Wendy was formerly a state CEO of a major health nonprofit, and its national Deputy CEO. She is a member of the Fundraising Institute Australia, a Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of Australia and is on the advisory panel of Research Australia Philanthropy. Dr Sharon Newnam speaks about her research into car fleet safety and driving behaviour in and by nonprofit organisations. Dr Sharon Newnam is currently employed as Australian Postdoctoral Research Fellow on an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant investigating fleet safety in the nonprofit sector. This three year research project involves developing, implementing, and evaluating three interventions designed to improve safety outcomes in the non-profit sector. Dr Newnam's PhD thesis was undertaken at QUT and examined the multilevel organisational structure in the management of fleet safety. Dr Newnam has extensive experience in designing and managing quantitative research designs, particularly related to the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions designed to improve road safety outcomes. Dr Newnam is well published in the area of occupational driving safety with 10 publications as first author, a government report (ATSB) and has presented at several national and international conferences.