Axing church charity status would hurt community

Churches found by the Royal Commission to have failed to protect children from the scourge of sexual abuse should be stripped of their charitable status, according to a former tax commissioner. While understandable given the crimes uncovered by the Commission, such calls are mistaken. They would merely threaten the good work being done by many religious institutions today.

The advancement of religion has been a charitable purpose under the law since the Statute of Elizabeth in 1601. For a purpose to be charitable, it must be beneficial to the community. And many religious institutions — like hospitals, welfare agencies, and schools — continue to confer great benefits enjoyed by all Australians. Charitable status helps support them in this work.

Most cases of child abuse are historic, committed in an age when some church leaders — who should have known better — turned a blind eye, or even denied that offences had been committed. Community anger about the egregious breach of trust by the churches still rages, and victims continue to pursue the perpetrators of sexual abuse through the courts. Many face prison.

Redress for victims rightly focuses on the terrible suffering they endured long ago at the hands of people they trusted and respected. Past offences are being tried according to the criminal law. And the churches’ systems for dealing with sexual abuse have also been reformed and strengthened. The Anglican Church of Australia, to which I belong, has zero tolerance of any sexual misconduct.

If churches had failed to respond to the scandal of child sexual abuse and failed to establish systems for protecting children, stripping them of charitable status would have been entirely justified. But stripping away charitable tax status from all religious institutions would simply punish the good work being done by the churches today that benefits all Australians.

Let the churches continue to reform their structures, to put a stop to any abusive practices, and to punish perpetrators without fear or favour. And the let the churches be judged by the criminal law. Any failure by religious institutions to do these things will not — and must not — be tolerated by the community. Only then would it be fitting to review — and remove — the privilege of charitable status.