Religious Charitable Status and Public Benefit in Australia

The Commonwealth government proposes to enact a statutory definition of religious charity. Whether religious groups should prove that they provide public benefit in return for charitable status is contentious and the current law is confused. Moreover, overseas reforms diverge on this issue. Identifying an appropriate model for determining public benefit is important because charity law is a significant means of state control over religion. This article proposes three criteria - evidence, human rights and cost - by which to judge a public benefit charity test, and identifies three models that could be adopted. The model that is most consistent with the proposed criteria broadly accords with the current common law position.