While Australians grapple with steep electricity bills and relentless pressure from rising rents, state and federal governments are directing billions of taxpayer dollars to charities, campaign groups and activist organisations pushing for major policy reforms.
New analysis obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia shows 100 selected charities, advocacy bodies and activist groups received a combined $2.24 billion in state and federal government funding over the past five years.
The amount of annual taxpayer funding flowing to those organisations has surged by 60 per cent across that period, rising from $352.5 million in 2020-21 to $564 million in 2024-25.
Over the same stretch, household budgets have been hit hard, with electricity prices climbing 22.4 per cent, housing costs increasing 6.8 per cent and rents rising a further 3.6 per cent.
Federal gross debt is projected to reach $1.051 trillion by next June, with forecasts suggesting it will climb to $1.249 trillion within four years.
The Institute of Public Affairs argues the scale of public funding is propping up an influential network of professional campaigners advocating for policies including a higher refugee intake, access to puberty blockers for children, an Indigenous Voice and tougher climate targets.
IPA Director of Research Morgan Begg said governments had built what he described as an extraordinary taxpayer-funded feedback loop.
‘Advocacy groups receiving substantial public money have in effect become government funded professional lobbyists talking back to government,’ Mr Begg said.
As Aussies are being crushed by soaring power bills and punishing rents, state and federal governments are funnelling billions of taxpayers dollars into activist groups lobbying for radical policy changes
The IPA’s ‘Stacking the Deck’ report examined Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission records and government grant documents.
The five year period reviewed covers both Coalition and Labor governments at federal and state levels.
Using its classifications, the IPA calculates that more than $1.04 billion went to organisations involved in diversity and multiculturalism advocacy.
Public health and so-called ‘nanny state’ organisations received $622 million, welfare and legal advocacy groups collected almost $310 million and nearly $170 million flowed to environmental organisations.
Groups supporting Indigenous co-governance or self-determination policies received another $96.6 million.
The report highlighted several politically explosive examples:
The Refugee Council of Australia received more than $381,000 while calling for the 13,750 place humanitarian intake to be more than doubled to 32,000.
Transcend Australia received almost $2.2 million and campaigned against the Queensland government’s decision to pause puberty blockers and cross sex hormones for new patients under 18. The Australian Council of Social Services and Human Rights Law Centre, which received more than $110 million and $867,000 respectively, also signed a letter demanding the restrictions be reversed.
Explosive new analysis obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia reveals that 100 selected charities, pressure groups and activist organisations received $2.24 billion from state and federal governments over the past five years
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW received $4.7 million while campaigning against new or expanded coal mines. The Environmental Defenders Office received almost $12 million while using legal challenges to contest government approvals for developments and major projects.
IPA Research Fellow Jordan Abou-Zeid says the funding pattern has been deliberate rather than accidental.
‘This spending is not waste. It is deliberate and intended to achieve a particular objective of stacking the deck of public debate,’ he tells Daily Mail Australia.
Importantly, the $2.24 billion spend represents the total government funding received by organisations that also engage in advocacy. It doesn’t mean that every dollar was spent directly on lobbying.
Some recipients perform vital community services in addition to their advocacy and lobbying work.
Cancer Councils, for example, fund research and provide transport and other assistance to patients. They also campaign for government intervention in areas like tobacco policy, vaping, alcohol, and food labelling and advertising.
There is no suggestion any organisations mentioned breached their grant conditions or improperly diverted money earmarked for services specifically into lobbying. But the funding received doesn’t preclude any organisations from lobbying and advocacy, nor does it force them into a narrower remit.
‘The fact that there are so many examples of left-leaning advocacy and no examples on the other side highlights the blatant ideological bias in government grant making,’ Mr Abou-Zeid said.
IPA Director of Research Morgan Begg (pictured) says that governments have created an extraordinary taxpayer funded feedback loop
The IPA is itself a conservative think tank that campaigns for free markets, individual liberty and limited government. It says it receives no government funding and is supported by memberships and private donations.
Mr Begg said that Australians shouldn’t be forced to bankroll one side of contested political debates:
‘Government funding of advocacy groups clearly needs to end, as these policy questions are matters which should be decided only by Australians,’ he said.
The Prime Minister’s office has been contacted for comment.
