Report to Government

Private funding

5.3The Board wishes to encourage Australian companies to contribute financially (as well as in-kind) to the Anzac Centenary. The Board believes that the Australian corporate sector will wish to contribute to, and be associated with, such an important national commemoration, not for commercial advantage but as part of their community involvement. Private funding will be of considerable benefit to the Centenary, supporting a more substantial and varied program, and allowing the Government to target its funding to priority national proposals, proposals that are not suited to private funding, and to facilitate commencement of time-constrained projects.

5.4The engagement of the corporate sector with the Anzac Centenary program is certainly welcome but there are sensitivities that must be taken into account, which the Board believes are well recognised within the community and business sectors, as well as government.

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  First, it will be essential to be able to demonstrate to the public and business sector that all monies or in-kind support received by the Government have gone into Anzac-related activities, and that any surplus is not taken by the Government for consolidated revenue but is directed towards Anzac-related legacies.
  
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  Second, while corporate sector donors will be looking to derive reputational benefit from association with the Anzac Centenary, they would recognise that this will best be achieved by demonstrating to the public that they are supporting a community cause. This means that the recognition of donors must be dignified. The donations should be akin to companies’ community service programs and not their commercial marketing.
  

5.5The Board’s private funding coordinator, Mr Lindsay Fox, has been discussing funding with the corporate sector. The Board believes that corporate donations of reasonable total magnitude will be forthcoming over the period of the Centenary if a supportive and principled framework is put in place. It is expected that the value of donations will grow gradually over a period of years.

5.6Corporate funding contributions for the Centenary will be facilitated once the Government has decided on those elements of the Centenary program that it endorses for possible corporate funding donations. Certainty on the specific projects that the Australian Government has endorsed will be a major boost to attracting public donations. For this reason, the Board has indicated in this report the main projects and areas of the Centenary program that it proposes could be appropriate for corporate funding. These include a travelling exhibition, an Australian Centre of Excellence for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research, state and territory government proposals (see next section) and support for the AE2 initiative.

5.7The establishment of an Anzac Centenary Public Fund to hold corporate and other private donations, and which is listed as a Deductible Gift Recipient fund for tax deduction purposes, will greatly assist in facilitating collection of a pool of private donations. All contributors will be recognised on the Anzac Centenary website. It should be noted that donors to the Public Fund will not be able to use the Anzac Centenary logo in recognition of their donation, as this will be seen as receiving a benefit in return for the donation and impact on the application of tax deductibility.

5.8The Board recognises that companies might come forward to offer funding on a sponsorship basis, and in particular propose to associate themselves with specific Centenary projects. The Board recommends that the Government should not rule this out, but that recognition of such sponsors should not be such as to commercialise the commemorative projects and must be consistent with the dignity and inclusiveness of the commemoration. Therefore such proposals would need careful and sensitive consideration.

5.9Funds collected from private sector donations must be kept distinctly separate from government funds. Arrangements need to be transparent and meet the highest levels of probity to ensure community and business confidence in the collection, maintenance and use of private donations.

State and territory proposals

5.10As part of the ongoing development of their own Anzac Centenary programs, a number of state and territory governments have submitted costed flagship proposals to the Australian Government seeking funding support.

5.11The Victorian Government has announced a commitment of $22.5 million towards a $45 million redevelopment at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, aimed at improving the Shrine’s educational infrastructure. The project would see the current disused undercroft area used as dedicated exhibition space and educational facilities. A dedicated exhibition would house the ‘Devanha’ lifeboat used in the Gallipoli landings. The Victorian Government is seeking a matching $22.5 million commitment from the Australian Government.⁷

5.12The Northern Territory Government has requested Australian Government funding support for a proposed Borella Ride educational and commemorative event. This aims to recreate, over a two-to-three-week period, the efforts of Albert Borella who, with an Indigenous Australian, Charlie, walked, swam, rode, travelled by horse-drawn coach, rail and sea to enlist for the First World War. Despite knock-backs, Albert Borella was finally successful in enlisting and received a Military Medal in May 1917 and the Victoria Cross in September 1918. He also re-enlisted for service in the Second World War. As well as a re-enactment, the Borella Ride will seek to discover more about the Indigenous man, Charlie.

5.13The New South Wales Government has submitted a funding proposal to the Australian Government for an Education and Interpretation Centre to be added to the Anzac Memorial Building at Hyde Park, Sydney. The Board is aware of other smaller scale proposals and that other states and territories are contemplating their own flagship projects. It is anticipated that further requests for funding support from the Australian Government will be forthcoming.

5.14The Board has considered these proposals—whether they are firm, costed government-to-government requests or emerging ideas. Notwithstanding their merits, it is clear that total state and territory funding requests of the Australian Government will be substantial and some requests are not yet fully defined. In the Board’s view, the total funding request of the Australian Government is unsustainable. The Board’s suggested approach is that an equitable share of donated funding to the Centenary, collected in the Anzac Centenary Public Fund, be earmarked as a funding contribution for state and territory proposals. A consistent and fair approach to sharing this pool between states and territories should be determined. This approach recognises that many corporations have close ties to particular states and territories and their capital cities, and state and territory governments and local stakeholders should be well placed to approach these corporate citizens. The Board considers it is well placed to provide strategic advice to the Government on priorities relating to the disbursement of donated funds.