An election surprise, a Press Club debate, and investment inertia: 2025 in review

The federal election outcome caught most people by surprise. The current government is now in a very strong position in terms of numbers in the House of Representatives – although it doesn’t enjoy a majority in the Senate. This has made passing its legislative agenda through Parliament a challenge. This is now the norm: holding the balance of power in the Senate is very much the exception in Australian politics.

Even the learned commentariat didn’t anticipate the public and political demise of the Coalition as a serious alternative government as the year progressed. Like most people in Australia, the charity and not-for-profit sector is generally not supportive of the policies the Coalition are now championing, but we shouldn’t underestimate the negative impact of not having a strong alternative government.

When it comes to government policy making and implementation of reform, simply wanting to do the right thing is not often enough motive to drive change and investment. It takes a range of political, economic, legal and other pressures to drive sustainable change, and without a serious alternative government, these drivers of government action are diminished. Already I think we are seeing some signs that inaction is perceived as safer than action in important areas of government policy.

One of the highlights of 2025 from my perspective was the co-hosting of a not-for-profits pre-election forum at the National Press Club. The fact that one of the most significant political institutions in the country chose to provide a platform for issues associated with our sector two weeks out from an election was a major achievement.

As part of the National Press Club event, the Community Council for Australia (CCA) was able to launch a new and updated version of The Australia We Want, supported by the AMP Foundation. This was another important achievement that again staked out the ground around the values that matter to our sector and the communities we serve.

Unfortunately, the idea that our sector mattered was not a consistent theme in 2025.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the year for me was my experience advocating for a more flexible approach to employment of people on fixed term contracts within charities. Not only was I relatively isolated in arguing the case for the sector against unions and others, but the temporary outcome CCA achieved has still left many charities struggling to deal with difficult dilemmas over permanent versus contract staff. This issue is far from over.

One of the major concerns I have about this issue is that it highlights the lack of data about our sector. We don’t know how many people are employed permanently or on contract in our sector. Perhaps more importantly, we don’t know who the workers in our sector are, their gender, qualifications, ethnicity, and terms and conditions.

There are over 1.5 million people employed in our sector, and at least double that number of volunteers, but there is no sector-wide employment information, let alone a workforce development plan. In purely economic terms, I doubt any industry group that employed over 10% of all workers in Australia would be so under-researched and undervalued.

The lack of investment in understanding our sector reflects negatively on the relative importance that is placed on our sector, not just by government, but also by researchers and others. The paucity of information also reflects on the sector itself, and how much of our time and energy we’re prepared to invest in collective research and advocacy.

There were many good times and some not-so-welcome throughout 2025, but I continue to be uplifted by the amazing people I get to work with and at times represent.

I do want to end this very brief reflection on a positive note. One of the pleasures of my role is that most days I get to choose a cartoon of the day and review some of the best satire from around the world as part of CCA’s Daily Diary service to members.

I know many in our sector are continuously dismayed by the self-centred nihilism of the current US leadership, and to help soothe my despair, I have taken to consuming my US news in part through the very clever Diaper Diplomacy. I find it remarkable that when we take the actual voices and spoken words of the US leadership and put them into animated babies, they become comical. Even the most ignorant and offensive misrepresentation of reality seems bizarrely cute when a round-faced baby is the orator.

Finally, I want to thank those who have supported CCA throughout 2025, especially all at Our Community and the amazing Community Advocate journalists – Matthew Schulz, Nick Place, and Nick’s predecessor Greg Thom – for their patience with this writer who tends to deliver after hours and after deadlines.

I’m looking forward to a wonderful 2026 for our sector where we can all work to ensure our advocacy and effectiveness grow stronger.

David Crosbie has been CEO of the Community Council for Australia for the past decade and has spent more than a quarter of a century leading significant not-for-profit organisations, including the Mental Health Council of Australia, the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, and Odyssey House Victoria.

Editor's note: This is David's last column for 2025. We thank him for all the deep wisdom he has shared in 2025 and look forward to more great columns in 2026.