Charities are a vital part of Australia’s society and economy. They provide services that we all rely on, and employ around one in ten Australian workers.

Charities are working in challenging circumstances to help get us through the current crisis. They are losing revenue from multiple sources at the same time as they face increased demand for their services, and increased delivery costs. We will need charities even more as partners in recovery, but many charities are vulnerable themselves.

Charities face different financial, legal and operational constraints to commercial businesses, which will make it harder for them to rebound. Their financial position was precarious going into the crisis, with decreasing margins and limited reserves, due to their unique position as charities. Charity revenues don’t recover from downturns the same way that business revenues do. And they can’t easily access the resources they need to rebuild and transition to a new normal.

Charities need tailored support from government that recognises their unique situation if we are to preserve jobs and services. We cannot assume that business-oriented support will work for them. All charities that have been hit by the economic crisis need access to a ‘ramp’ not a ‘cliff’ for the end of JobKeeper, along with an integrated package of measures to tackle the structural challenges they face.