This report outlines recommendations for sustainable government support of the charity sector - following findings that four out of five community sector charities struggled with increased demand for services during the pandemic, and emergency funding support favoured some kinds of charities over others.

The report also finds that despite generous government and philanthropic support having a positive effect on charities overall, certain charity services only just held on financially during the worst of the crisis, while others had stronger financial performance from temporary emergency funding.

This report comes at an important moment where the ground is shifting for charities. Researchers now have a better picture of what has happened to charities during the pandemic thanks to data lodged by charities with the ACNC for 2020 and 2021. Australia is now in a different phase of the pandemic, with a more highly vaccinated population and wider treatments options to combat COVID-19. The economy has moved quickly to an inflationary cycle; unemployment has dropped below pre-pandemic levels. The Australian Labor Party has also formed a new government in Canberra with a commitment to develop a blueprint for charities and to establish Not-for-profit Sector Expert Reference Panel to chart out a more productive future for Australian charities.