Last month, the Government released a draft Charities Bill, 2003 to define 'charity' for taxation purposes and asked the Board of Taxation to consult over its wording. The draft Charities Bill contains unreasonable and unnecessary restrictions on the advocacy role of charities. While welcoming the broad direction of the Bill, the ACOSS submission recommends: removing restrictions on advocacy; modernising the definition of 'Public Benevolent Institutions'; and establishing a Charities Commission.