Federal government ends delay in granting Grace Tame Foundation charity status

Labor has moved quickly to grant charity status to The Grace Tame Foundation, saying the Morrison government’s delay in doing so was politically motivated.

It was a foundation established by former Australian of the Year Grace Tame to support victims of the kind of sexual abuse that stole her childhood – but for nearly a year the Morrison government held back on approving it as a charity.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal The Grace Tame Foundation was finally recognised by the new Albanese government as a charity on July 1.

The recognition was a huge turnaround for sexual assault survivor and victim advocate Tame, whose strained relationship with former prime minister Scott Morrison genera­ted controversy.

New Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth and Assistant Minister Charities Andrew Leigh took six weeks to grant deductible gift recipient (DGR) status on the Register of Harm Prevention Charities after a “rigorous approvals process”.

Mr Leigh said the extraordinary delay in approving the status was politically motivated, while Ms Rishworth described the foundation as “an incredibly deserving ­charity”.

Grace Tame talks about her experiences at Writers Week during the Adelaide Festival. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Ms Tame is CEO and executive director of the foundation, which applied for DGR status on July 14, 2021. Charities benefit from the classification because donations over $2 are tax deductible.

Her partner Max Heerey is an executive director, and included on its advisory panel is #letherspeak campaign founder and prominent advocate Nina Funnell.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison with Grace Tame. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The foundation’s aim, according to its website, is to “campaign for and help fund initiatives which work to prevent and respond to sexual abuse of children and others”.

Ms Tame survived years of grooming and sexual abuse as a teenager and became 2021 Australian of the Year in recognition of her advocacy for victims and her campaign to change laws in Tasmania that gagged rape victims from telling their stories publicly.

The former Coalition government did not approve the foundation’s charity application for 44 weeks, during which time Ms Tame claimed publicly that she had been threatened that if she didn’t support Mr Morrison, the former government would not support the foundation.

At the time, Mr Morrison said this was not the case.

A government source said approvals for DGR status usually take “a few months”.

Mr Rishworth said she was committed to working closely with victim-survivor advocates and wanted to hear their voices, including Ms Tame’s, in policy ­development.

Mr Leigh said the recognition was long overdue.

“It is just one of multiple harm prevention charities that should have received deductible gift recipient status months ago, yet was blocked by Liberal ideologues,” he said.

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