Unspent donations made to Israel Folau’s legal fight against Rugby Australia to be used for ‘religious freedom’ causes

More than five years after a controversial former Wallaby used crowdfunding to bankroll a legal battle over his sacking, the destination of leftover funds can be revealed.

More than $100,000 in unspent public donations, made to bankroll Israel Folau’s legal battle against Rugby Australia, will be used to “advance religious freedom in Australia”, including funding for a human rights law firm supported by the Australian Christian Lobby.

More than five years after the former Wallaby’s controversial sacking for making anti-gay posts on social media, The Daily Telegraph can reveal how leftover donations made by the cross-code star’s supporters will be spent.

Rugby Australia sacked Folau in 2019 after he posted on Instagram that “hell awaits” gay people, igniting public debate over free speech and discrimination in Australia.

A legal dispute ensued when Folau responded with an unfair dismissal claim, which ended later that year when he reached a confidential settlement and agreed to withdraw his case in the Federal Circuit Court.

Prior to the settlement, members of the public had pledged a total of $2.1m to help cover Folau’s legal fees and associated costs.

Israel Folau outside court during mediation with Rugby Australia in 2019.

The Australian Christian Lobby – which held the donations in a charitable trust on behalf of Folau – has now successfully applied to the NSW Attorney-General to use leftover funds totalling $106,000 on causes aimed at advocating and advancing “religious freedom litigation”.

The Daily Telegraph understands the causes include a donation to the Human Rights Law Alliance, which provides legal support to people and organisations “under attack for living out their faith”.

Israel Folau, pictured here greeted by supporters at the Federal Court in 2019.

The application, approved by the Attorney-General’s department last week, will enable unused donations which cannot be returned to donors or redirected without their consent to be used to advance religious freedom in Australia

In approving the application, the department stated the proposed use of the funds was “sufficiently close to the original purpose of the trust being to support the Christian cause by way of funding religious freedom litigation”.

In a statement, the Australian Christian Lobby said the organisation had written to donors on multiple occasions to assist in returning unspent funds.

Israel Folau was sacked over the social media posts.

Many of the donations were pledged after Folau launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking public support to help pay for the legal case.

The GoFundMe appeal was later removed by the platform for breaching its terms of service, prompting the Australian Christian Lobby to step in and agreeing to hold the funds raised in a trust to support Folau’s legal action and “the Christian cause”.

A total of $2,103,773.79 was raised to cover Folau’s legal fees and associated costs.

After legal costs, the Daily Telegraph understands the Australian Christian Lobby was advised a balance of $263,918.41 remained in the trust account of Folau’s solicitor, with that amount later returned to the lobby.

Prior to the settlement, Folau had been seeking $14m in compensation for what he alleged was wrongful termination.

At the time, Folau stated the legal battle was not about money but for the principle of standing up for religious freedoms.

He has also said his views come from a place of “love” and that “sharing the word of God” is important because “it’s what God has called each Christian to do.”

A statement by Rugby Australia at the time of the settlement stated that it “did not in any way agree” with the content of Folau’s social media post and that inclusiveness was “one of rugby’s core values”.

The Australian Christian Lobby said it had not spoken with Folau on how the unspent funds would be allocated.