← Back to home Browse all bills

Tax Laws Amendment (Incentivising Food Donations to Charitable Organisations)

Current status

This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.

Policy area

Budget, tax & economy

What does this bill do?

Companies that donate food, sell edible food cheaply, or provide related services to registered food charities could claim a new tax offset for eligible donation costs.

Why was it introduced?

Rising living costs have pushed food relief demand beyond supply, while much edible food is still thrown out because discarding it is cheaper than donating it. The bill creates a temporary tax offset for companies’ eligible food donation costs to encourage more food to be donated to registered charities.

Broader context

Foodbank AustraliaThe major food relief group whose earlier work helped shape the proposal and whose reports were used to argue that food insecurity was rising. and KPMGThe consulting firm that helped model the tax incentive and published analysis that influenced the bill's design. had already developed a tax-incentive model in 2020 and 2023, but by the year to July 2023 food insecurity had worsened to 3.7 million households while millions of tonnes of edible food were still being discarded because throwing it out was cheaper than donating it. The bill, introduced on 2 July 2024, proposed a temporary tax offset to shift that cost calculus and increase donations to registered food charities, but it did not pass and lapsed at the end of Parliament on 21 July 2025.

Key criticism

The available bill-scoped record does not show a developed public case against the bill. It contains one supportive speech, a scrutiny entry, and one Senate amendment outcome carried on voicesA parliamentary vote outcome where the chamber agrees without a counted division, so there is no recorded tally of votes., so any broader criticism should be treated as not established from this run.

Who supported it?

Senator Dean Smith introduced this bill. Speeches supporting it came from Liberal Party.

Introduced in Senate 02 July 2024
Failed in Senate 21 July 2025
Did not reach House —
Did not become law —

Did it become law?

No

The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.

Final passage

No final passage

The bill has not completed passage and is no longer proceeding.

Time before failure

384 days

From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding

Official record

View on APH

Parliament of Australia bill page

Meaning

What does this bill do?

  1. Companies that donate food, sell edible food cheaply, or provide related services to registered food charities could claim a new tax offset for eligible donation costs.

  2. Smaller companies with turnover under $20 million could get the offset as a cash-refundable tax benefit, while larger companies could only use it to reduce tax they owe.

  3. The tax break would be capped at $5 million a year, or a set share of donation costs, with higher support rates for smaller businesses.

  4. Companies could claim costs like producing, storing and transporting donated food, but not general overheads or marketing, and related-party purchases would only count up to market value.

  5. The tax incentive would be temporary for three years, with an independent review ordered by the minister to decide whether it should continue.

Show source excerpts
  1. This Bill amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997. It introduces a tax offset for companies that are constitutional corporations regarding certain expenditure incurred in relation to undertaking food donations activities for registered food charities.
    Tax Laws Amendment (Incentivising Food Donations to Charitable Organisations) explanatory memorandum
  2. The food donations tax offset is a refundable tax offset if a company’s aggregated turnover is less than $20 million. Otherwise, the offset is a non-refundable tax offset.
    Tax Laws Amendment (Incentivising Food Donations to Charitable Organisations) explanatory memorandum
  3. The amount of the tax offset is capped at the lower of $5 million or a specified percentage of the expenditure incurred in undertaking the food donations activities. The specified percentage is calculated according to the company’s aggregated turnover in an income year.
    Tax Laws Amendment (Incentivising Food Donations to Charitable Organisations) explanatory memorandum
  4. It also contains a suite of integrity measures, among them limiting the claimable amount for goods and services purchased from entities not at arm's length from a company to their market value.
    Second reading speech
  5. The incentive outlined in this Bill is a temporary measure to deal with present challenges, with an independent review of the merits of extension or not ordered by the relevant Minister after three years.
    Tax Laws Amendment (Incentivising Food Donations to Charitable Organisations) explanatory memorandum

Context

Broader context for this bill

Foodbank AustraliaThe major food relief group whose earlier work helped shape the proposal and whose reports were used to argue that food insecurity was rising. and KPMGThe consulting firm that helped model the tax incentive and published analysis that influenced the bill's design. had already developed a tax-incentive model in 2020 and 2023, but by the year to July 2023 food insecurity had worsened to 3.7 million households while millions of tonnes of edible food were still being discarded because throwing it out was cheaper than donating it. The bill, introduced on 2 July 2024, proposed a temporary tax offset to shift that cost calculus and increase donations to registered food charities, but it did not pass and lapsed at the end of Parliament on 21 July 2025.

  1. 2020

    Foodbank and KPMGThe consulting firm that helped model the tax incentive and published analysis that influenced the bill's design. develop a national food donation tax incentive model

    The bill drew on KPMGThe consulting firm that helped model the tax incentive and published analysis that influenced the bill's design.'s 2020 report for Foodbank AustraliaThe major food relief group whose earlier work helped shape the proposal and whose reports were used to argue that food insecurity was rising., which set out a tax incentive aimed at making food donation more financially viable for companies.

    Tax Laws Amendment (Incentivising Food Donations to Charitable Organisations) explanatory memorandum ↗
  2. 2023

    Foodbank reports food insecurity surging as edible food is still wasted

    The 2023 Foodbank Hunger Report said 3.7 million households experienced moderate to severe food insecurity in the 12 months to July 2023, while evidence cited for the bill said about 70% of discarded food was still fit to eat.

    Second reading speech ↗
  3. 2023

    KPMGThe consulting firm that helped model the tax incentive and published analysis that influenced the bill's design. publishes implementation analysis for the proposed incentive

    A second KPMGThe consulting firm that helped model the tax incentive and published analysis that influenced the bill's design. report in 2023 refined how a national food donation tax incentive could operate, and many of its recommendations were reflected in the bill.

    Tax Laws Amendment (Incentivising Food Donations to Charitable Organisations) explanatory memorandum ↗
  4. 02 July 2024

    Bill introduced to encourage companies to donate food

    The bill was introduced proposing a tax offset for eligible food donation costs in response to rising cost-of-living pressure, higher demand at food charities, and the fact that disposing of surplus food was often cheaper than donating it.

    Second reading speech ↗
  5. 21 July 2025

    Bill lapses at the end of Parliament

    The proposal did not complete its parliamentary passage and fell away when Parliament ended, so the food donation tax offset was never enacted.

    Parliamentary timeline ↗

Legislative route

How did it move through Parliament?

House Senate
Introduced 02 July 2024

The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.

Introduced and read a first time

Second reading opened 02 July 2024

A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.

Second reading moved

Economics Legislation Committee; Committee report (15/11/2024) review 04 July 2024

Referred to Committee (04/07/2024): Senate Economics Legislation Committee; Committee report (15/11/2024)

Referred to committee

APH bill page notes
Lapsed at end of Parliament 21 July 2025

The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.

Key criticism

The main case against this bill

The available bill-scoped record does not show a developed public case against the bill. It contains one supportive speech, a scrutiny entry, and one Senate amendment outcome carried on voicesA parliamentary vote outcome where the chamber agrees without a counted division, so there is no recorded tally of votes., so any broader criticism should be treated as not established from this run.

No substantive opposition is evident in the scoped record, but the evidence base is limited.

Votes

Recorded votes

Amendments at a glance

Amendments grouped by chamber. These cards include amendment outcomes recorded without a counted division.

Senate

Carried

Senate accepted Askew amendment

The Senate agreed on voices to the committee-stage amendment sponsored by Senator Askew.

Carried on voices

The chamber decided this amendment without a counted division, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes.

Hansard record ↗

Parliamentary debate

Who spoke, and what they said

Start here — lead voices

Sponsor speech Supports

Dean Smith

Liberal Party • Senator 02 July 2024

Dean Smith supports the bill and says it offers a practical way to incentivise food donations to charities instead of dumping surplus food.

Read in Hansard ↗

All speeches by bloc

Coalition

1 speaker · 1 support

  1. Dean Smith ★ Dean Smith supports the bill and says it offers a practical way to incentivise food donations to charities instead of dumping surplus food.
    “I commend the Bill to the Senate.”

    Liberal Party • Senator • 02 July 2024

    Read the full speech in Hansard ↗

Record

Full record

Full chat