The Antipoverty Centre’s approach to working with all of our project contributors is as follows:

• People who may undertake paid work with us on multiple projects or on a repetitive basis can request to be employed on a casual or fixed term contract where appropriate, or to operate independently as a sole trader. Through discussions with prospective contributors, we aim to agree on an arrangement that is best suited to the priorities and circumstances of the person who is working with us.
• We understand that most people we work with have disabilities, caring duties, or other factors in their life that can disrupt work capacity. Because of this, we do not require anyone to work a consistent number of hours each week, or impose any hard deadlines or performance indicators on individuals. For this type of work arrangement to succeed, we rely on open communication about whether the amount and type of work are manageable so that we can make adjustments to our projects if changes are necessary to accommodate people’s evolving needs and circumstances.
• We know that interacting with certain people and environments – particularly from mainstream organisations, government departments and political actors – is not safe or desirable for everyone, especially those affected by state violence, and all engagement with these groups is optional for all project contributors. The principle that underpins this approach is “always welcome, never obligated”.
• We are able to pay people regularly to provide financial stability despite fluctuating work capacity. However, we ask contributors to provide information about how much time is being spent on project activities to assist us to balance out hours paid and worked over the course of time, and to identify any need for changes to resourcing levels.
• Project contributors are required to sign the Antipoverty Centre Contributor Agreement and the Data Access and Confidentiality Agreement (which places restrictions on sharing and retaining confidential information) before being granted access to our systems, records and private contact details.

The Antipoverty Centre asks for information to be provided by paid contributors at regular intervals about estimated time spent on areas of work, and provides access to software to assist with this. This software is intended to provide a straightforward way of sharing estimates of how much time activities are taking. All contributors are, however, free to provide this information in whatever format is easiest for them, including verbally. The purpose of sharing this information is not for us to measure productivity, but instead to:

• support flexibility and accommodate fluctuating work capacity;
• understand whether project resourcing levels are appropriate;
• identify where additional support or adjustments may be required;
• enable us to revise priorities if necessary; and
• assist in managing available project funds.

All travel and external meetings are optional on all projects, and co-coordinators are responsible for representing the Antipoverty Centre when contributors are unable or prefer not to participate in external activities. Personal time when travelling is not able to be charged to the Antipoverty Centre unless this has been discussed and approved prior to the travel being booked, and when there are exceptional circumstances to justify the additional costs. When contributors are not present for meetings, alternative arrangements are made to share information and facilitate introductions to relevant contacts from other organisations.

We support the right of all members and paid contributors to publicly express critical opinions of the Antipoverty Centre and talk about the nature of the work they are involved in. This does not extend to sharing false information, misrepresenting our actions, breaching the Data Access and Confidentiality Agreement, or to harassment or antagonism.

The purpose of this project, which commenced in May 2025, is to shift public perceptions of contribution, and expand the notion of who contributes to society beyond ‘the taxpayer’ (a term often used narrowly as shorthand for people who pay income tax from employment). We aim to:

• counter the idea that poor people don’t pay tax;
• broaden the understanding of what tax is, who pays it and who is hurt by inequitable tax-like policies such as rules that drastically reduce welfare payments for people who have low paid work; and
• communicate that the tax system does not account for or recognise that people contribute beyond paid work and that labour that isn’t measured through wages.

The priorities for the tax and contribution project are:

• Working with individuals and organisations identified regarding the possibility of engaging an emerging journalist in the project.
• Working with Antipoverty Centre contributors and other people in poverty regarding the possibility of writing about their personal experiences and views.
• Coordinating with people who agree to participate in the project and connecting with appropriate people and organisations to facilitate the publication of articles.
• Using material from past Antipoverty Centre work that reflects the themes of the tax and contribution project to create content for social media.
• Holding events to promote this work among poor people and supporters, building their confidence to articulate issues and solutions for a wholistic, fair tax system.

Proposed supplementary project activities include the hosting of a workshop and development of a zine. These plans included an initial online introductory session for people interested, followed by an in-person workshop and subsequent work to produce a zine from material created by participants. An evaluation would determine whether and how additional workshops could be held in other locations including urban and remote areas. At the most recent meeting about progress on the tax and contribution project, it was determined that a budget needed to be submitted before the workshop could proceed. We are aware that a workshop that was to be held as part of this project was scheduled without the involvement of or approval from the Antipoverty Centre co-coordinators and without any budget being supplied to or approved by the Antipoverty Centre. We understand that personal information may have been collected from workshop participants and held outside Antipoverty Centre systems in breach of our Data Access and Confidentiality Agreement. If you have any concerns regarding the inappropriate collection or sharing of your personal information, please contact us urgently via secretary@antipovertycentre.org (more information about our data handling and security practices is included below).

The tax and contribution project does not involve the preparation of any reports or direct political advocacy and is focused solely on public narrative work, primarily by publishing opinion pieces and news stories in mainstream, independent and grassroots media outlets. No people involved in this project have been asked to write reports or interact with government and there are no similar activities planned.

Based on the information we have available to us, we do not believe there is any foundation to claims that work on this project has been sabotaged. We have invited all relevant parties to share anything that would enable us to investigate actions seeking to sabotage so that we are able to act on it.

The tax and contribution project is funded through a dedicated grant and is not required to produce financial returns; it does not have investors. As of 9 September 2025, the oversight committee has determined that it is necessary to pause all work on the tax and contribution project. The status of this project is unrelated to concerns raised with us about Schwartz Media and potential misconduct addressed below, despite these issues arising concurrently. The Antipoverty Centre will work with project funders to recommence work as soon as possible. If you are interested in this project and have questions about it, or would like to discuss the possibility of contributing an article, contact coordinator@antipovertycentre.org

The Antipoverty Centre’s work involves significant input from a large number of people who experience state violence, and may fear repercussions as a result of sharing information with us or participating in our activities. Protecting people’s information is a priority for us.

Contributors are granted access to Antipoverty Centre records to enable their participation in our work. Before being granted access, contributors must sign our Data Access and Confidentiality Agreement. The retention of Antipoverty Centre records following the conclusion of work with us is a breach of information management protocols as described in the agreement. The terms of the agreement remain in effect beyond the duration of any contributor’s period of work with the Antipoverty Centre.

As per the agreement, confidential means: “…any information about our organisation, operations, financials, strategic plans, suppliers, employees, clients and stakeholders that is not public. You must only use our confidential information to perform activities in relation to the Antipoverty Centre’s work, and you must not disclose it to any other person or organisation (unless we ask you to)”. This includes personal contact information gathered in connection with any of our activities.

In accordance with our data security practices, which are designed to protect the personal information of everyone who participates in our activities, contact details submitted via forms are collected and stored using software that provides protection through an encrypted database. We do not automate the dissemination of contact details or other private information via email or any other means, and only export these details to be stored in another password protected system at the time they are needed.

Our data access agreement states “only use your access to Antipoverty Centre data and assets for legitimate activities of the organisation. You agree not to use your access to Antipoverty Centre data and assets for a personal purpose, profit or benefit, or that of another person or organisation”. We are aware that some personal information may have been collected or used outside agreed Antipoverty Centre processes in connection with our work, including the publication of phone numbers. We have requested that any and all social media posts revealing names, contact details or private communication of people who are not Antipoverty Centre members be deleted, and asked for further information about posts we may not be aware of. If you have seen or are affected by the publication of such private information, please contact us urgently via secretary@antipovertycentre.org

Since the Antipoverty Centre was established in 2021, we have faced significant challenges in our efforts to draw attention to abuse and unlawful decisions the government inflicts on welfare recipients through compliance programs and income control. Rick Morton has been an exception to the widespread silence about these issues and writes for the Saturday Paper, a Schwartz Media publication. We will continue our work to improve engagement from other mainstream media outlets, and have recently made a small amount of headway in this area.

Antipoverty Centre members considered how to engage with Schwartz Media after becoming aware of calls for a boycott in 2022. At the time, there were a range of views publicly expressed by both Palestinian and First Nations activists about what the boycott called for, which guided our discussion. The conclusion of the discussion was that no material should be shared from Antipoverty Centre accounts that would enable monetisation and that no one should seek or accept any paid opportunity to contribute to Schwartz publications. Links shared from the Antipoverty Centre Twitter account in August 2025 were in breach of our previously agreed approach.

On 17 August 2025 we were asked to revisit this topic at our next Antipoverty Centre member meeting, which is scheduled for November 2025, to make a decision about changing our approach. This request was immediately agreed to, but it was suggested by the co-coordinators that a special meeting should be held earlier to make a decision more quickly. As communicated to all Antipoverty Centre members and contributors on 26 August, the meeting was originally scheduled for 3 September. All invitees were informed that the meeting time could be changed to enable participation. This meeting was subsequently deferred due to the need for the Antipoverty Centre committee to urgently respond to a separate matter. We are a small organisation and all work that is required to respond appropriately to important issues is reliant on a small number of people with limited capacity, which is why it was necessary to progress one urgent matter at a time.

There has been no interaction with Schwartz Media since the request to review our approach was received, and the committee has passed a formal motion to “proceed with organising a formal meeting of members as soon as practicable to review the existing position on our approach to the Schwartz Media boycott; and not give interviews to Schwartz Media outlets or share screenshots of Schwartz Media articles until the formal meeting is held”. As was originally the case, the new time will also be chosen based on maximising the number of Antipoverty Centre members who are able to attend and participate. Project contributors who are not members will also be invited to the meeting and able to participate.

On 23 August 2025 a person who is not an Antipoverty Centre member or contributor notified the co-coordinators of concerns raised on social media about racist and ableist behaviour by a key member of our organisation. We take this extremely seriously as such behaviour contradicts both the Antipoverty Centre’s principles and our contributor agreement. To date, the Antipoverty Centre has not received a formal complaint regarding this behaviour.

The subject of the concerns raised with us has not made contact with relevant parties and it is our view that it would not have been appropriate for this to happen unless we had been advised that the person was incorrectly identified, or until the matter had been fully investigated. It is also not appropriate for co-coordinators to conceal information of this nature from the committee, or to respond to matters of this significance without direction from us. Under the Antipoverty Centre’s constitution, our convenors are not empowered to make decisions on behalf of our organisation and a quorum of at least four out of seven committee members is required to collectively reach agreement before taking action.

As noted above, we were made aware of concerns about racism and ableism as a result of comments made on social media and sought to act quickly. We aim to ensure that people have avenues to raise concerns as laid out in the Antipoverty Centre contributor agreement, but understand it can take time for people to formally raise issues that are difficult to discuss. At this time we have not received enough information to determine what racist and ableist behaviour has occurred.

Despite this, we attempted to do our best to navigate the situation with the public information that was shared with us in a fair and timely manner. Our primary goal in responding was to prioritise protecting everyone involved in our work from racist or ableist behaviour. After we were advised that the person who raised these concerns did not wish to proceed with a complaint, we sought to identify the best way forward to restore trust and repair relationships.

The following actions were taken in relation to this matter:

• Co-coordinator notified the oversight committee of the issues raised.
• Co-coordinator sought information to better understand the concerns and offer support until instructed by the convenors to leave this matter with the convenors.
• After the issue was raised and while the process was underway, the person whose behaviour was the subject of the concerns did not discuss this matter with committee members, with the exception of formal communication from convenors.
• Committee members discussed potential ways forward and met to formally adopt a proposal on how to respond to the concerns, which was unanimously supported. As a result of this decision, convenors were required to first meet with the person who raised the concerns, followed by the respondent.
• In the initial discussion, the convenors asked about what the individual involved had experienced and discussed how they would like to move forward. The convenors were advised that the person did not wish to submit a formal complaint at this time, and accepted an offer of mediation.
• The respondent subsequently agreed with the recommendation to participate in mediation and suggested that an external mediator with appropriate qualifications be engaged by the committee, placing a priority on cultural safety.
• Committee members commenced discussions about identifying and engaging an appropriate mediator.
• The committee met again to discuss progress made and agree next steps, which included further investigation of the matters raised and for relevant parties to provide more information.
• While there has been no formal complaint submitted at this time, the committee has advised that none of our decisions preclude the person from seeking a resolution in future.

To strengthen our ability to identify and act on potentially harmful behaviour in future, we have published information on our website about the standards of conduct set out in our governing documents; options for people to raise concerns regarding the conduct of people involved in the Antipoverty Centre; and processes we will follow when issues are raised with us. You can view this information on the complaints page.