Vol. 07 / ACNC Data Investigation / 2017–2023
An investigation into 359,678 charity financial records across 7 years, revealing who gives, who receives, and the growing concentration of philanthropic power.
Records
359,678
Charities
53,207
Grants Out
$11.3B
Assets Held
$494B
Volunteers
3.9M
Part I
Of the 30,166 charities that received donations in 2023, the top 10% captured 90.3% of all donation dollars. The bottom 50% shared less than 0.004%. And it's getting worse every year.
90.3%
Of donations go to top 10%
Concentration trend — top 10% share rising
86.7%
2017
87.5%
2018
88.3%
2019
88.9%
2020
88.4%
2021
87.4%
2022
90.3%
2023
Part II
The 30 largest charities hold over $130 billion. Only 2 are philanthropic foundations. The rest are universities, religious institutions, and hospitals.
| # | Organisation | Assets | Grants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uni of Melbourne (Group) | $12.0B | $266M |
| 2 | University of Sydney | $10.1B | $341M |
| 3 | Wildlife Land Fund | $8.5B | $0 |
| 4 | Minderoo Foundation (Group) | $7.6B | $156M |
| 5 | Monash University | $6.5B | $138M |
| 6 | UNSW (Group) | $6.4B | $326M |
| 7 | ANU | $5.5B | $124M |
| 8 | UQ (Group) | $5.4B | $117M |
| 9 | Western Sydney Uni | $4.7B | $23M |
| 10 | Melb Catholic Schools (Group) | $4.3B | $0 |
| 11 | Paul Ramsay Foundation | $3.0B | $184M |
| 12 | Sydney Catholic Schools | $2.8B | $0 |
Part III
How do Australia's most prominent foundations actually perform? We tracked 8 foundations across 7 years.
Paul Ramsay
Largest private foundation
$184M
Grants
$3.0B
Assets
176%
Giving ratio
$1.7M
KMP Pay
7yr grant trend
Minderoo
Forrest family
$156M
Grants
$7.6B
Assets
3.1%
Giving ratio
$3.4M
KMP Pay
Assets: $640M → $7.6B
Ian Potter
Est. 1964 — iconic
$46M
Grants
$888M
Assets
112%
Giving ratio
$0
KMP Pay
Consistent ~5% payout
Pratt
100% pass-through
$11M
Grants
$0
Assets
100%
Giving ratio
$0
KMP Pay
Holds nothing — gives all
Lowy Institute
Think tank — zero grants
$0
Grants
$31M
Assets
0%
Giving ratio
$1.6M
KMP Pay
No grants — ever
Myer
Est. 1959 — steady giver
$4M
Grants
$85M
Assets
100%
Giving ratio
$0
KMP Pay
Steady ~$5M/yr
Part IV
89%
of charities with KMP executives paid them more than they distributed as grants. Total executive compensation: $3.75 billion.
KMP = Key Management Personnel — the ACNC term for a charity's senior executives and directors. All charities must report total KMP compensation in their Annual Information Statement.
Little Co. of Mary — KMP $17.5M vs Grants $0.5M
RMIT — KMP $9.9M vs Grants $4M
CBH Group — KMP $9.4M vs Grants $3.4M
Paul Ramsay — KMP $1.7M vs Grants $184M
Part V
Small charities depend on donations. Large charities depend on government. The funding model determines who holds the power.
Large (5,628 charities — $209B revenue)
Medium (8,116 charities — $9.6B revenue)
Small (39,460 charities — $3.3B revenue)
Part VI
While large charities posted a $13.7 billion surplus in 2023, medium charities went into deficit for the first time.
-$1.84B
Medium charity deficit (2023)
+$13.7B
Large charity surplus (2023)
$425B
Large assets (up from $241B)
$35B
Small assets (up from $10B)
Methodology
359,678 AIS records from the ACNC, spanning 2017–2023. Data via CKAN API from data.gov.au. All figures AUD.
Giving ratio = grants / revenue. Above 100% = endowment drawdown. KMP (Key Management Personnel) = senior executives and directors as defined by the ACNC. KMP compensation data only available 2022–2023.
Limitations: Self-reported data. University "grants" include research passthrough. Religious orgs may classify internal transfers as grants.