The Victorian Government is providing ongoing waste levy relief for eligible charitable reuse organisations and has provided funding for the next four years. Please note that the claim period has changed from quarterly to every four months. Please see the claim period dates and claim due dates as below, along with an updated Claim Form. Claimants are also requested to complete an annual statement in respect of their reuse and recycling activities to help inform trends and progress, and an Annual Form has been provided for this. Please kindly complete and return the first annual statement with your claim for Period 1, Period 4, Period 7 and Period 10.
| PERIOD | DATES | CLAIMS DUE |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | 1 Jul – 31 Oct 2024 | 30 Nov 2024 |
| P2 | 1 Nov – 28 Feb 2025 | 31 Mar 2025 |
| P3 | 1 Mar – 28 Jun 2025 | 31 Jul 2025 |
| P4 | 1 Jul – 30 Oct 2025 | 30 Nov 2025 |
| P5 | 1 Nov – 28 Feb 2026 | 31 Mar 2026 |
| P6 | 1 Mar – 28 Jun 2026 | 31 Jul 2026 |
| P7 | 1 Jul – 30 Oct 2026 | 30 Nov 2026 |
| P8 | 1 Nov – 28 Feb 2027 | 31 Mar 2027 |
| P9 | 1 Mar – 30 Jun 2027 | 31 Jul 2027 |
| P10 | 1 Jul – 30 Oct 2027 | 30 Nov 2027 |
| P11 | 1 Nov – 28 Feb 2028 | 31 Mar 2028 |
| P12 | 1 Mar – 30 Jun 2028 | 31 Jul 2028 |
Charitable reuse organisations wishing to apply for inclusion in the program are encouraged to contact Charitable Reuse Australia directly for more information on the eligibility criteria and methodology for claiming relief.
2024 – 2028 Forms
Victorian Government Confirms Ongoing Levy Relief
Charitable Reuse Australia would like to thank the Victorian Government for confirming it will provide ongoing waste levy relief for the charitable reuse sector. In her letter of 22 May 2023 Environment Minister Stitt advised this will take the form of a statutory model, either as a waste levy exemption or rebate – in consultation with our sector – and will replace the current waste levy relief model to deliver ongoing certainty with regard to waste management costs.
We have had two meetings since then to provide support and guidance to the Victorian Government and DEECA based on our deep expertise working with the QLD, NSW, SA, WA and TAS Governments on all the exemption and rebate models available throughout Australia.
The Victorian Government has accepted our advice that their initial idea of implementing an exemption/waiver in the next few weeks by 1 July 2023 is impractical, and that it will require at least one to two years to ensure that councils, commercial landfill operators and waste contractors are fully consulted and will be ready and willing to take on the levy responsibility, and that effective systems and reporting is in place to provide certainty for any new exemption system that may be launched.
We have also counselled the Victorian Government that the exemption/waiver model cannot accommodate mixed waste, where charitable exempt waste is mixed with commercial waste in the same truck. Mixed waste represents around 72% of the total waste-to-landfill of Victorian charities, and if the Victorian Government decides on an exemption model, they will need an additional mechanism to fill this gap – otherwise charities would only be protected for 28% of their waste.
Queensland has successfully added a rebate model on top of their exemption, to fill the gap in their exemption and ensure mixed waste is included. The rebate model is currently the only way to guarantee 100% protection for charities, either as a solus scheme or as an add-on to an exemption. NSW is working with Charitable Reuse Australia on its Weight-Based Billing initiative as another option to fill the mixed waste gap, but there are challenges with transfer stations, which remain problematic and unable to accept any exemption/waivers in force. We have been collaboratively working through these with NSW EPA over the past year or so and continue to look for solutions together.
The WA, SA and TAS Governments currently have successful rebate models that provide effective protection for charities, without the need for any administration, reporting or tonnage capture from councils, commercial landfills or waste contractors.
Open Letter to Minister Stitt
Charitable Reuse Australia prides itself on its open, collaborative, collegiate and impact-focused relationships with the Commonwealth Government, and the State Governments of NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. All of these governments support the charitable reuse sector as a key driver of the transition to a Circular Economy, which in turn divert over a million tonnes away from landfill, save 880,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions and raise $961 million for social good every year.
Distressingly, the Victorian Government wants to penalise charity shops with $1.5 million in unfair extra cost burdens, by removing the waste levy protections from 1 July 2023. Charitable Reuse Australia has provided evidence to show that the waste levy has a perverse effect on charity shops, and that taxing charity shops will cause an increase in landfill, not a reduction. It will also regress any transition to a Circular Economy by reducing reuse, which is a higher order intervention at the top of the Waste Hierarchy. Alternatively, if charities have to find the cost savings to pay the Victorian Government tax, it will mean Victorians in need will suffer. Their $1.5 million tax equates to 428,571 meals that cannot be provided by charities to Victorians who will go hungry, at a time when calls for help are increasing as more Victorians struggle with rent stress, electricity bills and rising costs of living.
Despite all this, DEECA (formerly DELWP) has not provided any evidence, justification or even information to justify their position, and following five years of patient representations, Charitable Reuse Australia has drafted an Open Letter to Ingrid Stitt, Minister for Environment, urging her to intervene to avert a catastrophe for charities, just like her predecessor Minister D’Ambrosio did in 2021 the last time DEECA tried to penalise charities.
Victorian Landfill Levy Relief Program 2020-23
The Victorian Government is providing financial relief through Charitable Reuse Australia, to charities impacted by illegal dumping.
The objectives of the Landfill Levy Relief Program are to:
Approved applicants for the Victorian Landfill Levy Relief Program, administered by Charitable Reuse Australia on behalf of the State of Victoria through the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning may complete and return the Claim Form to claim financial relief for the following quarters:
2020 – 2021
2021 – 2022
2022 – 2023
Charitable reuse organisations wishing to apply for inclusion in the program are encouraged to contact Charitable Reuse Australia directly for more information on the eligibility criteria and methodology for claiming relief.