Advice is the lever. Culture the engine.
What if the biggest untapped source of philanthropic growth in Australia isn’t new wealth, but better conversations?
A landmark new report, Unlocking Generosity: The potential gains from expanding access to advice on charitable giving (February 2026), is authored by economist Brad Ruting and co-commissioned by the Minderoo Foundation and The Edward Alexander Foundation. It argues that billions of dollars in additional donations could be mobilised by equipping trusted advisers to help Australians act on their philanthropic intent.
Australia does not have a generosity problem. It has a systems problem.
Unlocking Generosity shows that billions more could flow to charities if Australians had greater access to support from financial advisers, accountants, lawyers and fundraisers . The modelling suggests an additional $2.4–$4.4 billion per year by 2030, or up to $12 billion cumulatively this decade.
That is significant.
So what’s our take?
Expanding philanthropic conversations within estate planning, inheritances and capital gains events is necessary. Many advisers rarely raise the topic, and improving their confidence and training would unlock real gains.
Yet traditional advisory professions are built around compliance, tax optimisation and risk management. Their orientation is asset protection and regulatory prudence. Of course, that discipline matters… but we believe that it does not, on its own, cultivate ambitious, systems-aware philanthropy.
Sustainable generosity requires more than better prompts inside financial plans.
It requires:
Sector expertise that understands complex problem domains.
Systems thinking that moves beyond one-off transactions.
Cultural facilitation that connects wealth with purpose.
Real. Simple. Impact.
Five insights that should reshape the conversation
Here are the headline stats from Unlocking Generosity…
Australia gives below its peers. Individual giving sits at 0.44% of GDP, behind the UK (0.54%), Canada (0.77%) and the United States (1.44%) .
The great wealth transfer is accelerating. More than $6 trillion will be inherited over the next two decades, with nearly $1 trillion over the next five years . Only about 1% of estates are currently bequeathed to charity.
Professional advisers are under-engaged in giving conversations. Over 60% rarely or never discuss charitable giving with clients.
High-net-worth households dominate current giving. Just over 2% of adults contribute an estimated 80% of individual donations.
The uplift could be material. Individual giving could be $2.4–$4.4 billion higher per year by 2030, lifting donations up to 49% above today’s level.
It’s clear that in Australia, philanthropy is under-activated relative to both national wealth and international benchmarks.
Is Australia a stingy nation?
The data can make it tempting to ask the question.
Individual giving in Australia sits at 0.44% of GDP, well below countries such as the United Kingdom (0.54%), Canada (0.77%) and the United States (1.44%) . On the surface, that gap looks cultural.
It is more structural than moral.
Australians give generously in moments of crisis. We volunteer at high rates. We support community sport, schools and local causes. We don’t lack goodwill, we lack a deeply embedded norm of structured, long-term philanthropic participation.
In countries with higher giving rates, philanthropy is woven into wealth creation, estate planning and civic identity. In Australia, it is still often reactive or informal.
Advice is necessary… but not sufficient
Unlocking Generosity rightly highlights financial advisers, accountants, lawyers and fundraisers as catalytic actors . They sit at critical financial inflection points such as; estate planning, inheritances, capital gains events, retirement transitions. Expanding their capability and confidence around philanthropy is a practical and achievable reform.
Many cite limited training, regulatory uncertainty and unclear commercial incentives as barriers. Capacity building initatives, such as education pathways or stronger referral networks would unlock meaningful gains.
However, if we are serious about sustainable growth in generosity, we need to widen the frame.
Most traditional advisers are trained in compliance, fiduciary duty, tax optimisation and risk mitigation. Their professional DNA is grounded in protecting assets and navigating regulatory complexity. Or, at worst, applying a private equity lens to charitable giving that squeezes every last ounce of ROI or SROI out of the organisation (and, let’s be honest, often demanding both).
Effective philanthropy, however, demands additional capacities.
It requires:
Deep understanding of sector landscapes — climate, housing, health, education, faith-informed, First Nations economic participation.
Systems thinking that identifies leverage points rather than isolated interventions.
Cultural intelligence and community engagement capability.
Intergenerational facilitation that connects wealth with values.
Impact literacy that extends beyond annual reporting cycles.
If we rely solely on traditional advisory channels, philanthropy risks becoming structurally enabled yet strategically shallow. Donation volumes may increase without equivalent growth in coherence, ambition or systemic contribution.
Advice is a lever. It is not the whole system.
Grassroots giving
The report highlights the outsized role of high-net-worth households, who contribute around 80% of individual donations. That concentration reflects current reality.
Yet we all know that a resilient philanthropic culture cannot depend primarily on a small cohort of ultra-wealthy donors filling structural gaps. It requires a broader civic movement of professionals, inheritors, founders, small and medium business owners, everyday Australians… and yes, that means you and I (not ‘someone else’)… to see giving as an essential part of what makes us human.
The great wealth transfer, projected at over $6 trillion in coming decades, represents a financial shift. It also represents a cultural moment. Whether that capital reinforces private accumulation or strengthens shared public good will depend on the narratives and capabilities we build now. The type of advice we seek (or not) will have largely to do with the humility, ego, or perhaps simply exposure to what’s possible.
A groundswell of generosity will not emerge from tax efficiency alone. While this reduces the friction to give, it does not instill a generosity in ones character. A movement of generosity will grow from shared norms, visible leadership from both high and not-so-high capacity givers and accessible pathways to participate.
Moving beyond an outdated advisory narrative
For decades, philanthropy has been framed as something that happens after wealth is secured, sticky taped to estate planning or introduced at retirement.
The next phase of Australian giving will, nay, must look different.
Founders are seeking to embed purpose into capital deployment earlier. Families are navigating values alongside assets. Professionals are asking how success translates into contribution. Communities are demanding more participatory and locally informed models of change. All these examples require individuals to look beyond themselves.
In this landscape, philanthropy cannot sit as a legal and tax discussion at the edge of a financial plan. It must be integrated into conversations about identity, responsibility, values and purpose, and long-term societal contribution. Legacy.
Financial advisers, accountants, lawyers and fundraisers all remain an incredibly important part of the ecosystem, particularly in structuring capital responsibly and stewarding donor relationships.
They are part of a broader ecosystem that must also include:
Sector specialists who understand complex problem domains.
Impact strategists who map systems and long-term outcomes.
Cultural facilitators who support intergenerational dialogue.
Measurement experts who translate ambition into accountable practice.
Without this broader capability, philanthropy risks becoming a refined ‘civilised’ extension of capital markets logic; orderly, optimised and measurable, yet sometimes just missing the point.
Australia has the opportunity to cultivate something more distinctive. We’re thinking, a philanthropic culture that combines rigour with humility, ambition with community voice, structure with shared responsibility. It takes more risks. It values ‘the one’. It elevates humanity.
What sustainable growth in giving requires
If we want durable uplift, we believe several shifts are necessary:
1. Redefine philanthropic advice.
Embed purpose, systems literacy and impact thinking alongside tax, risk, legal and financial advice.
2. Invest in interdisciplinary capability.
Blend finance, sector expertise, cultural facilitation and evaluation.
3. Normalise purpose conversations earlier.
Philanthropy should evolve alongside wealth creation, not wait for estate planning.
4. Broaden participation.
Expand structured giving, community foundations, collective funds and workplace giving so generosity becomes distributed, not concentrated.
The modelling in Unlocking Generosity shows what could be unlocked through stronger engagement from traditional advisers. The larger task is cultural. If infrastructure opens the door, then culture determines whether generosity becomes episodic or enduring.
Imagine if structured giving became as routine as superannuation contributions, if inheritances routinely carried a civic allocation, and if professional success in Australia was measured not only by wealth created but by public good strengthened (imagine!). We would not simply see higher donation totals, but we would see stronger institutions, more resilient communities and a distinctly Australian philanthropic culture that is confident, participatory and built to last.
