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The Office
of Liquor, Gaming and Racing revokes the AVN's charitable
authority
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Approximately 2 hours ago, I
received a notification from the OLGR that they would, effective
Wednesday, October 20th, be revoking the AVN's charitable
status.
They have sent me a letter listing
the reasons for this revocation (those reasons are reproduced
below) and also the announcement that is being Gazetted
today.
(a)
that any fundraising appeal conducted by the holder of the
authority hasnot
been conducted in good faith for charitable
purposes
The Organisation
has failed to publish a disclaimer on its website as
recommended
by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC).
This has
resulted in an unacceptable risk of potential donors to
the
Organisation
being misled when making a decision whether or not to
make a
donation, which has led to appeals not being conducted in
good
faith.
(c)
that any fundraising appeal conducted by virtue of the authority
hasbeen
improperly administered
The Organisation's website is misleading in that it may lead
people
making
donations to believe that they are donating to a cause
which
promotes
vaccination whereas the Organisation adopts an
anti-vaccination
position.
When requested by the HCCC to publish a disclaimer on its website
the Organisation failed to do so.
(f)
in the public interest, the authority should be
revoked.
The failure of the Organisation to comply with the HCCC
recommendation resulted in the Commission publishing a Public
Warning on 26 July 2010 advising that this failure "poses a risk to
public health and safety". In this circumstance it is in the public
interest to not permit the Organisation to conduct fund raising
appeals under the Act.
As you can see, the OLGR based their
entire decision on the HCCC's demand for us to declare ourselves as
being anti-vaccine and putting their disclaimer on our website -
two things which we refused to do (they say we failed to do it -
there was no failure involved - this was a deliberate move on our
part to defend our freedom of communication).
Indeed, instead of changing our current disclaimer to what the
HCCC requested, we issued this statement - explaining
why the HCCC was wrong and any moves to suppress the AVN were
anti-democratic.
I am
still trying to get my head around the implications of our loss of
charitable status but what I was informed by the OLGR (and I will
need to confirm this but for now, I am taking it as read),
Wednesday comes, we will no longer be able to accept donations from
anyone who is not an AVN member.
So
if you were thinking of donating to our organisation, please do so
before Wednesday by clicking here if you are not already a member.
If you were considering becoming a member or buying a gift
membership, please do so ASAP by clicking here! And if you are
in a position to donate to us and have been waiting for the right
time - this is it! We will need your support to fight these efforts
to shut us up and shut us down.
Yours in health,
Meryl Dorey
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The OLGR's political decision
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14/10/2010 - For Immediate
Release:
For over two years, the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), a
national volunteer-run health lobby and support group, has been
under attack. Our message of individual informed health choice
conflicts with the government's policy which is pro-mass
vaccination.
Part of this attack has included complaints to the Office of Liquor
Gaming and Racing (OLGR), the body that oversees charities.
Earlier this year, the OLGR audited the AVN. It found several
errors with our bookeeping system and some minor problems with the
way in which we accounted for fundraising income. The OLGR openly
stated that there was no evidence of fraud or criminality. Despite
this, it has announced that the AVN's authority to fundraise is
being revoked.
"Had the OLGR based its
decision upon the simple errors which were found during our audit -
errors which any small, volunteer-run organisation can and does
make - it would have been unfair but not unexpected." says Meryl
Dorey, media spokesperson for the AVN. "What makes this decision
difficult to understand is that the revocation was based solely upon a
questionable decision by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission
(HCCC) which we believe is not relevant to the OLGR's
mandate."
The campaign to shut down the
AVN has included:
- Attacks and threats against our advertisers, members and
professional supporters.
- Death threats against committee members.
- Hate mail.
- Abusive phone calls and emails.
- Numerous vexatious complaints against to various government
agencies.
In a democracy, it is always
in the public's interest to allow citizens access to full and
accurate information on all issues so they will be empowered to
make their own decision. The OLGR's statement that rescinding the
AVN's charitable status is in the public's interest seems to
confuse the Australian public with the Australian medical
industry.
In a true democracy, the government should be defending its
policies in the court of public opinion - not by abusing its power
by suppressing legitimate dissent.
For further information, Please
contact Meryl Dorey on 02 6687 1699 or 0414 872 032.
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About Australian Vaccination
Network, Inc.
The
AVN is a non-profit, volunteer-run charitable association. Since
1994, the AVN has provided information and support to the general
community who are trying to make informed choices about vaccination
and health. Their lobbying in Federal Parliament has ensured that
compulsory vaccination for children has not come to pass and they
are the major reporters of vaccine adverse reactions to ADRAC (The
Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee).
For
more information visit www.avn.org.au
Ph:
02 6687 1699 Fax: 02 6687 2032
Mobile: 0414 872 032
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