The Hon. Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, will Address the National Press Club on “Rebuilding Trust: The Future of Australia’s Charities and Community Life”.
Andrew Leigh will address the National Press Club on rebuilding social trust by strengthening Australia’s charities and their role in community life. Over recent decades, volunteering, membership of community organisations, and civic engagement have declined, with consequences for wellbeing and economic resilience. Andrew will outline the case for a stronger civil society and detail the government’s efforts to double philanthropy, back non-profits, strengthen the charity regulator and boost digital muscle in the charity sector. Drawing on more than a decade working with the sector and his research on social cohesion, he will set out the path for the government’s practical reforms over the years ahead.
About Andrew
Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard and is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires: The Story of Inequality in Australia (2013), Reconnected: A Community Builder’s Handbook (with Nick Terrell) (2020), The Shortest History of Economics (2024) and The Shortest History of Innovation (2026). Andrew is a keen Ironman triathlete and ultramarathoner. He is the father of three sons – Sebastian, Theodore and Zachary – and lives with his wife Gweneth in Canberra.
