Making sure that one remnant of the Howard era, NGO gag orders, never surfaces again

Introduced into the Australian Senate on 13 March 2013:

A Bill for an Act to prohibit Commonwealth agreements from restricting or preventing not-for-profit entities from commenting on, advocating support for or opposing changes to Commonwealth law, policy or practice, and for related purposes.

The Bill engages and promotes the right of freedom of expression as set out in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right (ICCPR). The Bill will prevent the Commonwealth from including clauses in agreements that prevent or restrict NFP entities from advocating on Commonwealth policy issues.