Philanthropy plays a crucial and often undervalued role in Australian society, but has an uneasy history of domination and control. At its best, philanthropy can foster social inclusion, empower the disenfranchised, and provide ‘risk capital’ for exploratory initiatives that the state is unwilling or unable to support. However, large-scale giving is also invariably connected with cultural hegemony, as philanthropy offers a means by which the elite can instil specific values, mores, and norms that align with their interests. This project aims to address a growing area of concern in Australia, which is the heavy-handed use of philanthropy to perpetuate forms of neocolonialism. Philanthropy should be encouraged to grow in Australia, but it must not be used as an assimilative tool, nor come at the cost of our democratic integrity, or result in the suppression of marginalised voices, particularly those dedicated to truth-telling about historical and current injustices.

Dr Matt Wade is Lecturer in Social Inquiry at La Trobe University, serving as discipline lead for Sociology, alongside working in the Crime, Justice, and Legal Studies program. My primary research interests lie mainly within the sociology of public ethics, technology, and health, particularly in critically exploring expected practices around proving our ‘moral worthiness’. This includes a close focus on charity, philanthropy, crowdfunding, mutual aid, and other voluntary redistributive and recognition-based mechanisms. Recent work has also explored the weaponisation of fundraising platforms for extremist causes.