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ABC News
a day ago
- Health
- ABC News
Auditors question future of SA charity responsible for new eating disorder service
The future of a prominent South Australian mental health charity — responsible for delivering a new eating disorder service that has received millions of dollars in government funding — is in question, after auditors raised concerns about its financial position. Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation has reported a "deficit in equity" of nearly $2 million, according to documents filed in June with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). Independent auditors concluded there was "material uncertainty" that may cast "significant doubt" over the charity's ability to continue operating. But Breakthrough said it was confident it would remain afloat — and expected its financial position to improve once work began on the new eating disorder facility. SA Health has confirmed it is in ongoing discussions with Breakthrough about its financial situation. Work on the centre, located at the Repat Health Precinct, was slated to begin in mid-2025 and take 18 months to complete — but it has not yet started. The new statewide eating disorder service was first announced in 2019 as a $7.1 million facility, with the former federal Liberal government to contribute $5 million and Breakthrough to fundraise the remainder. The project, led by Breakthrough, would be delivered in collaboration with SA Health and Flinders University and include a five-bed residential unit, day program and outpatient clinics. But it stalled for five years until the current federal and state governments each contributed another $2.5 million in December 2024, taking the total budget to $12.1 million. The top-up came six months after auditors first flagged concerns over Breakthrough's financial position, mentioned in the previous year's audit. In 2019, as part of its $2.1 million contribution to the project, Breakthrough announced it had secured a $500,000 donation from mental health and wellbeing charity the Fay Fuller Foundation. However, the foundation has confirmed it did not go ahead with the donation — and its formal involvement in the project ended in 2022. A Fay Fuller Foundation spokesperson did not address questions about why the funding was withdrawn. A Breakthrough spokesperson said the charity was "comfortable that interest is sufficient to meet its fundraising contribution towards the project". At the end of last year, Breakthrough reported a deficit in equity of $1.94 million, meaning the charity would be short by that amount when repaying its debts if it collapsed. It also has a fully drawn $1.59 million loan from the Flinders Foundation. Breakthrough, which was paid the initial $5 million in government funding in 2022, reported $5.53 million in "total current assets". The charity's spokesperson said accounting regulations meant the $5 million in government funding is currently classed as a deficiency — but it would "become positive" once work on the eating disorder service began. He said Breakthrough, as a start-up organisation, had for several years paid out more in grant funding than it received in operating income. Asked about the loan, he said the Flinders Foundation, which founded Breakthrough in 2020, seeded it with cash to invest in its growth and development. "Breakthrough has met its commitments under the loan arrangement to date, and makes provisions for all future payments," he said. Breakthrough also plans to recover costs through a 40-year lease that will require SA Health to pay rent on the centre — despite taxpayers contributing $10 million for its construction. In a statement, a SA Health spokesperson said the department would not pay market rent for the site. It is understood, under the arrangement, Breakthrough would receive reimbursement for operating expenses such as maintenance and security. Following initial inquiries from the ABC, made in July, the SA Health spokesperson said standard measures were in place to manage "scenarios where project requirements are not able to be upheld". But she said Breakthrough had not flagged any issues. "We are in regular communication with Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation and we're not aware of any issues with respect to Breakthrough's financial position," she said. In an updated statement, provided on Friday, SA Health said it was now looking into Breakthrough's financial position. "Since the previous statement provided to the ABC … the Department for Health and Wellbeing and the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network have been in discussions with both the Flinders Foundation and Breakthrough to further understand their financial position and these discussions are ongoing," the spokesperson said. Health Minister Chris Picton said the government was committed to the delivery of the service. In a statement, a spokesperson for the federal Department of Health, Disability and Ageing said "any arrangements between South Australia and Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation are a matter for the South Australian government".
ABC News
31-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Jihadist preacher Wisam Haddad's organisation stripped of charity status after Four Corners investigation
An organisation run by Sydney jihadist spiritual leader Wisam Haddad has been stripped of its charity status after a Four Corners investigation revealed it was radicalising young Australians while receiving tax breaks from the government. Mr Haddad's Dawah Van Incorporated was registered as a charity to preach on Sydney's streets from 2022, despite his public infamy as a prominent supporter of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. The ABC can reveal the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) revoked the Dawah Van's registration in June, after Four Corners exposed in April how notorious extremists recruited young people through the street-preaching group. A former undercover agent for Australian spy agency ASIO, codenamed Marcus, told the program he infiltrated the Dawah Van group and witnessed how it indoctrinated teenagers into violent extremism. Video of the Dawah Van's activities showed Mr Haddad working to convert teenagers in Sydney's CBD with a violent convicted criminal, Wassim Fayad, who was previously identified in court as an IS recruiter. ACNC commissioner Sue Woodward declined an interview but in a written statement said: "Revocation of charity registration is the most serious action the ACNC can take." "Once a charity loses registration, it is no longer eligible for Commonwealth tax concessions and other benefits that charities are entitled to receive," she said. The Dawah Van has also raised funds for causes overseas. It can continue to operate but will no longer receive GST and income tax exemptions. Mr Haddad's lawyer, Elias Tabchouri, told the ABC the Dawah Van was "working through this issue with the relevant authorities". He said Mr Haddad vehemently denied allegations that he or the organisation were recruiting people into terrorism, or that he was a leader of a pro-IS network. The decision is another blow for Mr Haddad, also known as Abu Ousayd, who was recently found by the Federal Court to have breached the Racial Discrimination Act in a series of antisemitic lectures. Mr Haddad has long been a controversial media figure, publicly celebrating IS attacks in the West and beheadings in Syria by slain Australian fighters Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar. He became notorious more than a decade ago for running the now-defunct Al-Risalah Islamic Centre, which was publicly identified by courts and media as a hub for terrorism recruiters. University of Queensland charity law expert Kim Weinert said the Dawah Van case exposed serious regulatory flaws, questioning why the organisation was ever granted charity status. "The case raises a number of concerns," Dr Weinert said. "The first is how easy it is for organisations that are actively carrying out questionable activities that can so easily claim charitable status with the ACNC." Dr Weinert accused the "under-resourced" and "tiny" regulator of an inconsistent approach to registering charities, with some rubber-stamped and others rejected almost solely based on paperwork. "It does raise eyebrows and concerns as to what entities are receiving charitable status," she said. Mr Haddad has never been charged with a terrorism-related offence, despite ties to a web of convicted terrorists in Australia and overseas. In recent years, he has worked with terrorist leaders to re-energise the pro-IS network, while a new generation of his teenage followers have been charged with serious terrorism offences and brutal hate crimes in Sydney. Mr Haddad used his new name, William Haddad, when he registered the Dawah Van as a charity in 2022. The charity's vision was to "reach out to the community in order to educating [sic] them about the greatness of God and comprehend purpose of life", according to its constitution. But the Dawah Van was a revival of a Sydney street-preaching group, Street Dawah, which was identified by multiple courts to have recruited young Australians into terrorism more than a decade ago. Similar Street Dawah groups have long been accused by authorities in the UK and Europe of being recruitment arms for terrorist groups. The roving street-preaching teams were pioneered by the international terrorist group al-Muhajiroun, whose leader, Anjem Choudary, was jailed for life in the UK last year. In the Four Corners program, former ASIO spy Marcus revealed Choudary had closely mentored Mr Haddad before his arrest. Marcus also exposed the inner workings of Mr Haddad's Bankstown prayer centre, Al Madina Dawah Centre, and covert groups of IS terrorists in his network. Marcus is now hiding in an undisclosed overseas location, protecting himself from threats published by extremists online. The ABC asked the ACNC why it deregistered the Dawah Van and whether its initial decision to grant charity status was a failure of governance and oversight. But the ACNC said it was precluded from disclosing information about specific charities and investigations, under strict secrecy provisions. The last federal parliament considered legislation to ease the secrecy provisions, allowing the commissioner to release information in limited cases, but the bill lapsed. "Any investigation we undertake must be thorough, independent, comprehensive, proportionate and consistent with our approach to all investigations," Commissioner Sue Woodward said in a statement. "They can be complex and take time to complete. "The ACNC will act firmly where vulnerable people or significant charity assets are at risk, where there is evidence of serious mismanagement or misappropriation, or if there is a serious or deliberate breach of the ACNC Act or ACNC Regulations." The ACNC said it prioritises compliance action against conduct that harms children and vulnerable adults, as well as misuse of a charity for terrorism or extremism, and financial mismanagement. Public records on Dawah Van, which have since been removed from the ACNC's website, showed it failed to submit financial reports to the regulator for two years — a breach that leads to revocation under the commission's policy. Australian authorities have long been wary of the risk of charities supporting terrorism. In 2017, the ACNC and financial crimes agency AUSTRAC assessed the risk of terrorism financing in Australia's not-for-profit sector as medium. In delivering that warning, they cited the number of non-profit organisations that were identified by counterterrorism investigations as linked to known extremists. In one such case, a Sydney charity in Mr Haddad's network, Dar al Quran Wa Sunnah, was accused by Lebanese and Australian authorities of funnelling funds and fighters to IS in Syria. The ACNC revoked Dar al Quran Wa Sunnah's charity status in 2019, four years after the allegations were first aired publicly.
