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The Governor-General’s neutrality is under fire after Equality Australia — a group she serves as patron — scored a major tax break from Labor ahead of a high-profile court battle.

Sam Mostyn’s neutrality as Governor-General of Australia is under scrutiny following revelations the Albanese government gave political favours — including $4.5 million in tax perks — to Equality Australia, a left-wing political advocacy group that lists Mostyn as patron.

Equality Australia, which played a central role in the 2017 push for same-sex marriage, was in more recent years denied charitable tax status by multiple courts and the national charities regulator.

However, according to new reports from The Australian, Assistant Charities Minister Andrew Leigh took the unusual step of bypassing these rulings to grant the group “DGR [deductible gift recipient] status with the stroke of a pen”.

Mostyn had joined Equality Australia just one month before the group’s preferential treatment by Labor became public.

DGR status allows donors to claim tax deductions for financial gifts — a highly coveted benefit normally reserved for organisations that provide tangible aid like food or shelter for the homeless.

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) rejected Equality Australia’s application, arguing the group had a “non-benevolent purpose” of “agitat[ing] for law reform and social change, and this purpose did not amount to benevolent relief to people in need”.

Equality Australia appealed the decision to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and lost. They then appealed again to the Full Federal Court, and lost there too.

Having exhausted the legal process, Equality Australia approached the government directly. Using his discretionary powers, Andrew Leigh expanded the list of eligible organisations so that Equality Australia could be given DGR status, along with $4.5 million in tax breaks — in a decision that was quietly announced in the March federal budget.

Calls for Anti-Corruption Watchdog to Intervene

In response to Equality Australia’s unequal treatment, the Family First Party called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to require the Governor-General to resign her patronage of the group.

“Clearly the Governor-General should not be patron of a political activist organisation, particularly one which lobbies for experimental and irreversible gender change treatments on children,” said Family First National Director Lyle Shelton in a media release.

“As our head of state, the Governor-General must remain above politics,” he explained.

🚨 Governor-General embroiled in political controversy! 🚨

Why is Sam Mostyn still patron of radical activist group Equality Australia?

This same group is using YOUR taxpayer dollars to fight for biological men in women’s spaces—and the Albanese Government gave them $4.5M in…

— Lyle Shelton (@LyleShelton) July 29, 2025

Mr Shelton also urged the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to crack down on Equality Australia’s lucrative tax perks.

“A decision that has been rejected by the ACNC, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and Federal Court but waived through on a political whim should be scrutinised by the NACC,” he said.

“If Equality Australia is allowed DGR status, so too should the Australian Christian Lobby,” Mr Shelton further argued. “Both are political activist groups, but the Albanese Government has pulled strings so that one can be more equal than the other.”

Additionally, Family First called for Andrew Leigh to be referred to Australia’s anti-corruption watchdog.

Giggle v Tickle: Equality Australia Weighs In

The Governor-General’s ties to Equality Australia take on added significance this week, as the activist group was granted leave by the Federal Court to intervene in the high-profile appeal of Giggle v Tickle.

Equality Australia will intervene in support trans-identified male Roxanne Tickle, who last year successfully sued Sall Grover, founder of the female-only app Giggle for Girls, for discrimination after she removed Tickle from the platform.

Grover’s appeal will decide whether women in Australia have the right to run female-only digital spaces, or whether a person’s subjective “gender identity” takes precedence over biological sex under the nation’s sex discrimination law.

Backed by patron Sam Mostyn, Equality Australia will seek to advance the transgender ideology underpinning Tickle’s case and argue the damages awarded last year were too low.

In her role as Governor-General, Mostyn is not explicitly barred from political affiliations, though longstanding Westminster conventions demand impartiality, and the position is traditionally filled by individuals without active political ties.

The Albanese government is yet to issue a statement about the Governor-General’s patronage of the controversial group.

The Giggle v Tickle appeal hearing began on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on Thursday, August 7, with a ruling expected later this year.

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.