Come September, volunteers will have to pay $11 to apply for a a Working With Vulnerable People card — a change announced in last month’s ACT Budget that dismayed the community sector, who feared the new fee would deter Canberrans from giving their time and money to serve the community. Now, the Canberra Liberals will move to disallow the charge.

The registration fee will be introduced on 1 September. A government spokesperson said that applicants only need to pay it every five years, making the ACT’s the lowest among jurisdictions that charge volunteers for registration. The fee covers the cost of a criminal history check ($7) and the card itself ($4), and is well below the full cost of the WWVP check (between $68 and $1,700, depending on whether a risk assessment is required). Only those volunteers who work with children and vulnerable people need a WWVP check; many volunteer activities do not.

The spokesperson said the decision to impose the fee had “not been made lightly”, but many more people were registering for the card than expected: the fee was necessary to offset the growing costs of administering the WWVP scheme and to keep it sustainable as demand increased.

The Canberra Liberals, however, claim that the fee is “a callous revenue grab that will discourage volunteering” and undermine the viability of the sector.

VolunteeringACT is campaigning to reverse the volunteer fee. When it was announced, CEO Jean Giese warned that it would create a financial barrier to volunteering: volunteers paid almost $13, most out of their own pockets, for every hour they volunteered, and costs were a deterrent to volunteering, last year’s State of Volunteering in the ACT Report revealed. Ms Giese also believed the policy undermined the government’s own commitment to make volunteering more accessible and sustainable.

“This isn’t just a small administrative charge,” Ms Giese said. “It’s a policy decision that … will likely result in fewer people stepping up to volunteer, especially young people, people on low incomes, retirees, and others already feeling the pressure of rising living costs.”

Likewise, ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) CEO Dr Devin Bowles described the decision as “deeply regrettable”.

“Government should not tax activities that it wants to promote, and many volunteers are students or retired and on fixed incomes,” Dr Bowles said. “The last thing our community needs is a disincentive to volunteer.”

Shadow treasurer Ed Cocks MLA said that volunteering organisations deliver disproportionate value across the community, and rely on generous Canberrans who volunteer even when struggling with the cost of living themselves.

“The revenue that the government would raise from this tax in no way makes up for the harm it would do,” Mr Cocks said. “The Canberra Liberals cannot support a tax that punishes volunteers and undermines the organisations that rely on them.”

“Our volunteers support people across disability services, aged care, youth programs, and food relief,” shadow community services minister Chiaka Barry MLA said. “We should be making it easier to help, not putting up new barriers.”

The Liberals have asked the crossbench to support their position. The two independent MLAs are split.

Fiona Carrick MLA will vote to disallow the fee, which she fears will reduce participation in volunteering (worth $3.3 billion) and is inconsistent with the government’s own policies.

“I understand the government’s need to raise revenue to address rising debt and interest payments,” Ms Carrick said. “However, taxing our volunteers is not the right way to do it.”

Thomas Emerson MLA will not support the Liberals’ motion, even though he believes charging volunteers to register is “a poor decision”.

“While I’ve got serious reservations about this new WWVP card fee and other revenue-raising measures like the health levy, I don’t believe it’s my rôle as an independent crossbencher to start horsetrading on individual budget items after the budget has been handed down,” Mr Emerson said. “Labor did win government, and that gives them the right to hand down a budget even if we disagree with elements of it…

“It sets a dangerous precedent to start using the powers of the Assembly to oppose individual budget line items. The Greens opened the door to this by declaring they would oppose the health levy, and now the Canberra Liberals are also walking through that door.”

Mr Emerson has a supply and confidence agreement with the government; Ms Carrick does not.

“I’ve got plenty of criticisms of the budget… I’ll continue making a strong case for our community’s priorities, but I made a commitment to support stable government, and that includes allowing the government its budget,” Mr Emerson said.

Ms Carrick said: “I will represent the best interests of the people of the Murrumbidgee electorate and will vote accordingly.”

The ACT Greens also have a supply and confidence agreement with Labor. However, Laura Nuttall MLA last month sponsored a petition, supported by Volunteering ACT, urging the government not to impose the fee. More than 1,000 people so far have signed the petition, which closes in September.

The government spokesperson said that the opposition’s move to disallow the fee was “a hasty decision made before the fee has even been scrutinised through the Estimates process”.

“They’ve offered no alternative to ensure the long-term sustainability of the scheme, or how the growing cost burden would be managed without basic cost-sharing.

“The ACT Government remains strongly committed to supporting volunteering, and will continue to work with the community sector to ensure our systems remain safe, accessible, and fair for all.”