FAQ

Political parties and institutional politics have too often failed to inspire the public or offer meaningful opportunities for participation. Despite years of economic good times, many Australians remain deeply concerned about the political direction of our country. It has not been a good decade for Australia's progressives - those of us who share a commitment to the values of social justice, cultural diversity, ecological sustainability and economic fairness.

GetUp provides Australians with the tools to fight back, hold politicians accountable, and take innovative and effective action on important issues facing our country. GetUp is a ground-up movement of real people who are putting participation back into our democracy.

Since its inception 5 years ago, the GetUp community has grown to include over half a million members who are not afraid to stand up and have their say about important progressive political issues, helping shape the direction of Australian politics.

Together we've upheld civil liberties, fought for a free and unbiased media, ended the detention debt for refugees housed in detention centres, mounted a legal challenge to allow more Australians to vote, fought for mental health reform and in more recent times, endeavoured to promote corporate responsibility.

Take a look at our campaigns page to check out what issues we're currently working on.

GetUp members take action on the issues that are most important to them. Whether it is championing the cause of mistreated animals, upholding the principles of a free and unbiased media or campaigning for more ethical corporate behaviour – GetUp offers numerous avenues to take action. Whether it is sending email to a member of parliament, signing a petition, attending an event or helping to get an ad on the air; GetUp members are consistently involved in targeted, coordinated and strategic initiatives. By signing up for updates, members are alerted to new campaigns that provide ways of affecting positive change.

GetUp is run by a small office of staff, interns and volunteers in Sydney. Since September 2008, Simon Sheikh has acted as GetUp's National Director, replacing previous Executive Director Brett Solomon, who has since moved to Avaaz.org.

GetUp was founded in 2005 by Jeremy Heimans and David Madden, two young Australian graduates of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government who have worked at the intersection of technology, new media and politics in the United States. David and Jeremy are now co-founders of Avaaz.org, a new global online political community inspired by the success of GetUp and the US group MoveOn.org.

GetUp has a board that advises the staff. The board includes GetUp's co-founders David Madden and Jeremy Heimans, community organiser Amanda Tattersall, the founder of Rural Australians for Refugees Anne Coombs, Indigneous policy expert, Sarah Maddison and former Executive Director Brett Solomon.

Ultimately, the real work and impact of GetUp is achieved through our community members who make the calls, send the emails, attend the events and give generous financial support. GetUp could not carry out its important work without the amazing support of our members.

No. GetUp is an independent advocacy group. We don't advocate for any particular political party - we simply call it as we see it; congratulating progressive policy and criticising bad policy.

GetUp brings together progressive people - some, from a variety of political backgrounds and parties but GetUp remains independent of any political affiliation. It is GetUp's political independence that allows us to work with and critique all political parties without fear or favour.

The first way to get involved is to become a member! If you're not already a part of our amazing community, you can join up here.

GetUp has a team of staff, volunteers and interns in our Sydney office who assist with a range of tasks such as research, administration, website development, blog and forum moderation and event coordination. If this sounds like your cup of tea, check this out.

We also occasionally seek out volunteers to help out at community events. If you're interested, please send us a short email at volunteer@getup.org.au explaining how you think you could help and attach a brief resume - we'll keep your details on file for when an opportunity arises.

If you can help out with one of our campaigns, we'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email at help@getup.org.au - make sure you include a CV with your contact details, location, past experience and an outline of what you could offer (including cost of services).

Please contact us at media@getup.org.au. Strictly media calls only are accepted on 0415 182 402.

Are you from the NT? Northern Territory postcodes have a temperamental relationship with our website - but the best way to get around it is by entering your postcode without a 'zero' at the start. Just the three final digits should do the trick!

Some members using old (5+ years) versions of Safari or Firefox may experience problems when signing our petitions. We are currently working to rectify the problem. In the mean time, this problem can be averted by using a different, updated browser (such as Chrome or Firefox). If you still can't figure it out, we're always happy to help - info@getup.org.au.

We're working on a tool to help you change your details right now!
If you'd like to change your email address, try this:
1. Unsubscribe your old email address here.
2. Register the email address to which you'd like to receive emails anew - pop your email in on the homepage.
3. If you have any troubles, or would like to make sure we keep your donation history in one place, shoot us an email at info@getup.org.au - make sure you include the two email addresses and the subject line 'merge'.
If you'd like to change any of your other personal details, click here. Start by entering your email address in the panel on the right hand side and pressing "Tab". Failing all else, you can always shoot us an email - let us know how we can help on info@getup.org.au.

Sorry about that! Our email tool can be temperamental from time to time. Shoot us an email at info@getup.org.au with 'sendgrid' in the subject line - we'll fix it up as quickly as possible!

GetUp identifies campaigns based on the interests and priorities of our members. Whether its through our monthly surveys, flicking us an email or commenting on our blog; it is the feedback and ideas of our members that help shape GetUp's direction.

GetUp campaigns always reflect the shared progressive values of social justice, economic fairness and environmental sustainability. Since there are many important issues facing our country at any given time, GetUp looks for opportunities to focus national attention and action where our contribution will be most effective.
For more information about our campaign selection process, check out our blog.

Absolutely! We welcome the ideas and suggestions of GetUp members to help shape our actions on important national issues. We are currently developing a new tool to help GetUp members launch their own campaigns - until then, we would love you to drop us a line at discuss@getup.org.au or visit our "suggest" page here: here

Useful information to include in your suggestion:

• What does victory look like (what, specifically, are you trying to achieve)?
• Who has the power to make change happen, or at least influence the political result (should we be targeting dissenting MPs, the media, the Prime Minister)?
• Why is this important, in a sentence (i.e. No child belongs in detention)?
• How can GetUp members make a difference (ie. sign a petition, call talkback radio, attend a rally, email their Federal MP)?
• When is this happening (why should we run a campaign about this now, or later)?

No. Unlike a political party, being a member of the GetUp community does not mean you have to support every issue that we campaign on.

Our members 'opt-in' and support issues they care about and are motivated to act on. For each campaign we run, GetUp will send out a message alerting members to the issue at hand and an opportunity to take action. As a member, you'll be provided with ways to get involved with issues that you're passionate about. Our role is to facilitate action, but we don't dictate it - you can elect not to take part in campaigns you do not personally support.

GetUp is committed to protecting your privacy and will only add your email to our database if you've signed up to receive updates. There are two common ways people sign up to GetUp. By participating in a GetUp action (such as a petition), you are automatically signed up to receive GetUp updates. Alternatively, you may have signed up on our homepage.

If you do not remember subscribing, it is possible that someone else subscribed you using your email address. At the bottom of every email we send, there is a link to unsubscribe. If you feel you have been added in error, or would like to stop receiving GetUp updates, you can also click here to unsubscribe.

Unsubscribing is easy - simply click here.

We're very sorry to see you go! We work very hard to continually improve our communications and better understand our membership -we'd really appreciate 2 minutes of your time to give us some feedback about your reasons for unsubscribing. Email info@getup.org.au, or participate in the member exit survey on the unsubscribe page.

If you experience difficulties unsubscribing, drop us a line at info@getup.org.au with your contact information included and we will be sure to fix that up for you.

Politics should be about movements, not millionaires. So while our politicians are bankrolled by huge cheques from big business, GetUp is funded by you.

GetUp is a not-for-profit organisation and receives no money from any political party or the government. Instead we're supported by thousands of individuals who may not have a lot of time or money, but who care about the issues and want to have a say. Over 50,000 Australians have chipped in to fund GetUp's campaigns, and the average donation is just under $42. That's something to be very proud of.

The majority of donors to GetUp give under $100, but some individuals and organisations have contributed more. Like all advocacy organisations, GetUp is required by law to disclose to the Australian Electoral Commission the identity of any donors who give over $11,200 in a financial year. These disclosures take up to 18 months; for example, donations to political parties and advocacy organisations during the 2010 Federal Election won't be disclosed to the public until February 2012. We believe those laws should be tightened, so GetUp is immediately making public all donations to GetUp over $11,500. All future donations over $11,500 will be published on our website within 30 days of their receipt.

If you donate towards a particular campaign, we'll only put that money towards the issue you're passionate about. We rely on the donations given by people who choose not to chip in to a specific campaign, but to support GetUp in general, for our (small) office. These donors make everything possible, and give all GetUp members the chance to influence change on the issues you care about. Our dedicated team of staff are backed up by the inexhaustible energy of interns and volunteers - we make sure your dollar goes a long way to creating a progressive Australia.

We know that being transparent about the donations we receive is important to members - check out our donations disclosure page here.

If you would like to donate to GetUp, click here.

Our online donation system is safe and entirely secure with the highest level of encryption possible. When donating to GetUp, all information you enter on the form is encrypted with a 256 bit encryption process authenticated by Geotrust, a trust verification service. Some older versions of browsers might occasionally display an error message indicating that aspects of the page are not secure. Please be assured that these are NOT related to the donation form itself, but tend to be videos or images related to the campaign. We are working to minimise the error messages, but if you do have any concerns please send us an email. Alternatively, you can also make a donation by cheque, PayPal or over the phone - email donations@getup.org.au for more information.

Yes, there are a number of other ways you can donate to Getup: Via mail: To donate via mail, simply fill out our donation form here. Please make your cheque or money orders out to 'GetUp Ltd' and post to GetUp Ltd Reply Paid A105 Sydney South NSW 1235 PayPal: If you would like to donate via PayPal, our account name is donations@getup.org.au.

There are a range of reasons why this may be the case. You may have a problem with your account or your bank - or you may have incorrectly entered your details, so double check them and try again. If you have selected "Other amount", check that you have entered an amount. If you continue to have problems, don't hesitate to email us at donations@getup.org.au or call us on (02) 9211 4400.

Yes, GetUp is registered as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Our ABN number is 99114027986.

Under the current laws, donations to GetUp are not tax-deductible. This is an important measure to ensure that GetUp's campaign and advocacy work remain independent of government funds.

Sorry about that! We're trying hard to make the new homepage as user-friendly as possible, but there are occasionally hiccoughs. If you find them before we do, please drop us a line! Check out the website feedback forums or send us an email at info@getup.org.au.

GetUp videos are generally hosted on YouTube - if you're having trouble on the GetUp website, try viewing videos on that page. Tips on how you can view YouTube videos are located on the YouTube website - click here.

Occasionally we use our own flash-based video player. If you are having any difficulties, make sure you have the latest version of Macromedia Flash installed. Still having problems? Give us a heads up on info@getup.org.au