GetUp! CEO quietly departs as group goes MIA during election

GetUp!’s CEO has quietly left the organisation just weeks before the federal election, as the once-mighty progressive advocacy group reports a drastic fall in donations and has so far been missing in action during the campaign.

This apparent turn in fortune comes amid the ascend of the group’s right-wing counterpart ADVANCE and the emergence of other progressive grass-root campaigning groups like Climate 200.

GetUp! chair Glen Berman confirmed that Larissa Baldwin-Roberts resigned as CEO last month. “We want to thank Larissa for her hard work and dedication to GetUp! and its members. We wish her all the best in her future work,” he said in an email.

GetUp!’s chief operating officer Dr Lachlan McKimmie has stepped in as the group’s acting chief and “myself and the rest of the board are taking a more active role in supporting our team,” Berman said.

Baldwin-Roberts was appointed CEO in late 2022 after stints as the group’s 2022 election campaign director and First Nations justice campaign director, according to her LinkedIn. She remains involved with Common Threads, a First Nations summit that is “delivered in partnership” with GetUp!.

Her departure from GetUp! and McKimmie’s appointment in the crucial weeks before this year’s federal election was not publicly announced. Baldwin-Roberts updated her LinkedIn to show that she had finished at GetUp!, but without it alerting her network that she had done so. Her X profile still lists her in the role. She did not respond to LinkedIn or Instagram messages from Crikey seeking comment.

GetUp! has been notably absent during the 2025 election campaign. The once formidable digital campaign juggernaut has spent as much as $768,000 on Facebook and Instagram political advertisements since 2019 (Meta’s Ad Library gives a range of spending when data is pulled from its service, which is why this isn’t a precise number).

But in the past 90 days, GetUp! has spent a grand total of $3,615 on 15 total ads. For context, political parties, candidates and groups spent more than $11.38 million during that same period.

Similarly, the group hasn’t spent a cent on Google ads in that same period (although the group has never been a big spender on Google, only running $10,000 worth in 2021).

GetUp! remains active across social media platforms, doing organic posts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.

However, the group has not put out a media release since November last year, nor has it released any new reports. It’s also closing its petition platform, Campaigns by Me, at the end of the month.

Berman said GetUp! is set to unleash an online advertising blitz across eight electorates before the election. “We’ve delayed this compared to previous years to ensure it’s as impactful as possible.” The group is also doing billboards and street advertising in Melbourne and Brisbane electorates, he said.

Nevertheless, GetUp!’s finances look increasingly grim. According to the group’s real-time tracker, it has received $4,269,574 in donations in the past 365 days. This is a significant drop off from its last reported receipts of $6,703,280 in donations for the 2022-23 financial year, and far less than the last election year of 2021-22 where it reported $10.05 million.

Berman alluded to this reduced war chest: “Our plans this election are focused on centring our members’ priorities and maximising the impact of our member donations. Over 7,200 members have already donated to our election campaign.”

He pointed towards GetUp!’s involvement with the Yes campaign during the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum as disrupting the organisation’s preparations for this election.

“This election cycle is unique for us because of the impact of the Voice referendum — effectively we ran a national election-scale campaign in 2022 and 2023, which means that we’ve not had as much time as usual to renew the organisation and rebuild our financial resources before embarking on this year’s election campaign,” he said.

In 2023, The Sydney Morning Herald reported “mass redundancies” at GetUp! following the organisation’s decline in influence.

The University of Glasgow’s head of division for political and international studies, Professor Ariadne Vromen, who has published research on GetUp!, said the group had changed approach after being criticised for a “failed” campaign in the 2019 election. She said that it had pivoted to doing more local electorate work in 2022 — which could explain some of the difference — and that Climate 200 had somewhat “outgunned” the group that election. Still, Vromen is surprised by GetUp!’s lack of digital campaigning and profile in 2025.

“They have always had leaders with a public profile so it seems very strange to be mid-election without a spokesperson,” she said.

Berman said that the progressive group remains a political threat.

“GetUp! remains member-driven, focusing on empowering members and mobilising for change. We know that progressive advocacy is more critical than ever, especially in light of shifting political landscapes, and support from our members and donors will be key to securing a future where GetUp! continues to be an impactful force in Australian democracy.”

Have something to say about this article? Write to us at letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication in Crikey’s Your Say. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.