Amendments to the Privacy Act introducing the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme commences today, 22 February 2018. The NDB scheme will apply to all organisations currently required to take steps to secure personal information, including but not limited to businesses and not-for-profit organisations with an annual turnover of $3 million, health service providers, TFN recipients… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Compliance
Subscribe to Compliance RSS FeedBill d’Apice recognised in the Chambers & Partners 2018 edition
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, General, Governance, Liability & Risk, Privacy, Procurement, Protection, Tax Exemptions & DGR Status, Trade MarksBill d’Apice, Chairman and Partner, has been recognised in Chambers and Partners’ Asia Pacific 2018 edition as a Band 1 lawyer in the area of Charities. This is a well-deserved acknowledgement and recognition of Bill’s dedication to the Charity sector over many decades. From the Chambers Asia-Pacific guide: “Bill d’Apice of Makinson & d’Apice in Sydney “has… Continue Reading
Remunerating Charity Board Members
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, GovernanceThe ACNC have recently released an information paper ‘Remunerating Charity Board Members‘ for charities considering paying board members for their services as a board member. The term ‘board members’ is used throughout the information paper to generically refer to the responsible persons of a charity, such as committee members, directors or Trustees. The ACNC have… Continue Reading
School Building Funds’ Compliance Reminder
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, General, GovernanceA reminder to check your School Building Funds’ compliance with the ATO requirements. School and College Building Funds may attract the attention of the ATO’s compliance program this year. The ATO develops and implements its compliance program annually, which identifies key areas for its compliance activities for the financial year. The compliance program targets areas… Continue Reading
Reporting Deadline for Charities and Public Ancillary Funds Fast Approaching!
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, General, Governance, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusThe ATO and ACNC are reminding charities and ancillary funds that the annual reporting period is fast approaching. Charities Charities registered with the ACNC (that have an annual year end of 30 June) have less than a week to submit their Annual Information Statement (AIS) to the ACNC. The AIS should be lodged via the… Continue Reading
ACNC Releases Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement on Public Benevolent Institutions
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, General, Governance, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusThe ACNC Commissioner has just released the ACNC’s Interpretation Statement on Public Benevolent Institutions. The Interpretation Statement provides guidance on the ACNC’s interpretation of the law pertaining to Public Benevolent Institutions (PBI) and insight into how the ACNC and its staff will assess a charitable organisation’s entitlement for endorsement as a PBI. The Interpretation Statement… Continue Reading
ACNC Launches Registered Charity Tick
Posted in Compliance, GovernanceLast week, the ACNC launched a “Registered Charity Tick”. The tick may be used by charities registered on the ACNC Charity Register which are up to date with ACNC financial reporting requirements and meet the regulator’s governance standards. The tick will allow donors to easily identify registered charitable organisations complying with these requirements. Ms Susan… Continue Reading
Ensure Your Charity Complies with the ACNC Governance Standards
Posted in Compliance, GovernanceMost Charities will be aware that it is a condition of registration as a Charity (other than as a basic religious charity) that the Charity complies with the ACNC Governance Standards which have applied since 1 July 2013. However, it is not enough that the Charity complies with the ACNC Governance Standards at the time… Continue Reading
New NSW Associations Laws to Commence 1 September 2016
Posted in Compliance, General, Governance, Liability & RiskNew NSW Associations Laws to Commence on 1 September 2016 Important amendments to the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (NSW) and the Associations Incorporation Regulation 2016 (NSW) will commence on 1 September 2016. These amendments will affect both existing Associations and the registration process for new Associations in NSW. The following summary highlights the key changes:… Continue Reading
The ACNC is here to stay!
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, General, Governance, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusFollowing two years of speculation regarding the future of the charity regulator, earlier today the Minister for Social Services, Christian Porter confirmed that the Federal Government has decided to keep the Australian Charities and Not-for Profits Commission (ACNC). The Liberal Government was elected on a platform to abolish the ACNC and a Bill to abolish… Continue Reading
ABR and ACNC enter into a data sharing agreement
Posted in Compliance, General, GovernanceIn a further step to provide a user-friendly and reliable source of data for the community, last week the Australian Business Register (ABR) and Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission (ACNC) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate data sharing between the two agencies. Occasionally, there are data discrepancies between the two registers… Continue Reading
Charity Sector Update
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, General, Governance, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusFuture of the ACNC slowly becomes more certain Earlier this month, the (then) Minister for Social Services Scott Morrison stated that “there is very strong support for the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and I don’t believe there would be any support in the Senate for there to be any change.” Many in the sector were… Continue Reading
Template Governing Document Released by the ACNC
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, General, GovernanceLast week the ACNC released a one page document to be used as a template governing document for registered charities who otherwise don’t have a constitution which satisfies the requirements of the ACNC. This template governing document is for charities which are created by an Act of Parliament or are governed by Canon Law and… Continue Reading
Time is running out for Public Ancillary Funds: You have until 1 July 2015 to comply
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, General, Governance, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusOn 2 March 2012, we reported that new laws had been introduced regarding the way public ancillary funds are structured, operated and wound up. What is a Public Ancillary Fund? A Public Ancillary Fund is a type of fund that is entitled to deductible gift recipient (DGR) status and provides a link between charitable organisations that… Continue Reading
The ACNC’s Future Becoming More Certain
Posted in Compliance, General, Governance, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusThe ACNC’s Future Becoming More Certain Barely 7 weeks into his new role Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison declared on Friday that scrapping the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is not a priority in his new portfolio. His statement to Fairfax Media demonstrates a clear and decisive policy shift away from his predecessor, former Social Services… Continue Reading
NSW School Funding: Changes to Not-For-Profit Requirements
Posted in Compliance, GeneralThe NSW Government has amended the Education Act to strengthen the not-for-profit requirements for non-Government schools. The rules have got tougher and non-compliance could result in a loss of funding. What organisations does this affect? These changes affect all non-Government schools in New South Wales in receipt of funding from the NSW Government. What other… Continue Reading
ATO releases Draft Special Conditions TR2014/D5
Posted in Compliance, General, Governance, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusThe ATO has released the Draft Special Conditions Ruling TR 2014/D5 – Income Tax: special conditions for various entities whose ordinary and statutory income is exempt In August the ATO released draft ruling TR 2014/D5 regarding the proposed application of special conditions inserted by the Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures… Continue Reading
The Future of the ACNC Remains Uncertain
Posted in Compliance, Fundraising, General, GovernanceThe Future of the ACNC Remains Uncertain On 16 June 2014 the Senate Committee delivered a divided report on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (Repeal) (No 1) Bill 2014 (No 1 Bill). No 1 Bill Unsurprisingly, the Liberal Senators supported the abolition of the ACNC, however, the Labor and Greens Senators offered dissenting reports… Continue Reading
Missing charities could lose tax concessions
Posted in Compliance, General, Governance, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusThe ACNC has recently released a register of charities that have not responded to communication from the regulator (i.e. no known address/contact details or correspondence has been returned to sender). Charities on this database risk losing their entitlements to charity tax concessions and have until 30 June 2014 to update their details and contact the… Continue Reading
Full Federal Court unanimously confirms that Hunger Project Australia is a Public Benevolent Institution
Posted in Compliance, General, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusEarlier today the Full Federal Court handed down its judgment regarding the Hunger Project Australia case and rejected the Commissioner of Taxation’s appeal (Commissioner of Taxation v Hunger Project Australia [2014] FCAFC 69). The court has unanimously held that Hunger Project Australia (HPA) does not need to directly give aid in order to be endorsed… Continue Reading
Trustee Duties v Self-Interest – A Battle over Church Property
Posted in Compliance, General, Governance, Liability & RiskLast week, a NSW Supreme Court decision was handed down regarding the fate of a parcel of land on which a church building stands. The findings of Lindsay J in this case serve as a timely reminder of the obligations and duties of trustees who hold property in their names, in this context, on behalf… Continue Reading
The Unrelated Business Income Tax is (finally!) dead
Posted in Compliance, General, GovernanceJust weeks before the intended commencement of the “Better Targeting of NFP Tax Concessions” measure, the Acting Assistant Treasurer has issued a press release stating “the Government has considered alternatives to the previous government’s better targeting of not-for-profit tax concessions measure. We have concluded that they are not required at this time”. This news will… Continue Reading
ATO changes lodgement requirements for organisations with over $20 million GST turnover
Posted in Compliance, GovernanceDoes your organisation turnover more than $20 million annually? If so, there are changes to the New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) that you need to be aware of. The GST Act requires all entities with over $20 million GST turnover to report monthly and lodge activity statements electronically. The… Continue Reading
Government to Repeal the ACNC
Posted in Compliance, General, Governance, Tax Exemptions & DGR StatusGovernment Introduces Legislation to Repeal the ACNC This morning the Coalition Government introduced a suite of legislation to repeal thousands of Acts, Bills and Regulations in an effort to “cut red tape”. In line with the Government’s pre-election promise, the planned abolition of the ACNC has been tabled as part of the Australian Charities and… Continue Reading