In October 2010 the Australian federal
government established the Office for the Not-for-profit Sector to coordinate
the National Compact “Working Together”. This new Office founded an independent
charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC),
which commenced operation in December 2012.
The ACNC is now the national body charged
with determining eligibility for charitable entity status. This determination
will be based on the national definitions for “charity” and “charitable
purpose”, as defined in the Charities
Bill 2013, which was enacted by the Commonwealth parliament on 27 June 2013.
Once approved as a “charitable entity”, the charity is required to register
with the ACNC, and may then apply to the ATO for Commonwealth charity tax
concessions. Prior to registration with the ACNC, the charity must comply with
the ACNC Governance Standards, which
were released on 1 July 2013.
These Standards are intended to promote
public trust and confidence in charities. As the new regulatory body, the role
of ACNC will be to monitor the initial and ongoing compliance of registered
charities with the Standards requirements. Charitable entities also have an obligation
to demonstrate their status by lodging their “governing documents” (i.e. rules,
constitution or trust deed) with the ACNC, to enable their charitable purpose
to be made publicly available through the ACNC’s free, searchable electronic
Register. For more information about the obligations of charitable entities,
and timelines for compliance, visit the ACNC website: www.acnc.gov.au
B. Richardson and Associates js pleased
to announce the release of a new Governance
Manual (2nd edn). This edition contains a new policy, “Promoting Public Trust and Confidence” and procedural guidelines for compliance against the ACNC Governance Standards. In addition,
the BRandA Standards Correlation Guide (3rd
edition) has been updated to include the ACNC Governance Standards, to assist
providers in demonstrating evidence of practice.
Information on the BRandA Governance Manual or on the complete BRandA Resource Package can be accessed by contacting quality@communityresourcingworldwide.com.au
