On Monday 10 December 2012, the newly established Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) was officially launched by the Assistant Treasurer, the Hon. David Bradbury MP. This followed the legislation receiving Royal Assent on 3 December 2012 and the announcement on 7 December 2012 of the formal appointment of Ms Susan Pascoe AM as the Inaugural Commissioner of the ACNC. Since opening it has already registered its first new charity.
In accepting the appointment Ms Pascoe noted that "I have spent most of my career in the not-for-profit sector particularly through my work with education organisations and I understand first hand the challenges and the workloads placed on charities".
It is positive to see an Inaugural Commissioner with such a deep understanding and empathy for the sector. While there is clearly a genuine commitment by the Commissioner and the ACNC's staff to the achievement of the reduction of red tape for the sector, there will be significant challenges ahead in implementing a report once, use often framework. Given that this is one of the clear benefits from these reforms it will be critical that the Commissioner is kept accountable for the achieving this objective.
What does this means for charities?
From the establishment date of the Commission on 3 December 2012, income tax exempt charities previously endorsed by the ATO, will be automatically registered entities with the ACNC meaning that they have a new regulatory framework to address including in the areas of:
- Directors / trustees responsibilities
- Governance standards;
- Financial reporting requirements;
- The ACNC public register; and
- Other information to be provided to the Commissioner.
We are currently conducting a series of seminars nationally where we provide information on these requirements. Please click here to download this presentation.
We have also attached a link to our summary of the implications for charities and other not-for-profits concerning the broader reform framework of the Federal Government covering:
- Regulatory requirements;
- Tax reform; and
- Funding reform.
The establishment of the ACNC is clearly the start of a new era for charities which also sees the registration and regulation of charities now being taken over by the ACNC from the previous de-facto regulator, the ATO. Much more detail can be found on the ACNC website www.acnc.gov.au which is highly informative and where you can also check your registration details.
The ACNC has kicked off with an extremely active and readable website and it is already seeking to address some of the key administrative matters that arise from the legislation. For example you can find on the website forms allowing you to notify changes of the charity's details to the ACNC as well as an application process for entities which require a substituted accounting period. Much more information is also included so it is well worth a look.
There is much we do not yet know in relation to the impact of the ACNC establishment as we are yet to see the draft regulations which will contain most of the detailed practical implications. These include the governance standards, financial reporting and annual information statement requirements. As this information is released by Government and the issues become clearer we will seek to keep you informed of the key aspects.
In the meantime if you would like to discuss these developments please contact your Moore Stephens relationship partner or a member of our national steering committee whose details are below.
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