July Seminar - Your organisation's responsibility for injuries to, and acts of, employees and volunteers: workcover and insurance

Volunteers and employees are an integral part of most community organisations, but do you know what the legal position is if they are injured, or if something they do causes harm to someone else?  This seminar will outline your organisation’s responsibilities and obligations in this area.

Date: Tuesday 14 July 2024
Time: 9.30am-12.30pm (registrations open at 9:00am)
Presenters: Lucy Terracall, Michelle Hocking (Clayton Utz Lawyers)
Venue: Clayton Utz, Level 18, 333 Collins Street

Cost: $30
Light refreshments will be provided. For further details and to register for the seminar please see:

August Seminar – Making decisions: running meetings, AGMs and changing your constitution

Do you shiver at the thought of organising your group’s AGM?  Do you quail at how to handle those tricky questions from the floor of the meeting, or how to deal with the persistent interjector?  Are your Rules out of date but no one on the Committee knows how to go about changing them?
 
This interactive seminar will include how to run an AGM and what you should know about your Rules.  Come along and feel prepared when your next AGM rolls around! 

Date: Thursday 6 August 2024

Time: 9.30am-12.30pm (registrations open at 9:00am)
Presenters: Alice Macdougall, Anna Lyons & Sarah Shnider (Freehills Lawyers)
Venue: Freehills, Level 42, 101 Collins Street

Cost: $30
Light refreshments will be provided

Registration opens shortly.  Expressions of interest in this seminar can be emailed to Belinda La Rocca:  connect@pilch.org.au  For more information please see: 

PilchConnect and Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) regional training

In 2009 PilchConnect and VCOSS are working together to bring governance training to regional Victoria, running a program entitled ‘Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities and Protections.’

The training will cost $30 and run from 10.00am until 12.30pm on Tuesday 4 August in Castlemaine.

Registrations are now open. For more information please see:

Please note upcoming PilchConnect regional training in Geelong on 'Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities and Protections': Tuesday 1 September 2024 - More details next edition.

Pilch participates in the National Compact for Third Sector Joint Taskforce

PILCH is participating in the Australian Government’s National Compact Joint Taskforce, established by the Government to develop a stronger relationship with the NFP sector, based on partnership and respect. In addition to PILCH, the Taskforce comprises 17 members from NFP organisations, Commonwealth Government agencies, local government and the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

At its meeting on 15 June 2009, the Taskforce agreed that the national compact should:

• be a high level statement of purpose and principles shared by Government and the sector
  
• apply across the whole of the NFP sector and the whole of Government, and
  
• provide a foundation for development of more specific codes of practice and action plans which may apply to specific parts of the sector.

PILCH is keen to hear the views of its members and stakeholders in relation to the Compact.  Please contact Liz Morgan, PilchConnect lawyer on (03) 8636 4400 or  connect@pilch.org.au if you would like to discuss this initiative further.

Details of the Taskforce, Compact and background information can be found at:

Has your not-for-profit organisation (NFP) been successful in applying to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) for some kind of tax exemption, concession, endorsement or ‘status’?  Did you know that you can receive automatic updates from the ATO about any changes to federal tax laws or compliance requirements which may your NFP?

The ATO has a section of its website dedicated to NFP tax issues:  ATO NFP Issues.  You can subscribe to a free Nonprofit News Service to receive email updates on tax issues which may affect your organisation (such as changes to relevant laws, rulings and compliance requirements about GST, fringe benefit tax (FBT), deductible gift recipients (DGRs) and many other areas. You can elect to receive the updates daily, weekly or monthly.  Find out more below: ATO nonprofit news service - subscription page

TCC? DGR? GST? FBT?  Find all of these acronyms confusing? Find our more about tax issues for Victorian NFPs on PilchConnect’s legal information web portal:

Government response to Senate Inquiry

On 22 June 2024 the Federal Government tabled its response to the Senate Standing Committee on Economics’ inquiry into disclosure regimes for charities and not-for-profit organisations.
The Government has deferred the vast majority of the Senate Committee’s recommendations until the completion of the ongoing Henry Review and Productivity Commission study - each of which have relevance to the NFP sector. 
For further information on the Government’s response, see:  Senate Committee Response

Productivity Commission Study

The Federal Productivity Commission’s study into the contribution of the NFP sector continues, with 157 submissions received.  The Commission is scheduled to provide a draft report in October 2009 and the final report is due in December 2009.

PilchConnect has made a submission to this important review, and has put forward a number of recommendations for improved regulation of the NFP sector.  Further details on the study are available at:  Productivity Commision Study

Early Childhood Services Project

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development consulted with key stakeholders into reducing the 'red tape' on schools and early childhood development providers.

The PilchConnect submission to this review focuses on minimising the administrative burden placed on early childhood development service providers to allow them to spend more time on their important core service delivery.  The full submission is available at:

‘Developing Your Board’ project

The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (CPNS) is developing a free online tool which aims to assist NFP groups with good governance and effective boards. This project will allow boards to undertake a free evaluation process through the completion of online surveys, eventually allowing that organisation to assess their performance and compare themselves against other boards.
CPNS has produced its first pilot online survey for NFPs that is focussed on the role of the chair and of the board.  This survey is currently in testing stage and community groups are invited to participate through a registration process.

Details on how to register can be found at:

PilchConnect is a new, specialist legal service which has been set up to provide legal help to Victorian, not-for-profit community organisations.

The service provides free and low cost legal information, training, advice and legal referrals for Victorian not-for-profit community organisations. We also undertake law reform and advocacy work about the wide range of legal issues that affect the not-for-profit sector.

To find out more about the legal services we provide, see ‘How PilchConnect can help your community organisation’ at:  How PilchConnect can help.

If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this e-bulletin please email:  connect@pilch.org.au.

If you would like to contribute to, or provide feedback about this e-bulletin, please email: