Seminar for October 2010: Insurance and not-for-profits

Would you like to understand the main types of insurance that are relevant to not-for-profit, community organisations - what they cover and, just as importantly, what they don’t?  Should your board or committee members take out insurance?  When is volunteer insurance necessary?  When do you need to notify your insurers about an incident?  If you hold an event on someone else’s property, are you covered by their insurance?

Understanding the benefits and limitations of insurance is an important part of managing risk and protecting the assets and funds of your organisation.  This seminar will provided participants with an overview of when they might need to get insurance, and tips about what to look for in policies.

Date: Tuesday, 5 October 2024

Time: 9.30am-12.30pm (registrations from 9.15am)

Presenters: Christien Corns, Senior Associate at Middletons Lawyers

Venue: Middletons, Level 25, Rialto South Tower, 525 Collins St, 3000

Cost: $40 (incl. GST) administration fee per person

Light refreshments will be provided

Registrations for this seminar are now open. For more information, or to register please visit:

Throughout 2010, PilchConnect and the VCOSS Clearinghouse are working together to run governance training for people involved in not-for-profit organisations in regional Victoria.  We are running a seminar entitled ‘Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities and Protections', and in October we’ll be heading to Mildura, Swan Hill and Hastings!

This 'back to basics' training is suitable for new not-for-profit board/committee of management members - or existing board or committee members that are seeking a refresher on the roles and legal responsibilities that come with helping to run an effective community organisation in Victoria.  Attendees will work in small groups on practical, hypothetical scenarios which are common to many community organisations. We encourage multiple board members to attend this seminar.

Mildura
Date:                Monday, 11 October 2024
Time:                11.00am – 2.30pm
Venue:              Committee Room, MRCC Offices, cnr Deakin Ave & 9th St, Mildura
Presenters:       PilchConnect Staff
Cost:                $40 (incl. GST) admin fee per person, or $20 for VCOSS members
Refreshments:   A light lunch will be provided

Swan Hill
Date:                Tuesday, 12 October 2024
Time:                9.00am – 12.00pm
Venue:              Swan Hill Town Hall, 5357 McCallum Street
Presenters:       PilchConnect Staff
Cost:                $40 (incl. GST) admin fee per person, $20 for VCOSS members
Refreshments:   Morning tea will be provided

Hastings
Date:                Tuesday, 19 October 2024
Time:                11.00am – 2.30pm
Venue:              Wallaroo Community Centre, 6 Wallaroo Pl
Presenters:       PilchConnect Staff
Cost:                $40 (incl. GST) admin fee per person, $20 for VCOSS members
Refreshments:   A light lunch will be provided

To register for any of these sessions, or for further information and details of other community training throughout regional Victoria in 2010, please visit the VCOSS Clearinghouse website below.

Inquiry into the Tax Laws Amendment (Public Benefit Test) Bill 2010

On 7 September 2024 the Senate Economics Legislation Committee released its final report on the Tax Laws Amendment (Public Benefit Test) Bill 2010.  The Committee considered reforms to Australia's tax laws which, if endorsed, would require religious and charitable organisations to satisfy a 'public benefit' test before being entitled to tax concessions or exemptions.

In its report, the Committee highlighted the significance of tax concessions applicable to charitable organisations in Australia, and recognised the need for greater transparency and accountability in the not-for-profit sector.  In summary, the Committee made the following recommendations:

• that a single independent national commission for not‑for-profit organisations be established with a range of functions, including support and education for the sector;
• that the national commission apply a 'public benefit' test when assessing tax concessions for charities; and
• that further research be provided to the Committee on the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies that are tasked with monitoring and controlling cult-like organisations.

PilchConnect's submission to the Committee is available on our  Law Reform and Advocacy page. 

For further details about the inquiry, and to read the Committee's full report, visit the Australian Parliament's website below.

New Minister for Social Inclusion

PilchConnect welcomes the recent appointment of Tanya Plibersek MP as the Minister for Social Inclusion following the Prime Minister’s Cabinet announcement in September.  In keeping with the Labor Party’s election commitment to progress not-for-profit reform, Minister Plibersek's new role provides an opportunity for issues relating to the not-for-profit sector to receive greater attention within the new Government.

PilchConnect looks forward to working with the new Minister in her role, and on the implementation of Labor's election commitments, including the  Strengthening the Non-Profit Sector reform agenda item which was announced by the Prime Minister prior to the election. 

PilchConnect also would also like to extend our thanks to Senator Ursula Stephens, former Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector for her support of PilchConnect during her term, and for helping to officially launch our service back in November 2008.

For the details of all Ministerial appointments, see the Australian Labor Party's website below.

PilchConnect has recently joined Matrix on Board and other organisations to support an initiative for the not-for-profit sector, an online community hub called the 'NonProfit Q&A' website.

By easily sharing questions and answers on day-to-day issues faced by not-for-profits, the Q&A website allows for anyone to ask questions online, and one or more answers will be provided from the combined knowledge power of the sector. There is even a 'live online' help desk, which can assist with immediate questions much of the time.

The NonProfit Q&A website is shaping to be a terrific source of knowledge sharing and will be a tremendous asset to the not-for-profit community as long as lots of questions and answers are exchanged.  You might ask a question today, and be able to answer someone else's tomorrow.

It's all free, and all about the Australian not-for-profit sector.  To participate in the forum, or to simply find out more about this exciting initiative, visit the NonProfit Q&A website below.

Can lawyers change the world?

On 19 October 2010, the Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH) will be facilitating the inaugural 'Law and Social Change Dialogue'.  This year's event poses the question: 'Can lawyers change the world?'

For decades lawyers have called for justice in the courts and on the streets, often against great odds. Some do this using legal tools, working within the legal system. Others go outside these traditional methods or abandon the law altogether. So can the law - and lawyers - have the power to bring about social change, and is it even their role?

Join Simon Sheik, National Director of advocacy organisation GetUp!, and Nic Frances, social entrepreneur and CEO of alternative energy company Cool nrg as we go deeper into these questions at the inaugural PILCH Law and Social Change Dialogue.

Julian Morrow from The Chaser will moderate this entertaining and engrossing matching of the minds to inspire you to think differently about law and social change.

PilchConnect would love to see lots of representatives from not-for-profit organisations attend this event, and perhaps get to meet some of you in person!

For further details about this event, or to register your interest, please follow the below link to the PILCH website:

The duty to prevent insolvent trading

In 2011, the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Vic) will be amended to include a duty on committee members to prevent their organisation from trading while insolvent.  It is probable that this duty has always applied to incorporated associations, however the upcoming reforms make it very clear that an organisation must be fully aware of its financial position before it enters into agreements with other parties.

So what is the 'duty to prevent insolvent trading'?  To summarise, it is a responsibility on office holders to prevent an association from incurring a debt if the organisation is already insolvent at the time the debt is incurred, or if by incurring that debt, it becomes insolvent.  Further, at the time of incurring the debt, the office holders must have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the company is already insolvent, or would become insolvent by incurring the debt.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has recently released a guide which is designed to assist office holders on how to comply with the duty to prevent insolvent trading.  While this guide is intended for directors of corporations, the principles will be just as applicable to those on the committee of associations in Victoria.  The guide can be downloaded from the ASIC site below:

New text from Federation Press: 'Associations and Clubs Law' by A S Sievers

Federation Press Publishing have recently released the 3rd edition of the textbook ‘Associations and Clubs Law’ by A S Sievers. Prompted by legislative changes throughout Australia, the new edition details major decisions and legislative developments over the past decade.

Providing up to date, practical legal information for both incorporated and unincorporated associations, the publication is recommended as a useful resource for your organisation.  For further details of this text, or to order a copy, visit the Federation Press website below:

Australia Council for the Arts publication: 'An arts guide to philanthropic gifts and tax'

The Australia Council for the Arts has recently released the free publication, 'An arts guide to philanthropic gifts and tax: the dry stuff, 2010'. This guide provides a valuable tool for not-for-profit cultural organisations and individual artists who are seeking information on how to grasp the tax consequences of philanthropic fundraising and gifts.

The guide contains plain language explanations of key tax concepts, ‘how-to’ advice, examples and case studies within the cultural sector, together with links to additional resources and help.

To download the full guide, or individual chapters, please visit the Australian Council for the Arts website below:

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