Welcome to the first PilchConnect e-bulletin for 2011!

This year is shaping up to be a truly defining year for Australia's not-for-profit landscape, with law reform high on the agenda of both the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments triggering policy decisions that will shape the sector for years to come.

At the Federal level we will see the Not-for-Profit Sector Reform Council meet for the first time to support the newly created Office for the Not-for-Profit Sector, whose role will be to spearhead the Federal Labor Party's historic reforms to Australia's not-for-profit sector.

In Victoria, reforms to the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Vic) will come into force, bringing in changes that will clarify the legal roles and responsibilities of committee members, and introducing new requirements for the day-to-day governance of associations in Victoria. New Model Rules will also be finalised to reflect these reforms. Further information on these changes, together with updated information as the reforms progress throughout the year can be found on the PilchConnect website.

In order to assist community based not-for-profits with their compliance and regulatory matters in 2011, PilchConnect will continue to provide low-cost training on a range of legal topics throughout the year, as well as facilitate pro bono (free) legal advice and assistance to eligible Victorian community organisations via our various legal support services, including:

• PilchConnect's telephone advice service 
• PilchConnect's legal referral service
• PilchConnect's training and seminar program
• PilchConnect's law reform and advocacy work

We anticipate a challenging year ahead for the community sector, and look forward to working with those amazing not-for-profit organisations that continue to achieve such wonderful results for the most marginalised and disadvantaged members of our society.

PilchConnect welcomes you to 2011.

2011 not-for-profit seminar - 'Navigating the Maze: an introduction to legal issues for not-for-profit community groups'

PilchConnect's legal seminar series for not-for-profit community organisations kicks off in 2011 with a ‘back to basics' introduction to legal issues for Victorian not-for-profit community groups - especially useful if you are just getting started!

Hosted by the University of Melbourne and presented by PilchConnect lawyers, the session will present a basic, practical overview of legal issues in the following areas:

• getting your community organisation started - why, where, when, how
• incorporating your organisation - the process, the consequences, pros and cons
• duties of board / committee of management members
• risk management and insurance.

This seminar will encourage questions and active participation from attendees. We encourage multiple representatives from community groups to attend.

Date:                    Wednesday, 23 February 2025
Time:                   9.30am to 12.30pm
Venue:                 Melbourne Law School (room to be confirmed)
Cost:                    $40 (inc GST) administration fee per person
Refreshments:     Light refreshments will be provided for morning tea.

Registrations for this seminar are now open, and it is filling fast. For more information, or to register please visit:

We invite you to save the 16th of March 2011 to attend a newly designed one day seminar, facilitated by PilchConnect. The seminar will help participants identify the key legal risks at each stage of the ‘life cycle of a volunteer' and to learn simple procedures to minimise or avoid those risks  in the future.

Further information, including how to register for the seminar, will be released via our website and in our February e-bulletin.  

'Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities and Protections'

Throughout 2011, PilchConnect and the VCOSS Clearinghouse will continue to work together to run governance training for people involved in not-for-profit organisations throughout Victoria. 

We are running a seminar entitled ‘Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities and Protections', to be delivered in Geelong and Melbourne CBD in February.

This 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.

Geelong : Tuesday 15 February

Date:                   Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Time:                   1.00pm to 4.00pm
Venue:                 City Hall, Gheringhap Street, Geelong
Cost:                    $40 incl. GST 
Refreshments:    Afternoon tea will be provided.

Melbourne CBD : Wednesday 16 February

Date:                    Wednesday, 16 February 2025
Time:                    11.00am to 2.00pm
Venue:                  Victoria Room, Queen Victoria Women's Centre, 210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Cost:                     $40 incl. GST
Refreshments:      Light refreshments will be provided for lunch.

To register, or for further information and details of other community training throughout regional Victoria in 2011, please visit the VCOSS Clearinghouse website below.

Forum on Aid/Watch: Implications of the High Court decision for the not-for-profit sector

The Not-for-Profit Project at the Melbourne Law School, in partnership with Changemakers Australia and PilchConnect, would like to invite you to a forum on the High Court's recent important decision in  Aid/Watch Incorporated v Commissioner of Taxation delivered on 1 December 2010.

The event is open to all those interested in the implications of the Aid/Watch decision, and the scope in which charitable organisations may engage in advocacy and lobbying whilst maintaining tax concessions. 

The Forum will be chaired by Associate Professor Miranda Stewart from the Melbourne Law School, and will include the following confirmed speakers:

• Alice Macdougall, Special Counsel, Freehills
• Associate Professor Matthew Harding, Melbourne Law School
• Associate Professor Ann O'Connell, Melbourne Law School
• Alexandra Richards, QC
• Elizabeth O'Shea, Maurice Blackburn
• Esther Abrams, Changemakers Australia

The details of this event are as follows:

Date:                        Thursday 10 February 2025
Time:                        10:30am - 12:30pm
Venue:                      Melbourne University Law School
                                 University Square
                                 185 Pelham Street, Carlton VIC 3053
Cost:                         Free
RSVP:                        Please RSVP by 3 February 2025
                                 to Dr Joyce Chia
                                 Email: law-nfp@unimelb.edu.au
                                 Phone: (03) 9035 4418

Further information is available on the  PilchConnect website.
 

ASIC Submission: Consultation Paper 142

In December 2010, PilchConnect responded to ASIC's call for comments relevant to Consultation Paper 142: Related Party Transactions.

The focus of the PilchConnect submission was on a discrete area of the law relating to the disclosure of related party transactions for companies limited by guarantee (CLGs). The submission highlighted inconsistencies with the rules regarding disclosure of related party transactions for CLGs, depending on whether they hold a name licence or not. CLGs which have been granted a name licence are exempt from the related party transaction provisions under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

Our submission notes the importance of transparency in the operations of not-for-profit organisations. To this end, the submission supports the development of appropriate mechanisms to ensure member approval is gained before not-for-profit CLGs enter in to most related party transactions. Our submission did not, however, advocate for the comprehensive imposition of existing related party transaction provisions for all CLG's. Rather, overall improvements to the structure of CLGs are required to better accommodate for the specific needs of not-for-profit organisations. It was recommended that these overall changes incorporate requirements for member approval by all CLGs of related party transactions that fall outside of the relevant exceptions.

Further information on PilchConnect's submission can be found on  our website.

Members of the Not-for-Profit Sector Reform Council announced

In December 2010, the Minister for Social Inclusion, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, announced the composition of the Australian Government's Not-for-Profit Sector Reform Council (the Council). Comprising of eminent figures from within the sector, the Council will play a vital role in supporting the Office for the Not-for-Profit Sector in the coordination of the Federal Government's not-for-profit reform agenda.

The Council will advise the Government on plans to reform the sector by examining the scope of a national one-stop-shop regulator, providing advice on streamlining tendering and contracting processes for Government-funded not-for-profits and by considering the harmonisation of fundraising and other Commonwealth, State and Territory laws.

The full membership of the Council comprises of:

• Linda Lavarch - Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (Chair)
• Anne Robinson - Prolegis Lawyers (Deputy Chair)
• Glenn Appleyard - Australian Accounting Standards Board
• Ken Baker - National Disability Services
• Sandy Blackburn-Wright - Westpac, Community Development
• Kasy Chambers - Anglicare
• Michael Coleman - KPMG / Planet Ark
• David Crosbie - Community Council for Australia
• Cassandra Goldie - Australian Council of Social Service
• Suzie Haslehurst - Magabala Books Aboriginal Corporation
• Evelyn O'Loughlin - Volunteering SA and NT
• Frank Quinlan - Catholic Social Services Australia

We would also like to congratulate PilchConnect's own Sue Woodward, who will this month commence a secondment as a senior advisor in the new Office for the Not-for-Profit Sector. Sue will be assisting the Office with a range of reform issues, including the scoping of a national ‘one-stop-shop' regulator and liaising with the newly appointed Not-For-Profit Sector Reform Council. We wish Sue every success in her new role, and are already counting down the days until she returns to PilchConnect upon the completion of the secondment!

For more details on these appointments, please follow the link to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet website below:

The National Pro Bono Resource Centre's recently released  ‘Report on the National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey 2010' shows that pro bono requests from new non-profit groups seeking help with obtaining deductible gift recipient (DGR) status are often declined. While the Report identifies DGR applications as an area of law in which pro bono services are regularly provided, it also highlights that many requests are turned down for reasons other than merit and means (ie, a group's ability to pay for assistance). 

Simply put, while many law firms continue to provide pro bono assistance to community organisations on DGR matters, the demand far exceeds supply, giving rise to a notable unmet legal need.

A significant number of the 1,200+ inquiries PilchConnect has handled since its launch 2 years ago relate to tax matters, principally those about DGR and other tax concessions. In particular, this new research supports the need for the free PilchConnect telephone advice service. This free telephone service is available for once-off legal advice on a limited range of legal issues. Further details about eligibility criteria for the advice service are available at   Telephone Advice Service.

For more information about the telephone advice service, or to make a legal inquiry on behalf of your organisation, please call us on  8636 4444 or  1800 706 220. Our legal volunteers will answer your initial inquiry and, if eligible, a PilchConnect lawyer will call you back.

PilchConnect hopes that with further funding, it will be able to continue to provide this much needed support beyond the end of 2011. Further information about PilchConnect's services can be found on the below link:

Modernising Charity Law: Recent Developments and Future Directions 

Edited by Myles McGregor-Lowndes and Kerry O'Halloran, Modernising Charity Law brings together perspectives from expert academics, regulators and practitioners who consider and assess recent reforms to charity law throughout common law jurisdictions, particularly Australia.

With particular attention given to issues of expanded heads of charity, public benefit, religion, competition with business, government participation and regulation, this highly recommended work provides a valuable resource for academics, regulators and legal practitioners as well as advanced and postgraduate students in law and public policy.  

For further information on this text, or to order a copy, please follow the link to the Queensland University of Technology website:

Law serving the community: Celebrate the opening of the legal year 2011

Victoria's legal community has invited members of the not-for-profit sector to join them at Parliament House to celebrate how the legal profession and the community work together towards achieving a just society. Key speakers include Justice Chris Maxwell - President of the Victorian Court of Appeal and Marcia Langton, Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at Melbourne University.

Details of this event are as follows:

Date:                       Monday 31 January 2025
Location:                Queens Hall, Parliament House, Spring St Melbourne
Time:                      9.00am for 9.30am
                               Morning tea will be provided at 10.30am
Cost:                       Free
RSVP:                      Monday 24 January 2025
                               Email: register@liv.asn.au
                               Fax: (03) 9607 9404
                               Mail: LIV PO Box 263C Melbourne 3000
                               or DX 350, Melbourne

For further details on this event, please follow the link below.

PilchConnect is a 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.

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
connect@pilch.org.au

To find out more about the legal services we provide, see:

Have you missed an earlier edition of PilchConnect's e-bulletin and want to get up-to-date? All of our previous newsletters are available on the PilchConnect website at the link below, including this month's edition!