March seminar: Legal issues in managing volunteers (full day)
Presented by PilchConnect

Volunteers are a critical part of most not-for-profit (NFP) community organisations. Whether it's driving the vehicles, assisting with client needs, providing advice, planting trees or answering phones, the value of volunteers in this sector is immeasurable. Yet despite the importance of volunteers, very few organisations fully understand how the law works in relation to these groups.

This newly designed full day seminar is designed to help participants systematically analyse the 'life-cycle of a volunteer', to identify the key legal risks at each stage, and to learn simple procedures to minimise or avoid the risks.  Run by PilchConnect lawyers, the seminar will draw on current case law, hypothetical examples and common questions, as well as provide participants with template documents for use in their volunteer programs, and, of course, time for Q&A.

Date:       Wednesday 16 March 2025
Time:       10.00am - 4.00pm (registrations open at 9.30am)
Venue:     National Australia Bank (NAB)
               Academy Auditorium, 800 Bourke Street, Docklands
Cost:       $75 for small NFP organisations (less than 10 full time employees)
               $200 for large NFP organisations (more than 10 full time employees)

To register, or for further information, please visit our website below:

April seminar: Running a Not–for-Profit organisation - what Secretaries need to know
Presented by Chartered Secretaries Australia

Are you the Secretary or Public Officer of your not-for-profit organisation, or on the Board and involved in its governance?  Would you like a better understanding of your role and responsibilities?  The legal requirements and record keeping obligations involved in running a not-for-profit can seem confusing and onerous, however help is at hand! 

This practical and informative seminar will increase your skills and confidence in carrying out your governance role.  By the end of the session you will:

• Understand the role of a director or committee of management member in a not-for-profit organisation;
• Understand in detail the principles of good corporate governance, including key officers’ duties and how they apply in practice, reporting requirements and how and when powers may be delegated;
• Have the knowledge and skills to meet legal compliance requirements, including keeping company registers and records and financial accounts;
• Know when board / committee of management meetings and members’ meetings are needed, and how to plan for and conduct them;
• Understand the proposed changes to the regulation of the not-for-profit sector, and in particular recent amendments to the Associations Incorporation legislation.

Date:              Thursday 7 April 2025
Time:              9.30am - 12.30pm (registrations open at 9.15am)
Venue:            Chartered Secretaries Australia
                      Level 7, 500 Collins Street, Melbourne 3000
Cost:              $40 incl. GST
Refreshments: Afternoon tea will be provided.

To register, or for further information, please visit our website below:

Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities and Protections

March / April in Traralgon, Wangaratta and Ballarat

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

Over the next month we will be running a seminar entitled 'Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities and Protections', to be delivered in Traralgon, Wangaratta and Ballarat.

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.

Traralgon
Date:               Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Time:               2.00pm to 5.00pm
Venue:             Latrobe City Traralgon Service Centre
                       34-38 Kay Street Traralgon
Cost:               $40 incl. GST
Refreshments:  Afternoon tea will be provided.

Wangaratta
Date:               Tuesday, 29 March 2025
Time:               9.30am to 12.30pm
Venue:             Wangaratta Library, 21 Docker St, Wangaratta
Cost:               $40 incl. GST
Refreshments:  Light refreshments will be provided for morning tea.

Ballarat
Date:               Friday, 1 April 2011 
Time:               11.30am to 2.30pm
Venue:             Youth Perch YHQ, 122 Armstrong St South, Ballarat
Cost:               $40 incl. GST
Refreshments:  Light lunch will be provided.

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

PilchConnect's submission to scoping study for a national NFP regulator

PilchConnect has welcomed the opportunity to submit to the Commonwealth Treasury's scoping study for a national not-for-profit (NFP) regulator. The consultation follows the Commonwealth Government's 2010 election commitment to deliver smarter regulation, reduce red tape and improve transparency and accountability of the NFP sector.  The scoping paper asked for views on 31 questions, each relating to the form, scope and viability of a national NFP regulator.

PilchConnect has submitted to the consultation, stating that the establishment of an independent 'one-stop-shop' regulator should be viewed as a significant step in long-overdue reform for the NFP sector, however there must be caution given to how this reform takes shape.  In particular, PilchConnect warned against simply creating an additional level of bureaucracy to the current regulatory framework without any real improvement to efficiency, transparency and accountability for NFPs.

The PilchConnect submission focuses on the following key areas:

• the form of a national regulator; 
• relevant constitutional and jurisdictional issues;
• functions of a national regulator;
• the scope of a national regulator; and
• the goals of NFP regulation.

Further information on the consultation, as well as access to the full PilchConnect submission can be found on our website below:

VCEC releases Draft Report: Part 1 - Strengthening Foundations of the Next Decade.

In September 2010, PilchConnect made an in-depth policy submission to the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC) on its Inquiry into the Victorian Regulatory Framework. The Submission detailed PilchConnect's views on the key problems with the current regulatory regime for Victorian not-for-profit organisations, and highlighted a number of opportunities for the Victorian Government to make real and lasting improvements in the regulation of community organisations.

On 17 February 2011, the VCEC released a Draft Report of its findings titled: Part 1 - Strengthening Foundations for the Next Decade. Included in these findings is confirmation of PilchConnect's views that the regulatory burden placed on Victorian not-for-profit organisations should be reduced as a matter of priority, with nearly half of those organisations surveyed during the inquiry noting that the regulation they have encountered over the last three years has been unnecessarily burdensome.

The Commission has invited further submissions on the Draft  Report, to be received no later than 8 April 2025. A full list of the VCEC's findings and recommendations is contained in the Draft Report, which is available by following the below link:

FAQs on gifts, wills, bequests and endowments

Sometimes it can be difficult to understand the difference between the various 'kinds' of money or property given to your community organisation and what to do if your organisation receives a gift, bequest or endowment from a person's will. Whilst it can be of great benefit to your organisation, there are often forgotten legal obligations that go with the receipt of these donations.

Some of the frequent questions we receive at PilchConnect include:

• We are confused by all the terms - what do they mean?
• We have been offered a gift/bequest/endowment - now what?
• The gift/bequest/endowment came with conditions, do we have to comply?
• Do we need to have deductible gift recipient (DGR) tax status to accept gifts?
• How are gifts, wills or endowments treated for tax purposes?

We have recently updated our webportal to answer these and other questions your community organisation may have.  Further information can be found on our webportal below:

When is a gift tax deductible?

If your organisation has been endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) it may be worth thinking about the types of donations that an individual, company, trust or other type of taxpayer may claim as a gift for tax purposes. For a donation to give rise to a deductible gift, there are a number of requirements that must be met - including both the type of gift made to a DGR and the manner in which that gift is given.

For a donor to claim a deduction for a gift, the following must be satisfied:

• the gift must be made to a DGR endorsed organisation or fund;
• the gift must really be a gift (see below);
• the gift must be money or property that is covered by one of the gift types (see below); and 
• any conditions on the gift must be satisfied.

The types of gifts to a DGR that can be deductible include:

• money;
• property purchased during the 12 months before the gift was made;
• property valued at more than $5,000;
• an item of trading stock disposed of outside the ordinary course of business;
• property under the cultural gifts program; or
• gifts of places listed in the Register of the National Estate.

Property does have a wide meaning - as well as physical things, it includes rights and interests that are capable of ownership and have value. However, there are some donations that do not fall within the meaning of property. The provision of services to a DGR by a volunteer, for example, does not constitute a gift, as the ordinary meaning of property does not include services. Such a donation would not give rise to a deductible gift.

It is also necessary that the gift must really be a gift. Gifts have the following characteristics:

• there is a transfer of money or property;
• the transfer is made voluntarily;
• the transfer arises by way of benefaction; and
• no material benefit or advantage is received by the donor.

While this may seem reasonably straight forward, this is not always the case - for example, it has been found that a donor may still be regarded as having received a material benefit in a case where the value of the benefit to the giver is less than the value of the property transferred. In a situation such as this, the donor would not be able to claim the donation as a gift.

Further information is available through the ATO website, or through the PilchConnect webportal below:

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has recently released guidance material that will assist sporting clubs with the self-assessment of their income tax exempt status.  The guide, 'Income tax exemption and sporting clubs', is particularly useful for office bearers and advisers of not-for-profit sporting clubs when self-assessing whether they are exempt from income tax as a society, association or club established for the encouragement of a game or sport.

The guide can be used to help determine whether your organisation is established for the encouragement of a game or sport and includes information and case law that will help clubs that conduct non-sporting activities (in addition to their sporting activities) determine their income tax status.

The guide is available to download from the ATO website or by phoning 1300 130 248.

The SBS Foundation: Expressions of interest for 2011 are now open!

SBS is now calling for nominations from not-for-profit community organisations to share in $2 million worth of television airtime the SBS Foundation will donate during 2011.

Since 2009, SBS has entered into partnership agreements with 45 community groups, giving their television campaigns the best chance of exposure and success. The organisations work with a diverse range of causes from cancer to mental illness as well as organisations that work with Indigenous communities and refugees. The arts sector and environmental groups are also represented.

To be eligible for support from the SBS Foundation, organisations must complete an application form, available to download by following the link below.  Nominations for this program close on 31 March 2025.

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!