Seminar for July 2011: Human Rights and Anti-discrimination law and your organisation

Does your community organisation need to comply with the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities?  How does the new Equal Opportunity Act 2010 affect you?

This new seminar will focus on what not-for-profit community organisations need to know to ensure that they comply with their legal obligations and meet best practice standards in this area.  Gain a clear understanding of what Victorian human rights and anti-discrimination law means for community organisations, as well as relevant exceptions and exemptions.  Make sure your service delivery and the activities of your organisation or group protect and respect human rights.

This seminar is generously presented and hosted by Russell Kennedy Lawyers. The details of the seminar are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 20 July 2024
Time: 9.30am to 12.30pm (registrations open at 9:15am)
Venue: Russell Kennedy Lawyers: Level 12, 469 La Trobe Street, Melbourne
Cost: $40 (incl. GST) administration fee per person
Refreshments: Light refreshments will be provided for morning tea

Registrations for this seminar are now open. To register, please visit our registration page below:

Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities, and Protections

Throughout the year, PilchConnect and the VCOSS Clearinghouse will continue to work together to run governance training for individuals involved in not-for-profit organisations throughout regional Victoria. This month we will be running a seminar entitled 'Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities and Protections' in Torquay, followed by Morwell in early August.

This training is suitable for new or existing not-for-profit board/committee of management 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.

Torquay
Date: Tuesday, 26 July 2024
Time: 11.30am to 2.30pm 
Venue: Surf Coast Shire Council Offices
Council Chambers 
25 Grossmans Rd, Torquay
Cost: $50 (incl. GST)

Morwell
Date: Tuesday, 2 August 2024
Time: 2.00pm to 5.00pm
Venue: Nambur Wariga Room, Latrobe City Corporate Headquarters
141 Commercial Road Morwell
Cost: $50 (incl. GST)

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

As readers of our e-bulletin will be aware, PilchConnect runs a series of monthly training sessions for not-for-profit (NFP) community groups in Melbourne.  We also partner with VCOSS to deliver training across rural and regional Victoria about the legal duties of Committee and Board members of community organisations.  

The feedback about PilchConnect’s training has been overwhelmingly positive and we have often had requests for tailored training. Due to this demand, PilchConnect has recently started to offer tailored legal training for community organisations, peaks, local councils and others on a fee-for-service basis.

Topics PilchConnect can deliver tailored training on include:

• Navigating the maze: an introduction to legal issues for NFPs
• Incorporation: should we incorporate our NFP?
• Legal issues in managing volunteers
• Legal duties of NFP Board or Committee members
• Updates on changes to laws affecting NFPs.

We can also design and deliver training programs on other legal issues by request.

All PilchConnect’s trainers are qualified lawyers with a number of years' experience in advising NFPs. We also have lawyers with qualifications in tertiary education and adult learning (Cert IV TAA). PilchConnect aims to provide legal services to NFPs across Victoria, and our lawyers can travel to outer-metropolitan and regional areas.

PilchConnect is happy to be contacted by local councils, public sector bodies, NFP peak bodies, networks agencies and individuals about legal training for your members or for community organisations you regularly work with. Tailored training sessions generally need a minimum of 20 participants per session, to enable the training to be delivered at a reasonable rate per participant.

For all NFP training inquiries, please email us at  nfptraining@pilch.org.au, or contact the PILCH Training Officer directly on (03) 8636 4453.

Update on reforms to Victorian incorporated associations

The Victorian Parliament is currently considering the Consumer Acts Amendment Bill 2011 which includes, amongst other things, a proposal to defer the default commencement date for the reforms to the Associations Incorporation Act 1981. Currently, the reforms (which are explained by PilchConnect here) provide for a number of changes to the way Victorian incorporated associations must operate, with these changes originally intended to be brought into effect by 1 December 2011.

The latest proposal intends to defer this implementation date to 1 July 2012, in order to allow enough time for new Model Rules to be developed, as well as providing an opportunity for consideration to be given to further options for improving the regulation of incorporated associations.

The Victorian Government intends to consult further with the not-for-profit sector throughout this extended reform process, and we urge you to keep track of these reforms via the PilchConnect e-bulletin to ensure you can have your voice heard during this period of exciting reforms for Victorian incorporated associations.

The Federal Government has announced the appointment of Susan Pascoe as the Chair of the Implementation Taskforce for the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). PilchConnect congratulates Ms Pascoe on the appointment, as we believe she is extremely well-placed to lead the ACNC up to its formal establishment on 1 July 2012, particularly given her strong credentials as both a former Commissioner with the Victorian State Services Authority and former Chief Executive Officer of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria.

PilchConnect looks forward to working with Ms Pascoe in the lead-up to the launch of the ACNC next year. Further information on the ACNC can be found in a recent PilchConnect article, published in the June 2011 issue of Keeping Good Companies, the national journal of Chartered Secretaries Australia.

Final report on the scoping study for a national not-for-profit regulator

The appointment of Ms. Pascoe coincides with the Federal Government's release of the final report on the scoping study for a national NFP regulator. The report presents a synthesis of the 161 submissions received in response to the consultation paper, which sought stakeholder comment on the goals of national regulation, the scope of national regulation and the functions and form of a national regulator. The 44 recommendations made in the report will provide the Government with a blueprint to implement a national NFP regulator, with a focus on:

• The goals of national regulation;
• The scope of national regulation;
• Registration;
• The need for an information portal;
• Governance, disclosure and compliance;
• The form of the national regulator; and
• Funding of a national regulator.

The full report can be found on the Treasury website, below. 

Consultation Paper - Better Targeting of Not-for-profit Tax Concessions

The Federal Government recently called for public views on possible approaches to the implementation of the Government's 2011-12 Budget announcement regarding income tax concessions for NFPs. The Treasury has released a consultation paper, "Better targeting of not-for-profit tax concessions", which canvasses issues relating to the Government's commitment that income tax concessions will only apply to profits generated by the unrelated commercial activities of NFPs if they are directed to the NFPs altruistic purpose. PilchConnect's submission on the consultation paper will be made available on our web portal shortly.

Further information on the consultation paper can be found on the Treasury website, below:

The duty to act with reasonable care and diligence

As a Director, Board or Committee member of a not-for-profit organisation, you have special legal duties. While these duties differ slightly according to your legal structure, the core principles and expectations remain the same. A recent Federal Court case provides a timely reminder of the importance of understanding these legal duties and how they apply to you, particularly your duty to act with reasonable care and diligence. While this particular case focused on the for-profit sector, the same principles are likely to apply to committees and boards of community organisations.

In short, the duty to act with reasonable care and diligence requires you to:

• Take your role as a Committee or Board member seriously;
• Make use of any skills and experience you have for the benefit of the organisation;
• Give sufficient time, thought and energy to any tasks you have undertaken and to decisions you are required to make; and
• Monitor the affairs, activities, strategic direction and financial position of the organisation.

A more detailed explanation of this legal duty can be found in PilchConnect's Guide to the Legal Duties of Committee or Board Members of Not-for-profit Organisations. It is important to understand that a key aspect of the duty of reasonable care and diligence is the responsibility for all Committee or Board members to pay attention to the finances of the organisation. This requires Committee or Board members to:

• Understand the organisation's current financial position at all times; and
• Prevent the organisation from continuing to incur debts if you know or suspect that the organisation cannot meet its current debts when they fall due (commonly known as the ‘duty to avoid insolvent trading').

It is unacceptable to think ‘Oh, I don't have to think about the dollars, that is the Treasurer's job!' It is not just the Treasurer that has this duty - all Committee members have a duty to properly inform themselves about the organisation's financial position.

The PilchConnect Guide lists a number of practical tips to help you comply with the general duty of reasonable care and skill, including:

• Make sure you are receiving clear information about the finances of your organisation. If they are presented in an incoherent format, ask that they be presented in a basic overview or ‘dashboard' format. If you need to, get training in basic financial literacy so that you can understand the finances.
• Follow up immediately on any problems identified in the financial statements or audits. Make sure the Committee takes action if there is a concern about whether debts can be paid on time.
• Attend Committee meetings - and read the papers and financial statements before the meeting. If you regularly find that you cannot do this, consider whether you should continue to serve on the Committee.
• When making a decision or taking action, ask yourself ‘Have I exercised the degree of care and thoroughness that a reasonable person in my position would give to this kind of decision or situation?' You don't need to make perfect decisions, but you do need to make thoughtful ones.

For further information, or to download a full version of the Guide, please visit the PilchConnect web portal, below:

ATO 'GiftPack' for Not-For-Profit Organisations

The Australian Tax Office has recently released a new version of its  GiftPack guide for not-for-profit organisations. The GiftPack is an essential resource designed to help your organisation understand the endorsement process for being able to receive tax deductible donations. The new version incorporates changes to the tax law since the guide was last issued, including:

• Changes to the deductibility of political donations
• The introduction of a new deductible gift recipient (DGR) category for private ancillary funds to replace prescribed private funds
• The introduction of three new DGR categories for volunteer bushfire brigades
• Changes to the requirements for endorsement under the DGR categories for Higher education institutions and Affiliated residential educational institutions.

You can view the complete publication on the ATO website, or request a printed copy by ordering it online, or by phoning 1300 720 092. More information on the GiftPack can be found on the ATO website, below:

Volunteering Victoria Information Pack - Volunteers and the Equal Opportunity Act

On 1 August 2011, new legislation will commence that will bring new protections for volunteers against sexual harassment. Changes to the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 will have practical implications for those organisations that engage volunteers, who will have a new responsibility to make it clear to their volunteers that sexual harassment is not acceptable.

Volunteering Victoria has created an Information Pack that has been designed specifically to help organisations understand and meet their responsibilities towards volunteers under the Act. This valuable resource contains:

• A fact sheet outlining the legislation's impact on volunteering;
• A sample policy and procedures document;
• Tips for getting started;
• Links to further resources; and
• Options for further advice and training.

The Information Pack is available for download through the Volunteering Victoria website, below:

Conference on Reforming Australia's Equality Laws - 26 July 2024

In the lead up to the Commonwealth Government's consolidation of its anti-discrimination laws into a single Act, the Human Rights Law Centre invites you to a conference to inform debate on this "Consolidation Project", reforms which will impact on employers, service providers and advocates across the public, private and not-for profit sectors.

It will be an opportunity for representatives from NGOs, business, government, members of the legal profession, academics, regulators and policy makers to share ideas and shape Australia's future equality laws. Speakers include international and domestic anti-discrimination law experts, social scientists, equal opportunity regulators, parliamentarians, leading corporations, equality advocates and community leaders.

             Date: Tuesday, 26 July 2024
             Time: 8.45am to 5.15pm
             Location: Storey Hall, RMIT, 342 Swanston Street, Melbourne
             Registration Fees: $85 (full price) $65 (NGOs)

To register, or for more information, please visit the Human Rights Law Centre website below:

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!