August Seminar: OHS and your community organisation

Occupational health and safety is a topic of perennial interest to not-for-profit organisations, and one that can cause some confusion. What are your obligations towards your employees? Do you owe the same obligations to volunteers, or does the law apply differently? What if something does go wrong and someone is injured - what is your organisation's potential liability? Can you be personally responsible if safety incidents occur, as an officer, as an employee or as a volunteer?

This practical and informative seminar will focus on OHS law as it applies to not-for-profit organisations, as well as touching on the fate of the proposed national model legislation. Come along and have your OHS questions answered.

Details for the seminar are:

Date: Thursday 23 August 2024
Time: 9.30am - 12.30pm (registrations from 9.15am)
Venue: NAB, Docklands, 800 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Administration Fee:
$50 per person for small organisations (up to 10 EFT employees)
$100 per person for large organisations (over 10 EFT employees)

To register for this seminar, follow the link:

September Seminar: Tax basics - 

What exemptions and concessions is your organisation entitled to?

Tax is a word to strike fear into many hearts! And understanding the various tax concessions and exemptions available to not-for-profits is not always easy. This popular seminar will provide a back-to-basics overview of the tax regime applying to not-for-profit community organisations. Topics will include:

• What tax exemptions and concessions might your organisation be entitled to, and what is the process for applying for them?
• What are the basic features of Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status and would our organisation benefit from being endorsed? What are the main categories of DGR and what does the application process involve?
• Once we've obtained an exemption or concession, or been endorsed as a DGR, what are the ongoing requirements?
• What effect will the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission have on this process

Details for the seminar are:

Date: Wednesday 19 September
Time: 9.30am - 12.30pm (registrations open at 9.15am)
Venue: Ashurst Lawyers, 181 William Street, Melbourne
Administration fee:
$50 per person for small organisations (up to 10 EFT employees)
$100 per person for large organisations (over 10 EFT employees)

To register for the seminar, follow the link below:

Submission to the House Standing Committee on Economics: Inquiry into the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission Exposure Draft Bills

On 5 July 2012, the Assistant Treasurer requested that the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics (the Committee) inquire into and report on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) legislation over the Winter Parliamentary break. The Committee invited public submissions addressing the Bills.

PilchConnect's submission to the inquiry reiterated our broad support for the Federal Government's commitment to establish the ACNC as an independent national regulator for the sector. In this context we identified five key concerns with the Bill, particularly as it would impact on small-to-medium charities. They are the:

• absence of governance and external conduct standards;
• proportionality of sanctions for small charities;
• concerns about procedural fairness and natural justice;
• real or perceived independence of the ACNC; and
• overall drafting approach.

PilchConnect's submission was made with the view to the ACNC opening its doors on 1 October 2024 with a legislative framework that strikes the right balance between monitoring compliance, supporting and educating organisations, and promoting public trust and confidence in the charitable sector.

PilchConnect's submission is available below:

Public hearings on the draft ACNC Bill were held on July 26 and 27.

Juanita Pope, Director of PilchConnect, provided evidence to the Committee and highlighted the current regulatory and compliance burden faced by small to medium not-for-profit organisations, who are often resource poor yet show a real desire to be compliant.

It was noted that PilchConnect's ongoing interaction with the ACNC taskforce has consistently reassured us that the proposed regulator will have the sector's interests at heart and, while there might be some initial compliance hurdles, we are quite confident that the ACNC will provide a vital service and substantial advantages to the sector once it is given the opportunity to do so. PilchConnect confirmed its support of the ACNC without further deferment.

In light of this broad support for the ACNC, the Committee was urged to have regard to the concerns raised in written submissions over aspects of the draft Bill, as outlined above.

Full transcripts of Public Hearings held on July 26 and 27 2012, including evidence provided by PilchConnect, are available below:

Guide to Privacy for Victorian not-for-profit organisations

Some community organisations, including those that have contractual arrangements with government (eg. funding agreements) may be required to comply with privacy laws.

Organisations need to consider how they collect, hold, manage, use, disclose or transfer information they hold about individuals, with a view to making sure that they comply with any relevant privacy legislation. And remember that privacy is not just about meeting legal obligations, it can also impact on your organisation's reputation.

PilchConnect has produced a Guide which describes the obligations in the following Acts:

• Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) which sets out the National Privacy Principles (Federal NPPs) and the Information Privacy Principles (Federal IPPs);
• Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic) which sets out the Information Privacy Principles (Victorian IPPs); and 
• Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) which sets out the Health Privacy Principles (Victorian HPPs).

This guide is for not-for-profit organisations in Victoria who want to understand more about their obligations under Victorian and Commonwealth privacy legislation, and is available by following the link below.

Employees ‘at a glance'

Not-for-profit community organisations have the same legal obligations as any employer to their workers - but that doesn't mean that it is easy to understand! There is a lot of information available on employment law, but it can be hard to know what is useful and where to start - especially when you have a question you need addressed urgently.

PilchConnect's recently updated webportal links you to ‘at a glance' information pages which summarise your legal obligations and refer you to sites that provide more detailed information.

Our new ‘at a glance' pages cover:

• What is an employee? What's the difference between an employee, an independent contractor and a volunteer?
• Recruitment - What are your organisation's legal rights and obligations in recruiting employees?
• Entitlement - What are your organisation's legal rights and obligations once you have an employee (eg, conditions, long service leave, superannuation, occupational health and safety, insurance, tax and salary packaging)?
• Disputes - What are your organisation's legal rights and obligations when there is a dispute with an employee?
• Termination - What are your organisation's legal rights and obligations regarding termination of employment?
• Resignation - What are your organisation's legal rights and obligations if an employee resigns? 

Further information is available by following the link below:

Special measures, exceptions and exemptions under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010

While the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 makes it against the law to discriminate against a person because of specific personal characteristics, the Act also recognises that choices based on characteristics may be justified in certain circumstances.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission has useful information available online to assist community organisations understand what those circumstances might be and how exempt conduct is dealt with - that is, special measures, exceptions and exemptions.

The information provides a general guide about what steps you need to take under the Act to enable you to lawfully undertake the activity, and to minimise risks for your organisation.

Visit the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission website for further information:

Fundraising Institute of Australia - best practice guidelines for social media fundraising

The Fundraising Institute of Australia (FIA) has released a new Standard of Social Medial Fundraising Practice, which meets the needs of charities and professional fundraisers by setting out clear and practical guidelines for dealing with social media.

Information about FIA, and the Standard, can be found by visiting the FIA website:

Interstate operations for incorporated associations 

The law relating to incorporated associations is State-based. Each State and Territory in Australia has its own laws about the incorporation of associations. A group incorporated as an association under the Victorian Associations Incorporation Act can operate anywhere in Victoria. However, if a Victorian incorporated association wants to carry on business outside of Victoria, then it will need to take certain steps to ‘register' for this purpose (in addition to registering under the Victorian Associations Incorporation Act).

What does 'carry on business' mean?  

The law is unclear about what constitutes ‘carry on business' in another State. Holding one-off or occasional activities in another State (such as a conference), or matters relating to the internal affairs of an organisation (such as meetings) would not count as carrying on business, but carrying on more regular or substantial activities might.

Can your organisation carry on business interstate? 

If your group incorporates as an association in Victoria, but wants to carry on business outside of Victoria, there are options available to enable it to do so legally. One option is to register with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as a ‘Registered Australian Body'.

This means that your incorporated association is ‘recognised' by the Commonwealth government and can therefore operate in any State or Territory in Australia. This registration process is outlined on the ASIC website, below.

Once registered in this way, it is important that you understand there are additional obligations your organisation must meet. Specifically, you must:

• keep information about office holders and the organisation's registered office updated with ASIC as well as with Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV);
• display the organisation's Australian Registered Body Number after its name and certain other details on all public documents; and 
• understand and comply with the provisions of the Corporations Act in respect of directors' duties.

Further information on registering with ASIC can be found below:

PilchConnect is a specialist legal service which provides legal help to 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 our legal services, visit our website below:

PilchConnect - Legal help for community groups.

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