Legal information for charities
This page provides information for registered charities. An organisation is a charity if it is registered with the ACNC. You can check if your organisation is registered here.
In December 2012, a new regulator for charities, the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) commenced operation.
The ACNC is now responsible for many regulatory functions formerly administered by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Since the ACNC opened, several changes to the laws that regulate charities have commenced. Key changes for registered charities include:
- reporting: charities now report to the ACNC
- if your charity is a company registered with ASIC, many obligations to report to ASIC have turned off, and reporting to the ACNC replaces previous reporting to ASIC
- if your charity is registered with a state regulator (for example an incorporated association registered with Consumer Affairs Victoria or NSW Fair Trading), then it needs to continue reporting to the state regulator, and also report to the ACNC
- governance standards: charities need to meet the standards set out in the Governance Standards. These standards are similar to requirements charities were formerly required to meet, with a few small differences (discussed below), and
- new statutory definition of 'charity': a new definition of charity commenced on 1 January 2014, that will be applied by the ACNC when organisations seek registration as a charity.
What does the ACNC mean for my group?
THe ACNC affects your group if it is, or is hoping to become, a charity. If your group accesses federal charitable tax concessions (like income tax exemptions) it will be automatically registered with the ACNC.
You can check if your organisation is registered as a charity here.
If you are a not-for-profit organisation that is not a charity, you will not currently need to report to the ACNC (but in future some regulation of not-for-profits may transition to the ACNC).
The changes affect charities incorporated under state-based regimes (for example incorporated as an incorporated association) and federal regimes (for example incorporated as a company limited by guarantee) differently.
What if our group is an incorporated association and is registered with the ACNC?
If your group is incorporated as an association under a state regime, and is a charity, it will be registered both with the relevant state regulator (such as Consumer Affairs Victoria) and with the ACNC.
Your group must still report to state regulator as per usual, and will also need to report to the ACNC. This means that you will still need to comply with the relevant state laws, and your obligations as a registered charity (discussed further below).
What if our group is a company (eg CLG) and a charity?
If your group is incorporated as a company*, for example as a company limited by guarantee, and you are a charity registered with the ACNC, a transitional program applies to your group.
Most changes came into effect on 1 July 2013, including the 'turning off' of many obligations CLGs that are registered charities used to have under federal law such as the Corporations Act, and the 'turning on' of requirements administered by the ACNC.
*Note the above does not apply to Indigenous Corporations that report to ORIC.
Summary of obligations of companies that are registered charities
The following link provides information for charitable companies (ie CLGs that are registered as charities) and includes a table summarising the obligations of companies who are registered charities, key transitions, and timing for when changes have taken or will take effect.
Summary of obligations of companies that are registered charities
This summary of obligations of companies that are registered charities was produced by Clementine Baker, a Lawyer in Mills Oakley's Sydney Not-for-Profit team. Mills Oakley have given PilchConnect permission to reproduce the article contained in the link above - NewsFlash: Directors get out of jail free (dated 20 March 2025).
What do charities registered with the ACNC have to do?
The following requirements apply to all charities registered with the ACNC.
Report annually
Charities that are registered with the ACNC will have to submit
- an Annual Information Statement (AIS), and
- depending on their size, may have to also submit an annual financial report.
See the ACNC website for more information on size of charities and how this affects reporting obligations, AIS and annual financial reports.
The 2013 AIS is the only annual reporting obligation that registered charities have for the 2012-2013 reporting period. Financial reporting will commence for the 2013-2014 reporting period.
Be listed on a public information portal
The ACNC will also maintain a public information portal. As the register develops, key details of registered charities will be publicly available on the portal (eg, governance structures, purposes, activities, contact details, annual reporting information).
The portal is intended to provide transparency around the activities of charities. It will help registered charities explain what they do and it will assist donors, funders and the general public to find out about charities and how they operate.
Comply with governance standards
Registered charities will have to comply with a set of governance standards. The governance standards are similar to duties that applied to charities under the old regime. There are, however, a few key differences. See the ACNC website for a description of the governance standards.
Key dates
- some regulation of existing charities (endorsed by the ATO) has moved ACNC - the ACNC has sent letters to registered charities (if your organisation has not received any communication from the ACNC and you think you should be registered, contact the ACNC)
- some ACNC reporting and compliance obligations for registered charities started in December 2012
- financial reporting and governance requirements for registered charities came into effect on July 2013
- the new statutory definition of charity came into effect on 1 January 2014.
More information?
The ACNC has helpful information on its website, including information on:
To keep up to date, subscribe to our e-bulletin.
Who needs to be registered and why be registered?
Any organisation that is accessing charitable tax concession through the ATO should have been automatically registered with the ACNC. Going forwards, organisations wishing to access charitable tax concessions will make applications to become a charity to the ACNC.
If a group has been automatically registered with the ACNC, but does not wish to be a charity (ie does not wish to access charitable tax concessions), it can deregister.
There may be other benefits of registration (for example, access to information and having your details on the public database) which might be attractive to your group.
The ACNC will ultimately be responsible for determining an organisation's 'charity' status, applying the new statutory definition of charity from January 2014 - discussed below.
Note, the ATO will still be responsible for determining eligibility for income tax exemption and associated concessions (often called Tax Concession Charity status) and Deductible Gift Recipient status (DGR). However, in cases where an organisation must be a 'charity' to access these benefits, the organisation will have to register with the ACNC before the ATO can decide if it meets the other conditions.
New definition of charity
On 1 January 2014, a statutory definition of charity came into effect.
Previously, the definition of charity was contained in case law (judge made law) and was hard to identify and apply.
The statutory definition is not intended to affect existing charities. It will be applied when the question of whether an organisation is "charitable" needs to be assessed.
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