Australian Charities and Not For Profit Commission
Australian Charities and Not For Profit Commission
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the national regulator of charities, whose role is to help:
- charities understand and meet their obligations through information, advice and guidance; and
- public understand the work of the not-for-profit sector and provide a free searchable database of charities.
The ACNC web site is www.acnc.gov.au
The ACNC requires that all registered charities provide reports each year. The reporting requirements depend on the size and activities of each charity. Parishes in the Diocese have been registered as Basic Religious Charities.
A 'Basic Religious Charity' is an ACNC category for a type of religious charity. Not all charities that a registered with the charitable subtype of ‘advancing religion’ are Basic Religious Charities. There are criteria that a charity must meet to be a Basic Religious Charity that Parishes need to be aware of:
- the charity cannot be registered with any other subtype of charity (for example, could not also be registered with the subtype of advancing education)
- it is not a body corporate registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (including an Australian Registered Body), an Indigenous corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006, a corporation registered under the Companies Act 1985 of Norfolk Island, or an incorporated association in any state or territory
- it is not endorsed as a DGR itself (but it can be endorsed to operate DGR funds, institutions or authorities as long as their total revenue is less than $250 000 for the particular financial year)
- the ACNC has not allowed it to report as part of a group, and
- it has not received more than $100 000 in government grants in the current financial year or either of the previous two financial years.
Basic Religious Charities must notify the ACNC of certain changes and submit an Annual Information Statement each year, but they are not required to:
- answer the financial questions in the Annual Information Statement
- submit annual financial reports, or
- comply with any Governance Standards.
The Diocesan Office gathers the necessary information required to lodge the Annual Information Statement in the Annual Financial Return provided by each Parish. This information is aggregated and lodged in bulk with the ACNC for each reporting period by the Diocesan Office on behalf of the Diocese. Returns for the year ended 30 April are required to be lodged by 31 October of the following calendar year.