Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is an Australian statutory body and the national regulator of the voluntary sector, including charities and other not for profits. It was announced in the 2011 Australian federal budget and has operated from 3 December 2012. The ACNC regulates the approximately 56,000 non-profit organisations with tax exempt status, there are about 600,000 in total and will seek to harmonise state-based fund-raising laws.

The ACNC

The ACNC’s stated aims are to:

The decision to establish an independent charities regulator was based on demands from the charities sector supported by reviews, reports and inquiries spanning 17 years, most notably the 2010 report by the Productivity Commission Contribution of the Not-for-profit Sector. followed by an Australian Treasury consultation process leading to the Final Report on the Scoping Study for a NFP Regulator in 2011. with a taskforce, chaired by Susan Pascoe, AM. and three Australian Parliamentary enquiries.

The ACNC was established under section 105-5 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act on 3 December 2012, with an official launch on 10 December.

On 16 June 2014 a parliamentary report of the Australian Senate Economics Legislation Committee recommended (with dissent from the ALP and Greens senators) that legislation to abolish the ACNC be passed. The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Repeal) (No. 1) Bill 2014 is currently before the Australian House of Representatives.

On 4 March 2016, Minister of Social Services Chris Porter and Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer announced that the ACNC would be retained.

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