Abstract
AbstractThe last few decades have witnessed radical reform of charity regulation around the world. Australia has not been untouched and has developed several unique approaches. First, unlike many other federations (such as the US and Canada), Australia relies on a charities commission rather than its federal tax authority to act as the principal regulator, resulting in a very different scope of responsibility and the likelihood of greater interaction with state regulators. Second, unlike many other jurisdictions that have implemented a charities commission (such as England and Wales), the Australian commission is ultimately intended to apply to a broader pool of not-for-profits than just charities, which raises fundamental questions about the ways in which charities differ from the not-for-profit sector more broadly. This paper outlines the historical and political reasons for reform in Australia and the shape of that reform. As the reforms have now achieved broad political and sector support, the chief focus of this paper is on the out-workings of the reforms, with particular attention to the challenges and opportunities posed by Australia’s federal system of government and by the charity commission’s potential to regulate the broader not-for-profit sector.
Highlights
This article reflects on charity reform in Australia since 2012
Unlike many other federations, Australia relies on a charities commission rather than its federal tax authority to act as the principal regulator, resulting in a very different scope of responsibility and the likelihood of greater interaction with state regulators
Given the ACNC was envisaged as being a national NFP regulator, another response to several of the issues raised in Parts 4.1 and 4.2 would be to require all non-government income tax exempt entities or Deductible gift recipient (DGR) to be subject to ACNC regulation as categories of registered NFPs, but not necessarily registered charities
Summary
This article reflects on charity reform in Australia since 2012. Those years tell a story of initial elation and an ambitious and comprehensive reform process, followed by government attempts to unpick the changes and, recently, acceptance of the reforms in the face of widespread and vocal support by the charity sector. The chief focus of this article is on the current and future effects of the reforms, with particular attention to the challenges and opportunities posed by Australia’s federal system of government and by the ACNC’s potential, still inchoate, to regulate the broader not-for-profit (‘NFP’) sector. These foci reflect several unique aspects of the Australian regulatory arrangements when compared with broadly comparable common law liberal democracies such as the US, Canada and the UK (cf Phillips and Smith 2014). Such a focus is timely as a statutory five-year review of the ACNC legislation was completed in 2018 (McClure et al 2018, ‘Strengthening for Purpose Report’), providing the potential to respond to the challenges and opportunities
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