Two Queensland organisations lose charity status

The national charity regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), has announced the revocation of two organisations following investigations into their activities and operations.

The organisations are:

• #ChangingLivesProject Ltd
• Queensland Independent College Ltd

These charities have 60 days to object to the ACNC’s revocation decisions, in which case they will be reviewed internally.

The ACNC Commissioner, Susan Pascoe, said the ACNC takes a proportionate approach to compliance.

“Our compliance activity starts with education and guidance,” Pascoe said.

“However, when we find serious circumstances of mismanagement, or deliberate breaches of the ACNC Act or Governance Standards, we will revoke charity status.

“Revocation of charity status is reserved for the most serious of cases and results in the loss of Commonwealth charity tax concessions.”

Pascoe encouraged members of the public to raise concerns about charities with the ACNC.

“On average, we receive 100 concerns about charities each month,” Pascoe said.

“Many of these concerns are raised by members of the public and provide the ACNC with vital information to help us with our enquires.”

#ChangingLivesProject Ltd has been operating since May 2015 and is based in Queensland.

It was endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as a deductible gift recipient (DGR), and was also endorsed to access the following Commonwealth tax concessions as a public benevolent institution:

• GST Concession,
• Income Tax Exemption, and
• FBT Rebate.

The decision to revoke charity status, which was announced on 6 June 2017, was backdated to 27 July 2015.

Queensland Independent College Ltd has been operating since June 2000 and is based in Queensland.

It was endorsed by the ATO as a DGR, and was also endorsed to access the following Commonwealth tax concessions as a public benevolent institution:

• GST Concession,
• Income Tax Exemption, and
• FBT Rebate.

The decision to revoke charity status, which was announced on 16 June 2017, was backdated to 1 July 2013.

Both organisations will lose access to Commonwealth charity tax concessions following the revocation of their registration as a charity.