Parliamentary Secretary for the Voluntary Sector and Social Inclusion Senator Ursula Stephens, who presented the awards to the winners at the ceremony, congratulated all of the applicants.

“The awards play a significant and valuable role in not only recognising excellence in the sector but also promoting best practice reporting by the role model of the winner and the learnings that are achieved through the intensive judging process,” Senator Stephens said.

PwC Corporate Responsibility Partner Rick Millen said that the company was pleased to see such an improvement in reporting standards among this year’s awards applicants. “Entrants demonstrated improved and more comprehensive content disclosures, as well as more engaging and clear presentation.”

Commenting on the importance of reporting transparency, Peter Hunt, Executive Chairman of corporate advisory firm Caliburn Partnership, said “With more than 750,000 NFPs in Australia, competition for donors is fierce. In this difficult economic environment, organisations must focus on how they present themselves if they are to continue to attract funds and community support. Transparent reporting is critical to achieving this.”

At the Awards ceremony, Senator Stephens said that best practice governance was vital to a strong and well-respected NFP sector and that there is currently much activity, driven by both Government and the sector, regarding third sector regulation issues.

“The government has been looking at how best to regulate and support the sector in a way that balances the need for good governance with a lean regulatory system. The focus is on enabling better regulation, not additional or burdensome regulation, “she said.

The government’s recent and current work on NFP sector regulatory reform includes commissioning a study from the Productivity Commission into the contribution of the sector to Australia’s economy, funding the Australian Bureau of Statistics to update its information on NFPs, and securing an agreement from the Council of Australian Governments that it will begin work on integrating NFP sector regulation throughout the state, territory and Federal levels.