The national charity regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), announced that it has revoked the charity registration of 1,244 charities for repeatedly failing to meet their reporting obligations.
The charities that have had their registration revoked have failed to submit two Annual Information Statements to the ACNC. Without ACNC registration, they will not be eligible for Commonwealth charity tax concessions.
ACNC Commissioner, the Hon Dr Gary Johns, said submitting an Annual Information Statement each year is a legislative requirement to maintain charity registration.
“We are committed to maintaining an accurate, up-to-date Charity Register that provides a transparent source of charity information that the public can trust”, he said. “The vast majority of charities continue to meet their obligations.”
Information that charities provide in their Annual Information Statements is used to populate the Charity Register. However, according to Dr John, the case of these 1,244 charities is they have not fulfilled their obligations despite repeated reminders.
The ACNC will continue to work with charities to help them meet their obligations, however, when charities do not comply with the ACNC Act and ACNC Governance Standards, they will take action.
“The public can rest assured that charities who have been revoked will clearly show ‘revoked’ on their Charity Register listing, so the public can donate with confidence to charities that meet their obligations,” Dr Johns said.
This announcement follows several reminder emails and letters to at-risk charities, as well as a social media campaign and multiple reminders in the ACNC newsletter to subscribers.
Charities that have had their registration revoked must submit their overdue Annual Information Statements and can then apply to re-register through the ACNC Charity Portal. Charities can check the Charity Register to identify which Annual Information Statements are overdue.