The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) Commissioner Susan Pascoe AM said the national Charity Register has become a trusted source of information for donors with more than 500,000 views since it was launched two years ago.

“Australians are renowned for their generosity, donating billions of dollars to charity every year, and the public want to be sure their donation is used for its intended purpose. The ACNC has been active in reminding the public that the ACNC Charity Register is the only free, single-source online register to find out about charities,” says Pascoe.

“The holiday period is one of the busiest times of the year for donations, and the public will use the Register to verify an organisation’s credentials and avoid being scammed. The public also use the Register to identify charities supporting causes close to their hear,t or who operate in their local area.

Pascoe said the Commission had worked hard over the past 12 months to ensure the Register’s integrity, including identifying more than 6,000 charities it believes were no longer active.

“Charities also play a vital role in building public confidence in the sector by ensuring information about their work is available and up-to-date for an enquiring member of the public,” says Pascoe.

“Charities are reminded that financial information from Australia’s registered charities will, for the first time, be made available to the public free of charge via the Register as part of the 2014 Annual Information Statement (AIS).”

Pascoe said that while an estimated 35,000 charities were required to submit an AIS by 31 December, there were still some charities whose 2013 statement was overdue and had received a ‘red mark’ against their listing on the Charity Register to indicate to the public that they had not complied with obligations.