388 Aussie Charities Revoked, 400 Warned

The Australian charity regulator has revoked the charity status of another 388 organisations after failing to make contact with them, and has warned another 400 that they could face the same fate.

In September this year the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) warned 400 charities that if they did not make contact with the regulator within one month they would lose their status, with only 14 taking the opportunity.

ACNC Commissioner Susan Pascoe said it was believed another 400 charities were no longer operating and they would also be given a month to make contact.

The ACNC published a list of the missing charities whose status is in question.

“In many cases, charities have decided to operate under a different name or ABN, or have merged with another charity,” Pascoe said.

“This is not about revoking the charity status of legitimate charities that are still operating.

“If your charity is on our missing list, you need to get in contact with us and let us know you are still operating. Last month, we had 14 charities contact us who were on our missing charities list and update their details.

“We need to ensure that every organisation on the Charity Register is still functional and the details we have are correct. This allows us to maintain the integrity of the Charity Register so it remains a valuable tool for the public.

“Part of this is revoking the charity status of inactive charities. Yesterday, we revoked the charity status of 388 charities, after an exhaustive search could not locate them.

“The ACNC takes its role of cleaning up the data provided to us when we were established seriously.

“Where we suspect charities are no longer active, we try to locate individuals who may be able to confirm this. We also check the records of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, State Regulators, the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations and ask the ATO to confirm if their records indicate whether the charity seems to be active from a tax perspective.

“The ACNC also works with peak bodies to try and get confirmation of charities that have wound up and has been supported by local media to try and locate charities.

“This painstaking approach ensures the ACNC has done everything we can to confirm their existence and to ensure the information on the publicly available national Charity Register is accurate.”

The Charity Register contains the names of all registered charities in Australia, and includes details of their activities, areas of operation, and size of the organisation. The Register allows potential donors to check charities’ credentials before donating time or money.

The charities that had their statuses revoked come from all over Australia and range from the Abaleen Detoxification Services Group Inc in Queensland to Youth For Christ Northern Territory Inc.

A list of the charities the ACNC has issued a warning to can be found here.