Nine New Charities Registered Every Day in Australia

Nine new charities are being registered on average every day in Australia, according to new figures from the national charity regulator.

In June the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) registered 269 new charities. Another 260 were registered in May.

Assistant Commissioner at the regulator, David Locke, said since it was established on  December 3 2012 the ACNC had registered more than 6,500 new charities, an average of seven every day.

“Over the last year, the number of new charities applying to be registered varied between 35 and 147 per week. On average, the ACNC received 68 registration applications per week over the last year,” Locke said.

Since the ACNC was established, around 9,000 charities have lost their status, but Locke said the sector was growing at almost the same rate.

“When the ACNC was established in December 2012, the ATO transferred the records of more than 56,000 charities to the ACNC. The ACNC has since focused on verifying the information of these charities as no previous agency had been required to maintain an up-to-date register of charities,” he said.

“To date, close to 5,500 double defaulter charities from across Australia have now lost their registration with the ACNC for failing to complete their reporting for two consecutive years. In total, approximately 9,000 charities have been removed or revoked.  The ACNC has registered over 6,500 charities during this period.”

Having previously worked as the Executive Director of Charity Services at the Charity Commission of England and Wales, Locke said he was expecting the number of new charities starting up to match the amount of those having their charity status stripped.

“From the experience of other charity regulators overseas, we would expect that approximately as many new charities will be registered each year, as will wind up and be revoked,” he said.

One of the new charities registered last month was the Luke Batty Foundation, founded by Australian of the Year Rosie Batty.

Batty founded the charity after her son Luke was killed by his father at a practice cricket match in Tyabb, Victoria in 2014.

“It has been an amazing journey since Rosie Batty was announced as Australian of Year in January 2015. The Luke Batty Foundation (LBF) Board is appointed with all members contributing their time and expertise on a pro-bono basis,” the charity said in a recent update.

“The LBF is now finalising its legal, taxation and governance structures that underpin a sustainable non-profit organisation.

“The LBF is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission and the Governing document, the LBF Constitution, is publicly available through the ACNC.

“Application for Deductible Gift Recipient status (DGR) is in process. Until LBF can confirm its DGR status, if you would like to support those experiencing family violence, we ask you consider making a donation to safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Centre, a grassroots service that supports those at highest risk of serious injury and or death.”