200 Charities Dropped by ACNC
16 December 2015 at 10:18 pm
Almost 200 organisations from across Australia have had their charity status revoked by the national charity regulator.
On Wednesday evening 182 former charities joined more than 9,000 other organisations that have had been deregistered by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) since it was established in 2012.
ACNC Commissioner, Susan Pascoe AM, said the revocation was part of an ongoing process to ensure only active and compliant charities kept their registration.
“We conduct regular reviews of the charities registered with the ACNC to ensure only those that meet their obligations maintain their registration status and are able to access Commonwealth charity tax concessions,” Pascoe said.
“This group of charities have failed to complete their 2013 and 2014 Annual Information Statements, despite multiple reminders.”
Pascoe stressed that this group of non-compliant organisations represented only a small minority of charities.
"The vast majority of registered charities are accountable and transparent and meet their obligations," Pascoe said.
“We’ve now received, in total, 100,000 Annual Information Statements since 2013.
"Submitting an Annual Information Statement every year is essential to the ACNC being able to provide accurate information to donors, volunteers and grant-makers, and back to the sector.
Just this month the ACNC released landmark research, using the kind of paperwork that the deregistered charities failed to provide, revealing that the Australian charity sector was worth $103 billion.
“Without Annual Information Statement submissions, this report would not have been possible, and we would not know how significant the charity sector really is to Australia,” Pascoe said.
“The charity sector has a combined income of over $103 billion and employs 9.7 per cent of the Australian workforce.
“It is an economically significant and diverse sector that plays a vital role in supporting our communities and in the Australian economy.”
The former Abbott Government was committed to abolishing the ACNC.
Earlier this month Pro Bono Australia News revealed that Social Services Minister Christian Porter would not commit to keeping the charity regulator despite years of protest from the sector.
