ACNC Discretionary Move on Annual Reports
20 February 2014 at 9:40 am
Charities can submit their annual financial reports already lodged with State regulators under a discretionary decision by the charity regulator, the ACNC.
The ACNC Commissioner Susan Pascoe AM says she will exercise her discretion to accept financial reports submitted to State and Territory Governments in place of ACNC Annual Financial Reports for the 2014 reporting period.
The move is expected to affect thousands of incorporated associations, co-operatives and charities undertaking fundraising or charitable collections.
The announcement means that when charities complete their 2014 Annual Information Statements with the ACNC, they will be able to electronically submit the same financial reports which they provide to their state regulators.
The ACNC says the move will cut red tape for medium (annual revenue of $250,000 to $1 million) and large charities (annual revenue of $1 million and over), many of which are incorporated associations operating in the states and territories.
Pascoe said the ACNC would continue to work with the states and territories to reduce red tape wherever possible.
“The third Object of the ACNC Act is to promote the reduction of unnecessary regulatory obligations on the sector,” Pascoe said.
“Accepting the reports of state and territory agencies will mean medium and large charities will not have to spend extra time and money filing Annual Financial Reports to the ACNC.
“This announcement is just one of many red tape reduction initiatives we are undertaking, and shows our commitment to co-operative relationships with state and territory governments.
“In the coming weeks we will also release the report summarising the recommendations from the sector which were gathered at the ACNC’s Red Tape Reduction Forum.
“Work has also begun on a project to research baseline information about the extent of reporting and regulatory obligations on Australian charities and identify target areas for reducing the burden,” Pascoe said.
“The research includes case studies, an online survey, mapping of obligations, and costing based on the Commonwealth Government’s new deregulation costing methodology.
“The ACNC will continue to work across jurisdictions and of course, with the charitable sector, to reduce reporting duplication wherever possible.”
Charities that still need to complete their 2013 Annual Information Statement can log onto the ACNC Charity Portal at charity.acnc.gov.au, using their Australian Business Number as their username and the password that the ACNC sent in early December 2013.
Charities can contact the ACNC by calling 13 ACNC (13 22 62) or emailing advice@acnc.gov.au.
