Seasons greetings from Not-for-profit Law
This is the last Not-for-profit Law monthly update for 2013, and what a year it has been for the community sector!
The regulation of charities has continued as a live political issue with the federal election highlighting significant differences in the philosophies of the two major parties. Regardless of your view of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), we have seen it make real efforts to engage with the community sector throughout its first full year of operation. We will continue to involve ourselves in discussions with the sector and policy makers about the role of the ACNC in 2014 and beyond, and improving the regulatory landscape for the sector. We encourage you to do the same.
In Victoria, incorporated associations grappled this year with the implementation of the new Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic). To cope with the increased demand for our service flowing from the reform we developed and delivered our Rules Review Project targeting our service to the particular needs of incorporated associations transitioning to the new regime. The Project consisted of tailored online information, legal education workshops, direct advice, and our first precedent document - the Simple Rules. The Project was a real highlight of the year.
Finally, 2013 was a significant year for our own organisation as we changed our name from ‘PilchConnect’ to ‘Not-for-profit Law’. But while our name and branding has changed, our mission remains the same and we look forward to helping the not-for-profit sector address their legal and regulatory concerns in 2014.
We hope your not-for-profit was able to benefit from at least one of our services throughout the year. Many thanks for your continued support, and we’ll see you in the new year.
Training update
2013 has been another big year for the NFP Seminar Series with 443 participants attending 10 sessions in Victoria and 1 in NSW. Thank you to all who attended - we hope you found the seminars and legal information valuable.
Our 2014 NFP Seminar Series will commence with Legal Duties of Board and Committee members on 24 February 2014 in the Melbourne CBD. Register online at our
website.
Feedback on our training program
We aim to make our seminar program accessible and relevant to the needs of not-for-profit community organisations. We collect feedback from each seminar, but we’re also interested in how useful the information is once you return to your organisation – or why you might not have attended one of our seminars yet. Please click on this survey link to let us know.
The survey should take no more than 5 minutes and will help us to make sure the seminar program meets your needs. All participants in the survey will enter the draw to win a free place at a NFP Law seminar of their choice in 2014.
Laws and regulations to watch in 2014
Fees for application to change rules for Victorian incorporated association
Consumer Affairs Victoria (
CAV) allowed a reduced fee for applications to change rules between 26 November 2012 and 26 November 2013 to assist organisations to transition to the new
Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic).
As of 27 November 2013, the reduced fee period has ended and the fee for both changing rules or adopting the model rules is $160.50 (the fee does not apply to groups that automatically transitioned from the old to the new model rules). NFP Law understands that these fees are substantial for small associations and we have raised this issue with CAV.
Australian Tax Office (ATO) appeal of the Hunger Project case
In July 2013, the Federal Court of Australia handed down a judgment in the Hunger Project case (Hunger Project Australia v Commissioner of Taxation [2013] FCA 693), which modified the test being applied by the ATO when assessing whether an organisation is a public benevolent institution (removing the previously applied "directness" requirement).
The ATO has lodged an appeal against the decision, so interested organisations should watch this space in 2014. For information about how the ACNC has interpreted the case, go to the ACNC Commissioner's Interpretation Statement - Hunger Project Case.
Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC)
The Federal Government has made a number of recent statements about the future of the ACNC and its proposal to create a new Centre for Excellence in its place. You can find out about these in this Pro Bono Australia report ACNC replacement unveiled. Read NFP Law Senior Lawyer Liz Morgan's response to these announcements in her opinion piece Charities deserve better regulation.
Fairwork anti-bullying jurisdiction
New anti-bullying laws will commence on 1 January 2014 meaning bullying complaints can be made to the Fair Work Commission.
These new laws are part of an update to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The Fair Work Commission has published their case management model for anti-bullying claims, but will soon be publishing further information, keep checking at the Fair Work Commission.
Definition of charity
The new
Charities Act 2013 (Cth) (
Charities Act) sets out a statutory definition of 'charity' to apply across Commonwealth laws. The new definition was due to commence on 1 January 2014, however the Coalition Government has sought to delay the commencement of the Charities Act by nine months to 1 September 2014 with the relevant Bill still to pass the Senate. Nathan MacDonald, Director of NFP Law, appeared before a Senate Committee this week arguing
against delaying the commencement of the Charities Act.
At this stage, it is unclear whether the legislation necessary to delay the commencement will pass through Parliament. We will be able to provide you with further information in our next Update.
National co-operatives law
The new National co-operatives law will commence in Victorian and NSW on 3 March 2014. While national regulations have been passed, local regulations have yet to be made in Victorian and NSW. You can find more information and subscribe to an update at
Fair Trading NSW.
We will provide further information in 2014.
Privacy law updates
Amendments to the
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) including the new Australian Privacy Principles will commence on 12 March 2014.
NFP Law will be developing training and updating our webportal resources on Privacy in 2014. For more information about the privacy law reforms, go to the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
