See also Treasury submission on scoping study for a NFP regulator consultation paper (Part 1)
Functions the national regulator may undertake
Functions the national regulator may undertake
Access to taxation concessions
Consultation questions
Q7 What impacts would simplifying
and streamlining mechanisms for the assessment, granting and
monitoring of concessional tax treatment have on the NFP sector? In
particular, what impacts would this have on small and new NFP
entities?
The simplification and streamlining of mechanisms for the
assessment, granting and monitoring of concessional tax treatments
for the broad cross section of organisations in the NFP sector
would have multiple positive impacts on the NFP sector. In
summary, it would ensure that clarity, consistency, certainty in
such processes is delivered at a reduced cost to all NFPs, thereby
contributing to the achievement of all the goals of NFP regulation
in paragraph 38. There would be a greater benefit to small
NFPs directly as a result of their limited resources.
Q8 What are the likely compliance
cost savings from improvements to taxation
arrangements?
Savings would include staff costs and time currently allocated to
obtaining taxation concessions and the costs of obtaining external
taxation advice and would simplify the process.
Q9 Does the current complexity of
the taxation framework discourage entities from applying to access
tax concessions? If so, what elements of the framework are most
problematic?
In our experience, the current complexity of the taxation framework
does not discourage entities from applying to access tax
concessions, however the lack of uniform criteria and reporting to
different bodies is problematic. Having one set of criteria
to satisfy and one body to report to would greatly reduce the
current complexity of the taxation framework and enable the proper
re-allocation of NFP resources to the achievement of philanthropic
objectives.
We would also anticipate that the simplification of the system
would enable a broader range of small entities to seek the tax
concessions particularly at a grass roots level.
Regulation and supervision
Regulation and supervision
Education and compliance
Consultation question
Q10 What value would educational
and compliance initiatives managed by a new national NFP regulator
provide to NFP entities?
Educational and compliance initiatives managed by a new national
NFP regulator would reduce the need for NFPs to obtain external
advice, thereby lowering their costs for re-allocation to the
pursuit of philanthropic objectives.
However, the value of educational and compliance initiatives would
primarily depend on their nature and scope. Significant
organisations within the sector may have appropriate levels of
resources and other regulatory or statutory obligations to ensure
that there is an appropriate level of compliance. For the
majority of NFPs, their resources are limited and are primarily
directed towards their mission.
Accordingly, initiatives which provide educational and compliance
support at nominal cost to these organisations would be beneficial
in promoting best practice, compliance and clarity surrounding
compliance.
The overriding objective of these initiatives should be focused on
obtaining a better quality outcome for the NFP organisations and
the recipients of their services.
Reporting
Consultation questions
Q11 What benefits would a
'report once, use often' model of reporting
offer?
A 'report-once, use-often' model of reporting would reduce
external costs and / or staff costs and time, enabling
re-allocation of resources to the pursuit of philanthropic
objectives.
In our view the current disclosure regimes for NFPs are
inconsistent and at times inappropriate for the nature of
organisations involved. This inconsistency has arisen predominantly
through the range of legal structures, regulations, legislation and
multi departmental involvement on both a state and federal
basis.
A national regulator providing a central body to manage the
collection of reports from the NFP sector, and provide a single
reporting point for all NFPs would reduce the level of compliance
certain NFPs currently experience.
Providing a reporting model developed that is acceptable to all
parties, a one off report would reduce compliance costs.
Therefore the reporting model developed should enable these
organisations to be dealt with on the basis of their public
interest as opposed to simply their size, for example their revenue
levels or asset base.
As many NFP agencies operate and raise funds throughout Australia
as well as receiving funds from more than one government
department, there are distinct advantages to moving towards a
single national disclosure regime however in our view, due
consideration would need to be given to:
- i. understanding of the diversity of the sector;
- ii. establishment of a differential reporting regime to provide cost effective and appropriate levels of disclosure based on objective measurements;
- iii. identification of the level of disclosure which is appropriate to the type and style of organisation; and
- iv. clear distinction of the level of disclosure based on the degree of public interest.
Q12 What information do NFP
entities currently provide to government agencies? Do these include
general purpose financial reports and fundraising reports? What
other reports are currently required? What do the reporting
requirements involve? What information is required for the purposes
of grant acquittals?
The information required by government agencies varies greatly
between the various forms of NFPs. Whilst some have strict
requirements covered by specific legislation (e.g. companies
limited by guarantee and entities falling under Charitable
Fundraising Acts), many others have no public reporting mechanisms
or are exempt from certain disclosure requirements. Additionally
the type of funding received by NFPs governs the level of reporting
and information required. Funding is provided on the basis of
general purpose financial reports through to a basic 'cash
basis' of accounting. The diversity is broad and can be
inconsistent even within the same government organisation.
Consideration must also be given to recognising that many NFPs have
operations which include not only services the subject of grant
funding, but other services for which no public funding is
contributed. Consequently a report for the entire
organisation may not be appropriate in such circumstances.
The primary reporting requirement in the acquittal of funding is to
certify that the funds received have been spent for the purposes
they were provided for. A secondary requirement would be to
ensure that, if further funding is to be offered, the services
provider will be in a position to offer those services.
Therefore information required to be provided should be limited to
these aspects. In this regard please refer to our comments in
relation to Question 13 below.
Q13 How significant is the
compliance burden imposed by requirements for acquittal of
grants? Where could these be simplified?
Given the comments noted under Question 12 above, compliance with
requirements can be quite burdensome particularly where a number of
different types of grant funding are received from a number of
agencies with varying levels of accountability both in respect to
the specific format of acquittal reports and acquittals in
accordance with the specific requirements of the particular service
agreement.
While recognising that there will clearly be some differences due
to the nature of the services required, there are many
opportunities to streamline processes to provide efficiencies at
both the NFP and the provider level by:
- a) Encouraging service providers to follow a standard chart of accounts which has been set up to provide uniform classification of receipts and payments, thereby facilitating standard form of health assessment, budgeting, monitoring and reporting processes;
- b) Developing a standard form of agency agreement, where possible, thereby facilitating a better understanding of the requirements;
- c) Developing a standard form of financial reporting, where possible, building on from the standard chart of accounts referred to above; and
- d) Where a service provider provides many (or a number of) services on behalf of one agency, the agreement and reporting requirements are prepared on a consolidated basis.
In developing such processes, consideration must always be given
to recognising that many NFPs have robust, independent processes
for the delivery of services which may or may not include services
on behalf of the government. This independence must be
respected in the formulation of any policies in this area.
If such agencies were to agree to a common form of grant reporting
using a commonly acceptable accounting framework, considerable
simplification of the acquittal function could be achieved.
Q14 What benefits would the
establishment of a NFP sector information portal have for the
public, the sector and governments? What information should be
available on the portal?
The establishment of a NFP sector information portal would be
beneficial depending on the nature of the information available and
the efficient exchange of information already held by other
government organisations.
It is our view that any development of a NFP sector information
portal would need to include an effective mechanism to enable the
reporting of information to other bodies.
Currently, limited information on the majority of NFPs is available
through the Australian Business Register (ABR). This is an
effective mechanism and has broad acceptance in the public for the
access of information for both for profit and not for profit
organisations.
In addition, Incorporated Associations and Companies Limited by
Guarantee also have certain information publicly available through
the National Names Index and ASIC database.
It would be essential for the effectiveness of any NFP sector
information portal for it to be co-ordinated with these databases
to ensure that there is no duplication of these registers and that
all records can be updated effectively through the NFP
portal.
This would provide a level of confidence for all stakeholders for
the portal to be the central depositary of information concerning
the sector.
The centralisation of this information would reduce the
administrative burden for the sector and provide clarity for both
the government and public at large.
With respect to the information that should be available on the
portal this would depend on the level of reporting that is
determined to be appropriate for the public interest.
Based on the effectiveness of the ABR and ASIC databases, we would
suggest that the Portal should include the following information in
relation to specific NFPs:
- Information already publicly available on the ABR (including tax concessions) and the National Names Index;
- Information regarding the address, type of entity and key office holders of the organisation;
- An accreditation or compliance status for the organisation for key areas such as holding of fundraising authorities, gaming or associated permits;
- Where other information such as financial information is publicly available on government websites then this information should be accessible via the portal.
We note the suggestion for an activity summary and summary
financial report to be included on the portal. We would be of the
view that the level of the information provided would need to
depend on the differential reporting determined for the
NFPs.
We note that in particular within certain areas, NFPs compete both
with one another and at times with for profit organisations for
funds, grants etc. Any provision of information would need to
ensure that no commercially sensitive information would be publicly
available through these reports to the disadvantage of the NFP
entities and recognise the public and private interest aspects of
NFPs.
We would also support the recommendation that the portal be a
conduit for resources for the sector and general information for
the public concerning the sector as a whole. This could be similar
to the information provided on ASIC and ATO websites to assist the
public and the NFPs to understand the regulatory environment.
The portal should also enable NFPs to update and maintain their
information with the regulator.
Q15 What information might need to
be provided to a national regulator but not made public through a
NFP information portal?
We can envisage a range of information which may be provided
through the portal to the regulator and then indirectly provided to
government which would not be appropriate to be made public. We
would anticipate that this would primarily relate to information
concerning grant applications and acquittals, commercially
sensitive information and potentially elements of an annual
reporting process.
The type of information may also vary depending on the organisation
involved, for example, the certain details of an essentially mutual
organisation could be provided via the portal to ensure that the
entity maintains its status as a not for profit organisation and
various accreditations etc but given the nature of the organisation
involved may not be appropriate to be in the public domain.
The determinate factor in not making information provided to a
national regulator public could be based on a public interest
benefit test.
Q16 What benefits would be
provided by the application of SBR to the NFP sector, following the
implementation of the SCOA so as to minimise any additional
compliance costs?
In isolation, the implementation of the SBR may result in reduced
compliance burdens for the NFP sector, however, consideration would
need to be given to the interaction between the reporting
initiative and the NFP portal. Were an NFP portal to be
implemented the reduction of any additional compliance costs would
occur only where there was an effective interaction between these
two systems.
Q17 Given its voluntary nature,
are many NFP entities likely to use SBR? What barriers, such as
preferences for providing reports in paper form or reluctance to
upgrade accounting software, might reduce usage of SBR by NFP
entities?
The likelihood of NFPs to utilise the SBR would depend on the
underlying nature of the organisations. As already identified, the
sector is quite diverse and it is likely that if the benefits of
the SBR are significant to the larger organisations they would see
benefit in implementing the system.
However, there is a significant number of small NFPs for which this
initiative in isolation would not have a clear benefit.
It is our view that it would only be organisations which have paid
administrative personnel who would be likely to use SBR.
The majority of small NFPs would require additional support or
encouragement to utilise the SBR, given the nature of small NFPs
the reporting requirements for taxes etc would be minimal.
Governance, disclosure and compliance
Consultation questions
Q18 Are the suggested core rules
and regulatory framework adequate?
The suggested core rules and regulatory framework are appropriate
to ensure that, if followed, they would provide a minimum level of
appropriate governance and ensure entities remain accountable and
transparent.
Q19 What powers does the regulator
require to improve governance and regulatory
oversight?
As a general comment the measures outlined in the Consultation
Paper at paragraph 111 could be introduced to improve governance
and regulatory oversight.
As a minimum the following powers should be available:
- to establish NFP 'user groups' and consultative committees to research issues, concerns and improvement measures identified within the NFP sector
- to establish 'best practice' guidelines for NFPs;
- to propose legislative amendments required to enable NFPs to operate and fulfil their mission in a more beneficial way;
- to enforce governance rules;
- to issue warnings and penalties to non compliant NFPs and their officers;
- the power to commence investigative processes to uncover actual or potential malfeasance;
- to undertake dispute resolution processes, which would permit the regulator to intervene in any dispute of which an NFP is party, both within the NFP and between the NFP and another entity
Fundraising
Consultation question
Q20 What role should a national
regulator play with respect to fundraising?
Fundraising has been a State / Territory based matter and we note
that there is currently a project being undertaken to harmonise the
fundraising legislation.
We are of the view that there is a potential role for the regulator
to play with respect to fundraising. The States regulation
generally occurs through Gaming and Racing, Fair Trading
departments and there are existing efficiencies with the
administration of these activities at this level for both for
profit and not for profit.
Without the benefit of the outcomes of the harmonisation of the
fundraising project, we would see the operation of the National
Regulator's role as more towards providing an effective means
for organisations to deal with registration as a fundraising
organisation and for a mechanism for regulated fundraising permits
at a national level.
As a result of the nature of the current enforcement activities and
due to the significant brief a national regulator would already
need to deal with in its formative years, we would recommend
enforcement activities to be maintained at a State level.
Consultation questions
Q23 What form of the national
regulator best meets the objectives of simple, effective
and efficient regulation of the NFP
sector?
A new body within ASIC, given our previous submissions, the UK
model and the lower costs of this option for the
Commonwealth.
Our view is that the national regulator should be an additional
function and separate division of ASIC. This view has been formed
on the basis that ASIC:
- a) currently registers and regulates a number of NFPs;
- b) currently deals with the fundraising aspects of for profit entities;
- c) is currently the national portal for the collection of corporate and financial public record information for entities under the Corporations Act;
- d) deals with the adoption of accounting and auditing standards and is the regulator for Company Auditors who predominately undertake the audits of NFPs; and
- e) has an infrastructure which is suited to
this type of Registrar role.
We consider that whilst there is a mirroring of the fundamental
functions and skills sets required by a national regulator and
ASIC, the national regulator would need to be a clearly distinct
division. This position is founded in the current diversity of the
sector both from a perspective of existing legislation but also
from the level of reporting and transparency currently in
existence. The regulator would need to have more of a supportive
role than the current ASIC position given that it would be dealing
with a different range of stakeholders and the fundamental
different objectives of NFPs.
Our concern with a separate agency would be the duplication of
resources; the initial cost of establishing the entity and the time
it may take for the agency to be in a position to promote
confidence in the sector.
Q24 Would a Commonwealth only
regulator provide sufficient benefits to the
sector?
As previously stated, given the operation of NFPs throughout and
across Australia, the regulation should be at a national level.
Q25 Are there benefits from
establishing an interim regulator through an existing
Commonwealth regulator, to undertake immediate
reform?
As stated above, we recommend the establishment of the national
regulator as an additional function and separate division of ASIC
at this stage. We note that consideration has been given to the
regulation of the sector through the Australian Taxation Office as
it currently is responsible for the administration of the DGR and
Tax concession status.
It is our view, that the incorporation of the regulator within ASIC
would be more suitable to the goals of the Regulator. The tax
status of the sector is one aspect of the regulation of the
sector.
It is our view that the overall regulatory principles and
objectives of ASIC are more clearly aligned to the needs of the
government, the public and the beneficiaries of the NFP activities.
We acknowledge regulation through the ATO would allow the one
element of the regulation to in effect remain with the same
national body.
However, we are of the view that there is an opportunity to promote
enhance and support the sector and that for reasons stated above,
ASIC or a separate regulator are better suited to achieve these
goals.
FUNDING IMPLICATIONS
Options for funding regulator
Consultation questions
Q28 What level of contribution
should NFP entities make to the cost of the national NFP
regulator?
We note the Consultation Paper's comments in relation to
overseas regulators and their respective fees. We acknowledge that
there will be significant costs in the establishment and on going
operations of a national NFP regulator. However, we also anticipate
that there will be cost savings at both a government and entity
level where there has been substantial duplication of the provision
of information to various state and federal government
departments.
We are of the view that the contribution of the NFPs should be
nominal in relation to compliance fees and that these fees should
be directly injected into the education and compliance activities
of the regulator. In addition where government funding is received,
there would be an opportunity for a small percentage of grant
income to be returned to the regulator for its ongoing cost.
We note that consideration of the contribution to society and
government's objectives in relation to the provision of social
services should be made when considering the level of contribution
made by the sector and individual entities to the cost of the
regulator. The benefits to Australia of this sector is significant
and in many structures at no cost with a key objective of this
regulation is the ability of the sector to more keenly focus on its
objectives in a strong governance framework. To require any
significant contribution from the NFP to the cost of this
regulation redirects resources away from the main goals of these
organisations.
Q29 Should there be a
differential cost for smaller NFP entities?
We are of the view that a significant contribution to the community
is undertaken by a large number of smaller NFPs and accordingly the
costs should be proportionate to their size.
See also Treasury submission on scoping study for a NFP regulator consultation paper (Part 1)
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