Magic pudding – the ACNC's Implementation Report

On 12 June, the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission Implementation Taskforce released its Implementation Report, setting out the ACNC's regulatory approach in five key action areas. These five areas are:

1. Registering entities Charities will register with the ACNC, and the information collected will be used to populate the searchable database.
2. Developing a reporting framework (report once, use often) The Charity Passport cuts red-tape where charities report once to the ACNC, and that information can be accessed by Government agencies.
3. Going online (one-stop shop) Charities can use the ACNC website as the single portal that links them to a range of government agencies, and the public can access consolidated information on registered charities on the ACNC public information portal.
4. Helping charities and the public (guidance and education) The ACNC will help charities understand their obligations by providing guidance, general advice and education underpins good governance, accountability and transparency.
5. Engaging with stakeholders A key consideration of the ACNC's regulatory approach is to know the sector it regulates, and to understand the expectations of the community for the conduct of charities. In order to have an ongoing engagement with stakeholders, the ACNC proposes to establish regular meetings with stakeholders, operate a phone advisory service, and provide annual snapshots of the sector to the public.

A full copy of the report is available on the ACNC Implementation Taskforce website at http://acnctaskforce.treasury.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=publications/implementationreport/html/index.htm.

While a number of NFPs have welcomed the introduction of a single regulator for the sector if it reduces the amount of red tape that NFPs have to deal with, most if not all of them remain sceptical that the ACNC will be able to achieve that result. They may take some comfort from the focus identified in the Implementation Report but the proof of this pudding is going to be in the eating.

As previously advised, the ACNC start date is proposed to be 1 October 2012.

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