In 2025, our work and advice has had an increasing emphasis on AI, cyber risk and privacy.
In our final newsletter for the year, we offer some commentary on these topics and also draw your attention to the interest the ACNC has taken this year in complex structures that some charities operate.
Thank you for your interest during 2025: we wish you a happy Christmas and bright New Year.
The Carroll & O'Dea Lawyers Community& Associations' Team
Emerging AI risks for Charities
With the accelerating use of artificial intelligence (AI) in various aspects of today's world, charities need to evaluate the impact of AI on day-to-day operations and their compliance with regulatory requirements.
Read more here.
Cyber risk
2025 has seen the continued success of cyber criminals. Thankfully many organisations and private individuals are taking regular training in how to recognise scams, phishing, fake identities and other malware.
For charities, the donor data held, yields immediate rewards, if stolen: not only would names and addresses and contact details be plundered, but perhaps also bank account credentials.
Read more here.
Privacy
The 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) apply to organisations and federal government agencies (with exemptions for organisations with a turnover less than $3m per annum - but there are exemptions to the exemption).
Read more here.
Yue Lucy Han, Senior Associate
ACNC Complex Charity Structure Guidance
In 2024/25 the ACNC's Regulatory Focus was to review complex charity structures and the governance and compliance challenges that can arise, as we mentioned in our newsletter of early June 2024.
On 20 October 2025, the ACNC released the findings of its review, which provides further guidance as to how charities can practise good governance and manage risk. A summary of the findings can be located here.
Read more here.
Hannah Duque, Senior Associate
Private and public ancillary funds accumulations
Trustees of these funds are obliged to make annual distributions to other deductible gift recipient charities as follows:
- if a public ancillary fund, of at least 4% of its assets valued as at the previous 30 June
- if a private ancillary fund, of at least 5% of its assets valued as at the previous 30 June
Read more here.
Patricia Monemvasitis, Partner
Update to Commissioner's Interpretation Statement on Public Benevolent Institutions
The Commissioner's Interpretation Statement (CIS) on Public Benevolent Institutions (PBIs) was updated in late September to reflect the Commissioner's understanding of the law regarding PBIs following the Full Federal Court's decision in Equality Australia Ltd v Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission [2024] FCAFC 115 (Equality Australia decision). In that decision the Court found that the objects and purposes of Equality Australia to advocate for law reform and social change were not sufficiently connected to providing relief from distress of LGBTQI+ people such that Equality Australia could not be recognised as a PBI.
Read more here.