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A recent Victorian case[1] serves as a constructive lesson for trustees to make sure that they read and understand the trust instrument and abide by its terms or face the consequences. It is a long and complex case, but we have extracted the core contentions. The Gore Charitable Trust (Trust) was established by the will as … Have you heard the one about a capital-only trust, a church trustee and a parishioner who walked into a Court…

Social media pages of charities and nonprofit organisations provide a timely, convenient and inexpensive means of communicating with members and supporters, building a community of engaged advocates for their cause and with a potential audience of millions of people here and abroad. There are some matters that ought to be monitored and dealt with by … Socials can be costly

Background While mere humans are stuck with their relations be they Uncle Charlie and his bad dad jokes or Aunt Gertrude with her inedible cheesy puffs suffered at every family function, corporate bodies that are artificial persons at law do choose who are related parties. Further, they are held accountable for their choices. For-profit companies, … Being judged on the relations you keep

Both the former and present federal governments have been pursuing an agenda to encourage the harmonisation of state and territory fundraising regulations to reduce the paperwork burden on charities raising funds across state borders. The reform of fundraising regulation has been on the agenda since the Industry Commission Report on Charities in 1995, and every … National fundraising reform

The ATO revised its public ruling on societies, associations or clubs seeking to determine whether they are exempt from income tax under table item 9.1(c) of section 50-45 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 97), Taxation Ruling 2022/2 – Income tax: the games and sports exemption[1]. It replaces Taxation Ruling 97/22 Income tax: exempt sporting … ATO and Sporting Organisations

A long running internal dispute in a Melbourne based church has raised an interesting question about dealing with membership applications before an annual general meeting which may change the rules about membership qualifications.[1] The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Australia (Victoria) Inc (Church) exists to assist people, mainly people who were born in Tonga … Membership admission and change of rules

The Queensland Office of Fair Trading has released three consultation papers on making regulations to the Associations Incorporation Act and the Collections Act in regards: The form of grievance procedures to be required of Incorporated Associations; The form of compulsory disclosure of remuneration of association committee members and senior staff; and New reporting requirements and … Government Consultation Opens on New Regulations for Incorporated Associations and Fundraising

The Queensland Supreme Court, in a rare case on the meaning of the terms of state funding agreements, has rebuffed some Departments’ requests for the production of internal documents from a grantee. Sisters Inside[1] is a charitable non-profit association providing programs to women and girls to address factors leading to criminalisation and to offer opportunities to … Gone fishin’ for some documents under your State funding agreement

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has requested public comment on 2 updated Commissioner’s Interpretation Statements being: Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement: Public Benevolent Institutions (PBI), and Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement: Health Promotion Charities (HPC). These 2 categories of charities registered with the ACNC have access to deductible gift recipient (DGR) status, which allows donors to claim … ACNC draft Interpretation Statements open for comment

Family First New Zealand (FFNZ) takes a traditional approach to the importance of marriage and families. Since its establishment in 2006, it has engaged in community discussions on divorce, prostitution, pornography, broadcasting standards and censorship, availability of alcohol and tobacco, gambling, abortion, euthanasia, embryonic cell research and traditional marriage.  It has done this in many … We will claim the Pavlova and Russell Crowe as ours – but not your law on charities and advocacy