The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Repeal) (No 1) Bill 2014 was introduced in the House of Reps on Wed 19.3.2014. It proposes to repeal the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012, thereby abolishing the Commission.
The Government said that, given the regulators in place before the Commission was established can provide similar regulatory oversight at a lesser cost (both in terms of administrative costs to Government and in terms of costs imposed on regulated entities), its view is that the introduction of a specialist regulator to monitor and enforce a codification of generally applicable laws has not proven to be the best use of Commonwealth funding.
The Bill will not take effect until the enactment of a later Bill, which will provide the details of the arrangements replacing the Commission. The Government considers this 2-stage approach will allow it to affirm its intention to repeal the Commission, while working through the legislative and administrative issues involved in winding down the Commission’s operations and establishing the National Centre for Excellence.
This Bill will also provide transitional arrangements for matters such as transferring to the Chief Executive of a successor agency records held by the Commission, any outstanding Ombudsman investigations, and certain annual reporting requirements. There will be continued protection for information disclosed for the purposes of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012.
[LTN 53, 19/3/14]
ACNC Repeal Bill referred to Senate Committee for report by 16.6.14
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Repeal) (No 1) Bill 2014 has been referred to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for report by 16 June 2014. The Committee has been asked to consider the impact of the Bill on Australia’s charitable sector. The Bill was introduced in the House of Reps on 19 March 2014 and is still before the House. It proposes to repeal the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012, thereby abolishing the Commission. Currently, registration as a charity by the ACNC is required before an organisation can receive charity tax concessions and other Commonwealth exemptions and benefits from the ATO.
[LTN 61, 31/3/14]