The Government on Mon 17.12.2012, released for public consultation a paper on draft governance standards for charities registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and draft regulations on the new ACNC financial reporting framework.
The Assistant Treasurer said the draft governance standards are intended to reflect a minimum set of basic governance outcomes for registered charities, whilst providing entities with flexibility to determine how they achieve these outcomes in the context of their organisation’s particular circumstances. Mr Bradbury said the draft governance standards cover 6 topics, including:
- the purposes and not-for-profit (NFP) nature of charities,
- accountability to members,
- compliance with Australian laws,
- responsible management of financial affairs, and
- suitability and duties of those who manage charities.
The draft financial reporting regulations set out the content requirements for financial reports to be lodged with the ACNC, and also propose to significantly expand the range of individuals able to conduct a review of medium sized registered charities which will reduce on-going compliance costs.
The Government also noted that the ACNC will be holding stakeholder forums in capital cities and regional centres in late January and early February 2013 as part of ongoing consultation with the sector. Further information is available on the ACNC website.
COMMENTS on the consultation paper and draft regs are due by 15 February 2013.
Source: Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Social Inclusion’s joint media release No 168, 17 December 2012
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