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The ACNC is required by the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) s 11C to publish a disclosure log on its website. The disclosure log lists information which has been released in response to an FOI access request. This requirement has applied since 1 May 2012. However, since the ACNC came into existence on 3 December 2012, it could only receive FOI requests from that date.

Read more information about making an FOI request.

When will a document not be published in the disclosure log?

The disclosure log requirement does not apply to:

  • personal information about any person if publication of that information would be 'unreasonable'
  • information about the business, commercial, financial or professional affairs of any person if publication of that information would be 'unreasonable'
  • other information covered by a determination made by the Australian Information Commissioner if publication of that information would be 'unreasonable'. As at October 2013, the Australian Information Commissioner had made a determination in relation to the following information: information in a document that was an exempt document at the time that access was given by the agency to the applicant, or information in a document that the agency would have decided was an exempt document at the time that access was given to the applicant, if the request for that document had been received from a person other than the applicant.
  • any information if it is not reasonably practicable to publish the information because of the extent of modifications that would need to be made to delete the information listed in the above dot points.

The information described in the disclosure log has been released by the ACNC under the Freedom of information Act 1982 (Cth) and is available for public access.

Note that a document published on the disclosure log may be an edited version of the document originally provided to an applicant because of an exception listed above.

Access of documents published in the disclosure log

A link is provided if the information can be downloaded from this website or another website.

Information that is not available on a website may be obtained by writing to the FOI Contact Officer. A charge may be imposed to reimburse the ACNC for the cost incurred in copying or reproducing the information or sending it to you. There will be no charge for the time spent by the ACNC in processing the FOI request that led to this information being made available. You will be notified if any charge is payable and required to pay the charge before the information is provided.

Documents in the disclosure log will generally be provided in PDF format. If you are unable to read the format provided please contact the FOI Contact Officer. We will try to meet all reasonable requests for an alternative format of the document in a timely manner and at the lowest reasonable cost to you.

Information attached to, or referred to, in the ACNC’s disclosure log may be removed after 12 months, unless the information has enduring public value.

To the extent that copyright in some of this material is owned by a third party, you may need to seek their permission before you can use it. More information on copyright can be found on the ACNC’s copyright page.

Log entries are divided according to year, and are based on financial year, rather than calendar year.

If there is no entry recorded in a particular quarter or year, no information was released in response to an FOI access request.

Quarter 2

FOI Reference: 2013Q2R1

Date of access: 23/12/2013

FOI Request: Certain documents relating to a review undertaken by RTK Consultants.

The documents published here relate to the part of request that sought copies of any document recording communications between the ACNC and RTK Consultants which outline the purpose and reasons for the commencement of the review.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Partial access was granted for 2 documents with deletions for irrelevant materials.
  • Access was refused for 1 document on the basis of conditional exemptions under ss 47E(c) and 47E(d) of the FOI Act

Other information: Note that 2013Q2R1 - Document 2 was produced by a third party (RTK Consultants).

FOI Reference: 2013Q2R2

Date of access: 9/12/2013

FOI Request: List of Public Benevolent Institutions that have been registered with the ACNC since 1 January 2013

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access to 1 document was granted

Other information: Note that information relating to Public Benevolent Institutions that have requested certain information be withheld from the ACNC Register was excluded from the terms of the request with the consent of the applicant.

Quarter 1

FOI Reference: 2014Q1R1

Date of access: 28/7/2014

FOI Request: Electronic copy of ACNC Charity Register database and related data tables (including any annual information statement data)

Information published in disclosure log:

  • The charity register database and annual information statements are now published on www.data.gov.au

Access decision:

  • Full access was granted

Quarter 3

FOI Reference: 2014Q3R2

Date of access: 1/4/2015

FOI Request: Request for access to a charity’s annual information statement

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access was granted
FOI Reference: 2014Q3R1

Date of access: 7/5/2015

FOI Request: Request for complaint against Church of Scientology

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access was granted

Other information: A complaint made against a charity is generally kept confidential. However, in this case, the complainant had stated publically that he had made a complaint and the details of the letter of complaint had been substantially made public.

Quarter 4

FOI Reference: 2014Q4R2

Date of access: 5/06/2015

FOI Request: Request for correspondence between the ACNC and certain listed entities relating to issues or concerns about charities on the Register of Environmental Organisations (REO)

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 4 documents
  • Partial access granted to16 documents with redactions for protected information
  • Access refused for 6 documents on the basis that the information was protected
FOI Reference: 2014Q4R3

Date of access: 17/06/2014

FOI Request: Request for documents relating to the Canada Revenue Agency’s response to political activities

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 1 document
  • Partial access granted to 1 document with redactions for information not relevant to the request
  • Access refused for 3 documents on the basis that the information was provided in confidence to the ACNC by an authority of an international government
FOI Reference: 2014Q4R5

Date of access: 23/7/2015

FOI Request: Request for the ‘Reasons for Decision’ document for the registration of ‘For the Love of Wildlife'

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Partial access granted to 1 document with redactions for information not publicly available and subject to ACNC secrecy provisions.

Quarter 2

FOI Reference: 2015Q2R2

Date of access: 17/12/2015

FOI Request: Request for the applications of the successful candidates appointed to the EL1 ACNC Legal Counsel positions

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Partial access granted to 2 documents with personal information redacted (s 47F)

Quarter 4

FOI Reference: 2017Q4R4

Date of access: 4/7/2017

FOI Request: Request for policies, directives, rules, guidelines, principles, practices and procedures governing the handling of requests for assistance under s 15(3)(a) of the FOI Act.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Partial access granted - irrelevant information removed from Documents 1 & 2 (s 22)

This financial year the ACNC did not make any decisions which required publication under section 11C of the FOI Act.

Quarter 1

FOI Reference: 2019Q1R8

Date of access: 16/11/2018

FOI Request: Request for documents relating to registered charity ‘Out for Australia Limited’ and ACNC policies, directives, rules, guidelines, principles, procedures and any other document relied upon in assessing any application to register a charity with PBI status.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Access refused for any documents relating to ‘Out for Australia Limited’ (s 47E(d) FOI Act)
  • Full access granted to documents 1 and 2
  • Partial access granted to documents 3 and 4 with deletions for irrelevant material (s 22)

Quarter 2

FOI Reference: 2019Q2R3

Date of access: 9/1/2019

FOI Request: Request for documents containing details about the ACNC's approach to administering the Information Publication scheme.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 15 documents
  • Access refused to 10 documents (8 documents under s 47C, 2 documents under s 42)
FOI Reference: 2019Q2R4

Date of access: 11/1/2019

FOI Request: Documents detailing the number of registered religions, religious orders, religiously affiliated organisations in Australia, and tax exemption status of such organisations.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 2 documents
  • 2 documents released in part with deletions (one under s 47F, one under s 47E(d))
  • Access refused to one document (s 47E(d))

Quarter 3

FOI Reference: 2019Q3R2

Date of access: 22/3/2019

FOI Request: Letter sent by Gary Johns to Nigel Scullion; documents regarding the acknowledgment of country in email blocks of staff.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 4 documents
  • 23 documents released in part with deletions (s47E, s47F)
  • Access refused to 44 documents (s47C, s47E, s47F)

Quarter 3

FOI Reference: 2020Q3R7

Date of access: 14/04/2020

FOI Request: All financial documents lodged by Street Swags Limited within the last 24 months.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 9 documents
  • Access refused to 10 documents (s47E)

Quarter 4

FOI Reference: 2020Q4R2

Date of access: 9/06/2020

FOI Request: Information about ACNC complaints, complaint handling, and internal documents and complaints receieved about registered charity Gellibrand Support Services Inc.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 16 documents
  • Partial access granted to 5 documents (s 22 and s 47E(d))
  • Access refused to 45 documents (s 47E(d))

Quarter 1

FOI Reference: 2021Q1R5

Date of access: 06/10/2020

FOI Request: Summary information on ACNC review/appeal decisions on refusal to register as a charity.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

Partial access granted to one document (s 22)

Quarter 3

FOI Reference: 2022Q2R5

Date of access: 17 February 2022

FOI Request: ACNC Operational Procedure 5: Investigations, as at 9 December 2013, and any amendments or updates, and any documents which superseded that Procedure.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to one document.
  • Documents which superseded this document are available on the ACNC website.

Quarter 1

FOI Reference: 2022Q4R4

Date of access: 19 July 2022

FOI Request: Correspondence and internal documents relating to the Church of Scientology Australia between 2021 and 2021

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 4 documents
  • Access refused to 35 documents (s 47E(d))
FOI Reference: 2022Q4R5

Date of access: 8 July 2022

FOI Request: Founding documents of Brindabella Christian Education

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 2 documents

Quarter 2

FOI Reference: 2022Q2R3

Date of access: 12 December 2022

FOI Request: All briefing materials prepared for the October/November 2022 Senate Estimates.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access granted to 12 documents
  • Partial access to one document (s 47E(d))
FOI Reference: 2023Q2R1

Date of access: 6 December 2022

FOI Request: Annual Information Statements, financial reports and details about Townsville Foster and Rehoming Animals Inc

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access to one document
  • Partial access to two documents
  • Access refused to one document (s 47E(d))
FOI Reference: 2023Q2R2

Date of access: 13 December 2022

FOI Request: Correspondences and documents relating to registered charity CityReach Family of Churches Incorporated

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access to one document
  • Access refused for 31 documents (s 47E(d))

Quarter 3

FOI Reference: 2023Q3R2

Date of access: 6 April 2023

FOI Request: Policies and procedures of the ACNC relating to the management of conflicts of interest among its investigation team, particularly with regard to the investigation of charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access to nine documents
  • Access refused to seven documents (s 47E(d) and s 47F)
FOI Reference: 2023Q3R3

Date of access: 12 May 2023

FOI Request: Expenditure, remuneration, payment, and expenses of the ACNC Advisory Board since 2016.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access to three documents
  • Partial access to one document (s 47E(d) and s 22)
  • Access refused to 96 documents

Quarter 1

FOI Reference: 2024Q1R5

Date of access: 14 September 2023

FOI Request:

The following documents relating to Lifestyle Solutions (Aust) Ltd (ABN 85 097 999 347):

  • Any documents that show the CEO’s salary for the years: 17/18, 18/19, 19/20, 20/21, 21/22; and
  • Any documents that show how many people were considered key management personnel in those years.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

  • Full access to one document
  • Partial access to one document (s 47F)
  • Access refused to one document (s 47E(d))

Quarter 3

FOI Reference: 2024Q3R5

Date of access: 1 March 2024

FOI Request:

Requests for ACNC delegation and authorisation instruments relating to Compliance Officers and their duties under the ACNC Act during the period of October 2022 to January 2024.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

Full access granted to 5 documents across multiple decision letters.

FOI Reference: 2024Q3R6

Date of access: 22 March 2024

FOI Request:

Request for ACNC delegation instrument dated 24 July 2018.

Information published in disclosure log:

Access decision:

Full access granted to 1 document.