If you disagree with an ACNC decision, you have the right to have the decision reviewed.
Before deciding to go to court, it can be a good idea to get legal advice about the strength of your application, the process, and the related costs.
If you do not have a lawyer, you can contact your local state or territory law association to find out what pro bono or other legal assistance is available in your area.
Appealing to a court
You can go to court for an appeal or a review if you:
- disagree with a decision made by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) after it reviewed the original ACNC objection decision
- disagree with an ACNC objection decision and have decided not to apply to the ART, or
- disagree with another ACNC decision.
How to appeal to a court
If you disagree with an ACNC objection decision you can appeal directly to a court, instead of going to the ART first.
You must lodge an appeal within 60 days of us giving you the objection decision.
You can appeal to a court by filling in the relevant court’s application form. There are usually filing and other fees to pay.
If there are related decisions, even if the ACNC did not make them, you can ask the court to review more than one decision together (such as an ACNC objection decision and an Australian Taxation Office (ATO) decision about charity tax concessions). These decisions must be related or it must be more efficient for the court to review them together.
The court can limit their review of your case to the reasons you put into your original objection application to the ACNC. If you apply to a court, you will have to prove to the court that the ACNC should have made a different decision.
The court appeal does not suspend the ACNC’s original decision. The original ACNC decision has effect while your appeal is being dealt with. The objection decision continues until the court makes a different decision.
Court appeal outcomes
If you are appealing against an ACNC objection decision, the court can make any order, including:
- varying the ACNC’s decision, or
- agreeing with the original decision.
If the court does not agree with the ACNC’s decision, we have 60 days to put the court’s decision into effect, unless we decide to appeal it. You can also appeal the court’s decision to a higher court if you disagree.