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Welcome to the ACNC's 2024 Annual Information Statement Hub, which contains links to information that will help your charity complete its 2024 Annual Information Statement.

All charities have an ongoing obligation to report to the ACNC, and completing the Annual Information Statement is an important part of meeting this obligation.

The information submitted through charities' Annual Information Statements contributes to improved charity transparency. It also helps us develop a greater understanding of the sector and reduce duplicated reporting.

Some information your charity provides in its Annual Information Statement will also appear on its Charity Register page. This information can make your charity's work more visible and can help you promote your charity's programs and activities to the many potential supporters that visit the Charity Register every day.

To submit your charity's 2024 Annual Information Statement, log in to the ACNC Charity Portal.

Checklist

To complete your charity's 2024 Annual Information Statement, you will need to log in to the ACNC Charity Portal. Ensure you have your Charity Portal log-in details handy.

For further detailed support to complete your 2024 Annual Information Statement, refer to the 2024 Annual Information Statement Guide.

This checklist provides a list of things you should do before you start on your charity’s Annual Information Statement, as well as information you should have at hand as you complete it.

Before you start

Know your charity's size

Questions your charity will need to answer in the 2024 Annual Information Statement may vary depending on its size. Ensure you know your charity's size so you can respond to the correct questions.

  • Small charities have an annual revenue less than $500,000. For small charities, the Annual Information Statement includes basic financial questions, and they can choose to submit a financial report, but generally this is not required.
  • Medium charities have an annual revenue between $500,000 and $2,999,999. For medium charities, the Annual Information Statement includes financial questions, and they must submit a financial report that is either reviewed or audited.
  • Large charities have an annual revenue of $3 million or more. For large charities, the Annual Information Statement includes financial questions, and they must submit an audited financial report.

For more information, see our guidance about charity size and reporting thresholds.

Check your charity's reporting period

You can check your charity’s financial year end date on the ACNC Charity Register.

If the financial year end date listed for your charity on the Charity Register is incorrect, request a change through the Charity Portal.

Log in to the Charity Portal and click on your charity. Click on 'Manage reporting' and find the ‘Request a different reporting period’ option.

Complete the online process and then wait for the ACNC to confirm your charity’s different reporting period before starting the 2024 Annual Information Statement.

Confirm your charity's reporting is up to date

Before you start your charity's 2024 Annual Information Statement, ensure your charity has completed past Annual Information Statements.

View your charity's reporting history in the Charity Portal.

Check your charity's Address For Service email

Your charity's Address For Service is the address to which the ACNC will send important notifications. We recommend your charity uses a general email address that multiple people have access to, rather than an individual’s personal email address.

For example, it is a good idea to use something like ‘info@yourcharityname.org.au’ and to give more than one person at your charity access to this account.

Doing this means that someone in your charity will still see emails from the ACNC if the main contact person is away or moves on from their role.

Know who will complete the declaration

Before your charity can submit its Annual Information Statement, it needs to be declared by someone in a way similar to signing a physical form. There are four different options when it comes to completing the declaration:

  • A charity's Responsible Person: A Responsible Person is a member of your charity's governing body – for example a board member, committee member or trustee. We accept that you are authorised to sign on behalf of the charity if you are one of its Responsible People.
  • An authorised person: An authorised person holds a position in the charity which gives them authority to sign (such as a chief executive officer, chief financial officer, company secretary or senior manager).
  • An agent: An agent is someone authorised by the charity to sign on behalf of the charity (for example, a lawyer or an accountant). The ACNC Act requires an agent to have written authorisation from the charity. See the ACNC's suggested agent authorisation form.
  • A lodging entity: The ACNC Act describes a lodging entity as another registered charity that can legally change the governing rules of the charity completing a form. One example might be that for religious charities, the denomination administration office may be able to change the charity's rules under canon law.

Involve your charity's Responsible People

ACNC Governance Standard 5 sets out the duties for a charity's Responsible People. These include acting with reasonable care and diligence and in the best interests of their charity, as well as ensuring the charity's finances are managed responsibly.

Responsible People should know when their charity's Annual Information Statement is due, and should be familiar with what their charity submits to the ACNC in its Annual Information Statement.

Check other reporting arrangements

There may be other reporting arrangements applicable to your charity.

  • Information withheld from the Charity Register: If you want to apply to have information withheld from the Charity Register, submit a request to do so in the Charity Portal. You can begin your charity's Annual Information Statement immediately after submitting the request. Find out more about withholding information.
  • Group reporting: If your charity is part of a group of registered charities and would like to report together using a single Annual Information Statement and financial report that covers the whole group. Find out more about group reporting.
  • Bulk lodgement: If you want to submit Annual Information Statements in bulk. Find out more about bulk lodgement.
  • Basic Religious Charity: A charity that has the sole purpose of ‘advancing religion’ and that meets six other mandatory requirements. Find out more about Basic Religious Charities.

Information you will need

Charity programs and activities

The 2024 Annual Information Statement asks for details about your charity's programs. To complete this section of your Annual Information Statement, have the following information ready:

  • each program's name, aims and what it does
  • each program's beneficiaries
  • each program's operating location or locations (these locations should be where the program's activities occur and won't necessarily be your charity's physical address or office location)
  • if possible, a website link where people can view more information about each program.

You can use the AIS Program Previewer to explore this section of the 2024 Annual Information Statement in more detail, as well as to practice your responses to program-related questions.

Information about your charity's programs will appear on the Charity Register. Providing as much information as you can about each of your charity's programs helps you showcase your charity’s work to prospective supporters.

Relevant financial documents

You will need to have handy certain financial information about your charity so you can complete the 2024 Annual Information Statement:

  • balance sheet or statement of financial position, and statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for the reporting period
  • medium and large charities with no transitional reporting arrangements must submit a financial report for the reporting period, including all of the following combined in a single document:

Extensive guidance on completing financial questions is available in the 2024 Annual Information Statement itself, and in the 2024 Annual Information Statement Guide. You can also learn more about financial reporting topics on our website.

Information about key management personnel and related party transactions

Key management personnel remuneration

Large charities will be asked in the 2024 Annual Information Statement to provide information about any remuneration provided to their key management personnel.

Key management personnel are a charity’s senior decision makers and include Responsible People as well as other senior staff. For more information, see our guidance on reporting key management personnel remuneration.

Related party transactions

Small charities are only required to disclose reportable related party transactions.

Medium and large charities are required to disclose 'material' related party transactions in the Annual Information Statement and financial reports.

For more information, see our guidance on related party transactions.

Other information that will help

Other information that can help you complete your charity's 2024 Annual Information Statement includes:

  • Funder/donor/grant acquittal reports, as well as project reports: These will help you answer questions in the Annual Information Statement about your charity’s programs and work, its beneficiaries, employees and volunteers.
  • Pay As You Go (PAYG) payment summaries: These will help you answer questions about your charity’s staff numbers.
  • Your charity’s annual report: This may help you detail your charity's programs, activities, and beneficiaries, as well as respond to questions about them.
  • Incorporated association number and fundraising licence number (if applicable).
  • A list of your charity's Responsible People (and their details): You can update your charity's list of Responsible People in the Annual Information Statement.

Resources and guidance

The ACNC has developed resources and guidance to help you complete your charity's 2024 Annual Information Statement:

Feedback on the 2024 Annual Information Statement

If you wish to provide feedback on the 2024 Annual Information Statement, as well as the guidance we have developed, we encourage you to complete our short feedback survey.

We would value your responses once you have completed the 2024 Annual Information Statement. The survey can be found here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/AIS2024survey.