If your charity's Australian Business Number (ABN) or legal structure changes, you can follow the guidance on this page to notify us and update your charity's information with the ACNC.
If there have been changes to your charity, it is worth taking some time to review its operations to see if any other details have changed – this includes your charity's purposes. You must ensure your charity is still entitled to ACNC registration.
Change Australian Business Number (ABN)
If your charity has a new ABN, but its legal structure has not changed, you will need to:
- Notify the ACNC by completing Form 3B: Change Charity Details
- Apply to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to keep your charity's tax concessions
If your charity has changed its legal structure, see our guidance about how to notify us of legal structure changes. If your charity has merged with another organisation, see our guidance about merging.
Change legal structure
A charity may change its legal structure for a variety of reasons. These include if it:
- wishes to become incorporated (for example, so it can open a bank account in the charity's name instead of an individual’s name)
- changes its operating locations
- merges with another charity
- wishes to register with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC).
Updating your legal structure with the ACNC
If your charity's legal structure changes, what you will need to do to notify the ACNC will depend on the original and new legal structure.
You will either need to:
- complete Form 3B: Change charity details, or
- revoke your existing charity registration and submit a new registration application for the new legal structure.
The following information outlines what action your charity should take if its legal structure changes.
The ACNC understands that changing your charity’s legal structure can be a complex process. If your legal structure change is not covered or you are unsure which process to follow, please contact us.
Complete Form 3B
Your charity should complete Form 3B if its legal structure change falls within the following circumstances:
| Original legal structure | New legal structure |
|---|---|
|
Company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) |
|
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) |
When you complete Form 3B, your charity must fill in all the relevant sections. You will then need to return the form to us with a copy of your charity's new governing document that reflects the new legal structure.
We may contact you to ask for more information when processing your Form 3B.
Before you update your legal structure with us, you should ensure that the Australian Business Register (ABR) is showing the correct name and entity type for your charity.
You may also need to notify other regulators.
Revoke your existing registration and submit a new application
If your charity's legal structure change is not included in the Form 3B table, you will need to revoke your existing charity registration and submit a charity registration application for the new entity with the new legal structure.
If your charity is merging with another charity, and you are creating a new legal entity, you will need to revoke the registration of both the original charities and then submit a registration application for the new organisation.
| Original legal structure | New legal structure |
|---|---|
| Company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) | Any other legal structure, so long as none of the situations in the Form 3B table applies. |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) | Any structure other than a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) |
| Incorporated entity (such as an incorporated association or a company) | Unincorporated entity (such as an unincorporated association or a trust) |
| Unincorporated entity (such as an unincorporated association or a trust) | Incorporated entity (such as an incorporated association or a company) |
You need to revoke the original charity's registration as soon as it becomes ineligible for registration.
If the original entity is being replaced by a new entity with a new legal structure, you should revoke the original entity's registration:
- as soon as it stops operating, and
- as soon as the new entity starts operating.
To revoke your charity's registration, log in to the ACNC Charity Portal. Click on your charity's name, then go to 'Manage other charity details' and complete the form 'Apply to have your charity's registration revoked'.
In the form, you will need to provide some details about why you are revoking (you can explain that you have changed your legal structure), as well as the revocation date.
In the Portal, you will also need to submit a new registration application for the new entity with the new legal structure.
The ACNC strongly recommends that you obtain a new ABN for the new legal structure.
You need to confirm that the entity type of the new ABN matches the new legal structure on the Australian Business Register (ABR). You also need to ensure that the new legal name is correct on the ABR and in the charity's new governing document.
This will prevent issues with the process of submitting a new registration application.
You can follow our instructions for applying for charity registration and use our application checklist to ensure you have the required information ready.
In your application, you will need to provide the requested registration date – we can only register a charity from the latest of these dates:
- the organisation’s establishment date
- the date on which the organisation’s ABN was made active
- the date on which it meets the requirements to be registered as a charity.
In the application, your organisation can apply for charity tax concessions from the date of charity registration.
Note: The process of revoking a charity's registration and then submitting a new registration application is one that will not be completed instantly. The ACNC needs to review your new application, and will follow the same process as it does for reviewing any new charity application.
If you need help
Contact the ACNC for help with:
- understanding which process you need to follow
- completing Form 3B
- revoking your charity registration
- submitting a new application.
Seek professional advice about:
- choosing the right legal structure for your charity
- understanding the implications of changing legal structures.
Contact other regulators about:
- getting a new ABN – contact the Australian Business Register (ABR)
- ending your charity's registration with the regulator for your old legal structure
- registering with a new regulator for your new legal structure – you may have obligations to another regulator based on your charity's legal structure, as well as your obligations to the ACNC.
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