Following several warnings, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has revoked the registration of more than 700 charities.
ACNC Assistant Commissioner General Counsel Anna Longley said all charities are required to submit Annual Information Statements, and those that repeatedly fail to do so risk losing registration.
‘Most charities meet their obligations. However, we notified more than one thousand charities last month that they were at risk of having their registration revoked because they had failed to submit two or more Annual Information Statements, despite several reminders to do so,’ Ms Longley said.
‘The ACNC seeks to support charities to remain registered. Some of them submitted their outstanding statements so they have retained their registration. However, around 700 did not. Many of these organisations may have ceased operating.’
Much of the data that charities provide in the Annual Information Statement appears on the Charity Register.
‘Accountability and transparency are critical to maintain public trust and confidence in the sector. People check the Charity Register to verify key details about organisations, for example, before they make a donation. It is therefore important we review charities to make sure they are complying with their obligations and ensure the information on the Charity Register is up to date.’
Once charity registration is revoked, we will notify the Australian Taxation Office to remove entitlement to charity tax concessions.