Last week was Charity Fraud Awareness Week. Below is a list of resources and information from each of the themes throughout the week, for both charities and donors.
Charities and donors can work together to combat charity fraud. If you are suspicious of an activity, you may wish to speak with the charity directly about the issues you have identified, raise a concern with the ACNC by visiting our website, or lodge a scam activity report with Scamwatch.
About charity fraud
- Tackling Charity Fraud: Prevention is better than cure – this guide by the Charity Commission for England and Wales summarises key lessons from previous charity fraud cases, and provides definitions of common issues.
Cyber-fraud
- Donating to legitimate charities – this ACNC guidance provides advice on how donors can ensure they are giving safely to charities and making sure donations get to their intended location.
- Security Awareness Implementation Guide – this Australian Cyber Security Centre initiative provides advice and case studies for businesses to strengthen their online security.
- Damn Good Advice on Cyber-safety and Fraud Prevention – this free publication by the Institute of Community Directors Australia focuses on fraud prevention in small organisations, and how to manage fraud risks.
- Cyber-fraud (Webinar) – this webinar from the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre provides a short overview of the key issues of cyber security for charities.
Grant fraud and due diligence in partnerships
- Corporate partnerships and charities – this ACNC guidance provides information about the risks and benefits of corporate partnerships, and how charities involved in corporate partnerships can maintain their obligations to the ACNC.
- Getting to know your grant holders – this guidance from the Fraud Advisory Panel provides information about grant fraud and the importance of due diligence when distributing charitable funds.
Donation and fundraising fraud
- Giving to Legitimate Charities (Webinar) – this ACNC webinar presentation has tips for the public on donating to charity, including information about tax deductions and what defines a charity.
- Fake Charities – the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)’s Scamwatch branch provides statistics and educates members of the public on the traits of a scam, and how to report scam activity.
- Getting to know your donors – the Fraud Advisory Panel have produced guidance for charities on completing due diligence on donors, providing advice on key warning signs when accepting donations.
Insider fraud
- Protect Your Charity From Fraud: The ACNC's Guide To Fraud Prevention – this guide highlights information on the risks and vulnerabilities of a charity, and provides practical steps to reduce and manage risks.
- Staying out of trouble: avoiding charity pitfalls (Webinar) – this ACNC webinar talks about the importance of strong financial controls, managing conflicts of interest and completing due diligence with staff and volunteers.
- Combatting inside fraud: practical lessons for charities (Webinar) – this webinar from the Charity Commission of England and Wales, and Amnesty International, provides a practical example of how to put prevention into practice within a charity.
Moving money safely
- National Risk Assessment into the Not-for-Profit Sector – produced in partnership by the ACNC and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) this report discusses money laundering and terrorism financing risks across the not-for-profit sector. The report found that the risks of terrorism financing and money laundering were rated overall as medium.
- Assessing the risk of money laundering and terrorism financing (Podcast) – this episode of the ACNC’s podcast, discusses the findings of the ACNC and AUSTRAC not-for-profit risk assessment.
- Prevention of Financial Wrongdoing (Webinar) – the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) has a webinar on the subject of preventing financial wrongdoing in international aid organisations.
- An introduction to moving money safely – this guidance from the Fraud Advisory Panel provides information about moving money safely in order to deliver on charitable objectives.
Further resources are also available at the Fraud Advisory Panel website.