The ACNC Commissioner, the Hon Dr Gary Johns, has written to The Australian in relation to recent reporting on the ACNC's investigation into registered charity Catholic Education Melbourne.
The full letter, and the version published in The Australian on 18 July 2018 are below.
Letter provided to The Australian
I write to clarify and correct four statements made in a 14 July 2018 editorial, Anti-church standover not on.
"The conflict is now about free speech, with a federal agency seeking to crush the church’s efforts to defend its schools’ funding in the public square."
This issue is not about free speech, it is about charity status. Even in the circumstance where the ACNC revokes charity status, this does not stop an entity or individual from exercising their right to free speech. The entity can carry on. We cannot force an entity to cease operating. The consequence would be the loss of Commonwealth charity tax concessions."Associate editor John Ferguson reveals that the ACNC has threatened to axe the charity status and tax exemptions of Catholic Education Melbourne."
The ACNC did not threaten the charity status of Catholic Education Melbourne. We wrote to the charity to enquire about its activities prior to the Batman by-election."And twice, in writing, threatened its executive director, Stephen Elder, with up to 12 months’ jail if he failed to comply with an ACNC investigation."
The ACNC did not threaten Mr Elder with jail. The Commonwealth Criminal Code 1995 (Cth) sets penalties for providing false or misleading information, and we are required under the ACNC Act to make recipients of our notices aware of these penalties. These are not threats, they are statements of fact that we are required to make under the ACNC Act."The Commonwealth Electoral Act, amended in 2016, refers charities to ACNC rules. These allow them to campaign or advocate for a charitable purpose but not 'to promote or oppose a political party or a candidate for political office'."
The Commonwealth Electoral Act is irrelevant for the purposes of determining Catholic Education Melbourne’s charity status. The ACNC Act sets out disqualifying purposes that charities cannot have if they wish to be or remain registered. Charities indeed have the right to advocate, however, they cannot have a purpose of “promoting or opposing a political party or candidate for political office.”I trust this clarifies these issues and corrects the public record.
The Hon Dr Gary Johns
Commissioner, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission
Letter published by The Australian
Free speech not the issue
I wish to clarify statements made in your editorial, ("Anti-church standover not on", 14/7). This issue is not about free speech, it is about the charity status of an entity. Even in the circumstance where the ACNC revokes charity status, this does not stop anyone from exercising their right to free speech. The ACNC did not threaten the charity status of Catholic Education Melbourne. We wrote to the charity to enquire about its activities prior to the Batman by-election.
The ACNC did not threaten Stephen Elder with jail. The Commonwealth Criminal Code sets penalties for providing false or misleading information, and we are required under the ACNC Act to make recipients of our notices aware of these penalties. These are not threats, they are statements of fact that we are required to make under the ACNC Act.
The Commonwealth Electoral Act is irrelevant for the purposes of determining Catholic Education Melbourne’s charity status. The ACNC Act sets out disqualifying purposes that charities cannot have if they wish to be or remain registered. Charities have the right to advocate, but they cannot have a purpose of “promoting or opposing a political party or candidate for political office”.
The Hon Dr Gary Johns
Commissioner, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission