A new agreement that reduces the administrative burden on registered charities has been signed by NSW Fair Trading and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
NSW associations will now only be required to submit their annual financial reports to the ACNC, which will then securely share the data with NSW Fair Trading.
NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rose Webb said this is a positive change for about 4,000 charities around the State.
“These associations have been spending extra time and money filling out the same forms twice. This new ‘report once’ system will see a reduction in unnecessary regulatory obligations on the charity sector,” said Ms Webb.
The Memorandum of Understanding marks the beginning of a new secure data sharing arrangement between NSW and the ACNC, which streamlines reporting, reduces red tape and cuts administrative costs for incorporated associations that are also registered charities.
The ACNC Commissioner, the Hon Dr Gary Johns, said this was a big win for registered charities that are incorporated as associations in NSW.
“These charities will no longer need to spend considerable resources meeting duplicative reporting requirements. Instead, they can spend more time and energy on delivering services and support to the people of NSW,” Dr Johns said.
Dr Johns thanked the NSW State Government for its commitment to red tape reduction for charities.
“The ACNC and the NSW Government have worked together over an extended period to streamline duplicative reporting requirements for these charities,” Dr Johns said.
“These arrangements take commitment from both sides and I am very pleased that NSW, our largest state in terms of number of registered charities, has come on board.
“Most Australian registered charities now have streamlined reporting arrangements, and I hope to be able to make further announcements in the coming months.”
The NSW Privacy Commissioner has been consulted regarding the privacy and data protection safeguards in the agreement.
The new reporting arrangement is in line with Victorian, South Australian, Tasmanian and ACT reporting arrangements for charities, and will be available to NSW associations from 1 October 2018.
For more information about the changes, or to determine if they apply to your charity, visit acnc.gov.au/NSW or the NSW Fair Trading website.
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Media contact
ACNC media contact: media@acnc.gov.au or 0466 089 108
NSW Fair Trading media contact: 0438 108 797