As part of the Commonwealth Government’s broader red tape reduction agenda, a key function of the ACNC is to help reduce the regulatory burden on the Australian not for profit sector.
To achieve this, the ACNC has embarked on a research program to measure the red tape burden on charities and identify target areas for red tape reduction.
In December 2013, the ACNC engaged Ernst & Young to research the regulatory and reporting burden on charities, focusing on the Commonwealth perspective. EY's final report - Research into Commonwealth Regulatory and Reporting Burdens on the Charity Sector - was released in late 2014.
As the second phase of the ACNC’s red tape reduction research programme, the ACNC commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to undertake research on a range of options to align the regulatory obligations of the ACNC and states and territories.
These options seek to identify and quantify the benefits that could accrue to charities through red tape reduction in three key areas that are the responsibility of the states and territories:
- fundraising (including gaming),
- state taxation (principally eligibility for taxation concessions), and
- incorporated associations legislation.
This report presented three options beyond what were at the time described as 'current arrangements' to reduce regulatory burdens on charities across the three areas of regulation above:
These options are:
- Option 1 – ACNC obligations fulfil state and territory regulatory requirements
- Option 2 – Alignment of state, territory, and ACNC regulatory obligations
- Option 3 – ACNC as a central regulatory body.