Related party transactions are those between the charity and related parties. These can be people or organisations, such as:
- those with a significant influence over the charity’s strategy and finances (including board members or executive officers, rather than operational managers), and close members of their families (such as a parent, partner, sibling, or child), and
- organisations with a significant influence over the charity (for example, an organisation that appoints one of the members of the board of the charity).
The concept is linked to private benefit and conflicts of interest. The terms 'related parties' and 'related party transactions' are not specifically defined in the ACNC legislation. Both terms are defined in the Australian Accounting Standards.
The ACNC Governance Standards cover the way Responsible People need to handle conflicts of interest and related party transactions in order for the charity to retain its registration.