Should your station register as a charity?

Should your station register as a charity? The short answer is, yes.

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Comission (ACNC) works to improve public understanding of charities and the not-for-profit sector. They aim to support charities through advice and education, using regulatory powers where necessary.

There are roughly 600,000 not-for-profit organisations in Australia but only 54,000 are registered as charities.

The benefits of registering as a charity are:

• Credibility
• Access to charity tax concessions and other benefits
• Visibility, as you will be listed on the national ACNC Charity Register
• Use of the ACNC online charity portal for ease of updating your station's details
• Timely advice, guidance and education
• Over time the reduction of red tape - the ACNC is working with many states to reduce double reporting issues (see if there have been changes to double reporting legislation in your state)

How to be eligible:

• You must be a not-for-profit organisation
• You must have a charitable purpose
• You must benefit the public
• Have an ABN
• Meet the ACNC governance standards
• Serve your community

Things you cannot do:

• Engage in promoting activites that are unlawful
• Promote or oppose a political party or a candidate
• Not benefit a sufficient section of the public
• Have a non-charitable purpose

Obligations

• Tell ACNC if you change your name, address, governing body etc - you can do this through their online portal
• Manage and report conflicts of interest
• Keep your records
• Do not operate if you are insolvent
• Do not assume that if you are a not-for-profit that you don’t have to look at your tax

You can easily register online with the ACNC to become a charity or read more about what is involved in the process.