Labor expands transparency around charities

The Labor government is proposing to increase transparency around charitable activities, allowing the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) to share more information about how it regulates charities.

Under the new rules, the ACNC will need to explain why it decides to cancel a charity's registration.

"If the ACNC takes enforcement action against a charity, it must give the reasons for the action," Treasury said.

"Some ACNC investigations do not lead to enforcement action. The government will now allow the ACNC to release information about these investigations when it is in the public interest. The ACNC will apply a public interest test before it discloses this information."

The regulations require the ACNC commissioner to publish on the register a summary of a decision to revoke the registration of an entity as well as any response from the entity. There are no conditions attached to publishing summaries of revocations.

The regulations also require the commissioner to publish summaries about certain recognised assessment activities into an entity undertaken by the commissioner.

"The summaries cover why the recognised assessment activity was undertaken and what the outcome was. The commissioner must also publish a summary of the resolution of any matters relating to the recognised assessment activity and a summary of any response from the entity," Treasury said.

These regulations form part of the government's 2023-24 Budget measure to increase transparency in ACNC activities.

"Australians are generous donors and they need confidence that charities are operating with integrity," Australian Philanthropic Services (APS) technical director David Ward said.

"ACNC endorsement and information are central to this. We support sensible measures that strengthen transparency and trust in the sector, provided they are accompanied by appropriate safeguards to protect charities from unwarranted reputational damage and ensure procedural fairness."

Treasury is taking submissions until October 2.