Not-for-profit reform

The not-for-profit (NFP) sector operates in a complex reporting and regulatory environment.

To address this, in the 2011 budget, the Government announced a number of major NFP sector reforms to:

• Improve regulatory arrangements — enabling NFPs to focus on innovation rather than paperwork.
• Reduce duplication — simplifying poorly designed and overly demanding processes.
• Boost governance — increasing transparency and accountability in the NFP sector.
• Raise public awareness — improving confidence in how NFPs manage funding and donations.

These reforms aim to improve the sustainability of the sector and build greater public engagement through increased charitable giving, increased philanthropy and greater levels of volunteerism.

Implementing the reforms

At a federal level, the government established two bodies to assist in these reforms:

• Office for the Not-for-Profit Sector 
• Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission 

Other federal bodies that are playing a significant role in implementing the reforms include:

• The Commonwealth Treasury 
• The Australian Taxation Office

For directors of NFP organisations, it is important to recognise that – although the reforms aim to harmonise legislation between the states and territories – there is still a range of regulations at state and territory level that impact their organisations. For more information, see our list of State and territory NFP regulators.

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission has developed a guide to give an overview of the reform agenda and the regulatory environment in which charities now operate.  For more information on, and to access the guide, see the Not-for-profit reform and the Australian Government Report.

Company Directors response to the reforms

We have been actively engaged in the consultation process for the NFP reforms. For a detailed overview of our activities to date, see What is our response to the reforms agenda?