Submission on Consultation Paper "A Definition of Charity"

• Date:16 Dec 2011
• Type:Policy Submission

This submission is in response to a consultation paper titled “A Definition of Charity”, released by the Federal Government on 28 October 2011.

Our submission put forward that there should be no alteration to the current presumption that charities falling within particular categories of charitable purpose meet the “public benefit” test. Also, the definition of charity should not impose an “unduly restrictive” test for the consideration of whether a charity is of public benefit if it recovers its costs through fees, charges, levies or memberships, and a degree of flexibility needs to be incorporated into the definition, while recognising the need for those establishing and governing charities to have a high level of certainty as to their organisation’s charity status.

Download our submission on the Consultation Paper "A Definition of Charity" (PDF 2MB)

Read our study, Directors Social Impact Study 2011 (PDF 4MB), which examines the governance of the not-for-profit sector and the contribution made by its directors.