Charities must ensure contact details are current

More than 300 charities are at risk of losing their charity status because they have failed to provide up-to-date contact details to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). All charities on the ACNC register are required to notify the ACNC of changes to their organisation.

In 2012, the Australian Tax Office transferred the records of more than 56,000 registered charities to the ACNC.  Since December 2012, the ACNC has attempted to contact charities in order to update their contact details and ensure they are receiving important notifications including reminders to submit Annual Information Statements (AIS).  

A charity will be removed from the register if it has failed to lodge an AIS two years in a row.  To date, over 9,000 charities have been removed from register, largely for a failure to meet their reporting obligations by lodging their AIS.                                              

Charities can update their contact information by logging in to the charity portal at www.acnc.gov.au, emailing advice@acnc.gov.au or calling 13 ACNC (13 2262).

The ACNC has compiled a list of registered charities it is trying to contact; you can view this list here.

For more information, contact:

Ashleigh Wall
Senior Associate
Harwood Andrews
T: 03 5226 8559
E:awall@harwoodandrews.com.au

Ella Vines
Graduate Lawyer
T: 03 5225 5216
E: evines@harwoodandrews.com.au