Non-Profit News Service No. 0365 - Discussion paper released about charitable fundraising regulation reform

On 12 February 2012, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer released the discussion paper, Charitable Fundraising Regulation Reform.

The paper examines proposals for a new, nationally-consistent approach to the laws that govern fundraising. It seeks the community's views on a range of issues including:

• any potential exemptions for smaller charities
• regulation of the conduct of fundraisers
• the use of internet fundraising
• fundraising by third parties on behalf of charities.

Some extracts from media release No. 005 are included below:

"Almost every State and Territory of Australia has a law regulating fundraising by charities."

"These differences create a compliance burden for those charities that raise funds in more than one State or Territory."

"Under the proposals, charities would only need to comply with one law, no matter where in Australia they conduct their fundraising activities."

Submissions on the discussion paper are due by 5 April 2012.

To access the discussion paper and for more information about how to make a submission, refer to Discussion Paper - Charitable Fundraising Regulation Reform on the Treasury website. For information about the Non-Profit News Service, including how to subscribe and links to previous articles, see About the Non-Profit News Service. We encourage your feedback and suggestions for future topics to be covered by the news service. You can do this by: emailing us at npc-publications@ato.gov.au phoning us on 1300 130 248.