The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Bill 2012 and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2012 have been introduced in to the House of Representatives.
The Bill incorporates changes made in accordance with the recommendations in the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics report into the draft ACNC legislation including:
•Adding a new clause to the Objects in the legislation to make clear that the ACNC’s role includes promoting a reduction in the regulatory burden on the NFP sector;
•Additional procedural fairness requirements where the ACNC Commissioner exercises particular powers under the legislation;
•Adding a statutory review provision to provide for a review of the legislation after it has been in operation for 5 years;
•A new power to make regulations to protect the privacy of private donors such as those who maintain a private ancillary fund;
•A substantial redrafting of provisions relating to directors’ liability, clarifying that a director of an incorporated charity will only be liable under the Act where there is a deliberate act or omission of the director involving dishonesty, gross negligence or recklessness. No criminal offences will now apply to directors of an incorporated charity, as the one criminal offence relating to directors included in the exposure draft of the Bill has been removed.
