The director of policy and education at the new nonprofit taskforce has written to Australian charities to tell them of the developments made under her new leadership.
Sue Woodward issued a statement on April 13 saying that it was a "privilege to join such a great team" at the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC).
She went on to say that she understood the sector had many questions relating to the role the ACNC would play in regulating the operations of community organisations across the nation, but that many of the groups would not have their activities interrupted by its inception.
However, the new director also asserted that it was important for all involved in the charity sector to understand how their organisations are to fit into the new reporting frameworks.
Ms Woodward stated: "While only about ten per cent of the estimated 600,000 not-for-profit groups in Australia will need to have any interaction with the ACNC, it is an important body for all Australians to know about."
She used the examples of people wanting to know more about what charity organisations were currently operating in a sector before launching one that paralleled its activities, or to learn more about a group's activities before they donated funds to a particular cause.
"All of this will be possible as the ACNC builds its public register of charities and keeps it updated with annual information returns and financial reports," she explained.
To this end, the policy and education department of the ACNC would be drawing on the helpful public feedback it had received to date in order to provide relevant information through easy-to-access communication channels.
The "education and guidance materials" produced by the director's staff will be measured against a set of standards drafted with the assistance of experienced industry leaders to ensure that all correspondence between the commission and its stakeholders is accurate, timely and appropriate.
"We are committed to using on-going feedback from those relying on our education and guidance materials (people involved in running charities, professional advisers, and the public) to make sure we are hitting the mark," wrote MS Woodward.
"We are working on a range of mechanisms for this."
The ACNC taskforce will be making use of podcasts and YouTube videos to transmit comprehensive information session - a method of training that is much more cost-effective than face-to-face sessions - in addition to regular Facebook updates and newsletter releases.
