National fundraising paper released by Australian treasury

Being able to raise funds through community initiatives and charity events often requires certain measures being taken in order for the activity to comply with local requirements.

These tend to vary from state to state, which can be a problem for nonprofit organisations that operate across the country.

While in some cases Australian charities are able to implement a fundraising effort in all parts of the nation simultaneously, these efforts can be restricted by such diverse legal requirements.

For many community organisations, this means that they prefer to operate on a piecemeal basis, with rolling events that are coordinated at different times in diverse locations.

However, this red-tape tangle may soon be coming to an end, with the release of a new discussion paper from the Australian Treasury on developing new ways of coordinating donation reporting.

The report - titled Charitable fundraising regulation reform - has been the topic of discussion by the parliamentary secretary to the treasurer David Bradbury, who said that it would help to clarify the set of nationally-consistent laws that will come to regulate the fundraising efforts of charities.

While the establishment of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission will help to enforce a nationwide standard for reporting activities, the state and territory bodies would also continue to operate.

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

"The Productivity Commission recommended reform of Australia's fundraising laws to reduce the regulatory burden on the not-for-profit sector in its 2010 report, Contribution of the Not-for-profit sector, and these proposals are now being advanced in the spirit of the National Compact that was made between the government and the not-for-profit sector."

The treasury secretary went on to say that the new approach would deliver "a more streamlined, national approach to fundraising regulation" that would help to ease the burden of compliance on nonprofits involved in multiple states and territories.

"Improving transparency and information disclosure, as well as making regulation consistent across Australia, not only has the potential to cut red tape for the sector but it will also help to ensure that when making a donation, people have confidence that the money they are contributing will go towards their chosen charity programs."

Organisations involved in multiple states and territories are encouraged to read the paper and make their opinions on the proposed reforms known to the office through the treasury website.

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