ACOSS Calls for National Regulator
6 May 2010 at 1:02 pm
ACOSS is calling on the Federal Government to adopt recommendations of the Henry Review and the Productivity Commission in next week’s Budget to establish a new national, independent commission to regulate the Not for Profit sector.
The Australian Council of Social Service CEO Clare Martin, says Australia’s diverse and vibrant Not for Profit sector adds $43 billion to the economy and employs 8 per cent of workers.
Martin says this important economic contribution requires national oversight by an independent ASIC-style body which would monitor, advise and gather data on non-profit organisations.
She says it is time for the Not for Profit sector to have a more streamlined regulation framework that has applied to the business sector for many years.
ACOSS has written to the Prime Minister and Treasurer asking for the regulator to be established without delay.
The Henry Review and the Productivity Commission have both called for a new national Not for Profit regulator to reduce complexity and compliance costs on organisations however this was rejected in the Rudd Government’s response to the Henry Review.
Clare martin says that currently the regulatory framework is uncoordinated at Commonwealth and state/territory levels, making it complex and costly for organisations to meet their reporting requirements.
She says a regulator has had widespread support across the community sector for over a decade and its adoption is long over-due.
She says operating as a ‘one-stop shop’ for regulation, the regulator would oversee tax concessions, submission of corporate and financial information, and register national fundraising activities. The regulator would also modernise the definition of a charity, which is currently based on an outdated, irrelevant definition.
