ACNC Snapshot of New Charities

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission has conducted an analysis of the emerging trends around the first 250 charities registered since it was established late last year.

More than half of the registrations are new organisations which have been established for less than a year. However, a significant number have operated for much longer – the oldest since 1833 – but have only just nominated to register as charities.

The ACNC has provided a snapshot of the type of new charities registering, including where they operate and who they benefit.

The most common charitable purpose among the newly-established charities is education, which is consistent with the charity sector in general, followed by relief of poverty and then the advancement of religion.

Education was the most common charitable purpose of the newly registered charities with 90 per cent listing some educational activities. Social and community welfare (37%) and reducing poverty (31%) were the second- and third-most commonly nominated activities.

The ACNC said it was uncommon for charities to have just one activity – with only 23 per cent confirming they do while more than half list up to five charitable purpose focuses. Thirteen per cent of the new listings focus on international aid work and 10 per cent offer disaster relief.

The advancement of religion was the purpose for 47 of the 250 newly registered charities, while 35 had a charitable purpose of Health Promotion. Just three charities listed childcare as the primary focus.

The ACNC said charities in Australia must work to benefit the public, although they may benefit a particular section of the public, such as children or people experiencing a particular disease. A charity must nominate one or more groups who will benefit from their work when they register.

Children were the most commonly nominated beneficiaries and 85 per cent of the new charities nominated children or young people among their beneficiaries.

Many charities worked to benefit more than one group, with almost 40 per cent claiming they helped between two and five groups. Sixty-one new charities have been established to benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Gender-focused charities included 79 with a focus on women and 63 with a focus on men.

Ninety-six new charities operate on a national scale and 124 operate in just one Australian state or territory.On an international scale, 41 charities conducted some of their activities overseas and 25 charities noted 75 per cent of their expenditure was spent overseas.

New South Wales had the largest number of new charity registrations (81), followed by 67 in Victoria and 44 in Queensland.There was 14 new registered charities in South Australia, 25 in Western Australia and 11 in the ACT. Tasmania had five new registered charities and the Northern Territory had three.

Seventy-seven per cent of the new charities were classed as ‘small’ under the ACNC’s tier system and listed an annual revenue of less than $250,000.

About 70 per cent did not receive Government grants while 20 per cent said they did not receive donations. Almost 40 per cent said they depended on donations to make up the bulk of their income.

View the full ACNC Snapshot.