Subdivision 175-C of the ACNC Act gives the ACNC the ability to issue penalties, however until now they have not used these powers since they were established in December 2012.
Recently though the ACNC issued 13 penalty warning notices. The recipients were all large charities (annual revenue of $1 million or more) that had not lodged Annual Information Statements on time, despite regular reminders. The charities had 10 business days to submit their outstanding Annual Information Statements and annual financial reports to avoid penalties of up to $4,260 per charity.
The ACNC notes that non-compliant charities can have a significant impact on public trust and confidence and damage the reputation of the entire sector. Nearly 90% of charities have now lodged their 2015 Annual Information Statements.