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Charity Sector Pushes to Change Outdated Fundraising Regulations

A coalition of more than 180 organisations is leading a push to reform fundraising regulations in Australia, which advocates have described as a “total dog’s breakfast”.

Community Council for Australia (CCA) and Justice Connect are leading the charge to enact change, which comes as the consumer affairs ministers are set to meet on Thursday.

Regulations for the sector differ from state to state, leading to a lack of consistency and clarity which makes it hard for many charities to be fully compliant.

CCA chair, Tim Costello, estimated that less than 20 per cent of Australian charities comply with current fundraising regulations.

He told Pro Bono News these regulations were extremely difficult for charities to navigate.

“The truth is, when you’re a national organisation like so many charities are, it costs you ridiculous amounts of money to comply,” Costello said.

“And we know compliance is rarely checked on, there are at least 20,000 charities that simply aren’t compliant, for instance doing crowdfunding without a license.

“Charities are incurring costs to be compliant for something that’s overlapping, out of date and not enforced, which is really unfair.”

To view the full Pro Bono article click here.

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