Senator the Hon Zed Seselja

Senator the Honourable Zed Seselja, Assistant Minister for Finance, Charities and Electoral Matters, reaffirmed today that the Commonwealth Government is committed to reforming the administration and oversight of organisations with Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status.

Reforms to the administration and oversight of DGR organisations are important to strengthen governance arrangements, and to ensure continued trust and confidence in the sector.

DGR organisations do a fantastic job assisting Australians in need and have been stepping up to the challenges presented through the recent summer bush fire crisis, and now through the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is important for the Government to do what it can to create an environment where Australians are confident to keep supporting DGR organisations, who do so much to support Australians.

The Government has delivered reforms to strengthen oversight of Australian charities operating overseas, and to extend DGR status to organisations promoting Indigenous languages. The Government is continuing to work with the sector to deliver on the remaining reforms.

However, given legislative delays, three reforms that were scheduled to be implemented on 1 July 2020 will now be delayed. These reforms will instead commence three months after Royal Assent. This relates to:

• Requiring non-government organisations wishing to hold DGR status to be registered as a charity with the ACNC;
• The removal of public fund requirements for DGRs; and
• Transferring the administration of the four DGR Registers to the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).

DGRs who are not yet registered as charities are encouraged to do so ahead of legislative amendments.

I encourage organisations with queries to seek guidance from the ACNC at acnc.gov.au/contact-us.