Information about the Public Fund
This information (section 30-45 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) applies to organisations and their public funds listed on the Register of Harm Prevention Charities (the Register) from 25 September 2014.
The public fund must be:
- a registered charity; or
- operated by a registered charity.
Every organisation listed on the Register is required to be a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and have gained endorsement as a Tax Concession Charity. For more information visit the ACNC website.
In order to gain and keep Deductible Gift Recipient status the institution needs to ensure the relevant public fund requirements are met, and that the public fund has its own:
- name
- model rules (including: objects, winding up clause, not for profit basis, public must and does contribute)
- bank account
- management committee
- receipts
If the public fund is to be a registered charity it will also need to:
- Create a separate constitutional document for the public fund, or amend the organisation’s constitutional document by inserting the following words immediately after model clause 6.1 of the Register’s Guidelines
The trustee [name of the harm prevention charity] intends that the public fund be established and maintained as a trust - Obtain an ABN for the Public Fund. Use the entity type – Fixed Trust
- Register the Public Fund as a charity with the ACNC, and
- Advise the ACNC of the changes to your constitutional documents. This obligation is in addition to any other obligations your charity has under other laws or to other regulators related to updating constitutional documents.
The institution will need to decide how it wants the public fund to be set up and managed.
If you have any queries or concerns about these requirements please contact the Register hotline on 1800 441 242 or email harmpreventioncharitiesregister@dss.gov.au.
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