CPS 2013/08
Commissioner’s Policy Statement:
Accepting other government reports
This Commissioner’s Policy Statement is issued under the authority of the
Commissioner and should be read together with the ACNC Policy Framework, which
sets out the scope, context and definitions common to our policies.
Policy Statement
1.
This Commissioner’s Policy Statement sets out the principles the Commissioner
will consider when exercising the transitional discretion to accept reports given by
a charity to another Australian government agency under an Australian law in
place of the Annual Information Statements or annual financial reports required
under the ACNC Act.
2.
This policy sets out the principles the ACNC will apply both when negotiating
access to these reports with other government agencies, and when receiving
reports directly from charities which have already been provided to other
government agencies.
Legislative context
3.
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Consequential and
Transitional Act) 2012 (Cth) (ACNC Consequential and Transitional Act) gives the
Commissioner power to accept a statement, report or other document (‘other
government report’) given by a charity to another Australian government agency in
place of: the Annual Information Statement, or the annual financial report required
under the ACNC Act (see Schedule 1, Part 4, Item 10(1)).
4.
The other government report must be required ‘under an Australian law’, meaning
under a Commonwealth, State or Territory law. This would include reports, for
example, under State incorporations associations legislation and fundraising
legislation.
5.
This power can be used up until, and including, the 2014-2015 financial years, and
any later years prescribed by regulations (or, where relevant, a substituted
accounting period, as explained in our substituted accounting periods policy)
(Schedule 1, Part 4, Item 10(4) of the ACNC Consequential and Transitional Act).
6.
The purpose of the discretion is to enable the Commissioner to address potential
reporting duplication during the process of establishing the ACNC (Explanatory
Memorandum, [14.31]).
7.
When deciding to accept another government report as the Annual Information
Statement or annual financial report for a charity, the Commissioner must consider
certain matters such as what access the Commissioner has to the information, the
information contained in the other documents and the processes used to verify the
other government reports. These criteria are included in the principles in this policy
UNCLASSIFIED
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Commissioner’s Policy Statement: Accepting other government reports CPS 2013/08
(see Schedule 1, Part 4, Item 10(2) of the ACNC Consequential and Transitional
Act).
8.
If the Commissioner exercises this discretion, the Commissioner must notify the
charity of the decision (see Schedule 1, Part 4, Item 10(3) of the ACNC
Consequential and Transitional Act). The Commissioner may notify charities in
accordance with this provision by way of notification on the ACNC website for a
particular class of registered charities.
Principles
9.
When deciding whether to accept another government report given by a charity to
another Australian government agency as the Annual Information Statement or the
annual financial report, the Commissioner will consider the following principles.
Principle 1: Balancing public trust and confidence against
reducing unnecessary regulatory obligations
10. In performing functions and exercising powers, the Commissioner must have
regard to the need for transparency and accountability of the not-for-profit sector to
the public (including donors, members and volunteers of registered charities) by
ensuring the public has access to information about not-for-profit entities
(subsection 15-10(b) of the ACNC Act) and the benefits gained from providing
information to the public (subsection 15-10(c) of the ACNC Act). It is expected that
greater transparency and accountability will lead to increased public trust and
confidence in the sector.
11. The Commissioner will balance the need for public trust and confidence against
the object of promoting the reduction of unnecessary regulatory obligations
(section 15-5 of the ACNC Act). The Commissioner will also give due weight to the
need to cooperate with other Australian government agencies and administer the
laws that confer functions and powers on the Commissioner (including in order to
minimise procedural requirements and duplication) (subsection 15-10(f) of the
ACNC Act).
Principle 2: Information to be compared with ACNC
requirements
12. The Commissioner will consider whether the information contained in the relevant
statement, report or other document contains:

the information required by the Annual Information Statement or annual
financial report, or

other information that relates to, or has the purpose of enabling, the same
recognised assessment activities to be carried out in relation to charities.
13. The information required by the Annual Information Statement, and the meaning of
recognised assessment activities, is set out in the Annual Information Statement
policy.
14. If the information in the other government document provides the same information
as required in the Annual Information Statement (and annual financial report where
applicable) the Commissioner will accept the report as being an Annual Information
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Commissioner’s Policy Statement: Accepting other government reports CPS 2013/08
Statement (and annual financial report where applicable) if there are no
countervailing reasons under the other principles in this policy.
15. If the information in the other government report does not provide the same
information as required in the Annual Information Statement (or annual financial
report where applicable), the Commissioner will consider whether the information
allows the same recognised assessment activities to be carried out.
Principle 3: Reliability of information in other government report
to be assessed
16. The Commissioner will consider whether, and how, the information in the other
government report is verified (both by the charity and by the government agency).
The ACNC will accept a report (which includes either an audit or review report as
relevant) if the information has been verified to the same standard as required
under the ACNC Act1 (assuming there are no considerations to the contrary from
applying the other principles in this policy).
17. If a similar or another process has been undertaken to verify the information that
would give the Commissioner confidence in the integrity of the information, the
Commissioner may still accept the other government report. For example, the
Commissioner may exercise the discretion under the transitional provisions to
accept financial reports (which includes either an audit or review report as relevant)
for:

Large charities that have been audited by a person other than a registered
company auditor, or from an audit firm or an authorised audit company

Large charities that have been reviewed instead of audited, or

Medium charities that have been reviewed or audited by a person other than
someone authorised to undertake a review or audit under the ACNC Act.
18. Although the Commissioner must have regard to processes undertaken to verify
the relevant financial reports, the Commissioner may even in some circumstances
accept financial reports that have not been audited or reviewed.
19. Where the Commissioner exercises the discretion to accept the other government
report as a financial report under section 60-10, it is taken to be in accordance with
Subdivision 60-C (Annual financial reports) or 60-D. As such, other provisions of
Subdivision 60-C are deemed to be satisfied, including requirements for:

Annual financial reports (section 60-15)

Audit or review (sections 60-20 to 60-35)

Auditor’s or reviewer’s independence declaration (section 60-40)

Auditor’s or reviewer’s report (sections 60-45 and 60-50)

Provision of information and assistance to auditor or reviewer (section 60-55).
1
The ACNC Act requires that annual financial reports provided by large registered entities be audited and
reports provided by medium registered charities be either audited or reviewed (sections 60-20 and 60-25)..
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Commissioner’s Policy Statement: Accepting other government reports CPS 2013/08
Principle 4: Access to information required before discretion
exercised
20. Before the Commissioner can accept the other government report, the
Commissioner must consider that the ACNC has sufficient access to the other
government report.
21. The information in the government report must be able to be lawfully shared with
the ACNC under the other agency's laws and information handling policies. The
Commissioner will also consider the degree of practical access (for example, the
capacity to transfer the information between the agency and the ACNC) the other
Australian government agency can and will provide to the other government report.
22. The Commissioner will also consider when the relevant statement, report or other
document will be available and whether the Commissioner can receive the
information in a timely way. The Commissioner will also consider the form in which
the Australian government agency collects and holds the information, and whether
this can be converted to enable the ACNC Register to be updated.
Principle 5: Co-operative approach taken in exercising discretion
23. The Commissioner’s preferred approach is to work co-operatively with relevant
Commonwealth, state and territory agencies to identify when and, if so, how other
government reports can be accepted in place of the Annual Information Statement
or annual financial reports. In these cases, the Commissioner will seek to have the
other government agency provide the reports, subject to information handling laws
and principles, in order to minimise the regulatory burden on charities.
24. However, if the ACNC would accept the other government report except for
difficulties with accessing the report, the ACNC will accept those reports directly
from charities themselves. The ACNC will publicise which reports it has decided to
accept in this case, rather than asking charities to apply for these to be accepted.
References
Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (Cth)
Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Consequential and Transitional
Act 2012 (Cth)
ACNC’s Annual information statement policy
ACNC’s Substituted accounting period policy
ACNC’s Policy Framework
Version
Date of effect
Brief summary of change
Version 1 - Initial policy
23/12/2013
Initial policy endorsed by the Commissioner on 23/12/2013
Version 2 – Revision
15/01/2014
Amendment to notification provisions. Approved by the
Commissioner on 15/01/2014
Version 3 – Revision
28/07/2014
Amendment to clarify when the ACNC will accept financial
reports that are not verified to the same standard required
under the ACNC Act
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