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NFPs and charities

Registered charities' obligations to the ACNC and ASIC

Key points:

  • Charities must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
  • Some charities also need to be registered with ASIC.
  • The ACNC and ASIC have different reporting requirements.

Charity structures and registration

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) registers charities. Depending on its structure, your charity might also need to be registered with ASIC first.

If your charity has one of the four structures listed below, you must register it with ASIC before registering it with the ACNC.

  • Public company limited by guarantee. This is the most common type of company structure used by charities.
  • Proprietary company limited by shares. For example, a business completely owned by a charity where the business has a charitable purpose.
  • Registered Australian body. For example, an incorporated association that is registered with ASIC so it can do business outside its state or territory.
  • Foreign companies. For example, a charity formed or incorporated overseas but registered to operate in Australia.

A charity that uses an incorporated association structure but is not a registered Australian body, is not registered with ASIC.

Find out more about structures for not-for-profits and charities:

Registering and structuring not-for-profit and charitable organisations

Requirements for companies registered with both the ACNC and ASIC

If your company is registered with both the ACNC and ASIC, some requirements in the Corporations Act 2001 do not apply. These laws are described as being ‘turned off’.

For example, some company officeholder obligations are ‘turned off’.

If you are responsible for governing a charity (known as a ‘responsible person’), you must still act with care and in the charity’s best interests. Responsible people are guided by the ACNC’s governance standard 5.

Breaching some duties in the Corporations Act remains an offence. For example, it is an offence for a director to use their position to cause detriment to the company.

As a registered charity, your company does not need to use the term ‘Limited’ or ‘Ltd’ in its name if its constitution:

  • does not allow fees to be paid to its directors
  • requires directors to approve other company payments to directors.

If you want to remove the term from your company's legal name, you will need to apply to ASIC to change your company name. You also need to notify the ACNC.

If your company stops being a charity but wants to remain a company, you will need to notify us. We will update the company’s details and add ‘Limited’ to your name (if it has been removed).

As a charity, you do not need to conduct a company annual review or pay the annual fee. Instead, you complete an Annual Information Statement for the ACNC. However, if your company annual review was due before the company registered as a charity, you will need to pay that year’s fee.

Your company reporting obligations

Charities have different reporting obligations to the ACNC and to ASIC. Their ongoing obligations are mainly to the ACNC.

In general, you need to report to the ACNC on things that relate to charity status. Report to ASIC on things that relate to your company’s registration with ASIC. The following table is a summary of reporting obligations.