Seminar for July 2010: Understanding the basics of DGR

This seminar is designed to provide community organisations with basic legal information about the Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) tax status.  Tax lawyers from Blake Dawson will address common questions about how to apply for and maintain your DGR tax status as a not-for-profit organisation, including:

• What are the basic features of DGR and how might your organisation benefit from being endorsed as a DGR?
• What are the main categories of DGR?
• Is your organisation likely to fit into a DGR category?
• What should your organisation know before starting the DGR application process?
• What does applying for DGR involve?
• How can your organisation maintain its status as a DGR once it is granted?

This seminar will be generously hosted by lawyers from Blake Dawson.

Date:                   Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Time:                   9.30am to 12.30pm (registrations from 9.15am)
Presenter:            Sarah Hickey & Josh Franklyn, Lawyers at Blake Dawson
Venue:                 Blake Dawson Lawyers: Level 26, 181 William St, Melbourne
Cost:                   $40 (incl. GST) administration fee per person
Refreshments:      Light refreshments will be provided for morning tea

Registrations for this seminar are now open. To register, please visit:

Seminar for August 2010: Annual General Meetings

Do you shiver at the thought of organising your group's Annual General Meeting? Do you quail at how to handle those tricky questions from the floor of the meeting, or how to deal with the persistent interjector?

This interactive seminar will address how to plan for and run an AGM, covering the requirements for both companies limited by guarantee and Victorian incorporated associations. Come along and feel prepared when your next AGM rolls around!

Date:                   Tuesday, 17 August 2024
Time:                   9.30am-12.00pm (registrations from 9.15am)
Presenters:          Alice Macdougall, Anna Lyons and Sarah Shnider, Freehills
Venue:                 Freehills, Level 42, 101 Collins St, Melbourne
Cost:                   $40 (incl. GST) administration fee per person
Refreshments:      Light refreshments will be provided for morning tea

Registrations for this seminar are now open. To register, please visit:

Throughout 2010, PilchConnect and the VCOSS Clearinghouse are working together to run governance training for people involved in not-for-profit organisations in regional Victoria.  We are running a seminar entitled ‘Board Members: Roles, Responsibilities, Liabilities and Protections', and in July we will be heading to the Gippsland region.

This 'back to basics' training is suitable for new not-for-profit board/committee of management members - or existing NFP boards or committees that are seeking a refresher on the roles and legal responsibilities that come with helping to run an effective community organisation in Victoria.  Attendees will work in small groups on practical, hypothetical scenarios which are common to many community organisations. We encourage multiple board members to attend this seminar.

Morwell: Tuesday, 20 July 2024
Time:                     11.00am to 2.30pm
Venue:                   Lifeline - 2 Fleming St, Morwell, Vic
Presenters:             PilchConnect Staff
Cost:                     $40 (incl. GST) administration fee per person
Refreshments:        Light refreshments will be provided for morning tea

Sale: Wednesday, 21 July 2024
Time:                    9.00am-12.00pm
Venue:                  Wellington Room, 70 Foster St, Sale, Vic
Presenters:            PilchConnect Staff
Cost:                     Free for community groups from Wellington Shire (thanks to sponsorship from
                             Wellington Shire Council) - places are limited!
Refreshments:        Light refreshments will be provided for morning tea

To register, or for further information and details of other not-for-profit community training throughout regional Victoria in 2010, please visit the VCOSS Clearinghouse website below.

Victorian incorporated associations facing reforms

On 25 May 2010, the Victorian Government introduced the Associations Incorporation Amendment Bill 2010 into the Victorian Parliament, which proposes significant changes for Victorian incorporated associations, including:

• reform of the governance arrangements for incorporated associations, including the duties of office holders;
• changes to the annual reporting requirements and audit thresholds;
• removal of the limitations on trading;
• changes to grievance and dispute resolution procedures;
• amendments to winding up and external administration; and
• the introduction of new matters that must be addressed in an organisation's Rules.

The Bill is set for debate in parliament in late July 2010, however the actual implementation of the changes will not come into force until some time in 2011.  We will keep our readers updated on developments through our monthly e-bulletin service. 

In the meantime, PilchConnect has produced a page on its website to provide further details about these reforms, and how they will impact on community organisations if they are passed by Parliament. For further details, follow the link below:

New reforms for companies limited by guarantee

The Corporations Amendment (Corporate Reporting Reform) Bill 2010 became law on 28 June 2010.  The new laws are designed to reduce compliance burdens on smaller companies limited by guarantee, whilst recognising the importance of regular reporting for transparency and accountability purposes.

The reforms introduce a three-tiered approach to annual reporting that is based on annual revenue and tax status. Companies limited by guarantee will now be required to produce annual reports and statements according to the tier level in which they are classified. For example, the changes remove the requirement for audited financial statements to be produced for many smaller companies limited by guarantee that are not endorsed as Deductible Gift Recipients - unless these audits are requested by the members of the organisation, or by ASIC.

For further details on the changes for companies limited by guarantee, including the criteria for the three different reporting tiers, please follow the below link to our webpage dedicated to these reforms:

Senate inquiry into a 'public benefit' test for charities

The Senate Economics Committee is currently considering reforms to Australia's tax laws which, if adopted, would require religious and charitable organisations to satisfy a 'public benefit' test before being entitled to tax concessions or exemptions. The Inquiry is taking place in response to concerns raised by certain Senators about the tax deductibility of some organisations currently classified as religious institutions.

A 'public benefit' test is currently in place within other jurisdictions, including England and Wales where, in 2006, legislation was passed which requires that a charity's purpose must be for the public benefit.

Submissions to the Senate Inquiry are now closed and the final report is expected to be released at the end of August. PilchConnect's submission to the inquiry is available on our ‘Law Reform and Advocacy' page below:

National approach to business name registration

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has recently announced its intention to introduce a national approach to business name registrations. Currently, business name registration regime (including name registration for not-for-profit organisations) is a state-based system - in Victoria, it is administered by Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV).

The new national business names register is proposed to start operating in the first half of 2011, and after that time, names currently registered with CAV will be transitioned to the national register as a national business name. When this transition takes place, CAV will cease handling business name registrations.

Full information on the ‘Australian Business Number Business Names Registration Project' is available on the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research website below:

In light of the above proposal to ‘nationalise' business name registrations, we thought it would be a timely opportunity to remind organisations that the registration of a business name does not in itself secure legal ownership of that name.

The business name registration process is often confused with ownership of intellectual property in that name.  However, unless the name has been used extensively and has a significant market reputation, it is unlikely that you can claim legal ownership of a name simply on the basis that you have registered it with the appropriate authority.

To ensure that your organisation holds the intellectual property in your name, you should consider registering the name as a trade mark.  Before choosing a name, you should do a thorough search across a variety of registers and internet sites to determine whether the name you want to register is available as (i) a business or company name; (ii) a trade mark; and (iii) a domain name.

For further information on intellectual property for not-for-profit organisations, please visit our page dedicated to ‘Protecting your name, ideas and material' on our website below:

PilchConnect recently invited David Locke, Executive Director of Charity Services at the Charity Commission for England and Wales, to Australia.  David's visit aimed to promote and encourage constructive dialogue on future regulatory models for charities and other not-for-profit organisations in Australia.

During his visit to Australia, David presented keynote speeches in Sydney and Brisbane, and attended a number of high-level meetings (including one hosted by Senator Ursula Stephens) in Canberra. His busy trip culminated in a breakfast event in Melbourne where he addressed a forum of approximately 150 representatives from the not-for-profit sector with comments provided by Productivity Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald. At this event the Minister for Community Development Lily D'Ambrosio also announced funding for PilchConnect.

When addressing the various forums, David clearly identified the regulatory challenges faced by Australian not-for-profits, in particular, inconsistencies between State and Commonwealth models, and noted that these difficulties are exacerbated by the lack of a centralised regulator for the sector. David highlighted the importance of transparency in the sector, and the fundamental role this has on the promotion of public confidence in charities in England and Wales.

For further details of David's visit to Australia, including links to podcasts of his presentations while in the country, see the Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies website below:

Document retention requirements for community organisations

A new PilchConnect ‘frequently asked questions' on document retention is now available which provides a summary of the legal obligations an organisation has with keeping its records and files.  This latest publication adds to the growing amount of free legal information and resources available for not-for-profit community groups through the PilchConnect webportal. 

The ‘Document Retention Requirements' frequently asked questions page is now available for free by following the below link:

The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (Queensland University of Technology) has recently released the Australian Nonprofit Sector Legal Almanac for 2009.  

The Almanac has been edited by Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes, and provides a terrific summary of the key developments in the not-for-profit sector throughout the year, including case notes of significant legal decisions and policy reforms.   

The Almanac is available free online from the Queensland University of Technology website below.  We also have a limited number of hard copies, so please contact us at  connect@pilch.org.au if your organisation would like a free hard copy of the Almanac. The Almanac is available online from the Queensland Institute of Technology website:

PilchConnect is a specialist legal service which has been set up to provide legal help to Victorian, not-for-profit community organisations.

The service provides free and low cost legal information, training, advice and legal referrals for Victorian not-for-profit community organisations. We also undertake law reform and advocacy work about the wide range of legal issues that affect the not-for-profit sector.

If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this e-bulletin please email  connect@pilch.org.au.

If you would like to contribute to, or provide feedback about this e-bulletin, please email
  connect@pilch.org.au.

To find out more about the legal services we provide, see:

Have you missed an earlier edition of PilchConnect's e-bulletin and want to get up-to-date?  All of our previous newsletters are available on the PilchConnect website at the link below, including this month's edition!