Privacy and your donation

Australia's not-for-profit sector sports over 600,000 organisations. These organisations are exempt from paying tax and the public knows very little about the majority of them.

In fact, due to secrecy provisions contained within the Taxation Administration Act, the ATO is not allowed to release any information on individual organisations, even just to tell the public which organisations are operating as Authorised Research Institutes (like the IPA).

Unfortunately we are unable to provide a list of organisations that are endorsed as Deductible Gift Recipients (DGRs) by the ATO under the Approved Research Institution (ARI) category. The reason for this is that unless a specific exception applies, taxation officers are prohibited from disclosing information about the affairs of organisations that is not publicly available (see Division 355 of Schedule 1 of the Tax Administration Act 1953).

In 2013 the charities regulator was established with the intent to improve transparency in the not-for-profit sector, focusing on charities, but with the legislative authority to govern the entire sector. Of the 600,000 not-for-profits, only the 50-60 thousand of these that are registered charities are required to report their finances annually for online publication by the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission.

Charities that are registered with the ACNC and are endorsed by the ATO as income tax exempt do not have an obligation to report for income tax purposes. A charity that is income tax exempt is still required to: be registered for goods and services tax (GST) if their GST turnover is $150,000 or more; withhold pay as you go withholding tax on behalf of their employees; and pay fringe benefits tax to the extent to which they are not eligible for certain fringe benefits tax concessions (ATO spoksperson).

Of these 50+ thousand charities, over 14,000 are religious charities but a loop-hole introduced to the ACNC legislation at the behest of the religious lobby means that over half of these religious charties are excused from reporting financially to either the ATO or the ACNC.

If a charity self-reports as a Basic Religious Charity, it does not have to:

answer the financial information questions in the ACNC Annual Information Statement regardless of its size; 
 submit annual financial reports to the ACNC (even if it is a medium or large 
charity); or 
 comply with ACNC Governance Standards.

'There are criteria that a charity must meet to be a Basic Religious Charity: the charity cannot be registered with any other subtype of charity (for example, could not also be registered with the subtype of advancing education); it is not a body corporate registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (including an Australian Registered Body), an Indigenous corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006, a corporation registered under the Companies Act 1985 of Norfolk Island, or an incorporated association in any state or territory; it is not endorsed as a DGR itself (but it can be endorsed to operate DGR funds, institutions or authorities as long as their total revenue is less than $250 000 for the particular financial year) the ACNC has not allowed it to report as part of a group, and;> it has not received more than $100 000 in government grants in the current financial year or either of the previous two financial years.

In 2017 over 8,000 charities self-assessed themselves as Basic Religious Charities which means we know very little about their finances.

Each year the ACNC has noted that religious charities had wrongly self-assessed themselves as BRCs. For example, in 2014 they identified 464 charities that were incorporated or had another sub-type (and so ineligible to be a BRC). In 2015, 354 charities were identified as being incorporated and in 2016, 371 charities were identified as having misclassified themselves as BRCs (Anne O'Connell, 2019).

Chief among the reasons put forward for why religious charities should not have to report financially to the charities regulator (as do all secular charities) is that religious organisations are often small, unincorporated organisations suriving on the contributions of their membership.

Contrary to the picture painted by the organisations who lobbied for these exemptions, there are large charities (with a revenue of over $1 million annually) who are self assessed as Basic Religious Charities and who are managing significant amounts of money.

Normally, an organisation that offers a "financial product" is required by Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to obtain an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), unless an exemption applies. By an instrument in 2002 under the Corporations Act,[1] Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) granted certain AFSL exemptions to CIFs including: exemptions from the application of the debenture, managed investment scheme and fundraising provisions of the Corporations Act, and exemption from the requirement to hold an AFSL, if the only financial products issued were debentures or managed investment schemes.Wikipedia

In Australia, taking deposits from the public is classified as a banking activity and is highly regulated under the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). However, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has since 2003 exempted from certain requirements of the Banking Act entities formed for religious and charitable purposes, called Religious Charitable Development Funds (RCDFs), that take deposits (termed “investments”) from the public, subject to a number of conditions. There are currently about 60 RCDFs registered with APRA that have been granted an exemption. Between them, these funds have more than $7 billion in retail deposits. Wikipedia

At least one of these charitable investment funds is a Basic Religious Charity, which means that despite managing 'approximately $100m', the organisation is not required to report their finances to the charities regulator.

The Anglican Investment & Development Fund, Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn (AIDF) celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2017. The fund was established in 1967 by a small group of dedicated finance professional lay parishioners, along with the support of Bishop Warren and a $1,000 loan. Today the AIDF has grown to hold approximately $100m in total assets and offers a variety of products and services. Funds invested with the AIDF are used to provide loans to parishes and other diocesan agencies, including schools, for building or other capital works projects. The fund also makes housing, car and personal loans to clergy and other persons employed by the Diocese. Website

The Corporation Of The Synod Of The Diocese Of Brisbane is a Basic Religious Charity which means it does not have to report finances to the ACNC. Since Jan 2018 it has received 37 grants from the Commonwealth government alone. This does not include grants from other state or local governments or tenders from all three levels of government.

The Melbourne Anglican Trust Corporation (aka) Anglican Financial Services is yet another Basic Religious Charity in receipt of Commonwealth Grants, which means it does not have to report finances to the ACNC. Since Jan 2018 it has received 8 grants from the Commonwealth government alone. This does not include grants from other state or local governments or tenders from all three levels of government.

What is also interesting about these three Basic Religious Charities is that they are also associated with Indue bank along with several other religious charities that are not BRCs. Check out the tabs below to find out more about Commonwealth grants to religious charities and please support my funding campaign so I can create a project dedicated to the analysis of Commonwealth grants.

Anglican Grants

Catholic Grants

Salvation Army

Indue Branches

Click here for the public list of Indue BSBs

Name / Address	ABN	Tax Deductions	BRC	FINANCIALS	More
Anglican Investment and Development Fund Level 4 221 London Circuit Canberra 2601	71007807415	GST Concession FBT Rebate Income Tax Exemption	Basic Religious Charity	No public financial data Source
Baptist Financial Services-Visa Prepaid Suite 104 Level 1 56A Rawson St Epping 2121	56002861789		Registered charity -Non BRC	The 2018 operating surplus from ordinary operations for the year was $4,418,832. After deducting Grants made to Baptist entities of $1,162,973, the Net Operating Income for the year was $3,255,859. Source
Anglican Financial Services / The Corporation Of The Synod Of The Diocese Of Brisbane Ground Floor 410 Ann Street Brisbane 4000	51925884864		Basic Religous Charity	This charity reported their fincances publicly to the ACNC in 2016 only Source
Christian Outreach Centre Ministry Support Centre PO Box 25 Coorparoo 4151	No data found
Lutheran Laypeople's League 175 Archer Street North Adelaide 5006	25044678441	GST Concession FBT Rebate Income Tax Exemption	Registered Charity - non BRC	TOTAL ASSETS $1,181,313,494 TOTAL LIABILITIES $1,056,471,469 TOTAL EQUITY $124,842,025 Source
Diocese of Adelaide The Anglican Church 18 King William Road North Adelaide 5006	63198215958	GST Concession FBT Rebate Income Tax Exemption	Registered Charity - Non BRC	TOTAL REVENUE 10,716,284 TOTAL EXPENSES 6,912,029 BALANCE 3,804,255 Source
Melbourne Anglican Trust Corporation 1209 Flinders Lane Melbourne 3000	82862724352	GST Concession FBT Rebate Income Tax Exemption	Basic Religious Charity	No public financial data
Anglican Community Fund Inc Lvl 8 QBE House 200 St Georges TCE Perth 6000	62280551612	GST Concession FBT Rebate Income Tax Exemption	Registered Charity - Non BRC	TOTAL ASSETS $255,192,276 TOTAL LIABILITIES $239,140,450 EQUITY $16,051,826 Source