Bills
Charitable Collections Amendment Bill 2025
Introduction and first reading
Bill introduced, on motion by Hon Dan Caddy (Parliamentary Secretary), and read a first time.
Second reading speech
Hon Dan Caddy (North Metropolitan Region—Parliamentary Secretary) (6:06 pm): I move:
That the bill be now read a second time.
The Charitable Collections Amendment Bill 2025 will make amendments to the Charitable Collections Act 1946 to address issues of inconsistency and duplication in regulation for organisations that want to collect money for charitable purposes in Western Australia. The act requires all collectors to be licensed. Around 2,500 organisations are currently licensed. The act provides that the Commissioner for Consumer Protection—the commissioner—may grant licences, impose conditions on licences and revoke licences. The act also provides for the establishment of an advisory committee with responsibility for providing advice to the commissioner on the granting and revocation of licences as required. The commissioner also has the power to require a licence holder to provide collection records.
All licence holders are currently required to provide their accounts every year for review. All states and territories, apart from the Northern Territory, have licensing requirements for charitable fundraising. The Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) imposes additional governance and reporting requirements for those charities wishing to register with the ACNC in order to access federal tax concessions. This means that charities that want to collect online or run national fundraising campaigns need to comply with a range of different regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. Around 85% of Western Australian licence holders are registered with the ACNC.
With the establishment of the ACNC in 2012, and the increasing reliance on online collecting in recent times, fundraising regulators across Australia have been working to reduce the complexity and duplication in regulatory requirements. A national working group developed a set of reforms that were endorsed by the Council on Federal Financial Relations in November 2020 and February 2023. Some of the changes coming out of the reform process did not require amendments to the act and have already been implemented; for example, charities licensed in WA and registered with the ACNC can now lodge one set of accounts with the ACNC, which are forwarded directly to the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety; Consumer Protection division in WA. Western Australian licences no longer require periodic applications for renewal and a simplified application process is provided for ACNC-registered applicants. Financial reporting thresholds have also been aligned for those charities that are incorporated associations, so there are now consistent reporting requirements under associations and charities legislation.
This bill will implement the remaining reforms proposed by the national working group, which will have the effect of streamlining regulatory requirements for charities. The key reform will see an automatic mutual recognition scheme introduced for charities registered with the ACNC on notifying the commissioner of their intention to undertake charitable collections in WA. These entities will be deemed to hold a licence to collect. A pillar supporting this reform will be that entities deemed to hold a licence will be required to comply with all regulations, conditions and conduct requirements that apply to locally licensed entities. The commissioner may also revoke a deemed licence. Further, the ACNC will forward information to Consumer Protection to allow the commissioner to determine that it is appropriate for the entity to hold a licence and whether any conditions are required. Consistent with national mutual recognition, the commissioner will be empowered to facilitate information sharing with the ACNC and regulators in other states and territories.
The bill will also include a head of power in the act that will permit a code of conduct to be made to regulate the conduct of charitable fundraising activities by licence holders and their authorised agents. It is intended that this mechanism will be used to implement a nationally agreed set of conduct principles in WA. The principles will be applied in each jurisdiction, replacing current inconsistent conduct requirements. It is proposed that the code will introduce a range of modern best practice conduct requirements that are suited for use for both on-the-ground collecting and online collecting, and are strongly supported by the sector. The code will replace WA's current voluntary code of conduct.
The bill also provides an opportunity to streamline administrative requirements. Firstly, in relation to the imposition of licence conditions, the bill provides a power for conditions to be applied or removed at any time and not just on the grant of a licence. Secondly, the bill simplifies the grant of licence applications by removing the requirement for the involvement of the Charitable Collections Advisory Committee in the determination of all applications. Thirdly, the appointment of members of the Charitable Collections Advisory Committee is simplified by allowing for appointment by the minister rather than the Governor. The act will also be updated by removing obsolete references to war funds and to include gender-neutral language.
Charities undertake important work and provide crucial services to the Western Australian community. The amendments in the bill will support charities by harmonising fundraising regulations and reducing administrative burden.
Pursuant to standing order 126(1), I advise that this bill is a uniform legislation bill. It is a bill that, by reason of its subject matter, is part of a uniform scheme or uniform laws throughout the Commonwealth. I commend the bill to the house and table an explanatory memorandum.
(See paper 246.)
Debate adjourned and bill referred to the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review, pursuant to standing orders.
