From 1 October 2018, NSW associations also registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) will no longer need to lodge its annual summary of financial affairs with us or pay the annual lodgement fee.
Charities must lodge the association’s Annual Information Statement (and financial statements if required) with the ACNC for each financial year. The information previously provided to Fair Trading will now be collected by the ACNC and sent securely to us.
The ACNC’s Annual Information Statement for NSW organisations has been updated to include additional questions to collect information for us.
All questions on the ACNC form must be answered, including providing the association’s NSW registration number and registered name so it can be correctly identified as being exempt. If the association chooses not to answer one or more of the questions, it will need to lodge its annual summary with Fair Trading, and pay the annual lodgement fee.
This change only applies to annual financial reporting obligations to Fair Trading
- All incorporated associations must continue to notify Fair Trading of any changes, such as the association’s name, details, constitution or public officer.
- If the association is not on the ACNC charities register, the reporting obligations do not change. All annual reporting must be lodged with Fair Trading and the lodgement fee must be paid.
- This change only applies if the association continues to be registered with the ACNC.
- This change is not retrospective. All associations that must lodge annual summary/summaries before 1 October 2018, must submit separate annual reporting to both the ACNC and Fair Trading.
- Associations must hold their AGM within 6 months of their financial year end date. All financial statements must be submitted to members at this meeting. Visit the Running an association webpage for more information about reporting obligations.
- The change does not apply to charities approved by the ACNC to withhold details (for example, revenue or address) or financial reports from the ACNC register.
You can confirm your association’s status by using the ACNC charities register.
For information about reporting obligations to the ACNC, visit the Regulation of charities page on the ACNC website.
Related information
Associations Incorporation Act 2009 exemption order No. 001/18 (PDF size: 11.8Mb)