Under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act), corporations are classified as large, medium or small.
Corporation size
The size classifications are necessary to match legal obligations—such as different annual reporting requirements—to the correct activity levels of corporations.
Find the size
You can type in the name (or partial name) of a corporation in the ‘Find a corporation’ tool on oric.gov.au to find out its registered size.
The size of a corporation is worked out by looking at a corporation’s income, assets and its number of employees in a single financial year.
A small corporation will have at least TWO of the following in a financial year:
- consolidated gross operating income of less than $100,000
- consolidated gross assets valued at less than $100,000
- fewer than five employees.
A medium corporation will have at least TWO of the following in a financial year:
- consolidated gross operating income between $100,000 and $5 million
- consolidated gross assets between $100,000 and $2.5 million
- between five and 24 employees.
A large corporation will have at least TWO of the following in a financial year:
- consolidated gross operating income of $5 million or more
- consolidated gross assets valued at $2.5 million or more
- more than 24 employees.
Reporting to the Registrar
All corporations must lodge reports with the Registrar every year within six months of the end of the corporation’s financial year. Most corporations end their financial year at 30 June which means their reports are due between 1 July and 31 December.
Reports required for each corporation vary according to the corporation’s registered size and income.
| Size and income of corporation | Report required |
|---|---|
| Small corporations with a consolidated gross operating income of less than $100,000. | 1. General report only |
Small corporations with a consolidated gross operating income of $100,000 or more and less than $5 million. Medium corporations with a consolidated gross operating income of less than $5 million. | 1. General report OR 2. Financial report based on reports to government funders (if eligible*) |
| Large corporations or any size corporation with a consolidated gross operating income of $5 million or more. | 1. General report 2. Financial report 3. Audit report 4. Directors’ report |
Definitions
Consolidated gross assets = the total value of things owned by the corporation and any entities it controls.
Consolidated gross operating income = the total value of the money made by the corporation and any entities it controls.
General report
A general report contains:
- the names and addresses of members and directors
- the name and address of the corporation’s contact person (for small or medium corporations) or the secretary (for large corporations)
- the corporation’s document access address (for small or medium corporations) or registered office address (for large corporations)
- the corporation’s total income for the financial year
- the value of the corporation’s assets at the end of the financial year
- the number of employees of the corporation at the end of the financial year
- the corporation’s ABN (if it has one)
- whether the corporation is a deductible gift recipient under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
- whether any of the directors, the contact person or secretary of the corporation is also an employee.
Financial report
A financial report contains:
- financial statements for the financial year
- notes to the financial statements (as required by the accounting standards). CATSI Act corporations that prepare general purpose financial reports may adopt tier 2—reduced disclosure requirements where they meet the criteria set out in AASB 1053. For more information see the Corporation reporting guide
- a directors’ declaration.
The financial report must give a true and fair view of the corporation’s finances and performance. It should also be audited and an audit report obtained.
Directors’ report
A directors’ report contains:
- a detailed overview of the corporation’s business performance during the financial year
- the factors underlying the corporation’s results and financial position
If you would like further information on what must be included in a directors’ report please contact ORIC.
Exemptions
In some circumstances the Registrar may exempt a corporation from lodging any report or extend the period for submitting reports if the corporation applies for an exemption in good time and is able to give good reasons why it needs the exemption or extension.
You can lodge an exemption form online or download a copy of 'Exemption (reporting)' from oric.gov.au. Call or email the Registrar’s office if you need help.
*Calling small and medium corporations that receive public funding
Some questions:
- Is your corporation a small corporation with gross income between $100,000 and $5 million or a medium corporation with gross income less than $5 million?
- Is at least 90 per cent of your corporation’s income government funding (this includes funding from Commonwealth, state and territory governments)?
- Does your corporation have to lodge annual reports with funders as a condition of this funding?
- Is your corporation not required to provide consolidated financial statements?
If you can answer YES to these four questions, your corporation may provide a financial report to the Registrar in the following way:
- a copy of the reports given to the funding bodies, together with any relevant auditor’s report
- an income and expenditure statement and a balance sheet disclosing any income, expenditure, assets and liabilities that have not been included in the funding reports
- a directors’ declaration that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the corporation will be able to pay its debts when they become due and payable.