Required rules for charities

A corporation must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) to be a charity. A corporation that is, or wants to become, a charity must include certain rules in its rule book.

Liability of members

How much members will need to pay towards certain debts if the corporation winds up.

Objectives

Why your organisation been set up, and what will it work towards achieving. See the ACNC’s guidance on what charitable purposes are, with examples of charitable purposes. 

All of the charity’s activities must be to further its charitable purposes. There can be non-charitable activities if they are incidental or to aid the charity’s charitable purposes.

A charity that wants to apply for deductible gift recipient (DGR) status must have specific wording in its objectives about it.

Application of funds

The corporation must be not-for-profit.

The rules must ensure that funds and assets are used solely for its charitable purposes, and not of the private benefit of people connected to the charity.

A charity that has, or wants to apply for, DGR status must have specific rules about a gift fund.

Winding up

Where a corporation is wound up and there are surplus assets, they can only be given to a charitable organisation with similar charitable purposes.