Not-For-Profit: A changing sector

There are more than 600,000 non-profit groups in Australia, serving the community in a range of economic, social, cultural and environmental areas. Donations to the sector come to more than $7 billion a year and attract $14.6 billion worth of volunteer time.

Obviously, non-profits are a significant part of Australian society. And, befitting the sector’s importance, it will be under the microscope in 2012 as the Federal Government works towards ambitious new reforms.

This month Open Forum will look at the changing face of the non-profit sector in Australia, including operating in the current tough economic environment and a look at the changes that may be coming in the face of those new reforms.

As part of the 2011-12 Budget, the Government announced the first stage of a range of measures to restructure the non-profit sector, which included establishing the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) – described as a national ‘one-stop-shop’ regulator for the non-profit sector. The ANCA will start on 1 October, 2012 and will help organisations to implement the reforms.

As part of the reform, members of the non-profit sector from around Australia were invited to make suggestions to the ACNC regarding their thoughts on the key sector initiatives, which include taxation reforms, reducing red tape, a statutory definition of charities, and regulatory policy reforms.

For further details or to discuss your blog ideas, please contact Lynne at lhughes@openforum.com.au.

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