The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) was established as the national independent regulator of charities on 3 December 2012. The establishment of the ACNC formed part of a broader program of reforms taking place at the Commonwealth level to support the not-for-profit (NFP) sector.

This guide provides a historical record of the Australian Government’s not-for-profit reform agenda from 2010 until 1 September 2013. It does not include developments that occurred after the federal election on 7 September 2013. 

It draws together information from a variety of government sources, including the Australian Government’s report Strength, Innovation and Growth: The Future of Australia’s Not-for-Profit Sector (July 2012). This is the final version of the guide. Where possible, this guide includes links to further information. All links were current in September 2013.

This guide includes:

• a short account of ‘who’s who’ in the NFP reform agenda
• a table summarising the current status of the parts of the NFP reform agenda
• some key statistics about charities and not-for-profits in Australia
• a brief overview of the ACNC and its relationship with other regulators
• an overview of some of the significant reviews that have informed the NFP reform agenda, and
• short descriptions of the different parts of the NFP reform agenda.
•  

Only the Australian Government’s reforms are covered in this guide in detail. Reforms by Australian state and territory governments and the work of international charities regulators are not discussed. Both state and territory and international reforms have, however, significantly influenced the Australian Government’s reform agenda.