I was unaware of this upcoming move. I recommended years ago when under
Howard charities were a main concern of Treasury that there should be an
national body to validate charities similar to the one they have in
Britain.

But I would have wished to have a good look at what is proposed here and
right now I have no time. I am flat out with the tasks I’ve taken on as an
active unpaid volunteer citizen. Obviously we in Nurturing Evolutionary
Development are not on their list and what we are about is not grasped
because too different from bureaucratic assumptions.

My main concern is that the plan may have come out of the Productivity
Commission whose report on charities (set in motion by Howard & Co.) was
focused solely on its economic importance to government with no mention of
its much greater importance as the builder of social capital or as a
facilitator of essential community and political adaptation to changing
realities and societal challenges. It seems still to be all about Treasury
and not about its prime function in these more critical areas of societal
adaptation and renewal.. and lobbying on emergent societal issues.

I would wish to ensure that this legislation does not enshrine charities as
existing primarily to provide current-type services and employment. It
needs to be an engine that promotes social adaptation refocusing and
citizenship renewal.
I have to guess that what is proposed just is not that: but I haven’t the
time to check it out right now.

If any of you have contacts with whom to raise this issue please do. I
agree it would be good to have legislation in place before the Coalition
gets back in but it will be no help if it’s the wrong legislation. Perhaps
the two very different charity sectors need to be legislated for separately:
(a) the ‘cheaper more flexible substitute for a public service’ – a service
employment sector
and (b) the ‘societal facilitation adaptation renewal and lobbying on new
issues’ citizen volunteer sector.

What do you think? Cheers — Ned.

Federal Government Extends NFP Consultation Deadlines
See
http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2012/01/federal-government-ex…
fp-consultation-deadlines?utm_source=Pro+Bono+Australia+-+email+updates&utm_
campaign=14e2a85a7b-Thursday_News_Service_Jan_12_20121_12_2012&utm_medium=em
ail

Posted: Monday January 9 2012 – 10:57
The new Federal Assistant Treasurer Mark Arbib has extended a number of
tight deadlines imposed on the Not for Profit sector as part of the
Government¹s reform process.
On 8 December 2011 the former Assistant Treasurer (Bill Shorten) released a
Consultation Paper on a Governance Framework for the sector. Submissions to
this paper were due on 20 January 2012.

However Arbib says that after discussions with the sector he is extending
the deadline to 27 January 2012.

³The Government acknowledges that this is still a tight timeframe for any
consultation. However it is important that the principles of a governance
framework are worked out so that they can be included in the legislation
for the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) which is
due to go before Parliament in the first quarter of 2012² said Arbib.

On 9 December 2011 the Government also released an exposure draft of the
ACNC legislation which is the latest element of a consultation process that
started in January this year.

Submissions on the legislation will also be extended to 27 January 2012.

³There is still much to do before 1 July 2012 when the ACNC becomes
operational along with work on other NFP reforms like the introduction of
a statutory definition of charity.

The new Assistant Treasurer says he is looking forward to working with the
sector in 2012 as the Government moves into the next phase of the NFP reform
agenda.

Here¹s a snapshot of the Government¹s updated agenda:
*
* extending the closing date for submissions on the exposure draft of the
ACNC legislation to 27 January 2012
*
* extending the closing date for submissions on the consultation paper on
the governance framework for the NFP sector to 27 January 2012
*
* the release of a discussion paper on the design of ACNC administrative
systems. The closing date for submissions on this paper is 27 February 2012
*
* further consultation on the better targeting of NFP tax concessions
measures is proposed for early 2012
*
* an exposure draft of a proposed definition of charity is due for release
for public consultation around mid-2012
*
* a second exposure draft for consultation on the ‘in Australia’ principle
is expected in early 2012
*
* working with the states and territories towards national regulation for
the NFP sector
*
* a discussion on the NFP reforms and how they fit together.