On this page
- Is your organisation registered with the ACNC?
- What do charities registered with the ACNC have to do?
- What if your organisation is an incorporated association and a charity registered with the ACNC?
- What if your organisation is a company and a charity registered with the ACNC?
- What else does the ACNC mean for your charity?
Is your organisation registered with the ACNC?
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the national regulator of charities. Check if your organisation is registered on the ACNC charity register.
What do charities registered with the ACNC have to do?
Charities registered with the ACNC must submit an Annual Information Statement (AIS).
Medium charities (those with an annual revenue of $500,000 to under $3 million) and large charities (those with an annual revenue of over $3 million) must also submit a full annual financial report with their AIS. The ACNC also encourages small charities (those with an annual revenue of under $500,000) to lodge a financial report, but it is optional.
See the ACNC website for more information on the size of charities and how this affects reporting obligations, AISs and annual financial reports.
Our fact sheet sets out further information on financial reporting for charities including information on:
- Annual Information Statement (AIS) requirements
- annual financial report requirements
- requirements to review or audit annual financial reports
Note
The requirements to report to the ACNC are in addition to other reporting requirements that may apply to your organisation under other laws or to other regulators.
What if your organisation is an incorporated association and a charity registered with the ACNC?
If your organisation is incorporated as an association under a state regime and is a charity, it will be registered both with the relevant state regulator (such as Consumer Affairs Victoria) and with the ACNC.
Your organisation must meet the reporting obligations of the state regulator and the ACNC.
What if your organisation is a company and a charity registered with the ACNC?
If your organisation is incorporated as a company, (for example, as a company limited by guarantee) and is a charity registered with the ACNC, reporting is primarily to the ACNC rather than to ASIC.
Note that this does not apply to Indigenous Corporations that report to the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC). See the ACNC website for information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations.
For a table summarising whether charitable companies should contact the ACNC or ASIC for different kinds of reporting obligations, see the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) website.
What else does the ACNC mean for your charity?
Listing on a public information portal
The ACNC maintains a public register of charities. The register contains key details about registered charities including purposes, contact details, annual reporting information, governing documents, and the names of responsible people.
Ongoing obligations
Registered charities have ongoing obligations to the ACNC that they must meet to remain registered. They include to keep records and comply with a set of Governance Standards.
For more information see the ACNC’s website, ongoing obligations to the ACNC .
The ACNC has helpful information on its website, including information on:
- starting a charity
- transitional arrangements from Australian Taxation Office to ACNC
- registering as a charity
- guidance and tools for charities
- ongoing obligations for charities to the ACNC
- reporting annually to the ACNC
- the Annual Information Statement
- the Governance Standards
- obligations to other regulators
The content on this webpage was last updated in September 2025 and is not legal advice. See full disclaimer and copyright notice.
