ACNCCorrespondenceKateFlahavin

Correspondence with Kate Flahavin ACNC.

• On Tuesday, 18 July 2023 The Secretary wrote

  • Hi Kate,
    
    Glen Waverley congregation has a record of Church Fetes supporting outside causes, including some overseas causes.
    One cause supported has been the Friends of Ermera, which was actually founded by the deceased husband of a member of the congregation.
    John Snare (chair of congregation) Ken Coutts (treasurer) and I have been working through the ACNC requirements.
    Our discussion is summarised at https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://wiki.gwuc.org.au/gwuc/ACNCFriendsOfErmera__;!!DVrgiXjqvl2yLjg!afiG5i1OFwnwdFEmAmwLt9bz1cQdqptqr4DCMOlsAbRJLEh8CE8elUKmUomah2LKSgsdIAeLP2jxkpsrRLkIFsiZ$  and included in the attached approval form.
    It relies on using their reporting to ACNC to satisfy the requirements that are beyond our control in a donation via a third party.
    Does checking their registration and their reporting to ACNC satisfy our obligations?
    
    We would value your opinion.
    
    Thanks,
    
    David Morgan
    Church Council Secretary
    Glen Waverley Uniting Church

• On 2023 Jul 18, at 12:41 pm, Kate Flahavin

  • Hi David,
     
    And thank you for your query. It has been discussed quite a bit I must say this year.
     
    The Australian Govt essentially want to know if and when the funds and goods are going offshore even via third party.
    Yes, you can argue that it is the responsibility of Friends of Ermera, but as a donor you need to ask where are the funds really going?
    So, im confident you’ve done your due diligience. But the question remains, where is your money going? To what detail do Friends of Ermera go into regarding funding of their programs.
     
    Im very confident there will be further questions from Aust Govt and more compliance work we will need to do in this space in the future. And all for good reason.
    The money that leaves our shores for charity programs overseas needs to follow the same governance we have here. Especially in regards to child slave labour and exploitation laws etc…
     
    Thanks kindly
     
    Kate Flahavin 

• Secretary replied 18 July 2023

  • Thanks Kate,
    
    I am not arguing that it is the responsibility of Friends of Ermera to obey the rules.  
    I am arguing that it is the responsibility of the ACNC to ensure that they do, or else revoke their registration that enables them to seek donations.
    That is the core question here.  Can we rely on the ACNC to enforce its rules?
    
    Friends of Ermera give a lot of detail of how they use the money, including on the ACNC site. 
    https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/bec6c537-39af-e811-a962-000d3ad24a0d/documents/a5ea502f-56ff-ed11-8f6d-00224893cef4
    Clearly adequate detail to get them registered.  Is that not enough?
    
    We know where the money goes.  It is the other matters that cause difficulty.  If any intermediary party does not ...
    e) Have thorough recruitment procedures for staff and volunteers that include appropriate background checks.f) Make sure you have a process that allows people to report suspected wrongdoing without fear, retaliation or disadvantage.
    ... etc., then I would argue that we should be able to rely on the ACNC to revoke their registration.  
    Do you agree?  Why else would we have registration?  
    There is no way that we can know about those matters better than by looking at the documentation submitted to, and apparently approved by, the ACNC.
    
    If we are required to ensure those matters ourselves, then we cannot give overseas through any third party, including Uniting World.  There is no way that we can vet that level of detail for all their overseas partners.
    
    I am all in favour of rules enforced by the ACNC, but not of making every donor responsible for enforcing every rule.  Is that what the law requires?
    
    Thanks,
    
    David