The Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission: Reform or Un-Reform?

After more than a decade of reviews and inquiries, in 2012 Australia finally adopted a national regulator for the charity sector, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). However, the change of federal government in Australia in 2013 has seen a concerted effort from the new Coalition Government to eliminate the regulator, abolish its supporting legislation and to fill the gap in a largely unspecified way, other than through the creation of a Centre for Excellence. This paper builds on the discussion in Fiona Martin’s earlier paper in this volume, by teasing out the Coalition’s plans to replace the ACNC and examining in greater detail the practical problems such an attempt might involve and might generate. It also expands on Martin’s critique of the reasons provided for abolition. Given that much of the transitional cost has already been incurred, the paper ultimately questions why the ACNC should not be left in place to enable the possibility of longer-term benefits in the form of greater inter-jurisdictional regulatory harmonisation.