Reform of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission secrecy provisions – Recommendation 17 of the ACNC Review

Treasury is seeking feedback and views from stakeholders on the issues identified in recommendation 17 of the Strengthening for Purpose: Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission Legislation Review 2018 (ACNC Review). Specifically, the consultation paper seeks to understand stakeholder views around the following:

• concerns and impacts of the ACNC’s current secrecy provisions;
• views about the benefits and sensitivities of public disclosure of certain information about the ACNC’s regulatory activities;
• circumstances under which the ACNC should disclose information about its regulatory activities to the public; and
• factors and risks that should form the basis of a discretion when considering whether or not to disclose information to the public.

To assist stakeholders in understanding the issues identified in the ACNC Review, the consultation paper provides a comparison of the ACNC’s current secrecy provisions with the disclosure rules of other regulators. The paper also explores the issues surrounding three areas identified in the ACNC Review where the ACNC is limited in its ability to disclose information about its regulatory activities.