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December 2020
What's in this update?
- Not-for-profit News in 2020 and our latest 'Rules Tool'
- Government acts against organisations that don’t take part in the National Redress Scheme for victims of institutional child sexual abuse
- NEW and updated resources
- Upskill with our summer webinar series and plan your 2021 training needs
- Other news in our sector - JobKeeper extension two, JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme, portable long service leave scheme changes in Victoria, a new Direction on public activities in South Australia, and a survey of charitable organisations
Not-for-profit News in 2020
This year, we helped with more than 1,700 enquiries across many different legal issues, trained around 6,000 people through our webinars and reached over 18,000 readers through this newsletter. We’ll bring you more of the same practical, jargon-free legal assistance in 2021.
Here's just some of what we did ... and what can still help you!
Our FAQs cover four types of legal issues that really jumped out during the pandemic – governance, privacy, contracts and insurance and the people involved. We answered questions about witnessing documents through Skype, managing cybersecurity risk, letting volunteers work from home and holding AGMs remotely (in our popular AGM flowchart).
Our Volunteer Guide was updated in May and includes new material. This guide sets out the key legal obligations organisations owe volunteers and provides practical examples, template documents and top tips. You can still access our free webinar, delivered as part of National Volunteer Week 2020, on drafting a great volunteer agreement.
Whistleblower protection laws and not-for-profit organisations
To complement our whistleblower template policy, we have published a fact sheet on whistleblower protection laws and not-for-profit organisations. This fact sheet includes information on which entities must comply with whistleblower protection laws and when they are required to have a whistleblower policy.
Rules Tool (just launched)
We launched a Rules Tool for Victorian incorporated associations to help them create their own customised set of rules that are set out in plain language and compliant with the law.
We've updated our fundraising guides and fact sheets and kept up the campaign to #fixfundraising.
The campaign gained momentum this year as the bush fires and pandemic highlighted the inadequacies of our complicated state-based fundraising systems. Positive campaign steps this year included:
- the formation of a Charities Crisis Cabinet by leaders from the not-for-profit sector, and their swift and strong statements calling for this reform
- the publication of a statement from all fundraising regulators acknowledging fundraising reform is required and agreeing to 'take a supportive and educative approach when assessing compliance with charitable fundraising law' during the pandemic
- the release of a discussion paper on a proposed cross-border recognition model by the working group of state and territory officials, and
- agreement from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements that there should be a single national scheme for fundraising
Read more about these actions on our #fixfundraising webpage.
Government acts against organisations that don’t take part in the National Redress Scheme
The Federal Government is taking steps to sanction organisations that don’t participate in the National Redress Scheme (Scheme) for victims of institutional child sexual abuse by giving the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission power to deregister a charity which doesn’t take reasonable steps to participate in the Scheme.
This will be done by creating an additional governance standard in the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Regulation 2013 (Cth). This new governance standard will require registered charities to take all reasonable steps to become a participating non-government institution if a claim has been, or is likely to be, made against them under the Scheme.
In addition, the definition of a basic religious charity in the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission Act 2012 (Cth) will be amended to exclude from eligibility religious institutions that have been named in an application to the Scheme but refuse to join.
For more information about these developments, see the news item on our website.
Our new and updated free resources
Webinar summer series - join live or watch on-demand
Starting a not-for-profit organisation - FREE
Thinking of setting up a not-for-profit organisation but not sure where to start? Let us help!
This introductory webinar will cover how to set up and register your organisation, which legal structure is best for you and whether you should incorporate.
We’ll cover:
- What it means to be a not-for-profit community organisation
- Key steps when starting out
- The incorporation decision, including pros and cons
- Legal structures
- Basics of charity status and tax concessions
- Additional resources to help with the process
Board inductions for not-for-profit organisations
Whether you’re a new board member or you’ve been doing it for a while, there’s always more to learn. What’s the role of the board? What are your key responsibilities? When could you be legally responsible if things go wrong and what protections are available?
In this webinar, we’ll help you understand your role so you can be a better board member.
We’ll cover:
- Main legal duties of board members
- The standards the law sets for decision-making as board members
- The importance of your organisation’s legal status, rules and legal purpose
- Other key legal issues to consider as a board member
Managing legal risk with a diverse volunteer workforce
Can you hire someone if they’ve got a criminal record? How should you look after an older volunteer in a pandemic? What can you do to make your workplace more accessible for people with disability?
This workshop-style webinar will use practical case studies to highlight the kinds of issues you need to consider to build and grow a successful and diverse volunteer workforce.
We’ll cover:
- Work health & safety obligations
- Anti-discrimination laws
- Screening checks
- Practical tips on how to balance your legal obligations while embracing a diverse volunteer workforce
Drafting a great volunteer agreement - FREE
In celebration of National Volunteer Week and the launch of our updated volunteer agreement template, we delivered a special free 30 minute webinar exploring the ins and outs of this important document.
Having a well thought out and drafted volunteer agreement is the best way to be clear about the relationship between your organisation and the volunteer. It also helps to manage certain legal risks that could come up in your volunteer program.
Not-for-profit Law Training
From all of us at Not-for-profit Law Training - thank you for your support during this challenging year. We’ve loved seeing so many of you (virtually!) at our online training sessions. The work you all do with the community is so vital and we feel privileged to be able to assist you in your endeavours.
By engaging a not-for-profit to deliver your training or attending one of our public webinars, you’re helping us increase our impact, with any profits going back into Justice Connect’s services. Thanks to your support we’ve embraced the challenges of the year by transitioning to online training, delivering over 100 sessions to around 6,000 participants. We hope your holiday season is safe and happy and look forward to working with you again in 2021.
Planning for 2021?
We’d love to talk to you about your training needs – whether it be governance training for your board, a session for staff on volunteer safety, risk and insurance or getting your head around privacy and data laws. Check out our website for details of all our legal training topics.
Contact us by email or call 03 8636 4448.
Other news in our sector
Australia - JobKeeper extension two
The JobKeeper payment has been extended and will available for eligible organisations until 28 March 2021. JobKeeper extension two covers the fortnights between 4 January 2021 and 28 March 2021.
The payment rates have changed for eligible employees and employers will need to complete a new decline in turnover test (employers will need to show that their actual GST turnover has declined).
For more information visit the ATO website and the ATO webpage that summarises the key JobKeeper dates.
Australia - JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme
Registrations are now open for the Federal Government’s JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme. This scheme is an incentive for businesses (including not-for-profits) to employ people aged 16–35 years.
Through this scheme, eligible employers can receive JobMaker Hiring Credit payments of up to $200 a week for each eligible employee aged 16 to 29 years old and $100 a week for each eligible employee aged 30 to 35 years old.
These payments apply to new positions eligible employers create between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021. Eligible employers can make a claim every three months, for up to 12 months from an eligible employee’s start date. Claims can be made each quarter from 1 February 2021.
The newly created positions must meet additional criteria. Refer to the ATO webpage on this scheme for further information.
Victoria - portable long service leave scheme changes
Under the portable long service leave scheme, workers in community services, contract cleaning and security can accrue long service entitlements and transfer them from one job to another, as long as they stay in the same industry. New regulations for the scheme came into effect on 1 October 2020. These replace the temporary regulations that were introduced in 2019.
Among other things, the new regulations provide more clarity around how the community services sector is covered by the scheme. Refer to the Victorian Government website for more information and to check whether there are any changes to the eligibility of your staff to portable long service leave.
South Australia - a new Direction restricting public activities
On 4 December 2020, a new Direction regulating public conduct and the management of places where public activities occur, to minimise the spread of COVID-19, came into effect. This replaced the existing Direction.
Under the new Direction, the definition of ‘public activity’ includes the provision of health care, residential care, disability support or aged care services. Services covered by the Direction (with the exception of in-home health services) must complete a COVID Safe plan and have an approved contact tracing system in place.
To check what your organisation must do to comply, visit the South Australian Government website.
Australia - Seeking participants for a survey of charitable organisations
Associate Professor Rosemary Langford of Melbourne Law School is conducting research on governance and regulation of charities in Australia and the UK. She is seeking input from senior office-holders at Australian charitable organisations on their understanding of governance duties and their approach to conflicts of interest. The results will be used to recommend reforms to the Australian charities sector. The survey takes 10-20 minutes to complete.
More information on the survey can be found here and the survey can be accessed at Survey Monkey.
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