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CHARITABLE COLLECTIONS REGULATIONS 2003 (NO 33 OF 2003)
2003
THE
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FOR THE
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Charitable Collections
EXPLANATORY
STATEMENT
Circulated by the authority of
Bill Wood MLA
Minister
for Urban Services
CHARITABLE COLLECTIONS REGULATIONS
2003
SUBORDINATE LAW SL2003-33
The objective of the Regulations is to establish a consistent and
contemporary framework for collections conducted for charitable purposes in the
ACT, under the Charitable Collections Act 2003 (the Act).
Part 1 – Preliminary
Regulations 1 and 2 are
formal requirements. They deal with the short title of the regulations and the
commencement provisions.
Regulation 3 explains that the Dictionary
at the end of the Regulations is part of the Regulations.
Regulation
4 states that notes included in the Regulations are only
explanatory.
Regulation 5 clarifies that other legislation applies
to offences in the Regulation, including the Criminal Code 2003 and the
Legislation Act 2001.
Part 2 – Exempt
collections
Regulation 6 outlines what are not collections
under section 7 (3) (g) of the Act. Exempt collections includes:
(1) money
received by a school for education purposes (eg. genuine school fee),
(2) a
voluntary contribution to a school for educational purposes,
(3) money
collected by an affiliated body (eg. P&C association or association of
former students) for educational purposes,
(4) money collected by an
individual or group amounts to less than $15 000 in a financial year,
(5) if
the individual or group receiving the money did not actively solicit the
collection,
(6) money received by a non-government organisation accredited
with the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID),
and
(7) money received as sponsorship from a corporation.
In this
regulation school is used to mean a place that provides education such as a
pre-school, primary school, high school or secondary college.
Part 3
– Conduct of collections
Regulation 7 explains that in
Part 3 of the Act, a licensee for a collection is (1) the holder of the licence
that has been issued to an individual or a corporation, or (2) the holder of the
licence that has been issued to an unincorporated body.
Regulation 8
defines the information that must be displayed on identification tags worn
by an individual taking part in a collection. The information that must be
displayed on the tag is:
(1) a person’s surname or unique number
assigned to the individual by the person or organisation conducting the
collection;
(2) the licensee’s name or a logo that is recognised by
the public;
(3) the purpose of the collection, and
(4) if the collector
is a ‘paid collector’. A ‘paid collector’ is someone who
is receiving money or another benefit for taking part in the
collection.
Regulation 9 outlines what information is required to
be given for collections.
If the collection is being carried out in
person, the individual must state the purpose of the collection; how and where
the proceeds of the collection will be spent; and a business telephone number of
the licensee.
If the collection is being carried out on the telephone,
the individual must state the purpose of the collection; the licensee’s
name; if the individual is a ‘paid collector’; and a business
telephone number of the licensee.
If the collection is being carried out
as a written request, then the licensee’s name; the purpose of the
collection, how and where the proceeds will be spent; and a business telephone
number of the licensee must be contained in writing.
Examples of written
requests include: a request personally addressed to a person; ‘the
occupier’ or ‘householder’ of a premises; a pamphlet in a
letterbox; a fax message; and message sent to a person over the
Internet.
If the collection is being carried out through a collection
bin, then the licensee’s name; the purpose of the collection; and a
business telephone number for the licensee must be
displayed.
Regulation 10 creates the statutory conditions for
children taking part in collections outlined in Schedule 1 of the
Regulations.
Part 4 – Proceeds of
collections
Regulation 11 outlines the provision for the
issuing of receipts. It is an offence if someone (a donor) gives the collector
more than $2 in cash for the collection, and asks for a receipt and is not given
one. This regulation does not apply if the donor receives goods or services of
the same value (eg. the purchase price of an item of food from a fast food
company that includes a donation to charity) from the collector.
In this
regulation an authorised receipt is a printed receipt or anything else that is
given acknowledging a donation of a particular amount. Badges of different
colours or designs to indicate the amount of a donation are not a printed
receipt.
A receipt only needs to be given if
requested.
Regulation 12 outlines what expenses for a collection
are lawful and proper. These include:
(1) reasonable expenses incurred by
the licensee in conducting and carrying out the collection; administering and
distributing the proceeds of the collection; and complying with the Act, and
(2) any other expenses the licensee stated in the application for the
licence for the collection.
Regulation 13 defines what information
is required for the finalised accounts about a collection. The required accounts
are: the proceeds of the collection; the amount of lawful and proper expenses;
the net proceeds of the collection; and the amount applied for the purposes of
the collection.
The net proceeds of a collection is calculated by
subtracting the amount of lawful and proper expenses from the total proceeds of
the collection.
Regulation 14 outlines information that must be
contained in reports made by the licensee to the chief executive. The report
must contain the proceeds of the collection, the amount of lawful and proper
expenses; the net proceeds of the collection; and the amount applied for the
purposes of the collection. This information is the minimum that is required and
not the limit to what may be required.
The net proceeds of a collection
is calculated by subtracting the amount of lawful and proper expense from the
total proceeds of the collection.
Regulation 15 establishes when
annual audited accounts are required. Audited accounts are required:
(1) if
the proceeds from the collections in the ACT in any 12 month period is more than
$50 000,
(2) from a licensee for the year or years in which the collections
were carried out.
If the annual account includes the proceeds of
collections carried out in the ACT and another state, then accounts identifying
the amount collected in the ACT are not required.
Part 5 –
Miscellaneous
Regulation 16 allows the chief executive to make
available on an approved website. The information specified in the license
application form (section 27 of the Act), and any other information the chief
executive considers appropriate.
Schedule 1 – Statutory
conditions about children taking part in collections
Clause 1
outlines what consent is required for children to take part in charitable
collections.
A child who is younger than 12 years must only take part in
a collection unless written consent has been given from a person with parental
responsibility for the child.
A child who is 12 years of age must only
take part in a collection if they have given their consent and a person with
parental responsibility for the child has given written
consent.
Clause 2 requires children less
than 6 years of age to be supervised directly by a person with parental
responsibility for the child when taking part in a collection.
Clause
3 outlines the requirements for supervising children who are 6 years older
or older taking part in a collection.
Each child must be adequately
supervised in regard to the age, sex and maturity of the child. The person
supervising must be an adult and be supervising no more than 6 children. The
supervisor must also ensure that each child is always accompanied by another
child (who is 6 years or older) or by an adult; must be always in close
proximity to each child and take reasonable steps to ensure each child does not
enter a private dwelling or solicits, receives money, or any other benefit from
a person in a motor vehicle.
The supervisor must make contact with each
child at intervals of no longer 30 minutes.
Clause 4 requires that
collection must be carried out in such a way that a person with parental
responsibility for a child taking part in the collection can contact
them.
Clause 5 sets out the hours in which a child must not take
part in a collection. A child must not collect before 6am or sunrise (whichever
is later), and after 7pm or sunset (whichever is earlier). This clause does not
apply if an adult accompanies the child collecting at all
times.
Clause 6 sets out the maximum periods a child can take part
in a collection. A child who is under 12 years of age may only take part in a
collection for 3 hours on any 1 day (including any rest breaks).
A child
who is 12 years of age may only take part in a collection for 7 hours on any day
(including any rest breaks), and must take at least a 30 minute rest break every
3 hours.
Dictionary – The dictionary defines terms in the
regulations.
Endnotes contain notes on the meaning of penalty
units as notified under the Legislation Act 2001.