Charity chief flies to global gathering

The two-day summit, hosted by the Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW), from October 28, is the first face-to-face international gathering of charity chiefs since a 2018 event in North America.

ACNC assistant commissioner general counsel Natasha Sekulic will accompany Woodward on the trip, leaving acting assistant commissioner Rachel Smith in charge of the ACNC.

With six per cent of Australia’s 60,000 charities operating overseas, part of large, global organisations, Woodward that said that it was crucial to keep abreast of global regulatory trends.

“As a group, we will examine broad charity regulation matters and discuss in detail our processes, all with the view to building an understanding of world class best practice,” she said.

Woodward had convened several virtual meetings with international regulatory counterparts in the past 18 months, including inviting David Holdsworth, the new CCEW chief executive to the ACNC Regulators Day virtual event in August.

“We all agree that these virtual meetings are extremely valuable, but there is a depth of communication and connection that comes with in person meetings that is of significant extra benefit,” said Woodward.

“It is important to build relationships with international regulators, and gain insights into the processes and procedures of our counterparts that operate in other global jurisdictions.”

An ACNC spokesperson said that because the international charity regulator’s meeting is a high-level government to government meeting, the agenda would not be made public.

"International regulators plan to issue a communique after the meeting to highlight key matters agreed and discussed," said the spokesperson.

According to the ACNC’s most recent annual report, the regulator participated in almost 200 charity sector conferences and forums in 2022-2023.

In March, Woodward spoke at the Australian Governance Summit in Melbourne, where she outlined the ACNC compliance and enforcement focus for 2024-2025.

Key priorities included addressing cyber security threats and increasing concern about charities’ misuse of complex corporate structures to conceal non-compliance with the ACNC Act and Regulations.

During her opening remarks at the ACNC Regulators Day 2024 virtual event, Woodward referenced a survey conducted by the Irish charities regulator that found a link between public awareness of charity regulation and informed giving practices.

Woodward said getting out and meeting others in the sector was critical for the ACNC to better understand the challenges charities face and how these organisations could overcome these issues to achieve better outcomes.

“My recent meetings with charities and sector stakeholders in the Northern Territory and in South Australia were so valuable in this respect,” she said.

“As Australia’s only specialist charities regulator, it is also important to connect with charity regulators in other parts of the world, to see how they operate and learn from their approaches.”

Woodward said she also hoped her international counterparts could learn from the ACNC’s own experience regulating the charity landscape down under.

“Hopefully, there are also aspects of our work that we can share, which could be of value to them.

“When we return, we look forward to sharing our insights with the ACNC and more broadly with the sector through our various networks and forums.’’

More information

Charities regulator zeroes in on cyber risk

Charity regulator investigations increasingly complex: ACNC report