About the organisation
An organisation that had been working to support vulnerable people in and around its community for several years applied to the ACNC for charity registration.
It applied for registration with the subtype advancing social and public welfare, with a request for their registration to be backdated.
About the application
In its application, the organisation described its work supporting beneficiaries across its local community.
The organisation told the ACNC that it operated a meal delivery service for the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as individuals needing support in their own home – after referrals from support organisations, medical professionals, families or friends.
About the registration process
When the ACNC looked more closely at the organisation’s work, as well as its beneficiaries, we quickly understood that the organisation had significant contact with vulnerable people.
This meant we needed to be confident that the organisation had well documented policies and procedures in place to safeguard their welfare. It was also important to understand that the organisation had procedures in place since establishment, in order to have their registration backdated.
We asked the organisation to detail how they safeguarded those they worked with, and referenced the ACNC’s Governance Toolkit: Safeguarding vulnerable people.
The ACNC’s Governance Toolkit defines safeguarding as:
‘protecting the welfare and human rights of people that are connected with your charity or its work – particularly people that may be at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation’.
We describe safeguarding as part of a charity’s primary duty of care, and that it should extend not only to those a charity works with – its beneficiaries – but to its own people as well.
This might include staff, volunteers and others connected to the charity, such as those working for suppliers and partners.
Some, many or most of these people – both beneficiaries and a charity’s own people – may be vulnerable. And the ability for a charity to recognise the various forms of vulnerability, and who may be vulnerable, is a key first step towards safeguarding them.
The ACNC’s Governance Toolkit details the legal obligations charities have when it comes to safeguarding vulnerable people, and how charities can assess and manage risks in this area.
The organisation responded with extensive details about its long-running safeguarding efforts. These included:
- appropriate checks for staff and volunteers working with vulnerable people, as well as the provision of training
- clear policies and procedures about safety protocols for vulnerable people, reporting incidents, and mandatory reporting obligations under State and Federal law
- delivering their services in a reliable and timely way to ensure they met the needs of vulnerable people
- checking on the welfare of service users during visits, with clear processes in place if further follow-up action was needed.
The organisation also confirmed to the ACNC that its activities and governing document had not significantly changed since its establishment, meaning we could properly consider its request to have its charity registration backdated.
Outcome
After considering the organisation’s application, safeguarding measures and history, the ACNC registered it as a charity with the subtype of advancing social or public welfare and backdated its registration to its date of establishment.