Can housing providers register with the ACNC?
The ACNC registers organisations as charities. Organisations that provide affordable housing to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness that meet the legal meaning of charity and our requirements for registration can register as charities with the ACNC. A housing provider must be a not-for-profit to register with the ACNC.
When applying to register, housing providers may wish to select 'advancing social or public welfare' as their charitable purpose and 'housing' as one of their charitable activities. Housing providers may also select other recognised charitable purposes they have, or other charitable activities they engage in, such as public works and utilities.
Read more about how the ACNC will approach applications for registration by charitable housing providers in our Commissioner's Interpretation Statement: Provision of housing by charities.
What obligations do registered charities have to the ACNC?
Housing providers registered with the ACNC have ongoing obligations under the ACNC Act. These include to:
- notify us of certain changes
- keep records
- report to us each year
- comply with governance standards.
Unless we or another government agency tell you otherwise, housing providers that have obligations to another government agency (such as notification or reporting) must continue to meet these obligations. The ACNC will be working with other government agencies to reduce unnecessary regulatory obligations over time. Find out more about this work and whether it affects your organisation by reading about charity obligations to other regulators.