As we farewell 2025, I’ve been thinking about the various pathways charities take when they come into contact with us—and how we work to support them to stay on track with their obligations, as well as draw on many useful general governance resources and connections to other regulators and agencies.
This year, we registered more charities than ever, bringing the total number to 64,691.
While registration is the essential first step, it is only one part of their time with us. Charities need ongoing guidance and support to thrive or, if need be, to merge or wind down. And that’s what we’re here for.
Take a small community group that started with a simple idea: to make life better for local families doing it tough by providing food relief, assistance with household jobs and repairs. They reached out to us for help registering as a charity. With guidance from our Advice Services team, they navigated eligibility questions and completed their application with confidence.
For them, charity registration was a big step; one which helped them gain support for their work. Soon, they were called on to deliver more programs in their community. They had an active volunteer board, and those people wisely knew they had governance obligations. We supported them and others involved in running the group to understand their ongoing obligations. They joined one of our online webinars, learned how to report, and submitted their first Annual Information Statement before it was due (big ticks from me!).
When a committee member moved on, they used our handover checklist to keep things running smoothly. Now, they’re using our free online courses to induct new volunteers and strengthen governance.
Stories like this remind all the team at the ACNC of why we exist: to help charities meet their obligations so they can focus on their charitable purpose, to benefit our society and even communities overseas.
This year, we’ve worked hard to make compliance easier and clearer through a range of evaluation projects that explore barriers charities face when registering, reporting and meeting their obligations.
We’ve listened closely to charities and their advisers. By analysing (literally) thousands of enquiries and pieces of feedback, we identified common challenges and strengthened our guidance on handovers, record-keeping and reporting. Our aim is simple: to remove barriers and build confidence.
The sector’s impact remains extraordinary. The 11th Australian Charities Report showed record revenue of $222 billion and 1.54 million employees—10.7% of Australia’s workforce.
Our report on the impact and contribution of volunteer-run charities throughout Australia showed that 22,000 charities are solely volunteer-run. Most are small or extra small, and together they generated $4.3 billion.
Our free, online database of registered charities in Australia, the ACNC Charity Register was searched over 2 million times, reinforcing its role as a trusted resource.
Looking ahead to 2026, we’ll make the Charity Register an even better national database.
We’ll keep promoting safe giving—helping donors check the Charity Register before they give, so they can feel confident their donation is going to a legitimate charity. Awareness campaigns like this strengthen public trust and support the sector as a whole.
We’ll keep cutting red tape so charities can spend more time on purpose, not paperwork, and we’ll continue to embed innovation in what we do.
Thank you for the role you play in helping charities deliver on their mission. Whether you’re pausing for a break or working through the festive season, know that your generosity and service help communities thrive—and we’re proud to play a part in supporting that purpose.
Warm regards,
Sue Woodward AM