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To be registered as a charity, your organisation must have a charitable purpose or purposes. This guidance provides information about charitable purpose and ways your organisation can demonstrate that its purpose is charitable.

A list of things you'll need to consider before starting a charity.

When the ACNC registers an organisation as a charity, we register it with one or more charity ‘subtypes’. These subtypes are categories that reflect the charity’s charitable purpose.

An incorporated association is an organisation incorporated under state or territory law, that is usually not-for-profit. Many charities registered with the ACNC are incorporated associations.

The legal structure you choose for your charity should meet your charity’s needs, and allow for future development. Charities have a range of structures, incorporated or unincorporated, and there may be more than one that works for your charity.

To register as a charity with the ACNC, organisations need to meet specific criteria.

An unincorporated association is one type of organisational structure for a charity. Unlike an incorporated structure, an unincorporated association is not a separate legal entity from its members.

There are a number of benefits to registering as a charity with the ACNC.

‘Charity’ has a technical legal meaning. When we decide whether to register an organisation as a charity, we apply the law taking relevant legislation into account.

To be registered as a charity, a not-for-profit must have charitable purposes that are ‘for the public benefit’. A charity’s purpose is for the public benefit if achieving it would be of benefit to the public generally, or to a 'sufficient section of the public'.