Our Commissioner’s Interpretation Statements are developed to help to guide charities and the public on how we understand the law that applies to charities, including to explain the law made by judges ('common law'), parliament (legislation) and any other legal issues.

These statements reflect our current understanding of the law on charity and are binding on our staff.

We will ensure that organisations that rely on these Interpretation Statements are treated fairly, consistent with our objects and regulatory approach. If the law or an Interpretation Statement changes, we will apply the new position from the date of the change, not retrospectively in a way that could disadvantage your charity. In most cases, we will also allow a period of time for charities to respond to any change.

Commissioner’s Interpretation Statements

Health Promotion Charities

The purpose of this Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement is to provide guidance to ACNC staff, charities and the public on the meaning and scope of the charity subtype of 'Health Promotion Charity' (HPC).
Read more

Public Benevolent Institutions

The purpose of this Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement is to provide guidance on the ACNC’s view on the meaning and scope of the charity subtype of ‘Public Benevolent Institution’ (PBI) for ACNC purposes.
Read more

Meaning of 'Government Entity'

The purpose of this statement is to provide guidance on the meaning of ‘government entity’ in the Charities Act 2013 (Cth). It relates to the definition of ‘charity’ set out in s 5 of the Charities Act, which provides that a ‘charity’ cannot be a ‘government entity’.
Read more

Commercially sensitive information

This Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement provides guidance to ACNC staff, charities and the public on the exercise of the Commissioner’s power to withhold or remove information from the ACNC Register.
Read more

The Hunger Project case

The purpose of this Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement is to provide guidance to ACNC staff, charities and the public on the application of the law as set out in Commissioner of Taxation v Hunger Project Australia [2014] FCAFC 69, affirming the decision of the Federal Court decision in The...
Read more

Indigenous charities

This Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement provides guidance on how the ACNC applies particular aspects of charity law to Indigenous organisations seeking registration as charities, and how those organisations can meet the ACNC’s requirements. This Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement is...
Read more