Generally there are two ways a charity can be a federally regulated entity:
- It is a ‘constitutional corporation’ or it is a trust whose trustees are all constitutional corporations.
A constitutional corporation is:
- a foreign corporation,
- a ‘trading or financial corporation’ formed in Australia that carries out substantial ‘trading’ or ‘financial’ activities.
- It is connected with a Territory (the ACT, the Northern Territory, Jervis Bay or an external Territory such as Norfolk Island and Christmas Island) because:
- it is a body corporate that is taken to be registered in a Territory under s 119A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth),
- its main activities are carried out in or in a way connected with a Territory, or
- it is a trust governed by the law of a Territory.
The ACNC can use all of its regulatory powers against federally regulated entities.