Change to the ABN
If your charity has a new ABN, and there is no change to its legal structure, you need to do two things:
- Notify the ACNC with Form 3B: Change Charity Details
- Apply to the ATO for your charity to keep its tax concessions
- Application for endorsement as a deductible gift recipient
- Application for endorsement for charity tax concessions
If your charity has changed its legal structure, its charitable purposes or merged with another organisation, you will need to provide the ACNC with additional information. See the table below for more information.
Legal structure
A charity may change its legal structure for a variety of reasons:
- to become incorporated (for example, so it can open a bank account, provide better legal liability protection for members and enter into agreements in its own name instead of an individual’s name)
- to incorporate as a company with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (for example, because it has become larger and wants to operate across Australia)
- after merging with another charity
- to register with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (for example, so that it can apply for certain government grants for indigenous charities. For more information, see the federal government’s Indigenous Advancement Strategy).
See the table below for an overview of what you need to do after a change to your charity's legal structure:
| Type of change | Action required |
|---|---|
| Incorporated Association to a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) (without changes to the charity's purposes) | Complete Form 3B: Change of charity details and include a copy of the new governing document. |
| Cooperative to a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) (without changes to the charity's purposes) | Complete Form 3B: Change of charity details and include a copy of the new governing document. |
| Entity incorporated under an Act of Parliament or letters patent to a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) (without changes to the charity's purposes) | Complete Form 3B: Change of charity details and include a copy of the new governing document. |
| A foreign company in the form of a body corporate to a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) (without changes to the charity's purposes) | Complete Form 3B: Change of charity details and include a copy of the new governing document. |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) to a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (without changes to the charity's purposes) | Complete Form 3B: Change of charity details and include a copy of the new governing document. |
| Company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) transferring company registration to registration under a law of a State or Territory (by complying with the provisions in sections 601AI to 601AK of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)) | Complete Form 3B: Change of charity details and include a copy of the new governing document. |
| Australian public company limited by guarantee registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to Australian proprietary company limited by shares registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (by complying with sections 162-164 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)) | Complete Form 3B: Change of charity details and include a copy of the new governing document. |
| Company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to any other structure so long as neither situation in the above two rows of this table applies. |
Log in to the Charity Portal and:
|
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation under the Corporations (Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth) to any structure other than a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) |
Log in to the Charity Portal and:
|
| Incorporated to unincorporated entity |
Log in to the Charity Portal and:
|
| Unincorporated entity to an incorporated entity |
Log in to the Charity Portal and:
|
| Charities merging and creating a new legal entity |
Log in to the Charity Portal and:
|