PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE DRAFT CHARITIES (AMENDMENT) BILL

Public Consultation on the Draft Charities (Amendment) Bill

(a) Section 27 of the Act specifies the circumstances under which a person would be disqualified from being a key personnel¹ of a charity. The following enhancements are proposed to be made to strengthen and update the disqualification regime:

(i) Include the following new grounds for disqualification:

(A) conviction for an offence involving terrorism, terrorism financing or money laundering; and

(B) removal from the office of officer, agent or employee of a charity by an order of the Commissioner under section 25(1)(i) of the Act or by the High Court;

(ii) Prevent disqualified persons from being a governing board member or key officer of any entity that is a governing board member or a member of any charity; and

(iii) Make clear that the criminal conviction ground for disqualification will not apply to spent convictions²;

(b) Clarify the type of penalties that may be imposed for the contravention of regulations concerning Institutions of a Public Character, and provide for these penalties to be specified in the regulations;

(c) Provide the power to make regulations to mandate the filing of annual submissions and other regulatory submissions via electronic means; and

(d) Clarify the definition of “fund-raising appeal” in the Act.

(a) Section 25 of the Act specifies, amongst other powers, the circumstances under which the Commissioner can remove a charity’s related persons³. The following enhancements are proposed to strengthen and update the removal regime:

(i) Allow the Commissioner to remove, under section 25(4) of the Act, individuals who, despite being disqualified under the proposed sections 27(1) or (4), continue to act as governing board members or key officers of a charity;

(ii) Make clear that the criminal conviction ground for removal will not apply to spent convictions; and

(iii) Allow the Commissioner to make a removal order against a charity’s related person even though the person in question has resigned from the charity;

(b) Empower the Commissioner to extend the suspension period of a charity’s related persons;

(c) Empower the Commissioner to suspend improper fund-raising appeals pending the completion of investigations into such fund-raising appeals; and

(d) Enhance the Commissioner’s power to call for documents and information.

(a) Annex A for the Table of Proposed Amendments in the Draft Charities (Amendment) Bill; and

(b) Annex B for the Consultation Charities (Amendment) Bill.

(a) Indicate your name, and the organisation you represent (if applicable) as well as contact details (email address and/or telephone number) to enable us to follow up and seek clarification, if necessary;

(b) Focus your comments on how the policy proposals can be improved, whether generally or in the form of the legislative amendments, to make them clearer and to facilitate compliance; and

(c) If you wish to suggest edits to the proposed amendments, quote the relevant section(s) of the Act and set out your suggested edits to the section(s) of the Act.