Harm prevention charities

Overview

Harm prevention charities carry out activities to promote the prevention or control of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to humans. Behaviour harmful or abusive to humans is emotional, sexual, physical or substance abuse, suicide, self-harm, or harmful gambling.

Changes to the Register of Harm Prevention Charities

Prior to 1 January 2024, harm prevention charities and their public fund had to be registered on the Register of Harm Prevention Charities, which was administered by the Department of Social Services, to have their public fund endorsed as a deductible gift recipient (DGR).

From 1 January 2024, we administer the DGR category for harm prevention charities (item number 4.1.4) and assess eligibility for endorsement.

If you were endorsed as a public fund on the Register of Harm Prevention Charities prior to 1 January 2024, transitional provisions apply.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for DGR endorsement as a harm prevention charity the entity must:

• have an active Australian business number (ABN)
• have the characteristics of a harm prevention charity:
  • be an institution that is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) as a charity
  • have a principal activity that is the promotion of the prevention or the control of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings
  • have a policy of not acting as a mere conduit for the donation of money or property to other organisations, bodies or persons
  • maintain a gift fund with an appropriate DGR winding up and revocation clause
• be located in Australia – while the organisation must be located in Australia and have its operations in Australia, beneficiaries may be in countries other than Australia.

Characteristics

To be eligible for DGR endorsement as a harm prevention charity the entity must have the characteristics of a harm prevention charity.

Institution

A harm prevention charity must be an institution.

An institution is an organisation established to promote a defined purpose, especially one of public or general utility. An institution carries out activities that translates its purpose into a living and active principle, and can take the legal form of a trust, company or incorporated or unincorporated association. An institution is identified by its activities, size, permanence and recognition.

An institution is not:

• a fund – for example, a trust merely to manage or hold trust property to make distributions to other entities or people
• a structure with a small and exclusive membership that is controlled and operated by family members and friends and carries out limited activities.

Principal activity

A harm prevention charity’s principal activity must be the promotion of the prevention or the control of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings. Such behaviour is defined as one or more of the following:

• emotional abuse
• sexual abuse
• physical abuse
• suicide
• self-harm
• substance abuse
• harmful gambling.

These expressions are not defined by the legislation and have their ordinary meaning.

It is not necessary that the organisation’s principal activity promote both prevention and control of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings, either is sufficient.

An organisation's principal activity is its main or dominant activity. A harm prevention charity can have other activities which are incidental, ancillary, or secondary to its principal activity. A variety of factors are taken into consideration when determining an organisation's principal activity including the amount of time and resources allocated to that activity by the organisation.

The ATO will group similar activities together when determining an organisation’s principal activity.

Promotion

The term promotion is not defined by the legislation and has its ordinary meaning. The ordinary meaning of promotion includes furtherance or encouragement.

The use of the word 'promotion' means that harm prevention charities can engage in activities that directly or indirectly prevent or control behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings. Indirect activities may include awareness-raising and research.

An organisation does not have to demonstrate its success in actually preventing or controlling behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings. However, the organisation does need to show that the nature of its activities can be considered to promote the prevention or the control of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings.

Prevention and control

The terms prevention and control are not defined by the legislation and have their ordinary meaning. The ordinary meaning of:

• Prevention includes to keep from occurring or to hinder.
• Control includes to hold in check, to curb or restrain. Control is about the steps, measures, actions, activities, treatment, and interventions to reduce a specified harmful or abusive behaviour.

There must be an evidenced, rational or plausible link between the promotional activity and the prevention or the control of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings.

Examples of harm prevention charity activities

Activities that may promote the prevention of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings:

• providing information about the prevention or control to those involved with or affected by the relevant behaviour, and to the public
• researching how to detect, prevent or deal with the relevant behaviour.

Activities that may promote the control of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to human beings:

• counselling people who are affected by the behaviour, such as family members
• running courses and programs on how to avoid, overcome or recover from the behaviour
• training carers and professionals in ways of dealing with the relevant behaviour
• treating and caring for persons suffering from the behaviour.

Organisations that are not harm prevention charities

Organisations that are involved in other behavioural or social issues outside of the defined behaviours as their principal activity will not qualify as harm prevention charities.

Organisations where their activities are about general prevention of harm will not qualify as harm prevention charities.

Organisations whose principal activity is too remote from the prevention or control will not qualify as harm prevention charities. This may include organisations whose principal activity is providing:

• general craft, sport, music, or other social activities
• general school education
• general employment programs
• road, pool or workplace safety, accident prevention, or parenting programs
• financial support.

Policy to not act as a mere conduit

A harm prevention charity must have a policy of not acting as a mere conduit for the donation of money or property to other organisations, bodies or persons.

An organisation must not:

• be directed by a donor to act as a conduit by passing a donation of money or property to other organisations, bodies or persons
• act as a collection agency for tax-deductible donations intended by a donor to be passed on to another organisation, body or person.

The policy to not act as a mere conduit may be expressed and communicated in several ways, including in an organisation’s constituent or governing document, in a separate policy document, stated on the organisation's website or stated on a receipt issued to a donor.

Gift fund

Harm prevention charities must maintain a gift fund, and gifts must be received by the organisation’s gift fund. A harm prevention charity must use its gift fund for its principal purpose only.

The following gift fund requirements must be met if:

• it is a fund
• it is maintained and used only for the principal purpose of the organisation
• all gifts and deductible contributions of money or property for that purpose are made to it
• any money received by the organisation, because of such gifts or deductible contributions is credited to it
• it does not receive any other money or property

The gift fund should be set up as part of your organisation. The gift fund may have its own rules or constitution, or they may be part of the governing documents of your organisation.

The rules or governing documents should provide evidence of the gift fund's existence, name, purpose and operations.

The organisation must also be required by a law, its constituent documents, or governing rules – to transfer any surplus assets of the gift fund to another gift deductible fund, authority or institution when the organisation is wound up or the DGR endorsement is revoked, whichever occurs first (DGR winding up and revocation requirement). This requirement can be met by including a DGR winding up and revocation clause in the rules of the gift fund.

Applying to be DGR endorsed

There are 2 ways to apply to be registered as a DGR under Item 4.1.4 - Harm prevention charity:

• If you are currently applying for registration as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), you can apply to us for DGR endorsement on the ACNC's registration application form – the ACNC will send your DGR application to us once your charity is registered.
• If you have an ABN, and you're already registered as a charity, you can complete our Application for endorsement as a deductible gift recipient.

In your application, you will have to include:

• a completed Harm prevention charity schedule for deductible gift recipient applicants
• evidence documents (if applicable)
• a copy of your constituent or governing documents in either a Word or PDF file format. Image files may cause issues and may delay your application.

After you apply

What you can expect when we process your DGR application:

• we will contact you to confirm we have received your application, and if we require further information
• while your application is being processed, donations you receive are not tax deductible
• after receiving all required information, it may take up to 28 days for us to process your application
• you will receive a notification of your application outcome in the mail.

Once you are DGR endorsed:

• your DGR status will be added to the ABN lookupExternal Link on the Australian Business Register so donors can confirm your harm prevention charity can receive tax-deductible gifts
• you can update your website or material advising of your tax-deductible status.

Responsibilities as a DGR endorsed harm prevention charity

It is important to make sure you are meeting your responsibilities as a DGR endorsed harm prevention charity.

You must keep records that explain all transactions and activities relevant to your organisation's status as a DGR.

Your records must show that you have used all your gifts and deductible contributions for your principal purpose.

Receipts for donations must be issued in the name of the organisation not the gift fund.

You should consider whether you need to be registered for goods and services tax (GST), fringe benefits tax (FBT) or PAYG withholding.

As a registered charity with the ACNC you must keep records, report each year to the ACNC via the Annual information statementExternal Link and tell us if your charity’s details change.

We recommend you conduct a review of your organisation's eligibility for DGR status each year or when there is a substantial change in your activities. You can use our worksheet to review your DGR status.

You must tell us in writing if your organisation is no longer entitled to DGR endorsement. You must do this before, or as soon as possible after, the entitlement ends.

Tax-deductible gifts and donations

Once you are DGR endorsed, people who donate to your harm prevention charity can seek a tax deduction. Donations can be either money or property.

There are some requirements the donation needs to meet to be tax deductible.

The donation must be a gift, not a contribution:

• A gift is where a donor does not receive a material benefit in return (for example, a donor puts $5 in a collection box).
• A contribution is where a donor receives a material benefit in return (for example, membership fees or purchasing a ticket to a fundraising dinner).

If you provide the donor with a small token of appreciation for their donation – such as a sticker, or a mention in a newsletter – the donation can still be considered a gift. However, if your acknowledgment is larger and the donor can use or benefit from it, this may prevent the donation being considered a gift.

It is the responsibility of the donor to determine whether the donation is a tax-deductible gift.

The types of donations that can be tax deductible gifts include:

• money of $2 or more
• property, that is purchased during the 12 months before making the gift, or that we value at more than $5,000
• trading stock.