Business Law Library & Tracker

Not-for-Profits & Charities

Charity registration, ACNC governance, incorporated associations, Indigenous corporations and practical structure choices for community organisations.

Sources last reviewed 8 June 2026

Main law guides

297

Acts, regulations and codes worth reading first

Topics

22

Plain-English clusters

Published case explainers

496

Selected cases with a business lesson

Tracked updates

110

New, amended & reviewed

Plain-English explainers, not legal advice. Use the linked official source for section-level detail, and get advice for your situation.

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Main laws

Main lawWestern Australia

Charitable Collections Act 1946 (WA)

Charitable Collections Act 1946 (WA)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 8 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesConsumer Law & TradingDigital & EcommerceContracts & CommercialBusiness Registration & OperationsFranchising & Regulated Industries
Main lawACT

Charitable Collections Act 2003 (ACT)

Charitable Collections Act 2003 (ACT)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 8 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesConsumer Law & TradingDigital & EcommerceContracts & CommercialBusiness Registration & OperationsFranchising & Regulated Industries
Main lawNew South Wales

Charitable Fundraising Act 1991 (NSW)

Charitable Fundraising Act 1991 (NSW)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 8 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesConsumer Law & TradingDigital & EcommerceContracts & CommercialBusiness Registration & OperationsFranchising & Regulated Industries
Main lawQueensland

Collections Act 1966 (Qld)

Collections Act 1966 (Qld)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 8 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesConsumer Law & TradingDigital & EcommerceContracts & CommercialBusiness Registration & OperationsFranchising & Regulated Industries
Main lawSouth Australia

Collections for Charitable Purposes Act 1939 (SA)

Collections for Charitable Purposes Act 1939 (SA)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 8 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesConsumer Law & TradingDigital & EcommerceContracts & CommercialBusiness Registration & OperationsFranchising & Regulated Industries
Main lawTasmania

Collections for Charities Act 2001 (Tas)

Collections for Charities Act 2001 (Tas)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 8 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesConsumer Law & TradingDigital & EcommerceContracts & CommercialBusiness Registration & OperationsFranchising & Regulated Industries
Main lawVictoria

Fundraising Act 1998 (Vic)

Fundraising Act 1998 (Vic)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 8 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesConsumer Law & TradingDigital & EcommerceContracts & CommercialBusiness Registration & OperationsFranchising & Regulated Industries
Main lawNorthern Territory

Gaming Control Act 1993 (NT)

Gaming Control Act 1993 (NT)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 8 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesConsumer Law & TradingDigital & EcommerceContracts & CommercialBusiness Registration & OperationsFranchising & Regulated Industries
Main lawCommonwealth

Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (Cth)

Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (Cth)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 7 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesCompanies & StartupsBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawCommonwealth

Charities Act 2013 (Cth)

Charities Act 2013 (Cth)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 7 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesCompanies & StartupsBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawCommonwealth

Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Regulations 2022 (Cth)

Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Regulations 2022 (Cth)

PriorityIn force5 practical checks · checked 7 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesCompanies & StartupsBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawCommonwealth

Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)

Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)

WatchlistIn force5 practical checks · checked 7 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesCompanies & StartupsBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawNorthern Territory

Associations Act 2003 (NT)

Associations Act 2003 (NT)

WatchlistIn force4 practical checks · checked 1 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawTasmania

Associations Incorporation Act 1964 (Tas)

Associations Incorporation Act 1964 (Tas)

WatchlistIn force4 practical checks · checked 1 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawQueensland

Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Qld)

Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Qld)

WatchlistIn force4 practical checks · checked 1 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawSouth Australia

Associations Incorporation Act 1985 (SA)

Associations Incorporation Act 1985 (SA)

WatchlistIn force4 practical checks · checked 1 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawACT

Associations Incorporation Act 1991 (ACT)

Associations Incorporation Act 1991 (ACT)

WatchlistIn force4 practical checks · checked 1 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawNew South Wales

Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (NSW)

Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (NSW)

WatchlistIn force4 practical checks · checked 1 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawWestern Australia

Associations Incorporation Act 2015 (WA)

Associations Incorporation Act 2015 (WA)

WatchlistIn force4 practical checks · checked 1 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesBusiness Registration & Operations
Main lawVictoria

Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic)

Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic)

WatchlistIn force4 practical checks · checked 1 June 2026
Not-for-Profits & CharitiesBusiness Registration & Operations

Tracker

  1. New8 June 2026

    Fundraising and charitable collections laws added

    The legislation library now covers state and territory fundraising, charitable collections and community fundraising pathways across NSW, Queensland, Victoria, WA, SA, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory. This gives charities, social enterprises, clubs, ecommerce brands, event organisers, sponsors and businesses running charity-linked campaigns a clearer place to understand when public donation requests, use of charity names, paid fundraisers, records, receipts, collection licences, approvals, raffles, lotteries and regulator reporting need to be checked before launch.

    Not-for-Profits & CharitiesConsumer Law & TradingDigital & EcommerceContracts & CommercialBusiness Registration & OperationsFranchising & Regulated Industries
  2. Case8 June 2026

    Current governance, insurance and restructuring cases added

    This batch adds current official-source explainers for workplace injunctions, shareholder-deed control, secured-property enforcement, business insurance disclosure, DOCA funding and member-organisation oppression. The practical thread for small businesses is governance discipline: keep decision reasons, insurance disclosures, meeting notices, funding authority and enforcement records clear before a dispute becomes urgent court work.

    Employment & WorkplaceCompanies & StartupsContracts & CommercialFinance, Payments & SecurityInsolvency & RestructuringNot-for-Profits & Charities
  3. New7 June 2026

    Not-for-profit governance coverage added

    Businesses, founders and directors can now browse a cleaner not-for-profit governance cluster covering charity status, ACNC registration, ACNC governance standards, incorporated associations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations. The pages focus on structure choice, board or committee duties, reporting, public-register details, grants, partnerships and when an operator should get legal help before using charity language publicly.

    Not-for-Profits & CharitiesCompanies & StartupsBusiness Registration & Operations

Cases