Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Australian Capital Territory
Charitable Collections Regulation 2003
SL2003-33
made under the
Charitable Collections Act 2003
Republication No 9
Effective: 16 July 2024
Republication date: 16 July 2024
Last amendment made by A2024-29
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
About this republication
The republished law
This is a republication of the Charitable Collections Regulation 2003, made under the Charitable
Collections Act 2003 (including any amendment made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3
(Editorial changes)) as in force on 16 July 2024. It also includes any commencement,
amendment, repeal or expiry affecting this republished law to 16 July 2024.
The legislation history and amendment history of the republished law are set out in endnotes 3
and 4.
Kinds of republications
The Parliamentary Counsel’s Office prepares 2 kinds of republications of ACT laws (see the ACT
legislation register at www.legislation.act.gov.au):
• authorised republications to which the Legislation Act 2001 applies
• unauthorised republications.
The status of this republication appears on the bottom of each page.
Editorial changes
The Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 authorises the Parliamentary Counsel to make editorial
amendments and other changes of a formal nature when preparing a law for republication.
Editorial changes do not change the effect of the law, but have effect as if they had been made by
an Act commencing on the republication date (see Legislation Act 2001, s 115 and s 117). The
changes are made if the Parliamentary Counsel considers they are desirable to bring the law into
line, or more closely into line, with current legislative drafting practice.
This republication includes amendments made under part 11.3 (see endnote 1).
Uncommenced provisions and amendments
If a provision of the republished law has not commenced, the symbol U appears immediately
before the provision heading. Any uncommenced amendments that affect this republished law
are accessible on the ACT legislation register (www.legislation.act.gov.au). For more
information, see the home page for this law on the register.
Modifications
If a provision of the republished law is affected by a current modification, the
symbol M appears immediately before the provision heading. The text of the modifying
provision appears in the endnotes. For the legal status of modifications, see the Legislation
Act 2001, section 95.
Penalties
At the republication date, the value of a penalty unit for an offence against this law is $160 for an
individual and $810 for a corporation (see Legislation Act 2001, s 133).
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Australian Capital Territory
Charitable Collections Regulation 2003
made under the
Charitable Collections Act 2003
Contents
Page
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Name of regulation 2
3 Dictionary 2
4 Notes 2
5 Offences against regulation—application of Criminal Code etc 3
Part 2 Exempt collections
6 What are not collections—Act, s 7 (3) (h) 4
Part 3 Conduct of collections
10 Statutory conditions about children taking part in collections—sch 1 6
Contents
Page
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Part 4 Proceeds of collections
11 Issue of receipts 7
12 Lawful and proper expenses—Act, s 44 (4) 7
13 Finalised accounts—Act, s 47 (6), def required accounts, par (b) 8
14 Reports by licensee to director-general—Act, s 48 (5), def required
information 8
15 When annual audited accounts are required 9
Part 5 Miscellaneous
16 Internet access to material on register of licences 10
Schedule 1 Statutory conditions about children taking
part in collections 11
1.1 Consent to take part in collections 11
1.2 Supervision of children under 6 years old 11
1.3 Supervision of children 6 years old or older 11
1.4 Contact by person with parental responsibility 12
1.6 Maximum periods 12
Dictionary 13
Endnotes
1 About the endnotes 14
2 Abbreviation key 14
3 Legislation history 15
4 Amendment history 17
5 Earlier republications 18
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Australian Capital Territory
Charitable Collections Regulation 2003
made under the
Charitable Collections Act 2003
Part 1 Preliminary
Section 1
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Part 1 Preliminary
1 Name of regulation
This regulation is the Charitable Collections Regulation 2003.
3 Dictionary
The dictionary at the end of this regulation is part of this regulation.
Note 1 The dictionary at the end of this regulation defines certain terms used in
this regulation, and includes references (signpost definitions) to other
terms defined elsewhere.
For example, the signpost definition ‘motor vehicle—see the Road
Transport (General) Act 1999, dictionary.’ means that the term ‘motor
vehicle’ is defined in that dictionary and the definition applies to this
regulation.
Note 2 A definition in the dictionary (including a signpost definition) applies to
the entire regulation unless the definition, or another provision of the
regulation, provides otherwise or the contrary intention otherwise appears
(see Legislation Act, s 155 and s 156 (1)).
4 Notes
A note included in this regulation is explanatory and is not part of this
regulation.
Note See the Legislation Act, s 127 (1), (4) and (5) for the legal status of notes.
Preliminary Part 1
Section 5
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5 Offences against regulation—application of Criminal
Code etc
Other legislation applies in relation to offences against this
regulation.
Note 1 Criminal Code
The Criminal Code, ch 2 applies to all offences against this regulation
(see Code, pt 2.1).
The chapter sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility
(including burdens of proof and general defences), and defines terms used
for offences to which the Code applies (eg conduct, intention,
recklessness and strict liability).
Note 2 Penalty units
The Legislation Act, s 133 deals with the meaning of offence penalties
that are expressed in penalty units.
Part 2 Exempt collections
Section 6
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Part 2 Exempt collections
6 What are not collections—Act, s 7 (3) (h)
(1) The following are declared not to be a collection:
(a) the soliciting or receiving of money by a school if the money
is—
(i) a genuine fee or charge by the school for educational
purposes; or
(ii) a voluntary contribution to the school for educational
purposes that is solicited or received from a person with
parental responsibility for a child who is enrolled at the
school;
(b) the soliciting or receiving of money by a body affiliated with a
school for the educational purposes of the school;
Examples of bodies for par (b)
1 a parents and citizens association, or a parents and friends association, for the
school
2 an association of former students, former staff, or parents of former students,
of the school
(c) the soliciting or receiving of money or a benefit by an entity if
the proceeds received from collections conducted by the entity
is less than $15 000 in a financial year;
(d) the soliciting or receiving of money or a benefit by a
non-government organisation accredited with the Australian
Agency for International Development (AusAID) (whether or
not the money or benefit is used, or intended to be used, solely
for aid in a foreign country);
(e) the solicitation or receipt of sponsorship from a corporation;
(f) the soliciting or receiving of money by a trustee corporation for
administering a trust fund for a charitable purpose;
Exempt collections Part 2
Section 6
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(g) the soliciting or receiving of money by, or on behalf of, an entity
if the proceeds received from collections conducted by, or on
behalf of, the entity are for a trust fund for a charitable purpose
administered by a trustee corporation.
Example—par (g)
a workplace giving program, where a workplace, or an employee on behalf
of the workplace, solicits and receives money for a charitable fund
administered by a trustee corporation
(2) In this section:
school means an entity that provides education at the pre-school,
primary school, high school or secondary college level.
trustee company—see the Trustee Companies Act 1947, dictionary.
trustee corporation means—
(a) the public trustee and guardian; or
(b) a trustee company.
Part 3 Conduct of collections
Section 10
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Part 3 Conduct of collections
10 Statutory conditions about children taking part in
collections—sch 1
A licence, or a document stated by the licence to form part of the
licence, may indicate that the conditions mentioned in schedule 1
apply to a collection conducted under the licence.
Note For provisions about the employment of children, see the Children and
Young People Act 2008, ch 21.
Proceeds of collections Part 4
Section 11
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Part 4 Proceeds of collections
11 Issue of receipts
(1) A person who is taking part in a collection (the collector) commits an
offence if—
(a) someone else (the donor) personally gives the collector more
than $2 in cash for the purposes of the collection (the donation);
and
(b) the donor asks the collector for a receipt for the donation; and
(c) the collector does not give the donor an authorised receipt for
the amount of the donation.
Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
(2) This section does not apply if the donor receives goods or services of
substantially the same value as the amount given to the collector.
Example
the purchase price of an item of food from a fast food company that includes a
donation to a charity
(3) An offence against this section is a strict liability offence.
(4) In this section:
authorised receipt means a printed receipt or anything else given to
the collector by a person conducting the collection for the purpose of
acknowledging a donation of a particular amount.
Example of something that is not a printed receipt
badges of different colours or designs to indicate the amount of a donation
12 Lawful and proper expenses—Act, s 44 (4)
The following are lawful and proper expenses for a collection:
(a) the reasonable expenses incurred by the licensee in—
(i) conducting and carrying out the collection; and
Part 4 Proceeds of collections
Section 13
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(ii) administering and distributing the proceeds of the
collection; and
(iii) complying with the Act; and
(b) any other expenses stated in the application for the licence for
the collection.
Example of other expenses for par (b)
how a commercial fundraisers fee is calculated
13 Finalised accounts—Act, s 47 (6), def required accounts,
par (b)
(1) The required accounts for a collection are accounts that show the
following:
(a) the proceeds of the collection (including any amounts realised
from benefits received for the purposes of the collection);
(b) the amount of lawful and proper expenses under the Act,
section 44 (3) for the collection;
(c) the net proceeds of the collection;
(d) the amount applied for the purposes of the collection.
(2) In this section:
net proceeds, of a collection, means the amount obtained by
subtracting the expenses mentioned in subsection (1) (b) from the
proceeds mentioned in subsection (1) (a).
14 Reports by licensee to director-general—Act, s 48 (5), def
required information
(1) The required information for a report to the director-general about a
collection is a statement of the following amounts for the collection:
(a) the proceeds of the collection (including any amounts realised
from benefits received for the purposes of the collection);
Proceeds of collections Part 4
Section 15
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(b) the amount of lawful and proper expenses under the Act,
section 44 (3) for the collection;
(c) the net proceeds of the collection;
(d) the amount applied for the purposes of the collection.
(2) To remove any doubt, subsection (1) does not limit the information
that may be included in the report to the director-general.
(3) In this section:
net proceeds, of a collection, means the amount obtained by
subtracting the expenses mentioned in subsection (1) (b) from the
proceeds mentioned in subsection (1) (a).
15 When annual audited accounts are required
(1) This section applies to a licensee if the proceeds received in the ACT
by the licensee from collections carried out completely or partly in
the ACT is, in any 12-month period, more than $50 000.
(2) The licensee must give the director-general audited annual accounts
for the year or years in which the collections were carried out.
(3) However, if the annual accounts include the proceeds of collections
carried out in both the ACT and a State, the accounts need not
separately identify the amount collected in the ACT.
Part 5 Miscellaneous
Section 16
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Part 5 Miscellaneous
16 Internet access to material on register of licences
(1) The director-general may arrange for the material mentioned in
the Act, section 40 (2) and (3) to be accessible on a web site approved
by the director-general.
(2) Access under subsection (1) is to be provided without charge by the
Territory.
Statutory conditions about children taking part in collections Schedule 1
Section 1.1
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Schedule 1 Statutory conditions about
children taking part in
collections
(see s 10)
1.1 Consent to take part in collections
(1) A child who is under 12 years old must not take part in a collection
unless a person with parental responsibility for the child has given
written consent to the child taking part in the collection.
(2) A child who is at least 12 years old must not take part in a collection
unless—
(a) the child has given his or her written consent to taking part in
the collection; and
(b) a person with parental responsibility for the child has given
written consent to the child taking part in the collection.
1.2 Supervision of children under 6 years old
A child under 6 years old who is taking part in a collection must be
directly supervised by a person with parental responsibility for the
child.
1.3 Supervision of children 6 years old or older
(1) This section applies in relation to a child who is 6 years old or older
who is taking part in a collection.
(2) The child must be adequately supervised having regard to the age, sex
and maturity of the child.
(3) The person supervising the child (the supervisor) must be an adult.
Schedule 1 Statutory conditions about children taking part in collections
Section 1.4
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(4) The supervisor must—
(a) supervise no more than 6 children; and
(b) ensure that each child is accompanied by another child who is at
least 6 years old or by an adult; and
(c) be in close proximity to each child being supervised; and
(d) know the whereabouts of each child; and
(e) take all reasonable steps to ensure that each child does not—
(i) enter a private dwelling; or
(ii) solicit or receive money or a benefit from a person in a
motor vehicle; and
(f) make contact with each child at intervals of not longer than
30 minutes.
(5) Subsection (4) does not apply if a child is accompanied by an adult
while taking part in the collection.
1.4 Contact by person with parental responsibility
A collection must be carried out in such a way as to give a person
with parental responsibility for a child taking part in the collection a
reasonable opportunity to contact the child.
1.6 Maximum periods
(1) A child under 12 years old must not take part in a collection for more
than 3 hours (including any rest breaks) on any 1 day.
(2) A child who is at least 12 years old—
(a) must not take part in a collection for more than 7 hours
(including any rest breaks) on any 1 day; and
(b) must not take part in a collection for more than 3 hours without
a rest break of at least 30 minutes.
Dictionary
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Dictionary
(see s 3)
Note 1 The Legislation Act contains definitions and other provisions relevant to
this regulation.
Note 2 For example, the Legislation Act, dict, pt 1, defines the following terms:
• adult
• body
• director-general
• financial year
• foreign country
• penalty unit (see s 133)
• public trustee and guardian
• State
• writing.
Note 3 Terms used in this regulation have the same meaning that they have in
the Charitable Collections Act 2003 (see Legislation Act, s 148). For
example, the following terms are defined in the Charitable Collections
Act 2003, dict:
• benefit
• collection
• commercial fundraiser
• conducts, for a collection
• licence
• proceeds, of a collection
• takes part, in a collection.
motor vehicle—see the Road Transport (General) Act 1999,
dictionary.
parental responsibility—a person has parental responsibility for a
child if the person has parental responsibility for the child under the
Children and Young People Act 2008, division 1.3.2.
Endnotes
1 About the endnotes
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Endnotes
1 About the endnotes
Amending and modifying laws are annotated in the legislation history and the
amendment history. Current modifications are not included in the republished law
but are set out in the endnotes.
Not all editorial amendments made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 are
annotated in the amendment history. Full details of any amendments can be
obtained from the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office.
Uncommenced amending laws are not included in the republished law. The details
of these laws are underlined in the legislation history. Uncommenced expiries are
underlined in the legislation history and amendment history.
If all the provisions of the law have been renumbered, a table of renumbered
provisions gives details of previous and current numbering.
The endnotes also include a table of earlier republications.
2 Abbreviation key
A = Act NI = Notifiable instrument
AF = Approved form o = order
am = amended om = omitted/repealed
amdt = amendment ord = ordinance
AR = Assembly resolution orig = original
ch = chapter par = paragraph/subparagraph
CN = Commencement notice pres = present
def = definition prev = previous
DI = Disallowable instrument (prev...) = previously
dict = dictionary pt = part
disallowed = disallowed by the Legislative r = rule/subrule
Assembly reloc = relocated
div = division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired R[X] = Republication No
Gaz = gazette RI = reissue
hdg = heading s = section/subsection
IA = Interpretation Act 1967 sch = schedule
ins = inserted/added sdiv = subdivision
LA = Legislation Act 2001 SL = Subordinate law
LR = legislation register sub = substituted
LRA = Legislation (Republication) Act 1996 underlining = whole or part not commenced
mod = modified/modification or to be expired
Endnotes
Legislation history 3
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3 Legislation history
This regulation was originally the Charitable Collections Regulations 2003. It was
renamed under the Legislation Act 2001.
Charitable Collections Regulation 2003 SL2003-33
notified LR 22 September 2003
s 1, s 2 commenced 22 September 2003 (LA s 75 (1))
remainder commenced 9 October 2003 (s 2 and see Charitable
Collections Act 2003 A2003-17, s 2 and LA s 79)
as amended by
Children and Young People (Consequential Amendments) Act 2008
A2008-20 sch 3 pt 3.3, sch 4 pt 4.2
notified LR 17 July 2008
s 1, s 2 commenced 17 July 2008 (LA s 75 (1))
s 3 commenced 18 July 2008 (s 2 (1))
sch 3 pt 3.3 commenced 27 October 2008 (s 2 (4) and see Children
and Young People Act 2008 A2008-19, s 2 and CN2008-13)
sch 4 pt 4.2 commenced 27 February 2009 (s 2 (5) and see Children
and Young People Act 2008 A2008-19, s 2 and CN2008-17 (and see
CN2008-13))
Charitable Collections Amendment Regulation 2009 (No 1) SL2009-36
notified LR 13 July 2009
s 1, s 2 commenced 13 July 2009 (LA s 75 (1))
remainder commenced 14 July 2009 (s 2)
Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2009
(No 2) A2009-19 pt 4
notified LR 1 September 2009
s 1, s 2 commenced 1 September 2009 (LA s 75 (1))
pt 4 commenced 29 September 2009 (s 2)
Administrative (One ACT Public Service Miscellaneous Amendments)
Act 2011 A2011-22 sch 1 pt 1.24
notified LR 30 June 2011
s 1, s 2 commenced 30 June 2011 (LA s 75 (1))
sch 1 pt 1.24 commenced 1 July 2011 (s 2 (1))
Endnotes
3 Legislation history
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Protection of Rights (Services) Legislation Amendment Act 2016
(No 2) A2016-13 sch 1 pt 1.6
notified LR 16 March 2016
s 1, s 2 commenced 16 March 2016 (LA s 75 (1))
sch 1 pt 1.6 commenced 1 April 2016 (s 2 and see Protection of Rights
(Services) Legislation Amendment Act 2016 A2016-1 s 2)
Housing and Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 2024
A2024-29 pt 4
notified LR 9 July 2024
s 1, s 2 taken to have commenced 1 July 2024 (LA s 75 (2))
pt 4 commenced 16 July 2024 (s 2 (1))
Endnotes
Amendment history 4
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4 Amendment history
Name of regulation
s 1 am R2 LA
Commencement
s 2 om LA s 89 (4)
What are not collections—Act, s 7 (3) (h)
s 6 am SL2009-36 s 4, s 5; A2009-19 s 8; pars renum R6 LA;
A2016-13 amdt 1.9
Meaning of licensee for pt 3
s 7 om A2024-29 s 29
Complying identifying tags—Act, s 16 (4), def complying identifying tag,
par (b)
s 8 om A2024-29 s 29
Information to be given for collections—Act, s 17 (3), def required
information, par (b)
s 9 om A2024-29 s 29
Statutory conditions about children taking part in collections—sch 1
s 10 am A2008-20 amdt 4.5
Reports by licensee to director-general—Act, s 48 (5), def required
information
s 14 hdg am A2011-22 amdt 1.79
s 14 am A2011-22 amdt 1.79
When annual audited accounts are required
s 15 am A2011-22 amdt 1.79
Internet access to material on register of licences
s 16 am A2011-22 amdt 1.79
Statutory conditions about children taking part in collections
sch 1 ss renum R2 LA
am A2024-29 s 30
Dictionary
dict am A2011-22 amdt 1.80; A2016-13 amdt 1.10
def parental responsibility sub A2008-20 amdt 3.4
def licensee om A2024-29 s 31