the Trusteethe Trustee

the Trustee

13. The trustee of the fund must exercise the same degree of care, diligence and skill that a prudent individual would exercise in managing the affairs of others.

14. At all times, a majority of the individuals involved in the decision-making of the fund must be individuals with a degree of responsibility to the Australian community as a whole.

Note 1: Those individuals with a degree of responsibility to the community as a whole are generally known as ‘responsible persons’. This requirement is stricter than the requirement applying to private ancillary funds. The Taxation Administration (Private Ancillary Fund) Guidelines 2019 require at least one of the individuals involved in the decision-making of the fund to be a responsible person.

Note 2: ‘Individuals with a degree of responsibility to the Australian community as a whole’ would generally include: school principals, judges, religious practitioners, solicitors, doctors and other professional persons, mayors, councillors, town clerks and members of parliament. Generally, individuals who are accepted as having a degree of responsibility to the community as a whole are known to a broad section of the community because they perform a public function or they belong to a professional body (such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants, State Law Societies and Medical Registration Boards) which has a professional code of ethics and rules of conduct. Individuals who have received formal recognition from the Government for their services to the community (for example, an Order of Australia award) will also usually have the requisite degree of responsibility.

14.1. An individual with a degree of responsibility to the Australian community as a whole includes an individual before whom a statutory declaration may be made.

Note: Example: An individual who before whom a statutory declaration may be made include individuals who are licensed or registered to practice in a range of occupations such as a dentist, legal or medical practitioner; a nurse, a pharmacist, a bailiff, a bank officer or officer of a building society or credit union with 5 or more continuous years of service; a clerk of the court; a justice of the peace, a judge, magistrate; a member of various professional associations including a member of Engineers Australia, a member of Chartered Secretaries Australia; a member of the various professional accounting associations in Australia; a marriage celebrant, mayors, town clerks and members of Parliament; a government employee with 5 or more years of continuous service; a teacher employed on a full-time basis at a school or tertiary education institution.