The ACNC will register an organisation as a charity once it decides that the purposes are charitable, and that the organisation is otherwise eligible.
When the ACNC registers a charity, it usually registers it with one or more ‘subtypes’. The subtypes reflect the charity’s purposes.
The 14 charity subtypes
The ACNC Act sets out 14 charity subtypes. These include the 12 charitable purposes as set out in the Charities Act 2013 (Cth), as well as two others – Public Benevolent Institution and Health Promotion Charity.
The 14 charity subtypes are:
Advancing health
Advancing education
Advancing social or public welfare
Advancing religion
Advancing culture
Promoting reconciliation, mutual respect and tolerance between groups of individuals that are in Australia
Promoting or protecting human rights
Advancing the security or safety of Australia or the Australian public
Preventing or relieving the suffering of animals
Advancing the natural environment
Any other purpose beneficial to the general public and analogous to the other charitable purposes
Advancing public debate
Health Promotion Charity
Public Benevolent Institution
A charity’s activities must be specifically directed towards achieving the charitable purpose as described by its subtypes.
The next step looks at how an organisation can choose a subtype.