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Public Ancillary Funds (PuAFs)

Please note: The Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 7) Bill 2011, the legislation which allows for the new regulatory framework for Public Ancillary Funds, was passed by the Senate in late November 2011 and was given Royal Assent on November 29. The new regulatory framework will therefore become law on 1 January 2012. A final version of the Guidelines is not yet available. Philanthropy Australia continues to check very regularly for the final Guidelines and will provide further information as soon as it is available. Philanthropy Australia encourages Members with Public Ancillary Funds to familiarise themselves with the legislation, which can be found on the Parliament website at the link below. For more information: Homepage for Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 7) Bill 2011 Exposure Draft, Draft Guidelines, Consultation Summary Published submissions in response to Exposure Draft & Draft Guidelines Philanthropy Australia has submitted responses to the Discussion Paper, Exposure Draft of legislation, and Draft Guidelines, which can be downloaded from our Submissions page and will keep Members and other interested parties up to date via the PhilanthropyOz Blog.

A Public Ancillary Fund (PuAF) is one of two types of Ancillary funds which is entitled to endorsement as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR). A PuAF collects tax deductible donations from the public which it distributes to DGRs covered by item 1 of the table in subsection 30-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

The other type of ancillary fund is a Private Ancillary Fund.

A public ancillary fund has the following characteristics:

• It exists only to collect, hold and distribute gifts to item 1 DGRs and must not carry on other activities
• The public is invited to contribute the fund
• The public participates in the governance of the fund (usually through the majority of trustees being representatives of the public)
• It cannot make gifts to other ancillary funds.

 

PuAF Membership

PuAFs will find Membership with Philanthropy Australia beneficial for the following reasons:

• The opportunity to participate in the wider philanthropic community, allowing members to discuss issues and concerns relevant to PuAFs, and to share information and learn from one another's experience
• Access to resources, information and research via our Resource Centre, including information on effective grantmaking strategies
• Information on current news and events via our membership newsletters, including PRESSing Matters, a weekly media round up; Philanthropy Review, a monthly e-communication; and Australian Philanthropy, our journal which is published three times a year.

Please contact us if you'd like to discuss any issues with regards to establishing or operating PuAFs:

Louise Burton
l.burton@philanthropy.org.au
(02) 9223 0155

Bruce Argyle
b.argyle@philanthropy.org.au
(03) 9662 9299

 

Other PuAF Resources

Discussion Paper: Improving the Integrity of Public Ancillary Funds
The Treasury discussion paper stating the reasoning behind the current PuAF enquiry.



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