Keeping it Legal a valuable resource for charities

5 December 2005

Keeping it Legal a valuable resource for charities, says Commission

Chief Executive of the Charities Commission Trevor Garrett applauded the launch of a set of legal guidelines for voluntary organisations today, declaring them a valuable resource for charities, particularly as the Charities Register takes shape next year.

Keeping it Legal: E Ai Ki Te Ture, a joint publication of the New Zealand Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations and the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector, contains practical information sheets on the legal requirements and responsibilities of voluntary organisations.

Mr Garrett said the resource would help the Charities Commission to assist organisations with their preparations for registration under the Charities Act 2005.

“One of the Commission’s founding principles under the Act is to support and educate the charitable sector on good governance and management. Keeping it Legal will certainly complement our work in this respect and I congratulate the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Hon Winnie Laban on the initiative.”

“The Commission aims to minimise the impact of registration on charities to ensure it doesn’t require any changes to an organisation’s nature or add to its work load,” he said. “We fully intend to make the compliance process easy by providing a one-stop-shop – in effect, becoming a conduit to other government departments like Inland Revenue and the Companies Office.”

The Charities Commission was established on 1 July 2005 to provide a registration and monitoring system for charitable organisations in New Zealand. The Charities Register will open to receive applications from mid-2006.

ENDS

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