New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CHARITABLE FUNDRAISING ACT 1991 - SECT 24

24 Audit

(1) The accounts of any person or organisation that for the time being holds an authority to conduct a fundraising appeal, in so far as those accounts relate to receipts and expenditure in connection with any such appeals, must be audited annually by a person qualified to audit accounts for the purposes of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth or having other qualifications or experience approved by the Minister.

(2) The auditor must report on:

(a) whether the accounts show a true and fair view of the financial result of fundraising appeals for the year to which they relate, and

(b) whether the accounts and associated records have been properly kept during that year in accordance with this Act and the regulations, and

(c) whether money received as a result of fundraising appeals conducted during that year has been properly accounted for and applied in accordance with this Act and the regulations, and

(d) the solvency of the person or organisation.

(3) If the auditor, in the course of the performance of the auditor’s duties for the purposes of this section, is satisfied that:

(a) there has been a contravention of this Act or the regulations, and

(b) the circumstances are such that, in the auditor’s opinion, the matter has not been or will not be adequately dealt with by comment in the auditor’s report on the accounts or by bringing the matter to the notice of the person concerned or of the trustees or members of the governing body of the organisation concerned (as the case may be),

the auditor must immediately report the matter to the Minister.

(4) A person or organisation that fails to have accounts audited as required by this section is guilty of an offence. In the case of an unincorporated organisation, every trustee or other person who, at the time of offence, was a member of the governing body of the organisation is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.

(5) The requirements of this section are in addition to the requirements of any other law (including the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth).

(6) The whole or any part of a report prepared for the purposes of this section in respect of a corporation may be included in an auditor’s report prepared for the purposes of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth or any other law in respect of the corporation.

(7) Nothing in subsection (6) is intended to provide for the inclusion of any matter in an auditor’s report for the purposes of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth or any other law of the Commonwealth if the inclusion of that matter would be contrary to the provisions of that Act or law.