Goodhew JoCHARITIES AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon JO GOODHEW (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector): I move That the Charities Amendment Bill be now read a second time. The Charities Amendment Bill makes a small number of technical amendments to the Charities Act 2005. It was divided from the current Statutes Amendment Bill to give the public a further opportunity to make submissions. I would like to thank the members of the Government Administration Committee for their work on this bill. The committee received 32 written submissions and heard six oral submissions. The committee recommended one amendment not proceed and the insertion of one additional amendment. Although the bill only makes a small number of changes to the Charities Act they are important for reinforcing the public's trust and confidence in the system. I would like to take a little bit of time to outline the changes in the bill. Clause 11 adds tax evasion and similar offences under section 143B of the Tax Administration Act 1994 to the list of offences that disqualify someone from being an officer of a registered charity. These offences are similar to other financial-related disqualifying offences already provided for in the Act. This amendment will provide additional assurance that unsuitable persons are not able to obtain control over a charity's finances. It goes without saying that financial prudence is an important aspect of public trust and confidence in charities. Clause 12 introduces a 20-working-day time frame for an entity to respond to a notice to provide more information in relation to its registration application. If an adequate response is not received within this time the application will simply be treated as withdrawn. Twenty working days is a standard time frame for responding to administrative requests; it appears in 175 separate Acts of Parliament. The clause also provides for extensions of time which can be granted by the chief executive. Currently the Department of Internal Affairs must go through the process of formally declining an incomplete application where the entity has simply failed to respond to a request for further information and that happened 180 times in the 2015-16 financial year. Quite apart from the time and cost this adds to the application process a formal notice that an application has been declined carries substantial reputational risk for the entity concerned. The amendment will not change the process for handling registration applications which includes an obligation to observe the rules of natural justice. Departmental officials advised the committee that the application process is and will remain an iterative process. I am happy to repeat that assurance here in the House tonight. I would also note that this does apply only to the application process; it is not a licence for the department to request at any point in time information from an entity within 20 days. New clause 12A has been inserted at the committee's recommendation to correct a 2012 drafting error. It replaces the words chief executive" in section 60(3) of the principal Act with "Board". Section 60 sets out the High Court's ability to make interim orders against the statutory decision maker pending determination of an appeal. For section 60(3) which cross-references section 55 the statutory decision maker is the Charities Registration Board. The chief executive of the Department of Internal Affairs provides administrative and secretariat support to the board but does not have any statutory decision-making authority. This amendment does not have any impact on the charities' ability to seek justice; it is merely providing clarity to the High Court when making those interim orders. As I have outlined this bill makes three small but important technical changes that will improve the coherence of the Charities Act 2005. It will provide greater clarity around the registration application process and contribute to public trust and confidence in charities by strengthening protections against the risk of financial mismanagement. In conclusion again I would like to thank the committee for its careful consideration of the bill. I look forward to hearing the contributions of other members and I commend the bill to the House."