The public sector union says no good will come from the Federal Government decision to scrap the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission.

The Commission (ACNC) has acted as a watchdog for such institutions nationwide, but has been bitterly opposed by Catholic charities in particular, and will now be shut down.

Up to 100 public service jobs look set to be lost, along with independent oversight of the actions of many groups, already operating free from tax and other restrictions.

The decision was announced by Social Service Minister Kevin Andrews, on virtually the same day as the watchdog for charities released its report on compliance over the year that it has been up and running.

Since December 2012, the ACNC Compliance team received and assessed 202 charity related concerns, an average of 17 charity related concerns per month.

There are currently 55 cases open, eight of which involve ‘investigations of serious matters’.

Forty-eight of the concerns raised were over fraudulent or criminal activity within a charity; fifty were related to governance; and twenty-one were about charity workers receiving private benefits.

Despite its effectiveness in resolving dozens of issues in the ACNC’s first year of operation, it has been deemed an unnecessary regulatory burden on the industry. Some reports say it will be replaced with a system of honesty and self-reporting of income and other activities.

The Social Service Minister says he wants to set up a “National Centre of Excellence” for charities in coming financial year.

“The centre's mandate will encompass both organisations that receive government funding and smaller local community groups that get little or no direct government support,” he said.

Community and Public Sector Union deputy president Alistair Waters said the move would set the clock back to mid-2012, when there was outcry about the lack of regulation for charities.

“Kevin Andrews calls it a war on ‘red tape’. We say they are removing the crucial oversight that ensures the public’s contributions to charities are handled in the correct and proper manner,” he said.

“Unfortunately the first casualties in Mr Andrews’ war are the hardworking staff who are doing an outstanding job of monitoring the charities and not-for-profit sectors and the public who may no longer have confidence in a self-regulatory system.”

Shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh attacked the decision and the ideology underlying it.

“Mr Andrews is ideologically bent on only listening to a narrow number of entities that cry about regulation and red tape,
the Labor MP said.

“Some regulation is simply the price organisations pay for access to generous tax concessions worth many millions of dollars.

“The Abbott government often expresses extreme concern about how taxpayer money is spent; that accountability is crucial...so why abolish the ACNC?”