Latest news with #CharitiesAct
The Spinoff
7 days ago
- Business
- The Spinoff
Rainbow charity Outline in limbo as ‘questionable financial practices' alleged
Insolvency is flagged as a risk in an Outline annual report that suggests the possibility that 'unsupervised recklessness' – including $100,000 of undocumented credit card transactions – has led to serious financial problems. The 'dire' state of Outline's books has been laid bare ahead of its annual general meeting tonight, with its board revealing insolvency is a risk. The rainbow mental health organisation's annual report, released to Outline members ahead of tonight's AGM, paints a picture of 'questionable financial practices' and 'limited transparency', with an IRD debt repayment plan not adhered to, a yet-to-be-completed financial audit finding undocumented transactions, including 'un-provenanced credit card transactions worth circa $100,000', and auditors questioning 'the volume and usage of international travel expenditures'. Outline provides phone and online support services for rainbow communities across Aotearoa, as well as in-person support groups in Auckland. A widely respected charitable organisation, according to its annual report it has conducted more than 3,000 online chats and phone calls in the latest financial year, as well as providing 'everything from emotional support to letters of advocacy, food parcels, and clothing' to trans clients in a time of heightened transphobia. While an increase in staff numbers and a reduction in funding opportunities put pressure on cash flow at the organisation, 'a lack of controls and policy' is a recurring theme in the report. The charity ended the 2024/25 financial year with a $186,000 deficit, after income of just over $589,000, and 'no significant financial reserves'. The 2025/26 draft budget forecasts a $129,000 loss, 'with our current cash reserves due to be depleted in September 2025'. As of Tuesday this week, Outline was 'unable to secure assurance from an auditor that we have sufficient reserves and income to be a going concern in 2025', according to the report. This means 'we are at risk of trading while insolvent, which places us in breach of the Charities Act and the Incorporated Societies Act. If we do not balance our budget through a combination of additional income and reduced expenditure, we will be operating illegally.' 'The picture narrated above and illustrated by the attached profit and loss and draft budget is dire,' concludes the financial report section of the annual report. 'It has been caused by unsupervised recklessness. Damage limitation was made difficult by the inexperience of the board and by a lack of timely decisions but was improved following the chief executive's decision to resign,' it continues. Emmaline Pickering-Martin stood down as CEO of Outline in May 2025, after 16 months in the role. On December 6, 2024, Outline had announced it was at risk of closing permanently and launched a fundraising campaign to help it stay afloat. 'The government's attacks on Rainbow communities are hitting hard, and Outline is no exception,' said an Outline post on social media. 'Our funding is drying up while the need for our services grows every day.' In a LinkedIn post on December 12, Pickering-Martin wrote that she was 'beyond disgusted and angry and hugely hurt' by a response from Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ, on behalf of mental health minister Matt Doocey, declining the organisation's plea for more financial support. Several months later, Pickering-Martin posted about requests for funding being turned down by non-government organisations: 'After having hui after hui to get us to tailor our application to explain how dire our situation is … and still … GOOD LUCK AFTER 50 YEARS ENJOY CLOSING THE DOORS… That's essentially what every single email says. Sorry we can't help you Brown Org. Sorry we can't help you Brown CEO but if you were just like the old CEO Claire (read: young pākehā who was kind and quiet and did exactly what we said the way we said it) if you were just like her … we'd be more likely to fund you. At this point EVERY SINGLE DECLINE FEELS PERSONAL,' she wrote. In a separate post announcing her resignation in May 2025, Pickering-Martin said she had encountered 'Pākehā censorship', despite 'having the best board members and bosses anyone could ever ask for'. In the annual report, board co-chair Shane Kelly said while the public donation campaign 'provided valuable short-term support, it was initiated without full board oversight and exposed gaps in internal coordination'. This became an ongoing problem, with the six-member board experiencing 'sustained challenges in maintaining oversight and internal communications', wrote Kelly, whose co-chair Grace Abott left the board in February 2025. 'Operating at reduced capacity and with limited up-to-date information, we were not always able to meet our governance expectations as required. Delays and limited transparency in financial reporting and coordination made it harder to respond in an effective and timely manner.' Outline began the financial year with nine staff and now has five, as well as a network of more than 60 volunteers who operate its phone and chat lines. Its wage bill for the 2024/25 year was $505,000, peaking at nearly $12,000 per week in December 2024 and reducing to $4,500 by June 2025. 'Our financial position is such that further staff reductions are pivotal for financial survival,' said the annual report. After the wage bill, the next biggest chunk of the organisation's $777,000 outgoings were koha at $57,000 and general expenses at $27,000, with $24,000 spent on national travel, $17,000 on hauora (health), $17,000 on rent, $16,500 on professional development and $15,500 on international travel, according to the annual report. 'The discretionary nature of most of the largest categories of spend in the financial year signals a lack of controls and policy in the organisation,' it said. Other concerns raised in the report included an outstanding debt to Inland Revenue of more than $65,000 and a repayment plan that was agreed but 'not maintained'. Separately, a third party had contracted the organisation to provide services and had begun making payments to Outline in the 2024/25 financial year. The money was spent before the work commenced, according to the report. The largest portion of Outline's $589,000 income was donations totalling just over $200,000, with non-government grants contributing over $176,000 and government grants over $77,000. Its annual report thanks 16 major funders, including The Tindall Foundation, Rātā Foundation, Le Va, Sweat with Pride and the One Percent Collective, as well as Te Whatu Ora, Hāpai Te Hauora and the Lottery Grants Board. After Pickering-Martin's departure, the board sought legal advice 'to clarify its responsibilities and ensure appropriate next steps', Kelly said in the report. The board then assumed interim leadership and established weekly board meetings, and 'worked with staff to start to reduce expenditure [and] develop new revenue pathways'. First quarter costs have reduced by 87%, 'due largely to the commitment and effort of our remaining staff', who are 'showing grace and patience as the board has struggled to retain control over costs'. It added: 'Staff have made significant sacrifices during the last financial year, while also being unwillingly exposed to questionable practices that require investigation to ensure we maintain regulatory credibility as an organisation.'
Scoop
7 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Greenpeace Vandals Must Lose Charitable Status
Federated Farmers is renewing its call for Greenpeace to be stripped of its charitable status immediately, following the extreme activist group's latest illegal publicity stunt. "Greenpeace need to be held accountable for their repeated illegal activity and the spread of harmful misinformation," Southland Federated Farmers president Jason Herrick says. "How can they be recognised as a charity when they're breaking all kinds of laws trespassing on private property, vandalising public property, and intimidating the community? "Last night's vandalism of the world-famous trout statue in Gore reinforces why these activists need to lose their status as a charity. I think it's a total abuse of charitable status." Herrick says Greenpeace's vandalism of the statue and welcome sign is a shameless attempt to divide the small rural community and spread anti-farming propaganda. "These activists are total cowards who are slinking around in the shadows vandalising property under the cover of darkness," Herrick says. "There's a reason they've done this at night. They knew it was dodgy behaviour - and that they'd never get away with it in Gore during daylight hours. "We're a tight-knit community down here in Southland. Farming plays a huge role in not only our local economy, but in our social fabric too. "There's no way we're going to put up with this nonsense. Greenpeace should hang their heads in shame." In April, Federated Farmers called for the Government to immediately strip Greenpeace of its charitable status after the group's illegal occupation of Port Taranaki. Charitable status in New Zealand is intended to support organisations that advance public benefit through education, relief of poverty, and other recognised charitable purposes. Under the Charities Act, organisations must operate for the public good and not primarily serve political or advocacy purposes. Herrick says he sees Greenpeace's ongoing illegal activity as clear evidence that it no longer meets these criteria for charitable status. "There are plenty of amazing, honest charities doing fantastic work out there - but Greenpeace is not one of them. "It's become little more than an extreme activist group that's disrupting legitimate businesses and spreading harmful misinformation - repeatedly and deliberately." Federated Farmers lodged a formal complaint with Charities Services in April, requesting a formal inquiry into Greenpeace's conduct and eligibility for charitable status. A copy was also sent to Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Hon Louise Upston and Minister of Internal Affairs Hon Brooke van Velden. The complaint focuses on Greenpeace's repeated involvement in premeditated unlawful protest activity. That includes the 2024 protest at Fonterra's Te Rapa dairy factory where seven individuals were arrested, and last year's occupation of Straterra's Wellington office, where five were arrested during a staged lockdown. "We urge Charities Services to act decisively on our existing complaint and strip Greenpeace of its charitable status quickly," Herrick says. "I can't see any way they meet the requirements for registration under the Charities Act 2005. "Hardworking Kiwi taxpayers should not be forced to subsidise their illegal attacks and extremist political agendas through tax breaks for their donors. "Law-breaking groups cannot hide behind charitable privileges while threatening livelihoods with misinformation about farming." Herrick says it's not just Greenpeace that needs to be held accountable for how it's operating as a charity. "I think Charities Services and the Government need to be held accountable too and answer some tough, but fair, questions about how this rort of the rules is being allowed to continue. "There is absolutely no way Greenpeace should be allowed to constantly break the law and still be recognised as a charity."
NZ Herald
18-07-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Waipareira Trust wins legal point against Charities Board but fails to quash deregistration notice
'The intended decision notified the intention to remove Waipareira from the register on grounds which it is not necessary for present purposes to record, save as to note I am told Waipareira strongly disputes the basis for the intended decision,' Preston said. There were three members of the CRB at the time the notice was issued, but the court heard Parliament had amended the Charities Act in July 2023 and increased its membership from three to five. By December 2024 voluntary sector minister Louise Upston announced Roger Miller and Tarita Hutchison had joined the CRB's three existing members, finally making a legal quorum. Jonathan Orpin-Dowell, acting for Waipareira, said there was no reason to look beyond the plain meaning of the Charities Act amendments which required the board to have five members and did not specify the Minister of Internal Affairs was allowed discretion in having fewer. Andrew Butler KC, acting for the CRB, argued the 2023 general election had delayed adding to the board to preserve the rights of an incoming government to make appointments, and in any event the issuing of the notice of intent would be followed by an upcoming hearing by the CRB where Waipareira could further argue its case. Justice Preston agreed decisions made by a three-person CRB after the law changes were illegal: 'I conclude the intended decision is invalid as ultra vires the act.' But Justice Preston declined Waipareira's application to quash the notice. 'I conclude there will be a sufficient opportunity for Waipareira to challenge the intended decision on the merits, before a properly constituted board.' Even if the CRB decided to deregister following its own hearing, Waipareira could then also appeal to the Taxation and Charities Review Authority. Requests for comment on the ruling sent to the CRB and Tamihere were not immediately answered. Charities lawyer Sue Barker said reading the ruling was a real 'wow' moment. The short-staffed CRB had drawn some comment among charity law practitioners when new legislation was passed. 'I wondered at the time, what does this mean? If the law says you've got to have five members, you've got to have five,' she said. Barker said despite winning on this narrow point of law, Waipareira appeared to have gained little from the exercise. 'Ultimately, it's a pyrrhic victory. All it really does is delay and cause a lot of cost to charitable and taxpayer funds.' Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism – including twice being named Reporter of the Year – and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting from business newspapers and national magazines.
The Star
06-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
‘Do not delay tabling of law to maintain public confidence'
Addressing misuse of funds: Enacting a comprehensive Charities Act will curb abuse of power and leakage in donation fund management, and also enhance public confidence. PETALING JAYA: Putrajaya should no longer delay the tabling of a law to regulate charities to curb any misappropriation of funds and maintain the public's faith in such charitable and welfare associations, says an anti-corruption watchdog. Malaysia Corruption Watch (MCW) president Jais Abdul Karim believed that enacting a comprehensive Charities Act will curb abuse of power and leakage in donation fund management, and also enhance public confidence. 'This will mark a significant step in institutional reform towards building a culture of governance based on integrity and accountability,' he said. ALSO READ: No timeline yet for charity law In July last year, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said announced that the government is conducting a study to enact a Charities Act that will pave the way for the setting up of a Charities Commission. This is intended to address any misuse of funds donated to charities. Despite security checks by the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), there were concerns that funds might still be used for money laundering and in certain cases, the sources of these funds were unclear, she told the Dewan Negara then. ALSO READ: Charities commission needed to weed out scams Jais, when contacted yesterday, said MCW is ready to provide further input and recommendations to the government in drafting the Bill to ensure that it is effective without burdening legitimate and honest charitable organisations. The law, he said, should have provisions on registration and annual reporting. 'All bodies or organisations collecting charity funds must be officially registered under a designated entity; for example, the Registrar of Societies, Companies Commission or a special regulatory body.' 'They must also submit independently audited annual financial reports,' he said. ALSO READ: NGOs welcome idea to start commission Aside from that, he also proposed provisions that would enable transparency and access to information. 'Charitable organisations should publicly display information on fund management, the percentage distributed to target recipients and administrative costs on public platforms regularly, so the public can assess their level of transparency,' he said. The law must stipulate punishments for those who misuse donations, including criminal and civil actions such as account freezing, fundraising ban and court prosecution, he added. MCW believed that this step is an urgent necessity following several high-profile cases which have undermined public confidence in the transparency of donation management, he said. ALSO READ: 'Be wary of donation drive by influencers' 'Donors, whether individuals or corporations, must be assured that their contributions are managed with integrity, transparency and reach the intended beneficiaries,' he added. MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said that a dedicated commission would help regulate and monitor NGOs, which collect donations, more closely. At present, he said, there is no regulator on charities and their usage of funds. He said the existence of a Charities Commission would help ease the burden of MACC. 'It would provide a more structured oversight mechanism and help ensure transparency and accountability in charity work,' he said when contacted. Azam said that MACC would investigate complaints received about funds of such charity groups. 'We will verify and assess the information, especially in cases involving significant sums or matters of public interest,' he added. Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) vice-president Datuk Indrani Thuraisingham said if the proposed Act is rooted on best practices globally, it can prevent abuse of charitable funds, enhance public confidence and empower responsible civic action. 'However, this legislation should not compromise the independence of civil society organisations and their civic space to operate. 'A balanced enabling regulatory environment encourages innovation, allows flexibility in service delivery and safeguards freedom of association and expression,' she said. She proposed that the commission be independent and function as a non-partisan commission to register, monitor and investigate charitable organisations. 'All charitable bodies receiving public donations above a threshold must be registered,' she said. In terms of governance and accountability standards, she said there must be provisions requiring proper board governance, addressing conflict of interest declarations and risk management frameworks. Audits must be mandated for organisations exceeding a funding threshold, in addition to annual financial and narrative reporting requirements. There must also be an open-access public register of charities with key financial and programmatic data. She said fundraising methods, including social media and third-party collectors, must be regulated. For this, she proposed a Donor Bill of Rights to be established to ensure transparency, data privacy and accountability. The commission must also have power to investigate suspected misuse, issue directives, freeze assets and remove trustees or directors while whistleblower protection must be provided to employees, volunteers and beneficiaries reporting unethical or illegal practices, she added. Pushpan Murugiah, CEO of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), said there is no law that explicitly regulates these groups, with there being ambiguity on the legal definition of what constitutes an 'NGO' or 'charitable body'. This had allowed 'bad actors' to escape accountability, he said. 'It is critical that the government pursues reform that improves the governance of these bodies. 'A possible proposal could be the establishment of a singularly responsible oversight body to govern the activities of charitable bodies. 'This, alongside other reforms – such as a Political Financing Act, transparent beneficial ownership regulations and a Procurement Act – would ensure that charitable bodies are not abused for corrupt purposes.' 'It must be emphasised, however, that increased regulation and oversight must not be used as an excuse to unfairly discriminate against NGOs. 'In the past, the Registrar of Societies has been accused of disproportionately targeting organisations that oppose the government of the day – with the withholding of registration being a key example,' he added. Pushpan said sufficient safeguards must be in place to ensure that the body acts impartially and independently.
The Star
06-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
No timeline yet for charity law
Azalina: It is subject to holistic engagement with all stakeholders PETALING JAYA: The stories are infuriating, to say the least. Five office bearers from an NGO were arrested last month on suspicion of embezzling RM26mil in public donations. And in 2023, news emerged about a non-profit group allegedly misusing funds meant to help a war-torn country. This has since become a court case involving money laundering and criminal breach of trust. Amid reports of such transgressions, what is the status of the Charities Commission which the government wanted to set up to ensure no one takes advantage of donations from generous Malaysians? 'A specific timeline for the enactment of the law (to set up the commission) has yet to be set. 'It is subject to holistic engagements with all relevant stakeholders, including the Finance Ministry,' said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said. 'The financial implications remain a key consideration that must be examined as part of the overall decision-making process,' she said when contacted. It has been a year since reports came out that the government is conducting a feasibility study to draw up a Charities Act and establish a Charities Commission to address problems related to the the misuse of funds donated to charitable organisations. Azalina told the Dewan Negara in July last year that similar Charities Act in countries like the United Kingdom, Singapore and New Zealand would be studied. Asked why the proposed Act had not materialised in Malaysia despite having been planned more than a year ago, Azalina said there was no timeline yet. 'Policy-wise, the proposal has been generally well received, with positive feedback from initial consultations.' She said engagement sessions, discussions and a survey conducted last year involving 1,006 respondents showed strong public support for a dedicated law and commission to regulate charitable activities. The government, she said, remained serious in addressing the issue and ensuring a well-structured, feasible and effective legislative outcome. 'Our current fragmented regulatory framework with multiple regulators and inconsistent definitions has hindered effective oversight,' she said. Azalina said the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister's Department has established a special committee to study the feasibility of such an Act towards establishing the commission. 'This committee comprises researchers from both public and private universities, representatives from NGOs, the Malaysian Bar and the division itself.' Among others, the proposed Act is aimed at enhancing governance and streamlining and monitoring efforts. Azalina said the Legal Affairs Division would hold further engagement and studies to strengthen the policy framework. 'These efforts will culminate in the preparation of a memorandum for the Cabinet's approval,' she added. Prof Dr Zuraidah Ali and Asst Prof Dr Zati Ilham Abdul Manaf – law experts from the International Islamic University Malaysia who had proposed models for the Charities Commission last year to the Legal Affairs Division – pointed out that there is currently no regulator for the collection of charities by NGOs in Malaysia. 'We proposed three models. Now, it is up to the government,' said Zuraidah. As for the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs), its minister Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar said that it is working with the state authorities and enforcement agencies to look into the operations of organisations that collect funds for religious purposes. 'We are aware of the existence of hundreds of NGOs collecting funds in the name of religion and without oversight,' he said, adding that this included donations for the Palestinian cause. He said that his department is in charge of monitoring Muslims' contributions in the name of charity but the authority remains with the states' religious councils. 'We welcome proposals to establish a body similar to the Charity Commission to monitor the activities of charitable NGOs. 'However, this must be aligned with Malaysia's Islamic legal framework, which places religious authority under the jurisdiction of the states,' he said. To ensure that the contributions of Muslims are channelled to trustworthy parties, Mohd Na'im said that his unit, through Yayasan Waqaf Malaysia, is collaborating with the states' Islamic religious councils.
