ASIC gives minor relief to small charitable companies limited by guarantee from whistleblower policy obligation

Recognising that the current requirements for small charities that are structured as companies limited by guarantee (CLG) under the new whistleblower provisions in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) are proving to be disproportionately onerous, ASIC announced last week that it will not require charities with an annual revenue of less than $1M to have a whistleblower policy in the form required under the Corporations Act.

Whilst this will likely be seen as a welcome reprieve for small charitable CLGs, they must bear in mind that they will still be bound by the mandatory whistleblower provisions in the Corporations Act and Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth).

As such, in reality, these organisations will still need an internal policy that assists management in complying with these obligations, although the contents of such policy will be reduced and simplified.

All public companies and large proprietary limited companies are required to have a whistleblower policy that complies with the Corporations Act in place by 1 January 2020.