Charity Subtype: Public Benevolent Institution [Pt1] - A Charitable Institution

Part 1

When the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission register an organisation, its charity ‘subtypes’ are also publicly registered.

These reflect the category of that organisation’s charitable purpose, which is what its activities will work towards achieving.

Each subtype has a specific meaning under the law.

The subtype for discussion today is:

🔹 Public Benevolent Institution🔹

A Public Benevolent Institution is a type of charitable institution whose main purpose is to relieve suffering that is serious enough to arouse a feeling of pity or compassion in members of the community.

Such suffering could be caused by conditions such as poverty, sickness, helplessness or distress.

Examples of charities who may be public benevolent institutions include those that:

🔹 directly provide relief to people in need, such as:

o some hospitals and hospices

o some disability support services

o some aged care services, or

o providers of low rental or subsidised housing, for people in need

🔹 directly engage others to provide relief to people in need, such as a charity that promotes benevolent relief by entering into contracts with service providers to deliver that relief in different areas, or

🔹 provide relief within a relationship of collaboration, such as a charity that raises funds in order to channel these funds to specific programs that provide benevolent relief, through a collaborative arrangement with another organisation that delivers those programs.

⚠️There are special requirements to be considered an ‘institution’.

📌 We will discuss this further in our next post – stay tuned! If you need legal advice about a charity or not-for-profit, get in touch with us for a free 15-minute consultation:

legal@littlecfo.com