Guide
ORIC and the ACNC: you report once
If your corporation is registered with ORIC and is also an ACNC-registered charity, you lodge with ORIC only. ORIC passes the reports to the ACNC, which updates the Charity Register. A surprising number of corporations do the work twice.
The arrangement, in both languages
What the Act says
“If your corporation is also registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC), you only need to lodge reports and changes to your corporation with ORIC.”
What that means
One set of reports. One regulator to lodge with. One deadline to track.
You are not exempt from charity obligations — you are exempt from lodging twice. And it is automatic: there is nothing to apply for.
Checked against ORIC — Reporting to other stakeholders, .
What this saves you
Most charities in Australia must submit an ACNC Annual Information Statement every year. Charities registered with ORIC are the exception — they report through ORIC instead.
That is a whole annual return your corporation does not have to prepare. If your corporation has been completing an ACNC Annual Information Statement as well as its ORIC reports, it has been doing work it did not need to do.
How the information flows
ORIC shares information with the ACNC each month. Your ORIC lodgements and updates travel across, and the ACNC updates the Charity Register from them.
The practical consequence is one people get wrong: if the Charity Register shows something incorrect about your corporation, you fix it at ORIC. Keeping your ORIC information current keeps the Charity Register current. Contacting the ACNC to correct it is usually the long way round.
What has not gone away
This is a lodgement arrangement, not a change to what your corporation is. Charity status still carries its own obligations — the ACNC governance standards, maintaining a charitable purpose, and the conditions attached to any tax concessions or deductible gift recipient status your corporation holds.
It also does not touch the ATO. Depending on what your corporation does, there may still be a company tax return, activity statements, or a not-for-profit self-review return, plus superannuation obligations for employees and directors. Those are separate from both regulators.
The one to watch
Because everything now flows from your ORIC lodgement, a late or incorrect ORIC report does double damage — it is late with the Registrar and the Charity Register goes stale, which is the version funders and donors tend to look at.
If you are behind, start at overdue ORIC reports. The fix is the same one, and it repairs both.
Frequently asked questions
Our corporation is registered with ORIC and is also an ACNC charity. Do we report to both?
No. If your corporation is also registered as a charity with the ACNC, you only need to lodge reports and changes to your corporation with ORIC. ORIC shares them with the ACNC, which updates the Charity Register.
Do we have to lodge an ACNC Annual Information Statement?
All charities except those registered with ORIC must submit an Annual Information Statement. ORIC-registered charities report through ORIC instead.
How often does ORIC pass information to the ACNC?
ORIC shares information with the ACNC each month.
Our details on the Charity Register are wrong. Who do we tell?
ORIC. If your information with ORIC is kept up to date, the information on the Charity Register will be too — so the fix is at the ORIC end rather than the ACNC end.
Does this mean we can ignore the ACNC entirely?
No. It removes the duplicate reporting, not charity status itself. Your obligations as a charity — including the ACNC governance standards and keeping your charitable purpose — continue, and losing charity registration has tax consequences. This arrangement is about where you lodge, not about what you are.