Ms Madeleine Delaney:

The Charities Regulator already has the power to remove a charity that is not meeting the charity test and is therefore not a charitable organisation. A change in the main object or a change of purpose, or even changes to those elements of the constitution which deal with what a charity does with its income and property, might all result in a charity falling outside of the test and having to be removed. These provisions allow us to prevent that. If it is clear that a charity needs to come to the Charities Regulator for this, hopefully we can head it off at the pass and it will not happen. As Ms Martin said, it is a way of clarifying the matter and making sure we get it at the outset but it is all going to the same issue. As I have said, the power is already there and it is the same across all the jurisdictions. If an organisation is not continuing to meet that charity test, it can be removed from the register.