by Kathryn Parker, ACCORD Research Fellow

Session 3, titled Traps for Young Players, highlighted key developments in community foundations.

Alice Mac Dougall, Special Counsel for Freehills, spoke about the various legal, tax and regulatory obstacles surrounding the sourcing of funds for community foundations. In many instances, those responsible for establishing community foundations in Australia did not properly understand the tax status and structures required to establish a foundation. For example, most community foundations were generally public companies, limited by guarantee, with the company acting as trustee of a trust that operated a public fund. The operation of the company was governed by its constitution, and by the Corporations Act.

The public fund was also required to meet strict Australian Taxation Office (ATO) requirements relating to public funds, including the restriction in its objects regarding gifts; the public fund can only make grants to 'deductible gift recipients' ('DGR' status as approved by the ATO). Charities must be registered with DGR status in order to receive grants

Andrew Lawson, Community Foundation Development Officer of the Geelong Community Foundation, highlighted the need for communities to undertake feasibility studies that identified the structures and possibilities available to community stakeholders for the purpose of 'philanthropic' 'charitable' and other 'grant -making' purposes. He spoke about the number of community foundations that had been established in most states, major regional areas and small communities, throughout Australia. He mentioned, Budderim, Bega, Wingecarribee, Northern Rivers and Tumut in NSW. In Victoria foundations exist in Ballarat, Benalla, Geelong, greater Melbourne, Bendigo and Central Victoria. Foundations have also been established in Tasmania as well as the Barossa Foundation in South Australia.

Feasibility studies determining the 'need to establish' community foundations were now being conducted in South Australia, Western Australia, and Greater Sydney.

Catherine Brown from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal spoke about their role in working with local communities to establish community foundations and other 'vehicles' to assist local community development efforts.

A session titled 'Creating Community Philanthropists' featured some practical case studies highlighting recent developments in community foundations in Benalla (Victoria), Central Queensland and Wingecarribee (NSW). Each one featured practical examples of planning, challenges and community and business support for their endeavours. None of the foundations profiled appeared to have explored other community finance options that might be available to them.

The afternoon session Non-profits Speak Out raised a number of issues regarding public economics and welfare; economic disciplines that were important for the social sector. The Benevolent Society, in supporting the non-profit sector, looks for innovative ways of financing community initiatives; models that are sustainable and alleviate social disadvantage. Social Ventures Australia also expressed concern about the gap between the business and philanthropy sectors, especially about the lack of skills for business mentoring and business development. Communities and their representatives were often seen to focus on 'service delivery' rather than imparting real capacity building skills with an 'entrepreneurial' spirit and 'skills set'.

The participants in the session agreed that, solutions needed to be inter-connected, with new strategic partnerships that focused more on program support than on weak accountability mechanisms.