ACC International Relief Inc.

This is review in the series ‘Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Members’. ACFID ‘is the peak body for Australian non government organisations (NGOs) involved in international development and humanitarian action.’ It requires Members to adhere to a Code of Conduct. ‘ACC International Relief’ is one such Member.

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COVID-19 response

No general statement, just an appeal.

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Donors

The name in the ACFID membership list links to a ‘Nothing found’ message. Google gives this website. Here they seek donations from the public.

The ACNC, in their article, Donating to Legitimate Charities, gives “some things to consider to help you make sure your donation is going where it is intended”:

Here’s the results^[1] for ‘ACC International Relief’, with #5 supplemented by the essentials of the ACNC’s What should I consider when deciding which charity to support?^[2]

1.  A search on the ACNC Register for ‘ACC International Relief’ gives, with the addition of ‘Inc’, a charity in the same name (ACCI Relief).

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2.  There is nothing in ACCI Relief’s material to suggest that they use either door-to-door or street collectors.

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3.  The web address begins with a closed padlock symbol, so the website is secure [the ACNC article above].

However, the security of your information is not mentioned on the first page where you enter information.

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4.  ACCI Relief’s ABN record (via the ACNC Register) says that a tax deduction is available for a donation both to it as an organisation and to two funds that it runs.

The information on the initial donation page is consistent with this.

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5.  The use of your donations

For the context, see ‘Full Project List’ here.

The audited account of how a charity uses donations is the Financial Report on the ACNC Register.

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ACCI Relief’s Financial Report 2019

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As for where the money went, the Report shows that 82% of its expenses, $3.39 million, went on one item, Funds to International Programs^[3]. There is (still) no explanation of this item^[4]. (Or any of the other expenses.)

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Directors

These were the people responsible for the Financial Report^[5]:

  Allan Davis

  Alun Davies

  Cecilia Jacob

  Karyn Ey

  Kristy Mills

  Kruithoff Ian (reversed?)

The directors are responsible to the members. The number of members is not disclosed so it is not possible to assess this accountability.

Charity response

ACCI Relief welcomes feedback:

We sent them a draft of this review. They received the email, but chose not to respond.  (To us that is; they did, however, correct two of the errors that we had identified.)

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1. See here for the previous review. ↑

2.   A section in the article, Donating and Volunteering: ↑

   ◦ Focus on the nature of the charity’s work, its beneficiaries and the impact the charity is having in the community.

   ◦ Is it clear what the charity is trying to achieve and how its activities work towards its objectives?

   ◦ Would you like to spend your money, or time if volunteering, to support these objectives?

   ◦ Is the charity being transparent about its activities?

3. This is a strong argument that is contrary to paragraph 112 of Australian Accounting Standard AASB 101. This paragraph requires the Notes to ‘provide information that is not presented elsewhere in the financial statements, but is relevant to an understanding of any of them.’ ↑

4. If ACCI Relief were accredited by the CMA Standards Council, you could ask for a report on the project or projects in which you were interested. (You’d have to pay for it though.) ↑

5. Shown in the information linked under ‘Annual Report’ on the ACNC Register. ↑