Anglicare Tasmania
Care: At least some of the information about this charity is no longer current. Use the ‘Search charity names’ box to see if there is a later review. If the latest review has a message like this, you are welcome to make your case for an updated review via email to ted@businessbythebook.com.au.
This is a review in the series ‘Organisations accredited by the CMA Standards Council’. The CMA Standards Council is ‘a ministry of Christian Ministry Advancement’[1], with a mission “to help build faith and trust in Christian organisations, be they churches, charities, schools or otherwise, to enable them to achieve more effective outcomes[2]. ‘Anglicare Tasmania’ is one of these accredited organisations[3].
Donors
‘Anglicare Tasmania’ is an organisation that seeks donations online. The charities’ regulator, 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 for ‘Anglicare Tasmania’, with #5 supplemented by the essentials of the ACNC’s What should I consider when deciding which charity to support?[4]
Question 1
A search on the ACNC Register of charities for ‘Anglicare Tasmania’ brings up the charity Anglicare Tasmania Inc (Anglicare Tas)[5].
Anglicare Tasmania Inc does not have the name ‘Anglicare Tasmania’ registered as a business name. It is arguable that it should therefore be using its full name on all public documents, including its website.
Question 2
Nothing in Anglicare Tas’s public materials indicates that it uses door-to-door or street collectors.
Question 3
Anglicare Tas’s web address has a ‘closed padlock symbol next to the website’s URL in the address bar’, so the website is secure [the first ACNC article above].
But there is no information on the donation page about the security of your information.
Question 4
‘Will my donation be tax deductible?’ on the charity’s ACNC Register record shows that a tax deduction is available.
But the donation page does not mention tax deductibility.
Question 5
Context
Mission (in the ‘Strategic Plan’, here)[6]:
This led them into providing these services.
This is what they did in 2020:
Sharing the Gospel?[7]
Their Statement of Belief requires it, but tax deductibility means that it cannot officially be part of what they do.
Giving options
Apart from the now out-of-date Christmas appeal, all giving goes to help ‘local people experiencing hardship’.
Where the donations went
The audited account of how donations are used is the Financial Report on the ACNC Register.
In Anglicare Tas’s Report the directors sign that ‘the financial report…shows a true and fair view’. The Australian Accounting Standards say that they must give you enough information for a full understanding of the statements [AASB 101]. We’ll let you judge whether they have.
In the Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income they report the expenses like this (with last year in the second column):
Other than a breakup of depreciation, a figure for ‘Rental expense’, and the disclosure of ‘Post-employment benefits’ and employee leave provisions, no other information on these expenses is given.
Directors responsible
From the Directors’ Report [Financial Report 2020], these are the people responsible for the Financial Report 2020:
David Peters
Joan Harvey
The ACNC Register shows that since that time David Peters, John Harvey, and Helen Harris have left, and Chris Jones, Christopher Jones, Ruth Croser and Pamela Harvey have joined.
Impact
Everything Anglicare Tas is doing may be being done ‘properly’[10], but unless the money is producing the change in people that the charity intends (i.e., an impact), the money would be better used elsewhere. And the same applies if the impact is less than is being achieved by another charity.
There is no mention of the impact of the work on the website, including in the Annual Report 2019-20.
Standard 5.6 of the CMA Standards council standards (see above) requires that regular program evaluations must be performed. There is no mention of evaluations on the website.
Charity response
We sent a draft of this review to the charity. They…did not respond.
Link added by me. ↑
Emphasis in original. ↑
It achieved this by meeting the Council’s ‘Principles and Standards of Responsible Stewardship’, and therefore is able to be promoted as a ‘high quality organisation’ ↑
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? [A section in the article, Donating and Volunteering]. ↑
Although ‘Anglicare Tasmania Inc’ does not appear on ASIC’s ‘Organisations and Business Names’ register, it is in the list published by the Tasmanian Government (justice.tas.gov.au). ↑
And here’s their Statement of Belief. ↑
‘When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett says this about sharing the Gospel: ‘A host of contextual issues determine the best manner and the appropriate time to present the gospel verbally, particularly in militant Muslim or Hindu settings. But without such a presentation, it is not possible for people to be personally transformed in all their relationships, which is what poverty alleviation is all about [Kindle Locations 1262-1264, Moody Publishers]. ↑
Or, if you like, the alternative description in the Financial Report 2020. ↑
The $56.3 million ‘Employee benefits expense’ was for 616 full-time equivalent employees, an average of $91K. ↑
The behaviour of its people, its use of money, and how it goes about its business. See here for our last review that covers much of this area. ↑