Archived: Emmanuel Relief & Rehabilitation International: mini charity review
Charity registration voluntarily revoked 28 May 2018. The charity appears to be no longer operating.
Mini charity review of Emmanuel Relief & Rehabilitation International (ERR) an organisation that is exempt from Australian income tax via its membership of Missions Interlink. (Including the answers to the questions that the Australian charity regulator, the ACNC, suggests that you ask.)
For the previous review, see here.
Is it responsive to feedback?
- I sent them a draft of this review on 19 August 2017. They…did not reply.
Is ERR registered?
- As a charity, yes.
- ERR is an unincorporated association.
- It was originally an incorporated association but was deregistered in 2006.
- Although it’s not taken advantage of it, ERR is an unincorporated body with the ‘Entity Subtype’ ‘Advancing Religion’, so is likely to qualify as a Basic Religious Charity.
- It has the name Emmanuel International registered as a business name.
- Its ABN record is therefore incorrect.
- ERR operates, per the ACNC Register, only in Western Australia. It doesn’t have a fundraising licence there. It needs one if it’s donations come from the public.
- Part of the ‘EI Network’.
What do they do?
- In the Annual Information Statement (AIS) 2016 – there is no website – they say very little and the same as last year:
- distributing (sic) funds to community development projects, raising awareness in Australia by regular meetings, praying for the needy.
- They operate overseas, per the ACNC Register, in six countries.
Do they share the Gospel [1]?
- No
What impact are they having?
- Nothing found.
What do they spend outside the costs directly incurred in delivering the above impact, that is, on administration?
- ‘Grants and donations made…’ were almost 100% of the expenses.
Do they pay their directors?
- We can’t tell from the information available.
Can you get a tax deduction?
- No
Is their online giving secure?
- NA
Where were the (net) donations sent?
- The grants ‘for use outside Australia’ presumably went to the six countries shown on the ACNC Register. The destination within the countries, and the destination for the grants ‘for use within Australia’, are not disclosed.
What choices do you have in how your donation is used?
- There is no information available on this.
Is their reporting up-to-date?
- Yes (seven months after year end, five days before the (extended) deadline).
Does their reporting comply with the regulator’s requirements?
- AIS 2016: Not quite
- ‘Other names…’: One name missing, one incorrect.
- No outcomes reported.
- Financial Report 2016: NA
- As a ‘Small’ charity, ERR doesn’t have to submit a Financial Report.
- Although ERR is a member of Missions Interlink, and one of their requirements is that members ‘have available for its members and supporters a clear and appropriate financial statement which has been approved by its auditor’ [Standards Statement, 4.1], they did not choose to lodge one with the ACNC voluntarily.
- An audit is required by the constitution.
What financial situation was shown in that Report?
- No Report (see above), but from the AIS 2016:
- Unlike last year, when it was 100% of income, donations this year were only 71% of income.
- No ‘Employee expenses/payments’.
- ERR reported that its accounting method was ‘Cash’, a method that doesn’t generate assets and liabilities (other than cash in the bank). These therefore came from outside the double entry system.
- Almost 100% of the payments were for ‘Grants and donations…’; $86K went overseas.
What did the auditor say about the last financial statements?
- No audit report is published.
- One is required by both the constitution and Missions Interlink.
If a charity, is their page on the ACNC Register complete?
- Yes
- ‘No’ for ‘Basic Religious Charity’ may be incorrect.
- ‘Email’, ‘website’ and ‘phone’ are blank, but are not compulsory.
- That ERR has no website is confirmed by the listing of ‘National Affiliates’ on Emmanuel International’s site.
- From there we also get a different email address: australia@e-i.org/. And the phone number: (08) 9386 8488.
- One name is missing, and one incomplete, under ‘Other Name(s)’.
Who are the people controlling the organisation?
- As shown on the ACNC Register (under ‘Responsible Persons’):
To whom is ERR accountable?
- They are a member of Missions Interlink.
- For one opinion of the strength of that accountability, see the section Activities in this review.
- Also accountable to the ACNC.
- “Good living and social concern are important [to the cause of evangelism], but they are not uniquely Christian graces…I’ve met a lot of fine Hindus, Muslims and atheists. Just living the life is not going to bring someone to Christ. There is much more to it than that. We must help people, certainly, but we must also share with them why we are motivated to do so. We must stand against injustice, poverty and need, but we must at the same time point to the One who brings justice and who can meet the deepest need. Until they know our reasons, how can they come to know our Lord?” [Dan Armstrong, the Fifth Gospel: The Gospel According to You, Anzea Books, pp. 13-14. ↑ ↑