Archived: Hope India Mission Australia Inc, charity review

This is a charity review, a review for those with an interest in the Australian charity Hope India Mission Australia Inc (HI).

It is structured according to the charity’s entry on the ACNC[i]Register, and its purpose is to supply some information extra to what is there, information that may be helpful in your decision about HI.

It is up to you to decide whether any or all of the information presented here is what you need in order to make that decision, and whether you should seek any other information, either from the charity itself or from other sources.

Ministry response

Prior to publishing this review, I sent my observations to the charity, on 26 February 2016, and invited them to comment. They did not respond.

Organisation of this review

• The review is organised according to the headings in the Register entry.
  • For each heading in the register entry, first read the information under that heading.
  • Then check if that heading is included below. (Headings for which there is no comment are not included.)

Sources

• ACNC Register (including links)
• Google search on the charity’s name.
• HI website. On neither FaceBook nor LinkedIn.
• State government fundraising licence registers.
• No reviews yet on Glassdoor.

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Entity Subtype

• HI is long overdue in advising the ACNC.
• Although the ‘Objects’ in the constitution make no mention of Christianity, let alone spreading the Gospel, the Statement of Faith that is included does.

CHARITY DETAILS

Legal Name

• HI is a WA incorporated association.

Charity ABN

• Tax deductibility: Your donation to HI will not attract a tax deduction.

Charity Address for Service

• I have no reason to believe that this doesn’t work.

Charity Street Address

• Postal address, from the website: PO Box 596, Inglewood WA 6062

Email

• I have no reason to believe that this doesn’t work.
• An alternative, from the website: admin@hima.org.au

Phone

• From the website: 08 9378 9823

Website

• From a Google search: www.hima.org.au

ANNUAL REPORTING

• AIS 2014
  • This is HI’s compulsory Annual Information Statement 2014 (AIS 2014).
  • It is five months overdue.
• Financial Report 2014
  • This is five months overdue. (Unless the ACNC have made a mistake – Small charities are not required to lodge a Financial Report.
  • From the website: “The accounts are audited annually by an independent accountant.”
  • Although there is nothing on the website, HI is a member of Missions Interlink[ii].
    • 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].
    • I asked HI, as a potential supporter and somebody who reviews charities, for this ‘statement’. However, they did not reply. I have therefore been unable to review the latest report.

ABOUT THE CHARITY

• Statement of Faith
  • Nothing on the website but there is one in the constitution.

Date Established

• No history found, either on the website or via the Google search.

Who the Charity Benefits

• Vision
  • None found.
• Mission
  • None found.
• Activities (What did HI do?)
  • No AIS 2014 submitted yet, and nothing on the website.
• Outcomes (What did HI deliver?)
  • No AIS 2014 submitted yet, and nothing on the website.
• Impact (How were people’s lives improved?)
  • Nothing on the website.

Size of Charity

• HI is not registered for GST; if it has understood the requirements, its revenue must be less than $150 K p.a.

Financial Year End

• Before the due date for the next report, the financial information on the Register will be up to 18 months out-of-date.

• You may therefore need to ask for more up-to-date information.

Basic Religious Charity

• This is a mistake. MI doesn’t qualify.

WHERE THE CHARITY OPERATES

Operating State(s)[iii]

• Not a registered fundraiser in this state.

Operates in (Countries)

• The website says that “HIM is registered with the government of India and is governed by an executive committee in India.”

CHARITY’S DOCUMENT (SIC)

• The minutes of the 2012 AGM – but without the attachments – is lodged as an ‘Annual Report’ on Register.
• There is no Annual Report/Review on the HI website.

RESPONSIBLE PERSONS

No. of Australian ‘responsible person’ positions[iv]

Joshua Abraham                 This function was not working at the time of writing

Serge Beugels

Brian Farleigh

Murray Patchett

George Woodhouse

Roger Frampton

Alan Cass

Stanley Abraham

Jhansi Abraham

• Is Murray Patchett this one?
• Under ‘Position’,
  • HI is missing a Vice-Chairperson compared to its constitution, and
  • What is the difference between ‘Other’ and ‘Board member’?
• The directors are not identified on the website.

(End of review)

[i] Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, Australia’s national regulator of charities.

[ii] A valuable membership for some– see ‘What membership means’ here.)

[iii] This is how the ACNC explains ‘operating locations’ in their application guide: ‘You need to give details about where in Australia your organisation conducts (or plans to conduct) its activities.’

[iv] Because of the possibility of two (or more) directors having the same name on the register of responsible persons, it is not possible to be definitive about the number of directorships held.