Archived: Tahlee Bible College, charity review

This is a charity review, a review for those with an interest in the Australian charity Tahlee Bible College (TBC).

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 TBC.

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[ii], on 13 January 2016, and invited them to comment. They did not respond.

Organisation of this review

• The first part of this review is organised according to the headings in the Register entry. This is how to use this section of the review:
  1. For each heading in the register entry, first read the information under that heading.
  2. Then check if that heading is included below. (Headings for which there is no comment are not included.)
• Lastly, there is a section Membership of accountability organisations claimed.

Sources

• ACNC Register (including links)
• Google search on the charity’s names (see Legal Name, below)
• TBC website.
• Facebook: TBC, and Tahlee Ministries Inc (see Legal Name, below) calling itself ‘Tahlee’. Not on LinkedIn.
• State government fundraising licence registers.
• www.glassdoor.com.au

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Entity Subtype

• TBC is very late in selecting a subtype.
• The organisation’s objects cannot be checked because no constitution has been lodged by TBC.

AIS 2014 Overdue by 6 months

• Here are the consequences of it being this much overdue.

CHARITY DETAILS

Legal Name

• Although TBC is legally registered as a charity with the ACNC, it is not a separate legal entity; that is, it is an unincorporated entity. (This means that it must act through its members.)

Other Name(s)

• This is incorrect. This is neither a trading name or business name of TBC.
• Tahlee Ministries Incorporated (TM) is a legal entity in its own right, a NSW incorporated association with registration current (Y2385129).
• It is also a charity. A charity with the same Charity Address for Service, Website, and Phone as TBC (see below).
  • TM appears to be holding out that TBC belongs to it.
  • However, even though TM shows TBC as a trading or business name, this is incorrect.
  • TM’s AIS 2014 is also ‘Overdue by 6 months’.
  • Two other charities record (incorrectly) TM under ‘Other Name(s), and have the same Charity Address for Service, Website, and Phone as TBC (see below):
    • Gospel Service Ministries Inc.
    • Port Stephens College
• Gospel Service Ministries Inc.
  • is also ‘Overdue by 6 months’.
  • According to TBC’s website (actually a website in TM’s name), Gospel Service Ministries changed its name to TM in 2004.
  • The official record (see Charity ABN, below) says differently: from inception on 1 November 1999 there was only a change in the suffix from ‘Pty Ltd’ to ‘Inc.’ (in 2000).
  • The name change that it is referring to is most likely the one shown on the similar record for TM: from Gospel Service Ministries Inc Headquarters to TM in August 2004.
• Port Stephens College
  • is also ‘Overdue by 6 months’.
• There is yet another charity that has TM as its Charity Address for Service: an unincorporated entity called Tahlee Ministries Incorporated – Riverview Camp Centre.
  • This one, like the others, is overdue in submitting its AIS 2014 (by 11 months); however, it, unlike the others, has yet to submit its AIS 2013 – it is Overdue by 21 months.

Charity ABN

• Tax deductibility: Although TBC itself doesn’t have deductible gift recipient status, it operates two funds that do. A donation to either of these funds would therefore allow you to claim a tax deduction.

Charity Street Address

• Postal address, from the website: Locked Bag 1 Karuah, NSW 2324.

ANNUAL REPORTING

• AIS 2014

• This is TBC’s compulsory Annual Information Statement 2014 (AIS 2014). Very overdue.

• Financial Report 2014
  • This is lodged with the AIS 2014 (see above), and is therefore also not available.
    • If the financial statements have been lodged with Fair Trading (NSW Government), you can pay for a copy.

ABOUT THE CHARITY

• Statement of Faith
  • The constitution cannot be checked for such a statement because no constitution has been lodged by TBC.

Date Established

• The website has a history of TBC; so does Wikipedia.

Who the Charity Benefits

• Vision
  • None found.

• Mission

• Activities (What did TBC do?)
  • From Description of charity’s activities and outcomes in the AIS 2013 (AIS 2014 not yet submitted):
    • Offering training, religious education, camps
  • From the website: accommodation, and ‘training and education’.
  • The National Education Directory of Australia has an entry for TBC. Including a logo.
  • The contact information is correct but the CRICOS Provider Number is no longer valid.
  • This directory seems to be more up-to-date.
• Outcomes (What did TBC deliver?)
  • TBC did not respond to the request in the AIS 2013 (2014 not yet submitted) for a description of its outcomes.
  • None found on the website.
• Impact (How were people’s lives improved?)
  • Nothing found.

Size of Charity

• There are no revenue figures on the register to confirm this declared size.
• TBC is Small, but if it is combined with any of the others that are separate to TBC – Medium for TM and Gospel Service Ministries, Small for Port Stephens College and an unknown size for TM – Riverview Camp Centre – maybe the group is Large? Especially as the Register information is well out-of-date.

Financial Year End

• This means that the next report (after 2014 is submitted) is due by the end of January 2016.
• If the 2014 report is submitted this month, the information will be up to 18 months out-of-date.

WHERE THE CHARITY OPERATES

Operating State(s)[iii]

• TBC does not hold a fundraising licence in this state, nor in any of the other six that have a licensing regime. TM is exempt.
  • Whether the operating charity is TBC or TM, its need for these licences depends on whether those states think that, by calling for donations publicly, it is ‘fundraising’ in their State.

CHARITY’S DOCUMENT (SIC)

• There is no Annual Report/Review available on the ACNC Register.
• Nor on the TBC website.

RESPONSIBLE PERSONS

• It is compulsory to disclose the names of these people.
• There is also no information on the website about the board or committee.
• It appears from this that John Anderson (Rev), and Ron and Pam Schravemade are the main players.
  • John Anderson is part of the National Leadership Team and on the board of Missions Interlink (Australian Evangelical Alliance) (see below).
• For the incorporated bodies (see Legal Name, above), the names of the committee members should be available from the applicable state body.

(End of review of the ACNC Register information)

Membership of accountability organisations claimed

• None claimed. Tahlee Ministries Inc. (not TBC) is, however, a member of Missions Interlink.  And John Anderson (see Responsible Persons) is part of the team that runs Missions Interlink.

(End of review)

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

[ii] Using the email address(es) on the Register.

[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.’