The recent story about something that appears to be endemic at YWAM ‘bases’ made me look at how much YWAM had going on in Australia.

YWAM City Ventures Ltd (City Ventures) is one of the twenty-seven charities they have registered in Australia that come up in a search of the register of charities on ‘YWAM’ or ‘Youth With a Mission’.

Two more YWAM organisations were discovered while doing this review. One has a name the same as City Ventures, except without ‘YWAM’: City Ventures Ltd^[1].

City Ventures has no website of its own. Its address and emails on the Register suggest that it is part of another YWAM, YWAM Medical Ships – Australia Ltd (Ships) The fact that three of its four directors are also directors of this charity confirms this^[2].

• Why, then, is there not a single reference to Ships in the Financial Report 2019 of City Ventures?
• Similarly, why is this the only reference to City Ventures in the Ships’ Financial Report 2019?

• The fact that the debt was guaranteed by Ships is not mentioned in the City Ventures Financial Report 2019.
• This borrowing was taken out in 2019. One of the deficiencies of the Financial Report (see below) is the fact that there is no information about this debt (lender, terms).

What does City Ventures do?

The only information we have is what they have put on the Register:

The first two sentences are the first of City Ventures’ many ‘primary objects’ in its constitution [ACNC Register]. They are also shared with more than one other YWAM.

Their ‘Description of the charity’s activities and outcomes’ in their AIS 2019 repeats the above. Nothing about 2019.

So, they get young people ready to serve in Australia and PNG. (As does YWAM Durham, another YWAM seemingly controlled from Townsville.)

Their woeful Financial Report 2019 (see below) says even less.

From the financial information in their AIS 2019 we learn that almost all their revenue came from ‘providing goods and services’. How that relates to what they do is not explained.

What do they spend their money on?

The audited account of how donations are used is the Financial Report 2019 on the ACNC Register.

Included in that Report is a signed declaration by the directors of City Ventures that

No, they don’t. So, the directors (see below for who they were) have made a false declaration (and the Auditor has given an inappropriate opinion):

• The Report is missing one of the compulsory financial statements, the Statement of Cash Flows.
• The directors say that the company has an ‘issued capital’; however, this type of company, a company limited by guarantee, has no such equity.
• Most of the required Notes (Notes to the Financial Statements) are missing.
• The Statement of Profit or Loss uses a long out-of-date format (and is therefore missing important information).
• The Directors’ Declaration does not comply with the ACNC’s requirements.
• The $361K of revenue is described only as ‘Revenue’.
• 61% of the expenses are described merely as ‘Other expenses’.
• Buildings are not depreciated.
• No explanation is given for the lack of a bank account.
• $520K is showing as owing by a related entity, ‘YWAM Townsville Assoc Inc’, but the relationship is not described.
  • Five of the eight directors of City Ventures are on the YWAM Townsville Association Inc Committee, so perhaps it is that Committee that controls both Ships and City Ventures.

People responsible

The Directors’ Declaration [Financial Report 2019] was signed by these four people:

Jared Hoover

Rebekah Hoover

Jared and Rebekah together.

Kenneth Mulligan^[3]

Robyn Mulligan

Kenneth and Robyn together.

Given that these are the current directors, it appears that it is these two couples who are responsible for the accounts described above.

All four are staff members of YWMN^[4]. This lack of accountability is typical for YWAMs, documented by us in reviews, and recently by Ministry Watch.

The auditor

Despite the multiple deviations from the Accounting Standards described above, the auditor, Greg Redington of Coutts Redington, concludes that

‘we have not become aware of any matter that makes us believe that the financial report….is not in accordance with the Corporations Act 2001 including: (a) giving a true and fair view…and (b) complying with the Australian Accounting Standards…’.

In other words, a ‘clean’ review. Hard to accept Greg.

City Venture’s response

We sent them a draft of this review. Jared sent this response:

We have received the copy of your draft review and have passed it on to our auditors, who are currently in the process of reviewing your claims.  Upon the completion of that review in due course, we will consider any issues raised and make relevant changes if appropriate. 

We invite anyone with bona fide interest in our charitable work to contact us directly. 

Reviewer’s response

The ability for a donor to contact City Venture does not replace the validity of expecting that City Venture have the information on the ACNC’s public register that the ACNC expects.

1. City Ventures Ltd (the one without ‘YWAM’ in its name), also shares an address and emails with (Ships). It has the same directors as City Ventures, suggesting that it, too, is controlled by Ships. ↑

2. 	No. of boards	Ywam Townsville Assoc. Inc.	Ywam Medical Ships – Australia Ltd	YWAM City Ventures Ltd	City Ventures Ltd	YWAM DURHAM LTD	YWAM PNG Ship Limited	Townsville Christian Broadcasters Inc	YWAM SURREY HILLS LTD	Youth With A Mission Melb Inc
   Anna Scott	3	X	X				X
   Matthew Scott	1	X
   Hannah Peart	1	X
   Jared Hoover	8	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X
   Rebekah Hoover	8	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
   Jennifer Rentsch	5	X	X			X	X			X
   Jeremy Schierer	1		X
   Jeremy Humphreys	1	X
   Ragnhild Elea Humphreys	1	X
   Philip Rentsch	4	X						X	X	X
   John Brokenshire	2					X			X
   Kenneth Mulligan	9	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
   Robyn Mulligan	3	X		X	X
   Rabbie Langanai Namaliu	1						X
   Melissa Kauk	1		X
   Nathan Randell	1		X
   Nicholas Matthews	1					X
   Stephen Aherne	2					X				X
   Thomas Hallas	2					X			X
   Megumi Watts	3							X	X	X
   Fay Collins	1									X
   Olivia Lula	1									X
   	60
   Number of directors	60	11	8	4	4	7	5	5	7	9

   ↑

3. Ken is a director of nearly a third of YWAM registered charities. ↑
4. The number of members of the company is one of the usual disclosures that is missing. ↑