The Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (CLAANZ)

  • ACLA_slider3
  • ACLA_slider4
  • ACLA_slider6
  • ACLA_slider5
  • ACLA_slider7


image


News



2024 CLAANZ Annual Lecture and 5th John Emerson AM Oration

Wednesday 13 November 2024, 5pm - 7pm AEDT
Melbourne Law School & online

 

Download a copy of the oration and the slides.

The Legal Practice Section's Charities and Not-for-Profit Committee, the Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (CLAANZ) and the University of Melbourne Law School hosted the fifth John Emerson Oration and CLAANZ Annual Lecture in Melbourne on 13 November 2024.

The Oration was delivered by Emeritus Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes:

From Frontierland to Tomorrowland: A Magical Journey Through the Four Enchanted Realms of Unincorporated Associations Unincorporated Associations: History, Foreign Jurisdictions, Emerging Forms and Reform.

We will wish upon a star and enter the four lands of unincorporated associations. Frontierland with tall tales and true of unincorporated associations from the legendary past. Adventureland is the wonderland of exotic unincorporated association creatures from across the globe. Fantasyland is the happiest kingdom of them all, with SLAPPed Facebook Beagle Warriors and decentralised autonomous organisations fueled by magical digital coins. Tomorrowland is the promise of things to come. What could the legislative scientists in the parliamentary laboratories and the judicial wizards of the high citadel do to benefit future generations? 

The John Emerson Oration is in honour of John Emerson AM. John retired from Herbert Smith Freehills, where he was a partner for almost four decades. He remains recognised as an expert in the tax laws applicable to charities in Australia. John was also a member of the Board of Taxation and a number of other legal and public sector committees. He was a key contributor to the reform of laws which led to the establishment of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. John is a Member of the Order of Australia for services to law and to the community, particularly through the provision of advice to charities and not-for-profit organisations and the development of public administration reform to encourage philanthropy in Australia.

In promoting its objective of charity law education, CLAANZ holds an Annual Public Lecture, which is open to anyone with an interest in charity law and the not-for-profit sector. The Annual Lecture addresses key, contemporary legal issues in the charity and not-for-profit sectors in Australia and New Zealand.


2024 Key Cases: Equality Australia Ltd v Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission [2024] FCAFC 115

Monday 21 October 2024, via Zoom

As part of our 2024 Key Cases Series, CLAANZ held a special webinar on the recent Equality Australia case.

Emeritus Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes (QUT), Alice Macdougall (Herbert Smith Freehills), Adjunct Professor Murray Baird (Prolegis Lawyers), Krystian Seibert (Philanthropy Australia) and Professor Ian Murray (UWA) discussed this important case.


New webinar pricing for non-members

In order to ensure value for membership and to continue to provide high quality online events, we will be introducing a small fee for webinar tickets for non-members. Our new ticketing model for each webinar will be the following:

For Australians
Members: Free
Non-members: A$55 (GST inclusive)
Student or concession non-members: A$30 (GST inclusive)

For New Zealanders
Members: Free
Non-members: A$50 (GST exclusive)
Student or concession non-members: A$25 (GST exclusive)

Members will have received their code to access complimentary tickets.

As always, we work to ensure our events are accessible to everyone, regardless of personal circumstances. If you are experiencing hardship and would still like to attend, please contact us.


Untangling the cords: Related Party Transactions, Conflicts of Interests and Conflicts of Duties

Thursday 19 September 2024, 1-2pm AEST; 11-12pm AWST; 3-4pm NZST, via Teams

Watch the recording on YouTube and download the slides.

Related party transactions and conflicts of interest are an increasing area of focus for regulators, particularly the ACNC and ATO. However, it’s an area that has been described as having “palpable incoherence and uncertainty”.*

In this webinar, Elizabeth Shalders (Special Counsel in the NFPs, Human Rights & Social Impact team at Mills Oakley) and Jeff Tulk (Audit Partner at Saward Dawson Accountants) discussed the key issues that practitioners need to be aware of when they are advising clients in this field.

*Rosemary Langford, “Conflicts and Coherence in the Charities Sphere: Would a Conflict by any Other Name Proscribe the Same?”, Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper Series No. 899, Melbourne Law School.


2024 Charity Cases of Note webinar

Monday 19 August 2024, via Zoom

Watch the recording on YouTube.

In this online event, Murray Baird, Ian Murray and Myles McGregor-Lowndes reflected on some of the important charity cases handed down in the first half of 2024. The cases included Grain Technology Australia Ltd v Rosewood Research Pty Ltd (No 3) [2023] NSWSC 238 and associated litigation (companies with charitable objects), Housing Choices Australia Limited v Attorney General for the State of Victoria [2024] VSC 107 (cy près scheme) and a miscellany of interesting judgments from English, Canadian and US courts.


2024 CLAANZ Annual Conference: Global issues facing charities

Thursday 4 July - Friday 5 July, 2024, National Library, Wellington (NZ) and online

The 2024 conference was held in Wellington, New Zealand - review the final program for a look over the sessions.

We welcomed almost 60 delegates to Welllington and another 60 or so online. Thanks to all our wonderful speakers and participants for making it yet another successful charity law event.


Webinar: Donor Advised Funds & Community Foundations: An Asia-Pacific Comparison of Public Philanthropic Intermediaries

Tuesday 12 March, 11am AWST / 2pm AEDT / 4pm NZDT, online via Zoom

Watch the recording on YouTube and review the slides.

Thank you for joining Professor Ian Murray, Chair of CLAANZ, in conversation with Professor Masayuki Tamaruya, Professor of Law at The University of Tokyo.


 

2023 CLAANZ Annual Lecture and 4th John Emerson AM Oration

Wednesday 29 November 2023, Sydney and online


The Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand, in conjunction with the Law Council of Australia Legal Practice Section's Charities and Not-for-Profit Committee, and the University of Sydney Law School, hosted the CLAANZ Annual Lecture and 4th John Emerson AM Oration.

The Oration was delivered by the Hon Justice Mark Leeming, New South Wales Court of Appeal and Challis Lecturer in Equity Sydney Law School, on ‘Statutory Eucalypts in the Law of Charity’. The address focussed on the often hidden interaction between statute law and equity as it relates to the law of charity.

In promoting its objective of charity law education, CLAANZ holds an Annual Public Lecture, which is open to anyone with an interest in charity law and the not-for-profit sector. The Annual Lecture addresses key, contemporary legal issues in the charity and not-for-profit sectors in Australia and New Zealand.

This event was not recorded.


2023 CLAANZ Conference and AGM

Thursday 27 July 2023, Melbourne and online

Thank you to Corrs Chambers Westgarth for kindly hosting our annual conference this year.

The recordings and slides are now available online.








Find out more about membership!

Please note - if you are seeking legal representation or advice: This is not a law firm and we are therefore unable to provide any legal advice, nor are we able to recommend any law firms. These sites may be of assistance to you: Australian Bar AssociationAustralian Pro Bono Centre; Australian Law Societies.