Disclosing remuneration and other benefits

From 1 July 2024 incorporated associations will need to disclose remuneration and other benefits at their annual general meeting (AGM), even if the amount to report is zero.

This applies to remuneration and benefits given to:

• management committee members
• senior staff, including people who
  • help make decisions that affect all or a significant part of the association’s activities, or
  • have the capacity to significantly affect the association’s financial position
• their relatives, including
  • spouse
  • parent
  • sibling
  • child
  • grandparent
  • grandchild.

All incorporated associations—including those registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)—must make this disclosure to members.

Remuneration

Remuneration includes salary, allowances and other entitlements.

Other entitlements include:

• free coaching sessions
• waiving membership fees
• discounted purchases at your association’s club or shop.

It does not include reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses.

Benefits

Benefits are all forms of compensation paid or provided by your association or on behalf of your association in exchange for services.

Compensation includes, but is not limited to:

• social security contributions, paid annual leave and paid sick leave, profit-sharing and bonuses
• pensions, other retirement benefits, post-employment life insurance and post-employment medical care
• long-service leave or sabbatical leave, jubilee or other long-service benefits, long-term disability benefits
• termination benefits
• share-based payments
• non-monetary benefits such as medical care, housing, cars and free or subsidised goods or services.

Your association may decide certain free or subsidised goods or services are not considered benefits and do not need to be declared at your AGM.

This will depend on:

• the overall value of the goods or services
• the reason the person was given the goods or services
• whether any other member of your association has received similar goods or services in similar circumstances.

Management committees should be transparent and discuss what is considered a benefit with their members.

Making the disclosure

Your association must disclose remuneration and other benefits at its AGM in either:

• a document required by the Act to be presented at your AGM, for example your financial statements or the information you provide to the ACNC, or
• a written remuneration statement for the financial year.

It must include the total amount of remuneration paid and benefits given, and the number of people who were paid remuneration or given other benefits.

If your association did not provide remuneration or other benefits you can state this verbally, but it must be recorded in the AGM minutes.

Example case study

An association had an annual revenue of $149,000 in the 2023–24 reporting period.

The association’s treasurer and secretary manager received the following remuneration and benefits in the 2023–24 reporting period:

• the secretary manager’s salary was $80,000, including employer superannuation contributions
• the president was provided with a car, for which the costs totalled $9,000.

Members—including the treasurer’s spouse—were provided a free lunch valued at under $10 when they worked in the association’s shop. The association determined that providing the treasurer’s spouse with free lunch was not considered a benefit because of its minimal value and the fact that other members were also provided free lunch when they worked in the shop.

As an outcome, the association would provide the following written remuneration statement at its AGM in October 2024: ‘For the 2023–24 financial year, the association paid 2 people a total $89,000 in remuneration and benefits.’