Following creation of the company, ACAL applied to the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission(ACNC) to gain charity status. ACNC worked with us to sharpen a new purpose statement which appears below:
ACAL Purpose:
To advance regional social, cultural, economic and environmental welfare.
To further this purpose Advancing Communities Australia Limited will target the following groups
initially;
1. People in rural/regional/remote communities
2. Families in need
3. People at risk of or experiencing socio-economic disadvantage
4. People with disabilities
5. Those with or at risk of poor health outcomes
6. General community in Australia
This was accepted via a meeting of members and ACNC agreed to recognize ACAL as a charity not with DGR status on 4/10/22. However, while this was an achievement it did not provide for the full application of the potential to be realized by the organization in the help for the communities it served.
This resulted in continued negotiation with ACNC and a change of focus to become a Health Promotion Charity (HPC) with Advancing Health also added to its scope of activity whilst still maintaining a role as a charity with any other purpose. This status has been granted and ACAL is now a charity which can accept donations which are tax deductible from 1 January 2023. Whilst health particularly non-communicable diseases is the major charity focus, ACAL is also able to work in the area of Community Development for some activities.
