Community & Associations Newsletter – June 2026
Published on June 8, 2026 by Josephine Heesh, Patricia Monemvasitis, Sophia Chen and Shakvaan Wijetunga
As the end of the financial year approaches we anticipate that many not-for-profit and charitable organisations will review the preceding 12 months. With that in mind we have collated the following information covering six key areas which we hope will contribute to that process and facilitate planning for the next period.
The Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers Community & Associations Team
Fundraising in NSW? What you need to know
Changes to charitable fundraising in NSW commenced on 1 April 2026. These are part of the broader reforms to achieve a nationally consistent and streamlined fundraising framework, which began in 2023.
Under these changes:
- ACNC registered charities are automatically taken to hold a ‘deemed authority’ to fundraise in NSW;
- National Fundraising Principles apply to all NSW fundraising authority holders (including deemed authorities) in addition to the NSW legislation; and
- Charitable Fundraising Guidelines are updated to reflect the new framework.
In other words, ACNC registered charities are automatically taken to hold a fundraising licence under the ‘deemed authority’ once they notify the ACNC of their intention to fundraise in NSW through ACNC registration or as part of AIS reporting.
Read more here.
Sophia Chen, Special Counsel
Josephine Heesh, Partner
Foreign investments and charities? Exemption in focus
Approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) is sometimes relevant in the not-for-profit (NFP) sector for restructures, mergers and acquisitions. For example, if a NFP or charity with an international chapter is establishing or consolidating its presence in Australia by acquiring assets or shares of existing Australian entities as part of an internal restructure, it can potentially trigger a notifiable action to FIRB.
This is because Australia’s foreign investment regime under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth) (FATA) applies to NFPs as it does to for-profit entities. A limited charity exemption applies.
Read more here.
Sophia Chen, Special Counsel
Josephine Heesh, Partner
Stronger together? Navigating mergers and acquisitions
On 11 March 2026, the 2024/2025 Good Merger Index released its data showing the busiest year in 12 years with 94 mergers involving 183 organisations in England and Wales.
In Australia, we have seen a few deals during 2025-26 and 2024-25 including:
- BaptistCare’s merger;
- Berry Street’s merger with Yooralla;
- Anglicare’s acquisition of Infinite Care;
- Kirinari and LiveBetter Community Services’ amalgamation;
- Independence Australia Group’s merger with Statewide Autistic Service;
- Ozcare’s acquisition of St Vincent’s aged care facility and two aged care homes from Regis Healthcare;
- Apollo Care’s acquisition of Resthaven on Quarry;
- Respect’s acquisition of aged care operations of BlueCare and Amanda Living; and
- VMCH’s acquisition of Point Cook Village from RCA Village.
Read more here.
Sophia Chen, Special Counsel
Josephine Heesh, Partner
Cyber governance: how to prevent a Canvas crisis?
On 7 May 2026, almost 9000 schools, universities and other educational institutions were targeted in the Canvas data breach. A cybercriminal group called ShinyHunters was responsible for the cybersecurity hack with global impact.
This has highlighted the increasing risks faced by charities who hold, process or access personal and sensitive information of donors and volunteers. It also shows how globalised and interconnected cybersecurity issues are. In this case, Instructure, the US-based developer of Canvas, confirmed that the hackers from ShinyHunters, accessed and extracted 3.5 terabytes of student and university data worldwide.
Read more here.
Jonathan Sikalos, Law Clerk
Sophia Chen, Special Counsel
Patricia Monemvasitis, Partner
Children’s Online Privacy Code: What you need to know?
Australia is set to introduce a landmark Privacy (Children’s Online Privacy) Code 2026 (Code). It signals a new involvement of the privacy regulator and the e-Safety regulator each pursuing child protection mechanisms. An exposure draft of the Code was released by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on 31 March 2026. The Code is part of the broader tranche 1 privacy law1 reforms and is expected to be in place by 10 December 2026. Consultation is in its third stage and closes on 5 June 2026.
Read more here.
Sophia Chen, Special Counsel
Josephine Heesh, Partner
IP: Lessons from the Latest High Court Case
The High Court has recently considered the intersection of reputation, competing brands and the importance of registering your intellectual property rights early, in the case of Taylor v Killer Queen LLC [2026] HCA 5. In this case, Katie Perry (fashion designer from Sydney) and Katy Perry (singer from US) competed to trade mark irrespectively “Katie Perry” and “Katy Perry” both with respect to clothing, and the court found that notwithstanding Katie Perry’s awareness of Katy Perry’s bigger reputation and her wish to sell clothing merchandise during performances in Australia, Katie Perry, the fashion designer had filed earlier so she had priority. The key legal principles of this case are relevant for not-for-profit organisations when it comes to protecting their brands and intellectual property.
Read more here.
Shakvaan Wijetunga, Solicitor
Patricia Monemvasitis, Partner
