Private and public ancillary funds accumulations
Trustees of these funds are obliged to make annual distributions to other deductible gift recipient charities as follows:
- if a public ancillary fund, of at least 4% of its assets valued as at the previous 30 June
- if a private ancillary fund, of at least 5% of its assets valued as at the previous 30 June
There are also rules applying to quantum of distributions if expenses are paid from the fund.
Notwithstanding these rules, the accumulation of wealth in funds was the subject of a Australian Financial Review media report in July 2025 which identified an $11bn stockpile in private ancillary funds and investment returns on the funds yielding more than the minimum percentages required to be distributed annually. The article alerted such funds to Treasury’s interest in promoting laws to require the funds to distribute their capital more quickly. We watch this space with interest.