Analysis of data on members of the Australian Council for International Development

Transcription

1 Analysis of data on members of the Australian Council for International Development Australian Involved Overseas: A study supplementing the Australian 2013 Report July Introduction The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) is the peak body for non-government overseas aid and international development organisations in Australia. It has 133 Members and thirteen Affiliate Members and many of these organisations are charities. Of ACFID members, 110 members and five Affiliate members submitted a Annual Information Statement (AIS) to the ACNC and this paper examines the data from those 110 members. The data for this paper has been extracted from the AIS dataset using the Australian Business Numbers of ACFID members. It is compared with the larger dataset on charities involved overseas and those active overseas. There were four fields in the AIS that charities could select to identify themselves as having involvement overseas. Of these, those that answered that their other activities included international activities were not included in the analysis. Table 1 Australian charities involvement overseas Category Involved overseas Operate overseas Not included Populations included Main activity International activities, or Beneficiaries Communities overseas, or Overseas / outside of Australia Overseas / outside of Australia Other activity International activities ACFID Members All ACFID Members that submitted a 2013 AIS by 7 July 2014 For full definitions of these classifications and guidance on the interpretation of the data, refer to the Australian Involved Overseas: A study supplementing the Australian 2013 Report. 1 Not every question in the AIS was answered by all charities or all ACFID members and therefore the percentages are based on the total number of charities that provided data. 1 Knight, P. A. and D. J. Gilchrist, (2015), Australian Involved Overseas: A study supplementing the Australian 2013 Report, for the Australian and Not-for-profits Commission, Melbourne. Available at ACFID Analysis 2015 Edition 1

2 5% 8% % 34% 3 38% 45% 45% 4 39% 4 45% % 7 14% 1 18% 1 14% 2 18% Charties 25% % 2 Key findings Size ACFID members are typically much larger than other charities, including charities involved or operating overseas. Sixty two per cent of ACFID members are categorised as large, 25% medium and only 14% small. Figure 1 Size of charities - All, involved overseas, active overseas and ACFID members 8 7 All charities (n:38,341) Involved overseas (n:5,816) Operate overseas (n:2,402) 6 ACFID members (n:110) Small Medium Large Charitable purpose Seventy per cent (77) of ACFID members stated their charitable purposes include the relief of poverty, sickness or the needs of the aged, and more than half (5) are concerned with the advancement of education. Only 5% stated they are involved in the advancement of religion, which is in striking contrast to the 5 of all Australia charities involved overseas. Figure 2 Charitable purpose - All, involved overseas, operate overseas and ACFID members All (n:38,341) Involved overseas (n: 5,815) Operate overseas (n:2,402) ACFID Members (n:110) Advancement of education Advancement of religion Other purposes beneficial to the community Provision of childcare Relief poverty, sickness or needs of aged ACFID Analysis 2015 Edition 2

3 Main activity Main activity More than half of ACFID s members main activity is either international activities (3) or economic, social or community development (2). Thirty per cent (33) of ACFID members selected international activities as their main activity, compared to only of all charities who operate overseas. Thirty nine percent (937) of all Australian charities that operate overseas nominated religious activities as their main activity, in comparison to only (2) of ACFID members. Figure 3 Main activity - All, involved overseas, operate overseas and ACFID members Religious Primary / Secondary ed. 25% 39% 4 Grant-making Social services Emergency relief Econ, social, community Culture and arts Aged care activities International activities Environmental Research Other education Other Other health service None 5% 4% 5% 4% 4% 4% 1 5% 5% 8% % All (n: 38,341) Involved overseas (n: 5,816) Operate overseas (n: 2,402) ACFID Members (n: 110) ACFID Analysis 2015 Edition 3

4 Employees and volunteers ACFID members employed a total of 9,532 staff in the financial year. The median number (excluding 0) of full time and part time staff is 11 and 5.5 respectively, significantly more than the medians of 3 and 4 for all Australian charities. A large majority of ACFID charities depend on volunteers. Of the organisations who provided employment data, only 8% of ACFID members do not employ volunteers, as opposed to 3 of all Australian charities who operate overseas. The median number of volunteers for organisations registered with ACFID is For all Australian charities reporting that they operate overseas, the median number is 14. Table 2 Employees and volunteers - ACFID, involved overseas and operate overseas ACFID members Full time staff Part time staff Volunteers Number responses Total ACFID 6,766 2,766 45,752 Total involved overseas 82,616 54, ,128 2 ACFID percent of involved overseas 8% 5% Total operate overseas 45,696 24, ,680 ACFID percent of operate overseas 15% 1 1 Beneficiaries Eighty nine per cent of ACFID charities nominated communities overseas as a beneficiary. The next highest groups supported by ACFID members were: Women (6) Young people (5) Children (5) People with disabilities (49%) Countries of operation Only 8 (90) of ACFID charities reported that they conduct activities outside Australia. These charities reported being active in a total of 105 countries, of which more than a quarter have only one member organisation active. Over a third (35%) of members conduct activities in Cambodia and Papua New Guinea, followed by 29% in Timor-Leste. By contrast, of all Australian charities that operate overseas, India and the Philippines are the countries in which there are the most organisations active. Table 3 Countries of operation - ACFID Country Number of Member Organisations Present % of Member Organisations Present Cambodia 39 4 Papua New Guinea 39 4 Timor-Leste This includes the 166,923 volunteers reported by Surf Life Saving Australia Limited and the 100,000 volunteers reported by Australian Men s Sheds Association. ACFID Analysis 2015 Edition 4

5 Country Number of Member Organisations Present % of Member Organisations Present Vietnam 31 34% Indonesia 30 3 Myanmar 29 3 Philippines 27 3 India 27 3 Solomon Islands 25 28% Age More than a third of all ACFID charities (38) were established since the year Figure 4 Year of establishment - ACFID members Financial Year End Seventy three percent of ACFID members have a financial year ending in June. Legal Structure More than half (5) of ACFID member organisations are Companies Limited by Guarantee, which is twice as many of charities that operate overseas (25%). ACFID Analysis 2015 Edition 5

6 1 1 15% 24% 25% 3 35% Figure 5 Entity type - All, involved overseas, operate overseas and ACFID members All (n: 36,927) Involved overseas (n: 5,718) Operate overseas (n: 2,361) ACFID (n: 110) 2 1 Incorporated Entity Unincorporated Entity Australian Public Company Other Trust Other Reporting to the Australian government A larger proportion of ACFID charities report to the government than other charities: Thirty eight per cent (42) of member organisations responded that they had corporate or financial reporting obligations to a Commonwealth government department or agency, compared to 19% of all charities that operate overseas. Slightly more ACFID charities (4) report to a state government department or agency, which is more than three times as many of all charities that operate overseas (1). The median amount of paid staff time spent on reporting obligations by ACFID charities was 40 hours, where as it was only 16 hours for all Australian charities. The median amount of unpaid hours was Only 39 ACFID members provided this information of which 22 reported 0 paid staff time. ACFID Analysis 2015 Edition 6

7 Table 4 Summary data table All charities involved overseas operating overseas ACFID members Total number in dataset 38,341 5,816 2, Main activity is international activities 0. 4% 3 Other activities include international activities 4% 19% 2 3 Beneficiaries include communities overseas % 89% Operate overseas Small 6 68% 6 14% Revenue Medium 1 18% 2 25% Large 1 14% 18% 6 Per cent with full time staff 5 55% 5 74% Per cent with part time staff % 8 Median full time staff Median part time staff Per cent with volunteers % 9 Median volunteers Legal structure Australian Public Companies 1 15% 25% 5 Incorporated Entity Unincorporated Entity 3 35% 24% Government Reporting Commonwealth 15% 15% 1 38% State / Territory 25% 2 19% 4 ACFID Analysis 2015 Edition 7

8 This study was undertaken by the Curtin Not-for-profit Initiative, Curtin School of Accounting and commissioned by the Australian and Not-for-profits Commission. Citation Information This document should be referenced as follows: Knight, P. A. and D. J. Gilchrist, (2015), Analysis of Data on Members of the Australian Council for International Development: A study supplementing the Australian 2013 Report, for the Australian and Not-for-profits Commission, Melbourne. The Curtin Not-for-profit Initiative Curtin s School of Accounting established the Curtin Not-for-profit Initiative in 2011 following a refocus of research objectives toward industry-ready research outputs that are readily applicable in practice. As such, the aims of the Initiative are to: 1) Develop a body of research focused on practical and implementable outcomes that will enhance the resilience, efficiency and the sustainability of the Not-for-profit Sector Australia-wide; 2) Build significant and effective industry engagement in order to identify and prioritise the topics of research, and to facilitate dissemination and discussion of the findings to the best effect for the sector; and 3) Build a body of up-to-date, Australia specific knowledge that can be used to inform policy and practice within government, the Not-for-profit Sector and the broader community with a view to enhancing policy outcomes to the greater benefit of all communities in Australia. Professor David Gilchrist Director Curtin Not-for-profit Initiative GPO Box U1987 Perth WA 6845 david.gilchrist@curtin.edu.au T: Penny Knight Senior Research Fellow Curtin Not-for-profit Initiative GPO Box U1987 Perth WA 6845 penny.knight@curtin.edu.au T: Disclaimer The information provided in this document is made available in good faith and is believed accurate at the time of publication. However, the document is intended to be a guide only and should not be seen as a substitute for obtaining appropriate advice or making prudent enquiries. The information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed therein and that they should verify all relevant representations, statements and information. Changes in legislation, or other circumstances, after the document has been published may impact on the accuracy of any information or advice contained in the document and readers should not rely on the accuracy of information presented in this document. Information presented in this document does not constitute, and is not intended as advice nor used as an interpretive instrument. In the event of any inconsistency between this document and relevant legislation, provisions of the relevant legislation will prevail. Neither Curtin University of Technology ( Curtin ) nor any employee or agent of Curtin, nor any authors or contributors to this document shall be liable for any loss, damage, personal injury or death however caused (whether caused by any negligent or other unlawful act or omission of, by or on the part of Curtin or otherwise) arising from the use of or reliance on any information, data or advice) expressed or implied in this document. ACNC for the Commonwealth of Australia. You are free to copy, adapt, modify, transmit and distribute this material as you wish (but not in any way that suggests the ACNC or the Commonwealth endorses you or any of your services or products). ACFID Analysis 2015 Edition 8