On this page
- What is auspicing?
- When is an auspice agreement used?
- A guide for organisations offering auspicing and those requiring auspicing
What is auspicing?
To ‘auspice’ means to provide support, sponsorship or guidance.
The group or person requiring support is known as the ‘auspicee’ and the entity (usually an incorporated organisation) that auspices the group or person is known as the ‘auspicor’.
When using an auspice arrangement, the relationship is often described as one where the auspicee will be carrying out the project ‘under the auspices of’ the incorporated organisation – the auspicor. It's the auspicor that receives the project funding and enters into relevant agreements for the auspicee.
An auspicing arrangement is a bit like a sub-contracting arrangement - the auspicor enters into an agreement, and then sub-contracts their obligations under the agreement to the auspicee. However, the auspicor will typically retain the obligations for delivery of the project for which the funds are being provided.
In practice, the auspicee would normally approach the auspicor first, and the auspicor may even charge a fee for making the relevant arrangements on behalf of the auspicee.
An auspice agreement entered into by the auspicor and the auspicee is a legally binding contract. It sets out the legal obligations regarding the roles and funding relations between the auspicor and auspicee.
When is an auspice agreement used?
Auspice agreements are often used to help community organisations access funding for their activities.
Some common auspicing arrangements include auspicing of:
- one-off events such as art exhibitions, concerts, fairs or festivals by arts organisations
- pilot projects or program trials
- incubate start-up groups
- local playgroups and study groups by a larger organisation
- youth projects, and
- sporting programs or competitions
The most common reason for a group or person to seek to be auspiced is a need to quickly and easily satisfy grant funding requirements that the group or person is not able to meet.
Note
Grant funding often requires that a recipient is incorporated, is a tax concession charity or has DGR endorsement, and the group or person seeking the assistance may not be able to satisfy those characteristics in the time available.
Depending on the agreement, the project can also benefit from the management, infrastructure, insurance protection and resources of the auspicor, which are made available to the auspicee for the project.
While it is possible for a group seeking to run a project to become incorporated and then make applications to access tax concessions and DGR endorsement, this can be a time consuming and expensive process.
Where a group or person only wants to run a short term project, or is exploring a model and wishes to trial an idea before committing to incorporation, auspicing offers a neat solution.
Completing a project under the auspices of the auspicing organisation provides quick access to tax concessions and DGR status. Sometimes groups that have already incorporated may also seek to be auspiced. An example is where the funding body wants to see the project group establish a reputation of successful implementation of projects before providing direct funding to the group. Another reason could be that the incorporated group is yet to receive the appropriate tax endorsements required for the funding or activities. In that circumstance, the auspice agreement would reflect that the group is operating through a legal entity.
In general, before agreeing to auspice another organisation, the auspicor, should:
- ensure they are satisfied that the project or activities for which the funding is sought for the auspicee furthers the mission of the auspicor organisation in some way, and
- check its constituent documents (ie. constitution, rules, by-laws) to ensure that entering into the auspicing agreement is consistent with the objects and powers of the organisation
A guide for organisations offering auspicing and those requiring auspicing
Our auspicing guide provides a detailed overview of auspicing arrangements, important issues for parties involved to consider, and guidance on reaching agreement on the terms of an auspicing agreement.
The guide covers:
- what is auspicing and when is auspicing appropriate?
- issues to consider before negotiating an auspicing agreement, and
- the auspicing agreement
A checklist at the end of the guide can help you work through the issues to cover in an auspicing agreement.
The content on this webpage was last updated in November 2023 and is not legal advice. See full disclaimer and copyright notice.
