Find free legal resources
Explore 300+ resources, including fact sheets and guides, to help at all stages of your organisation’s lifecycle, from getting started to winding up.
Getting started
Starting a not-for-profit organisation but not sure where to begin? We’ll guide your new organisation through key legal decisions.
How to set up your organisation
Step-by-step legal guidance for setting up a not-for-profit or charity in Australia – from first decisions through to choosing a structure & registering.
Who runs the organisation?
Who runs a not-for-profit? Board & committee roles explained – key positions, what board members do & the legal duties & responsibilities that come with them.
How to run the organisation
The day-to-day legal side of running a not-for-profit – holding meetings & AGMs, keeping records, managing your rules or constitution & making decisions.
Managing people
Your legal obligations to the people in your not-for-profit – employing staff, managing volunteers & members, pay questions & discrimination laws.
Privacy laws
Does the Privacy Act apply to your not-for-profit? Privacy policies, data breaches, cyber security & AI questions answered for NFPs & charities.
Fundraising and holding events
Fundraise legally: fundraising licences & registration by state, raffle & permit rules, grants, bequests & running compliant events.
Communications and advertising
What not-for-profits can say in marketing & campaigns – social media rules, defamation, intellectual property & spam laws explained in plain language.
Entering into contracts
Understand the agreements your not-for-profit signs – contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), funding agreements, leases & IT agreements.
Financial reporting to government
Your not-for-profit’s financial reporting obligations explained – ACNC reporting, audit requirements & state government reporting by size & structure.
Managing risk and insurance
What insurance your not-for-profit may need – public liability, directors & officers cover, volunteer insurance – plus managing risk, background checks & child safety.
Work health and safety laws
WHS duties for not-for-profits – keeping staff & volunteers safe, working-from-home obligations & state-by-state work health & safety rules.
Understanding the tax landscape
Do not-for-profits pay tax? Tax concessions for NFPs & charities explained – DGR status, income tax exemption, GST & FBT concessions & state taxes.
Handling disputes and conflicts
Resolving disputes in your not-for-profit – conflicts with members, employees & board disagreements, complaints processes & when to use mediation.
Working with others
How not-for-profits work with other organisations – auspicing arrangements, partnerships, joint ventures, mergers & the agreements that make them work.
Changing or ending your organisation
How to change your organisation’s legal structure or wind up properly – the correct legal steps for closing a not-for-profit or charity, state by state.
Preparing for and responding to disasters
Legal guidance for not-for-profits preparing for & responding to disasters – governance, funding, insurance & looking after people in a crisis.
Legal resources for LALCs
Justice Connect’s Not-for-profit Law has free resources to guide LALCs through your legal obligations.