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Women's weekly savings group in Zimbabwe. Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith/OxfamAUS

Legal & ethical responsibilities

Oxfam Australia operates within the laws and legislation governing not-for-profit organisations in Australia. We also have several field offices in overseas countries and we are required to comply with the laws of these countries, as applicable.

We are registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as an Australian public company, limited by guarantee — ACN 055 208 636 holding ABN 18 055 208 636. Our registered office is located in Carlton, Victoria.

We maintain compliance registers as part of our risk and assurance function and these are used to summarise the legislative and regulatory requirements internationally, and in Australia, through regular review and assurance processes against those registers.

Charitable status, tax concessions and fundraising

Oxfam Australia is a Public Benevolent Institution. It is endorsed as an Income Tax Exempt Charity and receives certain other tax concessions and exemptions consistent with its status as a Public Benevolent Institution which relate to Goods and Services Tax and Fringe Benefits Tax.

Oxfam Australia has been endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient to operate an Overseas Aid Deductible Gift Recipient gift fund.

Oxfam Australia is registered under applicable fundraising legislation as required in each state where it raises funds as follows:

  • New South Wales — Registration number: CFN12714
  • Queensland — Registration number: CH1425
  • South Australia — Licence number: 518
  • Tasmania — Registration number: FIA-16
  • Victoria — Registration number: 7304
  • Western Australia — Licence number: 20159

Accountability and accreditation

Oxfam Australia is fully accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Australian Government Department responsible for the Australian Aid Program and is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID). Oxfam Australia adheres to a number of codes of practice and standards that guide our work.

Ethical standards

All Oxfam Australia Board members, directors, managers, employees and volunteers are expected to act with integrity and objectivity, striving at all times to enhance our organisation’s reputation and performance. They are also expected to comply with relevant laws and codes of conduct of relevant professional bodies and with ethical standards set by our Board and management team.

Risk management

Our risk management policy has established a process for identifying and ranking significant operational risks and managing, reporting, mitigating and monitoring these risks.

Potential risks are recorded on a register and have been evaluated by likelihood and impact. Appropriate systems and procedures are in place to manage them and provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance against their occurrence.

Read an overview of our financial risk management.

Whistleblowers

Our whistleblowers policy protects employees and volunteers who lodge a complaint or grievance. The policy provides for protection from identification, intimidation, threat or humiliation and for access to the Board Chair for advice and assistance in certain circumstances.

Employees at Oxfam Australia are encouraged to raise matters they are concerned about relating to the workplace via internal confidential reporting procedures available to all employees on the Intranet.

If you need to report a matter impacting Oxfam Australia senior management, you can do so by referring it to the Oxfam Board.  You can contact either the Oxfam Australia Chairman at boardchair@oxfam.org.au, or Chair of the Oxfam Governance Committee at govchair@oxfam.org.au

Read our Whistleblower Policy.

Fraud

Our fraud policy, procedure and process provide a comprehensive prevention, identification and management approach to fraud events. Clear reporting and investigation processes are specified to ensure that potential fraud activities are dealt with promptly. Any fraud incidents are reported to the Board’s Finance Risk and Audit Committee as part of the quarterly risk and assurance report.