The Oration was delivered by Emeritus Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes:
From Frontierland to Tomorrowland: A Magical Journey Through the Four Enchanted Realms of Unincorporated Associations Unincorporated Associations: History, Foreign Jurisdictions, Emerging Forms and Reform.
We will wish upon a star and enter the four lands of unincorporated associations. Frontierland with tall tales and true of unincorporated associations from the legendary past. Adventureland is the wonderland of exotic unincorporated association creatures from across the globe. Fantasyland is the happiest kingdom of them all, with SLAPPed Facebook Beagle Warriors and decentralised autonomous organisations fueled by magical digital coins. Tomorrowland is the promise of things to come. What could the legislative scientists in the parliamentary laboratories and the judicial wizards of the high citadel do to benefit future generations?
The John Emerson Oration is in honour of John Emerson AM. John retired from Herbert Smith Freehills, where he was a partner for almost four decades. He remains recognised as an expert in the tax laws applicable to charities in Australia. John was also a member of the Board of Taxation and a number of other legal and public sector committees. He was a key contributor to the reform of laws which led to the establishment of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. John is a Member of the Order of Australia for services to law and to the community, particularly through the provision of advice to charities and not-for-profit organisations and the development of public administration reform to encourage philanthropy in Australia.
In promoting its objective of charity law education, CLAANZ holds an Annual Public Lecture, which is open to anyone with an interest in charity law and the not-for-profit sector. The Annual Lecture addresses key, contemporary legal issues in the charity and not-for-profit sectors in Australia and New Zealand.
As part of our 2024 Key Cases Series, CLAANZ held a special webinar on the recent Equality Australia case.
Emeritus Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes (QUT), Alice Macdougall (Herbert Smith Freehills), Adjunct Professor Murray Baird (Prolegis Lawyers), Krystian Seibert (Philanthropy Australia) and Professor Ian Murray (UWA) discussed this important case.
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Watch the recording on YouTube and download the slides.
Related party transactions and conflicts of interest are an increasing area of focus for regulators, particularly the ACNC and ATO. However, it’s an area that has been described as having “palpable incoherence and uncertainty”.*
In this webinar, Elizabeth Shalders (Special Counsel in the NFPs, Human Rights & Social Impact team at Mills Oakley) and Jeff Tulk (Audit Partner at Saward Dawson Accountants) discussed the key issues that practitioners need to be aware of when they are advising clients in this field.
*Rosemary Langford, “Conflicts and Coherence in the Charities Sphere: Would a Conflict by any Other Name Proscribe the Same?”, Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper Series No. 899, Melbourne Law School.
Watch the recording on YouTube.
In this online event, Murray Baird, Ian Murray and Myles McGregor-Lowndes reflected on some of the important charity cases handed down in the first half of 2024. The cases included Grain Technology Australia Ltd v Rosewood Research Pty Ltd (No 3) [2023] NSWSC 238 and associated litigation (companies with charitable objects), Housing Choices Australia Limited v Attorney General for the State of Victoria [2024] VSC 107 (cy près scheme) and a miscellany of interesting judgments from English, Canadian and US courts.
2024 CLAANZ Annual Conference: Global issues facing charitiesThe 2024 conference was held in Wellington, New Zealand - review the final program for a look over the sessions.
We welcomed almost 60 delegates to Welllington and another 60 or so online. Thanks to all our wonderful speakers and participants for making it yet another successful charity law event.
Watch the recording on YouTube and review the slides.
Thank you for joining Professor Ian Murray, Chair of CLAANZ, in conversation with Professor Masayuki Tamaruya, Professor of Law at The University of Tokyo.
The Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand, in conjunction with the Law Council of Australia Legal Practice Section's Charities and Not-for-Profit Committee, and the University of Sydney Law School, hosted the CLAANZ Annual Lecture and 4th John Emerson AM Oration.
The Oration was delivered by the Hon Justice Mark Leeming, New South Wales Court of Appeal and Challis Lecturer in Equity Sydney Law School, on ‘Statutory Eucalypts in the Law of Charity’. The address focussed on the often hidden interaction between statute law and equity as it relates to the law of charity.
In promoting its objective of charity law education, CLAANZ holds an Annual Public Lecture, which is open to anyone with an interest in charity law and the not-for-profit sector. The Annual Lecture addresses key, contemporary legal issues in the charity and not-for-profit sectors in Australia and New Zealand.
This event was not recorded.
Thank you to Corrs Chambers Westgarth for kindly hosting our annual conference this year.
The recordings and slides are now available online.
Please note - if you are seeking legal representation or advice: This is not a law firm and we are therefore unable to provide any legal advice, nor are we able to recommend any law firms. These sites may be of assistance to you: Australian Bar Association; Australian Pro Bono Centre; Australian Law Societies.