The Six ACNC Governance Standards, Explained Without the Jargon
What each of the six Governance Standards actually requires, who counts as a Responsible Person, and which policies you genuinely need to have on the shelf.
The six Governance Standards are the spine of ACNC compliance. They are not optional, and "we know we should" is not evidence. This guide unpacks each one, explains who counts as a Responsible Person, and gives a no-nonsense view of which policies are actually mandatory.
The six Governance Standards at a glance
- Purposes and not-for-profit nature — you are a charity, you act like one, and surpluses go back into the mission.
- Accountability to members — members can hold the board to account through AGMs, reports, and a current register.
- Compliance with Australian laws — you don't commit indictable offences or serious civil breaches.
- Suitability of Responsible Persons — your board members are fit to serve.
- Duties of Responsible Persons — your board members act with care, diligence, honesty and in the charity's best interests.
- Maintaining and enhancing public trust — you provide accurate information to the ACNC and the public.
There is also Governance Standard 6 specifically around responding to sexual abuse and personal injury claims via the National Redress Scheme where relevant.
How to evidence each Standard
The ACNC is interested in what you can show, not what you intend.
- Standard 1: constitution that matches your AIS, annual board check that activities still align with purposes.
- Standard 2: current member register, AGM minutes, members getting financials.
- Standard 3: legal register (WHS, Privacy, employment, AML/CTF, fundraising — see our risk and AML guide), incident log.
- Standard 4: ACNC Responsible Person declarations on file, plus disqualification checks before appointment and at re-election.
- Standard 5: conflict-of-interest register, meeting minutes that show decisions and dissent, board induction pack.
- Standard 6: AIS lodged on time and accurate, ACNC Register details current within 28 days of a change.
A working evidence folder beats a beautiful policy library every time.
Who counts as a "Responsible Person" and what are their duties?
A Responsible Person is anyone with significant influence over the charity. That usually means:
- Board members or directors.
- The trustee (or directors of a corporate trustee).
- Senior office-holders who direct the charity's affairs.
The CEO is not automatically a Responsible Person unless they sit on the board.
Their duties under Standard 5 are:
- Act honestly and in the charity's best interests.
- Act with reasonable care and diligence.
- Disclose perceived or actual conflicts of interest.
- Ensure the charity's financial affairs are managed responsibly.
- Not allow the charity to operate while insolvent.
These duties are personal. They sit with each individual director, not the board as a collective.
Running conflict-of-interest registers and minutes properly
The two documents the ACNC almost always asks to see are the conflict register and board minutes. Do them well and you have answered most of Standards 4, 5 and 6.
A workable conflict register:
- Lists every Responsible Person.
- Captures standing interests (other directorships, related-party suppliers, family roles in partner organisations).
- Updated at every meeting — "any new or changed interests?" is the first agenda item.
Minutes that pass a regulator's read:
- Show who was present, who declared a conflict, and whether the conflicted person stayed or left the room.
- Record the decision and the reason — not just the vote.
- Get circulated, reviewed, and signed at the next meeting.
If your minutes look like a list of bullet points with no narrative, rewrite the template. Six lines of context per significant decision is enough.
Mandatory vs recommended policies
The ACNC does not mandate a single policy document by name. What is mandatory is the underlying behaviour — having a policy is one way to evidence it, but a working practice with no written policy is sometimes acceptable for very small charities.
That said, the realistic minimum set for a charity above $250k revenue is:
- Conflict of interest.
- Privacy.
- Workplace health and safety.
- Whistleblower and complaints handling.
- Child safety and PSEAH (if you work with children or vulnerable people).
- Financial delegations and procurement.
- Fraud and corruption (especially if you operate overseas).
Larger or overseas-active charities should add anti-bribery, sanctions screening, partner due diligence, and a serious-incident response policy. Our risk, safeguarding and AML guide goes deeper on these.
Where to get help
Boards often know what good governance looks like but don't have time to write the policies, run the conflict reviews, or set up the evidence folder. Synergaid's strategic planning and governance support works alongside boards to build that scaffolding without taking the work out of the charity's own hands.
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