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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 4 Hansard (1 April) . . Page.. 1131 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

identifying tag and display the required information in an approved way", and that "all licence holders will be required to lodge reports on an annual basis and when their licence ends".

This appears to be very much aimed at established organisations. But what about ad hoc collections such as office collections or fundraisers? Do these all need to be licensed and come under the new reporting regime? And what happens if they do not, perhaps through ignorance of the law? With some of these rather serious strict liability offences for which there is no need to establish any fault or fraudulent intent, are we looking at convicting people who act in good faith?

While I understand that enforcement of this regime will be on the basis of complaints from community members, and while one might argue that people conducting charitable collections in good faith should not trigger such complaints, will people go out on a limb legally when they are moved to pass the hat around for a worthy cause but do not do so strictly within licensing requirements? If they do not, will this act as a brake on local community spirit and altruism?

What about when our schools collect money for charities, as they do for Stuart House, the RSPCA, the Salvation Army and others? Will they still be able to support these causes in the way they currently do, or will the new regime make it too difficult for the schools to administer their contribution?

These are the sorts of questions and concerns I have and would like further reassurance on before this bill becomes law. We will watch with interest as further consultation proceeds, the threshold is established and the regulations are drafted.

MS DUNDAS (11.57): Mr Speaker, the ACT Democrats will not be opposing this bill. It replaces the Collections Act 1959 and sets out clearly the rules and regulations that govern collections for charities. The legislation sets out some new rules, such as rules for wearing of identification tags. Members of the public will look out for those tags. This is a very important reform that will give confidence to those who go collecting from door to door.

The new reforms also include the issuing of a licence for up to five years, meaning that charitable organisations will not have to reapply each time they seek to make a collection.

The bill also has penalties for people who unlawfully collect for charity. The maximum penalty is two years imprisonment. I think this reflects community opinion that impersonating a charity collector is fraudulent and undermines the confidence of the whole community in donating to charities. Anything that we can do to protect our charities and crack down on fraudulent collections will help build confidence in the community and help promote donations to charities, which need public support to continue the good work they do.

I would like to add my voice to the concerns being raised about community consultation on this legislation. At the introduction of the bill, the minister stated that his department would be seeking feedback and comment. I understand that the government has done that, but only over one month. As the boards of many community organisations meet

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