Joint communique from International Charity Regulator leaders
Howard Lake | 4 November 2024 | News
Charity regulators from eight nations gathered in the UK for a three-day meeting in October 2024, issuing a joint communiqué on shared challenges and priorities facing the global charity sector.
Representatives and Heads of Regulators from Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Singapore, and an observing invitee from the United States met to discuss matters of mutual interest and concern.
The four key themes covered were:
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- Charity registration and charitable status: Regulators shared improvements to registration processes and agreed to explore better data sharing to prevent cross-border abuse of charity status.
- Digital, technology and data: Regulators agreed to share digital and technology plans to enable better cross-jurisdiction co-operation for charities and the public.
- Communication, education and public trust: Regulators identified successful approaches to engage charities, particularly those harder to reach.
- Compliance: Regulators reviewed global trends in charity non-compliance and affirmed their commitment to sharing insights to tackle risks, including upholding Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.
Regulators recognised the world is currently dealing with substantial challenges including evolving social environments, changing patterns of volunteering, climate change, cost of living pressures driving higher demand for services, and the need to support populations through conflict.
The communiqué affirmed that the work of charities and not-for-profit organisations has never been more important, describing them as “fundamental to world class research, scientific endeavour and policy change” that enables health, environmental and animal welfare issues to be advanced.
Regulators shared examples of how effective, expert regulation plays a fundamental part in allowing charities to thrive and allows the public to have trust and confidence in their work. They “advanced their shared objectives through the exchange of knowledge and best practice”.
The group will be hosted by a different member when they next reconvene in the spring of 2026. Until then, Regulators will continue their online quarterly meetings to build on these positive discussions to ensure lessons continue to be shared and the international community of charity Regulators remains united.
Delegate list
- David Holdsworth – Chief Executive, England & Wales
- Orlando Fraser KC – Chair, England & Wales
- Paul Latham – Director of Communications & Policy, England & Wales
- Sue Woodward AM – Commissioner, Australia
- Natasha Sekulic – Assistant Commissioner – General Counsel, Australia
- Sharmila Khare – Director General, Charities Directorate, Canada
- Madeleine Delaney – Chief Executive, Ireland
- Geraldine McCarthy – Head of Communications, Ireland
- Frances McCandless – Chief Executive, Northern Ireland
- Punam McGookin – Head of Charity Services, Northern Ireland
- Martin Tyson – Head of Regulation and Improvement, Scotland
- Desmond Chin – Commissioner of Charities, Singapore
- Izyana Baharom – Assistant Director, Singapore
- Observer: Beth Short – President of the National Association of State Charity Officials, USA
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.