INVESTIGATING
CHARITIES
Fact Sheet
Contents
Charitable Fundraising
• What is this fact sheet about?
• What complaints are looked at?
• How to alert the NSW Office of Liquor,
Gaming and Racing
• Confidentiality
• What happens when we are alerted?
• Investigations / Inquiries
• What action can we take to put matters right?
What is this fact sheet about?
• Charities (organisations authorised to
undertake fundraising appeals) are supported
by donations and members of the public
should have confidence that their donations
are applied for the purposes for which they
were intended.
• Charities and other persons and organisations
conduct community gaming activities
(lotteries and games of chance) as a
fundraising activity, as a social pastime or
entertainment, or as a method of promoting
the sale or use of products or services.
• We have powers of inquiry where misconduct
and wrongful use of funds and assets, or
mismanagement is suspected or alleged,
or where non-compliance with the law is
suspected or alleged.
• This fact sheet explains what you could do
if you suspect something is wrong, what
we will do, and what powers we have to
investigate.
NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing
Level 7, 323 Castlereagh Street, Sydney
GPO Box 7060 Sydney 2001
Phone: 02 9995 0666 Facsimile: 02 9995 0611
Email: charity.inquiries@olgr.nsw.gov.au
Website: www.olgr.nsw.gov.au
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What complaints are looked at?
An inquiry / investigation will be undertaken
where there is good reason to do so. For example,
we will consider complaints supported by
evidence that:
• there is misconduct or mismanagement
• the funds and assets are at risk — the funds
and assets are being used or applied in breach
of the purposes for which they were raised
• the public is being mislead in a material way
• unlawful charitable fundraising or community
gaming activities are being conducted
• a prize won is not delivered, or is different in
a material way
• persons are receiving unauthorised benefits
• proper accounts are not kept
• fundraising or administrative costs are too
high
• improper activities are being undertaken.
We do not investigate criminal matters, which
are the responsibility of the police to investigate
under the provisions of the Crimes Act. Where
an investigation uncovers criminal offences we
will refer the matter to the police to consider what
action they wish to take.
We cannot assist you in legal proceedings taken
against a charity or an organiser of a community
gaming activity.
We will not usually use our powers of
investigation to resolve internal disputes
between members of a charity or its management
committee.
March 2008

How to alert the NSW Office of
Liquor, Gaming and Racing?
It is usually best to write.
However, you may wish to telephone first to
Fact Sheet help clarify issues. The matter may be able to be
resolved over the phone. If you do phone always
ask for the name of the person to whom you speak
and their position. Tell them about the complaint,
Charitable Fundraising
ask if we can help and what we could do. You
should keep notes of this and the time and date of
the call.
Nevertheless, to ensure your concerns are properly
addressed, write a letter and send it to us by mail
or e-mail (charity.complaints@olgr.nsw.gov.au or
lottery.complaints@olgr.nsw.gov.au). Even if you
are satisfied with your telephone conversation, it
may be best to confirm your understanding of the
conversation in writing.
Unless you have an urgent problem, or the matter
can be resolved over the phone, it is best to write.
Make it clear and to the point. Summarise in a
couple of sentences exactly what your complaint
is. Don’t go into excessive detail — if detail is
necessary set it out logically.
You should write to us with the following
information.
• your full name and address and other contact
particulars (e-mail address, telephone
number) and details of your connection with
the charity or the community gaming activity
(if any)
• the name of the charity and its CFN
registration number (if known)
• the name of the organiser of the community
gaming activity and its permit number (if any,
if known)
• a summary of your complaint or concern, and
the background to what has occurred
• relevant dates and times
• description of incidents
• details of conversations and meetings
• copies of relevant letters
• any explanations you think are important
• any documentary evidence (or copies) in
support of your complaint
• details of any attempts you have made to
have someone in authority in the charity or
the organisation of the community gaming
activity to put right what you believe to be
misconduct or wrong
• details of any previous correspondence or
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INVESTIGATING CHARITIES
contact with us about these matters
• details of any complaints made to the police
or other public bodies about these matters.
Indicate what action you think we should take to
resolve the problem.
It is a criminal offence knowingly or recklessly
to supply us with information which is false or
misleading. Anyone able to give information in
good faith, however, should feel quite free to do so.
Confidentiality
We do not normally take any action on the basis of
anonymous information.
It will be difficult for us to act unless we can use
the information provided. If you write to us, please
state:
• whether we may put your complaint and any
evidence to the charity or the organiser of the
community gaming activity, and
• whether we may reveal your name to the
charity or the organiser of the community
gaming activity as the complainant.
If you do not wish this to happen, you may
nevertheless pass information to us. Also, please
mark your complaint with words (eg. confidential
or in confidence) that would make your intention
clear to us. Nevertheless, we have a policy that
prohibits officers divulging information about
complainants, etc., to other persons. You may be
assured that in the absence of any clear direction
from you, your name and particulars will not be
divulged.
We will respect confidences so far as we are
able, but any person criticised by us as a result
of an inquiry has a right to be told the nature of
the evidence upon which the complaint has been
based, and in some cases this evidence may point
towards the complainant.
The results of inquiries may also be used in
Court proceedings, and some, of particular public
interest, may be published.
Documents and information gathered during the
course of an inquiry will be treated in confidence,
unless and until we decide to publish the results
(if necessary) or they are required under a Court
Order during legal proceedings.
The Freedom of Information Act 1989 (FOI
Act) confers on each member of the public a
legally enforceable right to be given access to
documents held by Government subject only to
such restrictions as are reasonably necessary for
the proper administration of Government. The Act
requires any discretion conferred to be exercised

as far as possible to facilitate and encourage the
disclosure of information. Each document is to
be examined on the premise that access is to be
given unless an exemption provision specifically
provides for the exemption of the information
contained. The exemption provisions are to be
Fact Sheet narrowly and strictly interpreted.
The grounds of exemption include Clause 13 of
Schedule 1—documents containing confidential
Charitable Fundraising
information. Clause 13 of Schedule 1 states that a
document is an exempt document:
(a) if it contains matter the disclosure of
which would found an action for breach of
confidence; or
(b) if it contains matter the disclosure of which -
(i) would otherwise disclose information
obtained in confidence; and
(ii) could reasonably be expected to prejudice
the future supply of such information to
the government or agency; and
(iii) would, on balance, be contrary to the
public interest.
To find an action for breach of confidence it
is necessary to show that the information is
inherently confidential, the document or the
information contained in the document was given
in circumstances which indicate the establishment
or existence of a confidential relationship and that
there is unauthorised use of the information to
the detriment of the informant. The existence of a
confidential relationship may be expressly stated
or inferred from all the circumstances.
This clause of the FOI Act is concerned with
protecting information that would not have been
given to us unless confidentiality was maintained.
If you mark your letter of complaint with words to
the effect that it is submitted IN CONFIDENCE,
we would submit that this requirement is met and
access would be refused.
However, section 25 (4) of the FOI Act provides
that if it is practicable to provide access to a
document from which exempt matter has been
deleted, and it appears that the applicant would
wish to have access to such a copy, there is a duty
to provide access accordingly. This possibility
must be examined in every case before a decision
is made to deny access to any page of a document.
What happens when we are
alerted?
Compliance Officers in our Investigation Unit
will examine your complaint and the information
you provide, together with any other information
on our files about the charity or the community
gaming activity. They may also need to obtain
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INVESTIGATING CHARITIES
additional information from the charity or the
organiser of the community gaming activity.
Each complaint is reviewed and assessed against
criteria to determine its priority. The Investigation
Unit will evaluate the information to decide
whether:
• it is a matter which we can properly
investigate, and
• the matter is sufficiently serious to justify an
investigation.
As we must give priority to the most serious
cases of abuse or bad administration, we may
not be able to investigate some minor complaints
if our investigation staff is engaged on higher
priority work, or if the costs of an investigation far
outweigh any loss to the charity or the community.
You will be advised as soon as possible, normally
within two months, whether we propose to take
action.
Investigations / Inquiries
Compliance officers of the Investigation Unit carry
out investigations or inquiries. They have the skills
and experience to investigate.
In some rare cases, specialists from outside the
NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing may
also help carry out this work.
Compliance Officers are under a duty to act fairly.
They are concerned solely with the best interests
of the charity and its beneficiaries. They do not
represent the interests of either the complainant or
the management committee of the charity or the
organiser of the community gaming activity.
They have power to obtain and copy all relevant
information and documents from the charity or
the organiser of the community gaming activity,
advisers and bankers of the charity or the
community gaming activity, which are necessary
for their work.
When we investigate our main concern is to
ensure that the charity or the organiser of the
community gaming activity suffers no financial
loss or damage to its reputation as a result of
anyone’s misconduct. We also need to ensure that
the charity or a community gaming activity will be
managed properly in the future.
What action can we take to put
matters right?
We can take action in many ways, if an inquiry
finds misconduct or mismanagement. For example,
we can:

• prohibit further fundraising or community
gaming activities
• stop further actions by the charity’s
management committee in dealing with the
charity’s property (which includes land,
buildings, investments and cash)
Fact Sheet • appoint an administrator to conduct the
affairs and activities of a charity
INVESTIGATING CHARITIES
In less serious cases, we may simply give a charity
or the organiser of a community gaming activity
a warning and ensure that faults are put right. If
necessary, we will monitor future activities.
We aim to help charities and the organisers of
community gaming activities achieve what they
want to do, within their charitable purposes (if
any) and the requirements of the law.

• refer the matter to the appropriate authorities We will try to let you know the outcome of the
Charitable Fundraising

for them to consider legal proceedings investigation, though some are very complex and
can take many months, sometimes more than a
• refer the matter to the police or to other
year, to complete.
government agencies for appropriate action
• refer issues concerning trustees to the
Attorney General’s Department for
consideration of matters under the Charitable
Trusts Act 1993 (suspend or remove trustees
and employees, appointment of new trustees,
etc.).

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