Who must comply with Fundraiser registration in Victoria?

Fundraising in Victoria requires registration with Consumer Affairs Victoria under the Fundraising Appeals Act 1998, unless exempt. Who must register and how.

Under the Fundraising Act 1998 (Vic), any person or organisation, including a business, that collects money or goods for a beneficiary, cause or thing rather than solely for its own profit must register as a fundraiser with Consumer Affairs Victoria unless exempt. Fundraising includes doorknock, telephone and intersection collections, events such as golf days and trivia nights, auctions, clothing bins, opportunity shops and sales where part of the price is donated. Registration is lodged in myCAV at least 28 days before fundraising starts, requires criminal record and insolvency declarations from applicants, directors, appeal managers and associates, a Victorian principal place of business, and is free. It normally lasts three years. Registered fundraisers must keep records that can be conveniently audited, finalise appeal accounts within 3 months, store records in Victoria for 3 years and lodge annual statements. ACNC-registered charities benefit from reduced reporting and renewal requirements. Even exempt fundraisers must ensure collectors display identification and collection receptacles are secure.

Applies only if you fundraise from the public. Whether it applies turns on a fact that no industry, structure or size settles on its own.

How the regulator frames it: Any person or organisation conducting a fundraising appeal in Victoria. Registration is not required if the organisation raises less than $20,000 gross in a financial year, is not paid for fundraising and uses only unpaid volunteers (it must still follow the Act), or is an exempt body such as a government or registered non-government school, university or TAFE, public hospital, religious body authorised to marry, registered political party or trade union, or Cancer Council Victoria.

What triggers it: Starting a fundraising appeal in Victoria, or exceeding $20,000 gross fundraising in a financial year, or paying people to fundraise. Raffles and bingo permitted under the Gambling Regulation Act 2003, membership fees, internal member appeals, workplace collections for an employee, government grants, commercial sponsorships and memorial gifts are outside the Act.

Jurisdiction: Victoria law only. A business with no operations in VIC is outside it, whatever the rest of the test says.

Outcome across the 35 industries Rules Mate maps (35 of 35: only if a further fact applies).

The answer is the same in every industry: only if a further fact applies. Industry does not change who must comply.

Size does not change the answer across all industries: at every size band the answer is "only if a further fact applies".

Each line is one run of the Rules Mate applicability engine for a single business profile, with the reason the engine gives:

• Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: does not apply. Requires a trigger outside this questionnaire.
• Registered charity in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: check whether it applies. applies only if you fundraise from the public.

The engine shows this obligation as "check whether this applies" when a business has ACNC registration or nfp unregistered. It then applies only if you fundraise from the public. That fact is not something Rules Mate can infer from industry, structure or size.

When due

Apply at least 28 days before fundraising begins (urgent applications available for emergency appeals); renew in myCAV at least 28 days before the three-year registration expires; finalise appeal accounts within 3 months of the appeal ending (annually for appeals over one year); make accounts available for public inspection within 21 days of a request; notify a new contact person within 7 days.

Frequency

Annual

Evidence to keep

myCAV registration and any conditions; criminal record and personal insolvency declarations; overseas distribution verification letters where relevant; appeal records kept so they can be conveniently audited; finalised accounts summarising income and expenditure; annual statements; records stored in Victoria for 3 years after the appeal ends; collector identification badges; auditor's report if requested by the Director.

Status

Current

Priority

High

Maximum penalty: Consumer Affairs Victoria can issue infringement notices for breaches of the Fundraising Act 1998, for example 2.5 penalty units for collectors not wearing identification or paid canvassers not disclosing they are paid, and 12.5 penalty units for failing to keep auditable records, finalise accounts within 3 months, store records in Victoria or provide a requested auditor's report. The Victorian penalty unit is $209.10 for 2026-27. A court can impose higher maximum penalties, and fundraising without registration when required is not permitted.

Rules Mate has not yet classified the audit or assurance level for this obligation. Any audit, review or certification requirement is set by the regulator source listed below.

If this obligation applies to you, so do these 2: the engine uses the same rule for each.

• Hold an NSW Charitable Fundraising Authority
• Charity public fundraising — state authority cycle

Rules Mate tracks 9 published obligations tagged "charities", 3 of them rated critical. For a professional services Pty Ltd company with 6–19 employees operating in every state, 0 of those apply outright. This obligation is rated high priority and carries criminal liability, and is a annual obligation.

Regulated by Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Consumer Affairs Vic: Victorian consumer protection, business licensing, tenancy, and incorporated associations regulator.

• Consumer Affairs Victoria

Free tools that help with this obligation:

• NDIS provider readiness checker
• Aged Care Act 2024 readiness
• ACNC charity readiness scorer