ACNC Charity Registration Application

Section 1 — Organisation details

Section 2 — Purposes (Statement of Purposes)

Charity's purposes — verbatim from clause 4 of the Constitution

The purposes of Life Without Debt Ltd are exclusively charitable, being:

1. to relieve the poverty, sickness, suffering, distress, misfortune, helplessness and disability of persons in Australia who are living with a terminal, life-limiting, chronic or serious illness or health condition, and of the immediate families and primary carers of such persons, including by:
   1. providing, free of charge to the beneficiary, professional debt-mediation, debt-negotiation and financial-advocacy services;
   2. providing direct financial relief for essential living costs (rent, utilities, food, transport, unfunded or under-funded health-related expenses);
   3. where necessary and consistent with the Company's Direct Relief Policy, discharging or reducing specific debts of beneficiaries;
   4. providing information, guidance, referral and casework services;
   5. training, engaging or funding suitably qualified professionals;
2. to advance social or public welfare in Australia by education of creditors, medical, legal and public communities, and by advocacy for policy and industry reform directed to relieving the identified hardship;
3. to advance the health of persons described in (a) by reducing financial stressors that impede access to healthcare, medication, aids, equipment and end-of-life care;
4. to do all such other lawful things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the purposes in (a) to (c),

and for no other purposes.

How the purposes are charitable under the Charities Act 2013 (Cth)

Each element of the purposes falls within one or more of the charitable purposes listed in section 12 of the Charities Act:

Public benefit

The Company's purposes are for the public benefit. Under section 6 of the Charities Act, the purpose of relieving poverty, sickness or the needs of the aged is presumed to be for the public benefit. In addition:

• The purposes are directed to identifiable public benefit outcomes — restoring financial dignity, reducing psychological distress, and enabling access to healthcare and end-of-life care.
• The beneficiary class ("Australians living with a terminal, life-limiting, chronic or serious illness, and their immediate families and primary carers") is a "section of the community" that is "appreciable" within the meaning applied by the courts (see Trustees of the Indigenous Barristers' Trust v FCT).
• The relief provided is targeted to people in need on the basis of that need and the Company's capacity to help — not on any arbitrary basis.
• Any private benefit to Members, Directors or staff (in the form of reasonable remuneration for services actually rendered) is incidental to the pursuit of the charitable purposes and is expressly permitted under clause 7.3 of the Constitution.

Detailed evidence supporting the public benefit test is set out in the accompanying Public Benefit Test Memorandum (Attachment B).

No disqualifying purposes

The Company has no disqualifying purposes within the meaning of section 11 of the Charities Act. In particular, the Company: (a) is not established or operated to engage in or promote activities that are unlawful or contrary to public policy; (b) does not have a purpose of promoting or opposing a political party or candidate for political office; (c) is not a government entity; and (d) is not covered by any adverse determination under Australian counter-terrorism law.

Section 3 — Activities (Description of Activities)

The Company will pursue its charitable purposes through the following activities. Each is described consistently with the "activity plan" required by paragraph 107 of the ACNC's Commissioner's Interpretation Statement: Public Benevolent Institutions.

3.1 The Six-Stage Case Intervention Model

The Company's core operational activity is a Six-Stage Case Intervention (developed by the founding team and documented in the internal Theory of Change paper):

1. 1. Intake. Beneficiaries (or their carers, treating clinicians, hospital social workers, palliative care teams, or referral partners) contact the Company. A trained Case Officer conducts an intake assessment, confirms the beneficiary is within the eligible class, and applies the internal Stress Score triage methodology (using ABS financial-hardship data, Equifax/Dun & Bradstreet credit-file data and Australian Banking Association hardship codes as reference inputs) to prioritise intake based on urgency of need.
2. 2. Document collection. The Case Officer works with the beneficiary and their family to compile a full financial position — creditors, balances, arrears, secured/unsecured status, current hardship arrangements, income sources, essential living costs, and (with beneficiary consent) medical-status documentation supporting the terminal/serious-illness position.
3. 3. Creditor engagement. The Company writes to each identified creditor as authorised advocate for the beneficiary. The letter puts creditors on notice of the beneficiary's health circumstances and invokes each creditor's obligations under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) hardship provisions and the ABA Banking Code of Practice.
4. 4. Negotiation. A trained Debt Negotiation Specialist negotiates outcomes with each creditor: debt waiver, reduction, restructure, moratorium, interest waiver, fee waiver, or compassionate discharge. Outcomes are documented in writing with each creditor.
5. 5. Resolution. The Case Officer confirms outcomes with the beneficiary, documents relief obtained (in aggregate for impact reporting), and — where the beneficiary consents — assists with implementation (e.g. facilitating written confirmations from creditors, updating credit-file annotations, cancelling direct debits).
6. 6. Referral back. The Case Officer ensures continuity of medical, palliative, legal and psychosocial support by referring the beneficiary back to their treating clinicians and to appropriate community and government services. The Company does not attempt to duplicate clinical or bereavement services provided by others.

3.2 Direct Relief Program

In cases where debt negotiation alone cannot relieve the beneficiary's distress, the Company will make direct payments in accordance with the Company's Direct Relief Policy (Attachment G). The Direct Relief Policy limits and controls direct payments as follows:

• Categories of relief: essential living costs (rent, utilities, food, transport); unfunded or under-funded health-related expenses; discharge or reduction of a specific debt where that is the most effective form of relief.
• Means-tested: beneficiary must demonstrate inability to meet the cost from their own resources or from public funding.
• Caps: individual payment cap of $5,000 per beneficiary per event; aggregate direct-relief spending capped at 25% of the Company's annual charitable outlays.
• Related-party exclusion: no direct relief payment may be made to a Member, Director, officer, employee, or a person connected with them.
• Approval: payments over $1,000 must be approved by two authorised signatories, one of whom is a Director.

3.3 Advocacy and education

The Company will engage in advocacy and education activities that are ancillary to its benevolent relief, consistent with paragraphs 65–73 of the ACNC's PBI Interpretation Statement. These activities include: creditor briefings on terminal-illness hardship protocols; medical- and legal-community education (e.g. articles in professional publications, hospital in-service sessions); public awareness campaigns about the intersection of terminal illness and financial hardship; and evidence-based submissions to relevant government inquiries where such submissions further the relief of the beneficiary class.

Advocacy is a subordinate activity in terms of resource allocation. The dominant purpose and predominant activity of the Company is direct benevolent relief through debt mediation and direct financial relief. See the accompanying DGR / PBI Application Content Pack for the sufficiency-of-connection analysis under Equality Australia and Global Citizen.

3.4 Anticipated scale of activities (Year 1 – Year 3)

Source: Internal Structure & Financial Model, s.05 OPEX Budget. Figures are projections and will be refined against actuals.

Section 4 — Beneficiaries (Statement of Beneficiaries)

Beneficiary class

The Company's beneficiaries are natural persons in Australia who are, or whose immediate family member is, living with a terminal, life-limiting, chronic or serious illness or health condition, and who are experiencing (or are at material risk of) financial hardship as a consequence of that illness.

The class is a "section of the community" that is "appreciable"

Applying paragraphs 11–17 of the ACNC's PBI Interpretation Statement:

• Choice based on need + capacity, not arbitrary criteria: The Company helps any person within the class, subject to its capacity to help. Beneficiaries are prioritised using the internal Stress Score methodology, which is transparent and tied to the severity of hardship (not to any arbitrary criterion such as personal connection, geography beyond Australia, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or income level unrelated to the illness).
• Scale: The ABS estimates several hundred thousand Australians are diagnosed with a life-limiting or serious illness each year. Palliative Care Australia estimates roughly 130,000 Australians die each year from expected illnesses; a substantially larger number live with chronic serious illness. This is clearly "appreciable".
• Public rather than private character: The Company is not controlled by, and does not selectively benefit, any family, closed group or private interest. Governance is by an independent Board with at least one Independent Director (Constitution clause 17.6).

How beneficiaries reach the Company (referral pathways)

1. Self-referral through the Company's public website;
2. Referral from treating clinicians, hospital social workers and palliative care teams;
3. Referral from allied charities and community organisations working with the terminally ill;
4. Referral from financial counsellors, community legal centres, and (where legally permitted) creditor hardship teams;
5. Referral from state-based bereavement and carer-support services.

Distress that goes beyond ordinary daily life

Applying paragraph 32 of the PBI Interpretation Statement (Cairnmillar Institute): the distress experienced by the Company's beneficiaries goes beyond the pain and suffering of everyday life. Terminal or serious illness combined with unmanageable debt causes: (a) profound psychological distress (documented in peer-reviewed literature on "financial toxicity" in oncology and palliative care contexts); (b) compromised access to healthcare, medication and end-of-life care; (c) severe financial dislocation affecting housing, food security and transport; and (d) intergenerational hardship carried by surviving family. Each of these conditions is a form of "poverty, sickness, suffering, distress, misfortune, helplessness or disability" within the PBI concept.

Section 5 — Charity subtype selection

The Company applies to be registered with the following charity subtypes under section 25-5(5) of the ACNC Act:

Section 6 — Governance Standards 1–6 Compliance Narrative

The Company will comply with the six ACNC Governance Standards. The following narrative sets out the specific steps the Company takes for each Standard. It is prepared as evidence for the ACNC and mirrors ACNC guidance Governance for good: A guide for Responsible People.

Governance Standard 1 — Purposes and not-for-profit nature

• Setup as NFP with charitable purpose: The Constitution clause 3 records the Company's not-for-profit character and clause 4 records its exclusively charitable purposes. Both are paramount clauses (clause 35) and cannot be amended in any way that would defeat the Company's charitable status (clause 34.2).
• Runs as NFP: Clause 7 (not-for-profit clause) prevents distribution of income or assets to Members, Directors or associates, subject only to the permitted-payments carve-out for goods and services on arm's-length terms. Clause 33 (winding up) ensures surplus assets go only to another eligible charity/DGR.
• Public information about purpose: The Company will publish its purposes and activity summary on its public website (www.cosailifewithoutdebt.org and successor domains), in its annual report, and on the ACNC Charity Register.

Governance Standard 2 — Accountability to members

• The Constitution provides for an Annual General Meeting each calendar year (clause 14), with at least 21 days' notice (clause 15.1).
• Members receive the Directors' report, financial report and auditor's report (if any) at each AGM.
• Members may propose resolutions and vote on the appointment and removal of Directors (clauses 17.5 and 18.2(d)).
• Members may pass resolutions by circulation (clause 16.1) and may attend meetings by technology (clause 16.2).

Governance Standard 3 — Compliance with Australian laws

• Directors' Duties Statement provided at appointment references the duties under the Corporations Act and ACNC Act.
• Compliance policies address: fraud prevention, anti-money-laundering awareness, National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) obligations (relevant to the Company's operations as debt-negotiation intermediary — under Carla Oliver's ACL 387398 in Year 1, with the Company applying for its own ACL in Year 2), the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Australian Privacy Principles), work health & safety, and fundraising legislation in each state where the Company solicits gifts.
• The Compliance Officer role (see structure documentation) has been provided for and will be appointed within the Company's first 12 months to embed compliance monitoring.

Governance Standard 4 — Suitability of Responsible People

• Before appointment, each Director signs a Responsible Person Declaration confirming they are not disqualified under Part 2D.6 of the Corporations Act and are not disqualified under the ACNC Act.
• The Company will check each Director's name against the ASIC Disqualified Persons Register and the ACNC Disqualified Persons Register before appointment and at least annually.
• Directors must notify the Company immediately of any change in disqualification status.
• The Constitution clause 18 codifies both the eligibility criteria and the automatic vacation of office on disqualification.

Governance Standard 5 — Duties of Responsible People

• Constitution clause 19 sets out the duties of Directors: care and diligence; good faith in the best interests of the Company and for its charitable purposes; not misusing position or information; disclosure and management of conflicts; responsible financial management; and not permitting insolvent trading.
• The Board adopts the following supporting instruments (drafts attached to this application):
  • Board Charter (Attachment C);
  • Conflicts of Interest Policy (Attachment D) and Conflicts Register;
  • Related-Party Transactions Policy (Attachment E) — critical because the founding CFO adviser, Carla Oliver of CoSai CFO Services, is a related party;
  • Direct Relief Policy (Attachment G) — limits direct relief spending to protect against private benefit and to align with PBI dominant-purpose requirements;
  • Reserves & Financial Sustainability Policy (Attachment F) — target 3 months' operating reserves.
• Each Responsible Person receives a copy of these policies and the ACNC's Governance for good guide on appointment, and is asked to acknowledge them in writing.

Governance Standard 6 — National Redress Scheme

• The Company's activities are not directed to children, and the Company does not operate institutional facilities in which children reside or are supervised. The risk of the Company being identified as being involved in the abuse of a person is therefore assessed as very low.
• If the Company is ever identified in a response to a request for information under the National Redress Scheme Act 2018 (Cth), it will take reasonable steps to join the National Redress Scheme within the time required under Governance Standard 6.

Section 7 — Responsible Persons

The initial Responsible Persons of the Company are set out below. Each has signed (or will sign, at Company registration) a Responsible Person Declaration confirming they are not disqualified and consent to act.

Section 8 — Financial information

Startup budget (Year 1)

Expected funding sources

• Donations from members of the public (target DGR status enables tax-deductible giving);
• Grants from philanthropic trusts and foundations;
• Grants from the Australian and state governments;
• In-kind support from CoSai CFO Services (governance, finance, compliance mentoring) under a formal Related-Party engagement — see Related-Party Transactions Policy.

Financial size category at commencement

At commencement, the Company will be a Medium charity for ACNC purposes (annual revenue between $500,000 and $3 million). Reporting obligations include lodgement of a reviewed financial report each year.

Section 9 — PBI subtype supplementary evidence

See the accompanying DGR / PBI Application Content Pack for full evidence supporting the PBI subtype application, including:

1. the "public" evidence (an appreciable section of the community, control not by related persons, funding from members of the public);
2. the "benevolent" evidence (relief of poverty, sickness, distress that goes beyond ordinary suffering; distinguishing Cairnmillar from Marriage Guidance Council);
3. the "institution" evidence (not a mere trust or fund; regular activities, staff, professional operation);
4. the sufficiency-of-connection evidence between activities and the benevolent ends (distinguishing Global Citizen from Equality Australia);
5. the dominant-purpose analysis showing benevolent relief is the Company's characteristic and predominant purpose and activity.

Section 10 — Declaration

The person authorised to lodge this application on behalf of the Company (Laurence Hugo, CEO / Public Officer) declares that:

1. the information provided in this application is true and correct to the best of that person's knowledge;
2. the person is authorised by the Board to lodge this application;
3. the Company meets, or on registration will meet, the ACNC Governance Standards;
4. the person understands the ongoing reporting and compliance obligations of an ACNC-registered charity, including annual reporting to the ACNC, notification of changes to Responsible Persons, notification of changes to governing document, and maintenance of Register of Members.

Attachments