In Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Macdonald (No 11) [2009] NSWSC 287 the New South Wales Supreme Court has decided in favour of ASIC's civil claim that a number of statements in the Draft ASX Announcement by James Hardie to the effect that the Foundation would have sufficient funds to meet all legitimate Asbestos Claims, that it was fully funded and provided certainty for people with legitimate Asbestos Claims were false or misleading and that the directors were in breach of Section 180(1) of the Corporations Act.

Some while ago the Senate Inquiry into Disclosure Regimes for Charities and Not‐for‐Profit Organisations released its report. The government has now released its response to that report. Unfortunately, that response is basically “Watch this space.”

One of the government’s problems is that it has set up a large number of inquiries into aspects of the community sector (including tax, governance, monitoring, and effectiveness) run by different agencies (including the Productivity Commission, the Tax Inquiry, and the Senate) and reporting on different timelines – so it can’t really make any real policy changes until all the results are in.

There’s a good deal of activity in the area of not‐for‐profit law reform. The Government has some seven inquiries in train, including some heavy hitters, and hundreds of detailed submissions on the need for change are up at the Productivity Commission site and the Senate Inquiry site. There is again pressure for change to some of the more irritating aspects of not‐for‐profit regulation in this country.

The push is not just coming from within Government.