AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

STREET COLLECTIONS ORDINANCE 1959

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

No. 17 of 1959

		This Ordinance is to provide a measure of control over street collections, the main objects being –
(a)	to see that appeals are properly conducted and that an undue part of the proceeds is not spent on collection costs, and
(b)	to give power to refuse the right to make an appeal to organisations which do not spend in the Territory the money collected here to the detriment of local organisations with similar objects.

		The ordinance requires a licence to be obtained from the Minister before a street collection may be conducted.  There will be no fee for the licence, which may cover a day, part of a day, or a period.  The reasons for which the Minister may refuse a licence are set out in section 5.

		The holder of a licence must give a written authority to each collector.  This must be produced to a member of the Police Force on request.  A person under 17 may not be authorised as a collector.

		If the collection is not by means of a “button day”, official receipts or tickets must be given for donations, or money collected in a sealed collecting box.

		Unless exempted from doing so, a statement, verified by statutory declaration, setting out the amount collected, the costs of collection, and the manner in which the proceeds have been dealt with, must be submitted to the Minister by the holder of the licence within 30 days of the making of the collection.