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Tougher Sanctions Send Warning Signal to Fundraisers

Face to face fundraisers who break the rules are set to face tougher suspensions and sanctions under a new regime.

The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association, the self-regulatory body for face to face fundraising in Australia, announced on Tuesday that it has overhauled the association’s powers to suspend members and issue penalty fees with immediate effect.

As part of a package of measures approved by its new Membership and Accreditation Committee, any members who are suspended for persistently breaching the PFRA Standard will now be prohibited from providing or contracting services to the rest of the membership.

The PFRA has also increased the penalty fees it can levy against non-compliant members, with the maximum penalty in any 12 month period more than doubled from $10,000 to $21,000.

PFRA chief executive Peter Hills-Jones told Pro Bono News the changes “sent a strong signal to the entire fundraising community that the PFRA would not hesitate to act decisively when confronting poor practice”.

“It is an attempt to signal to our broader stakeholders, both the state regulators and our partner local councils, that we really want to see an improvement in compliance and standards over the course of 2018,” Hills-Jones said.

To read the full Pro Bono Article, click here.

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