This page sets out the Institute’s current legal status. We will update it as each step below is completed.
Where the Institute stands today
- Name: The Australian Institute of Pharmacognosy.
- ABN: 80 473 856 173 (active since 30 April 2025). The Australian Business Register lists the Institute as an unincorporated entity.
- Constitution: adopted by special resolution on 17 May 2025. It requires the Institute to operate on a not-for-profit basis and apply its income and property only to its purposes. See the Constitution.
- Charity registration: the Institute is not registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
- Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status: the Institute is not endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a DGR. Gifts and payments to the Institute are not tax-deductible.
- GST: the Institute is not registered for GST.
Working towards DGR endorsement
The Institute intends to seek DGR endorsement, which requires several steps in order:
- Step 1: A formal legal structure. The Institute is preparing to incorporate as a not-for-profit body.
- Step 2: Governance. The Board is recruiting further directors, so that the Institute has the independent governing body that charity registration expects.
- Step 3: Charity registration with the ACNC.
- Step 4: An application to the ATO for DGR endorsement under the category that fits the Institute’s research purpose.
Progress at 17 September 2026: the Institute has adopted its governance policies, reviewed its website legal notices, and assessed the legal structures available for incorporation. Its next steps are to take professional legal advice on the structure and on its Constitution’s public fund and winding-up clauses, and then to incorporate. None of steps 1 to 4 is complete yet.
Decisions on steps 3 and 4 rest with the ACNC and the ATO. We cannot say when, or whether, endorsement will be granted. Until the ATO endorses the Institute, we will not describe any gift as tax-deductible.
Donations
The Institute is not currently accepting money donations through this website while its fundraising arrangements under Queensland law are settled. If you would like to support the Institute when it is able to accept support, please use our contact form to register your interest. Registering interest does not commit you to anything.
Laboratory and equipment
The laboratory the Institute works with in Cardwell is owned and run by a researcher who holds a Laboratory Charter from the Institute. The Institute has access to that laboratory but does not own it or its equipment.
Contact
Governance questions and complaints: please use our contact form.