Application for a Declared Community or Charitable Organisation

On this page

If you intend to raise funds through community and charitable gaming activities such as:

  • conducting raffles or fundraising events
  • selling lucky envelopes, or
  • conducting bingo sessions,

you must be declared as a community or charitable organisation.

To register or renew an existing declaration, complete the Declaration as a community or charitable organisation online application form.

The application must be lodged no less than 28 days before the gaming activity is carried out, as stated in section 8.3.1 of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 (the Act).

*Note: there is no application fee.

The documents required as part of your application depend on the nature of the organisation. These are listed in the application form.

If the application requires you to provide a list of members, you can de-identify members who are minors by:

  • replacing first and surnames with initials
  • providing street names rather than full address details.

We may ask for more detailed membership information if required.

Eligibility as a declared organisation

To be declared, the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) must be satisfied that the organisation is conducted in good faith for:

(a) any philanthropic or compassionate purpose, including the promotion of:

  • art
  • culture
  • science
  • religion
  • education, or
  • charity

and including the purpose of benefiting a fund certified as a patriotic fund. This comes under section 24 of the Patriotic Funds Act 1958(opens in a new window), or the fund/part of the fund of the Australian Red Cross Society; or

(b) the purposes of any sporting or recreational club or association of a prescribed kind; or

(c) the purposes of a political party.

For paragraph (b), the matters to be met for a sporting or recreation club or association are prescribed in section 66 Gambling Regulations(opens in a new window).

In addition to the above, the VGCCC will assess other matters such as:

  • the conduct of fundraising or community and charitable gaming activities by the organisation
  • the conduct of any person directly or indirectly associated with the organisation.

Surrendering your declaration

If your community or charitable organisation no longer wishes to be declared and conduct community and charitable gaming activities, your organisation will need to notify us in writing by emailing: [email protected].

Any active community and charitable gaming permit or bingo sessions must end when the community or charitable organisation’s declaration status is given up.

Community or charitable gaming laws

The Act provides for the regulation, supervision, and control of gaming for the benefit of community or charitable organisations. This aims to ensure that:

  • community and charitable gaming is conducted honestly and is free from criminal influence and exploitation
  • activities authorised by a community and charitable gaming permit benefit the connected community or charitable organisation
  • practices which could undermine public confidence in community and charitable gaming are eliminated, and
  • bingo centre operators and commercial raffle organisers do not act unfairly in providing commercial services to organisations.

Interstate authorities

To conduct community and charitable gaming activities in another state, contact the appropriate authority:

Updated

Back to top