FAL Lawyers Melbourne & Canberra

We have had a successful track record of registering charities with the ACNC for individuals that aim to help specific and niche communities within Australia. Our experience with working with niche communities ranges far and wide, from setting up charities that aim to assist cultural communities, religious communities and professional communities (e.g. maritime community).  We have been able to set up all of these charities to empower them with freedom and flexibility to pursue their vision and charitable objectives.

Earlier this year FAL assisted a large scientific research collaboration obtain charity status to facilitate the pursuit of its goals and charitable objects. The collaboration brings together industry, researchers, government bodies and the community to leverage and build upon Australian capability and expertise, with the end goal of creating the tools, technologies and skills to make Australia a player on the world stage in the charity’s sector. In this case, the application went straight through and was accepted by the ACNC without any questions, changes or requests for further information.

We worked with this company from the beginning until its very successful exit. Our legal services included setting up their corporate structure, drafting standard customer contracts, assisting with negotiations with third parties, negotiating and documenting a number of investment rounds and eventually an acquisition of the entire company by a large multinational acquirer.

Since the beginning of the Australian cannabis technology industry, our legal team has been actively involved with a number of cannabis technology start-ups. We have advised on appropriate structures, capital raising both listing and private, and general commercial needs.

We acted for a medical charity that conducts clinical and medical research activities. The charity, due to the reputation of its board members, had substantial promised funding prior to its registration with the ACNC from a large-scale sophisticated donor, and we assisted not only with the establishment of the charity but also with forming the structure for receiving those donations and setting up the its operational framework (e.g. leasing out buildings at hospitals, obtaining high-tech and expensive medical equipment, establishing employment arrangements, etc).

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In 2016, our charities team were the first in Australia to successfully get tax deductible status for a charity that wanted to send money overseas to people in need. The background is that a friend approached us with his dream – to build schools for kids in Kenya and Cambodia. With some changes in the law happening in the couple of years before, we thought it was a prime time to test the waters and see if charities set up exclusively for benefitting needy people overseas would be accepted.  Happily, our efforts were successful and since then many schools have been able to be built, assisting hundreds of children every day.

Advised a Victorian government agency in respect of a software contract dispute. Following a detailed analysis of the contract of 10 years, FAL provided the agency with an effective bargaining position for further negotiations with the supplier.

Assisted a large scientific research collaboration to obtain charity status. The collaboration brings together Australian industry, researchers, government bodies and the community to leverage and build upon Australian capability and expertise. The charity’s application went straight through and was accepted by the ACNC without any questions, changes or requests for further information.

Assisted with establishing a medical charity that is able to conduct both clinical and medical research activities. The charity had substantial promised funding prior to its registration with the ACNC from a large-scale sophisticated donor. We assisted with not only the establishment of the charity but also with forming the structure for receiving such substantial donations and setting up the infrastructure from which the charity would operate.

We acted for a subcontractor that was contracted to a top-tier construction company for the development of a high-value, multi-storey development complex. We successfully made out an adjudication for the payment of $260,000 that was owed to our client in invoices despite the imbalance in scale between the two parties.

At times charities have urgent needs to obtain charity status as they have important projects with looming deadlines.  We have worked closely with the ACNC and the ATO and, when needed, have been able to openly communicate with them about urgent needs of clients.  In this case we filed the application on a Thursday and came to work on a Monday morning with the charity approved and ready to go.  This was enormously beneficial for our client who needed the funds to keep an important building within their community.

With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, we think it’s great that new businesses are continuing to be created, particularly those in the field of sports and fitness. FAL Lawyers recently assisted former Australian netball player and current Collingwood AFL Women’s Footballer, Sharni Layton, to establish the Sharni Layton Sports Academy. We partnered with Sharni to prepare contractor agreements and terms and conditions for student-athletes. We also filed trade mark applications for the Sports Academy. The Sharni Layton Sports Academy will offer a high-performance program for youth who complete in netball and football. The Sports Academy will provide student-athletes with quality coaching, training and mentoring by passionate and professional coaches, dietitians, psychologists and physios. The programs will provide student-athletes with the necessary support to maximise their sporting potential and personal development. The Sharni Layton Academy will be launching early 2021.

Bringing together builders and not for profit groups to develop housing for homeless people, budget housing, temporary housing, negotiating with church land and unusual legislation. We have acted for a builder involved with numerous church groups in a joint venture to build social housing on church land in New South Wales. The project involves numerous sites and has required extensive contract negotiations with various church groups. The overall solution has involved an understanding of construction law as well as how it applies to this varying not for profit structures.