Women’s Life Centre Inc and Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Taxation)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the case of Women’s Life Centre Inc and the Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. The dispute concerned whether the applicant, Women’s Life Centre Inc (WLC), qualified as a public benevolent institution for the purposes of registration under the *Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012* (Cth).

The Tribunal was required to determine whether WLC could demonstrate that its primary purpose was the relief of poverty, distress, suffering, or misfortune, and whether its services were directed towards those in need, rather than the general public. A key issue was whether the services provided by WLC met the established legal criteria for a public benevolent institution, as interpreted by relevant case law.

The Tribunal reasoned that the applicant bore the onus of proving its benevolent purpose. While acknowledging the genuine efforts of WLC's counsellors to provide support, the Tribunal found that WLC had not sufficiently demonstrated how the women using its services were in need in the specific sense required by case law, nor how the services were directed to those in need as opposed to being generally available. The Tribunal noted that the concept of a "crisis pregnancy" as presented by WLC was ambiguous and potentially encompassed values not aligned with the narrow definition of a public benevolent institution. The Tribunal applied principles from cases such as *Perpetual Trustees* and *Cairnmillar* regarding the definition of benevolent purposes and the requirement for services to be directed to those in need.

The Tribunal affirmed the objection decision, meaning WLC was not recognised as a public benevolent institution based on the evidence presented.