On 1 January 2024, administrative responsibility for assessing cultural organisations’ eligibility for Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) endorsement transferred from the Office for the Arts to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This change is as a result of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Refining and Improving our Tax System) Act 2023 becoming law, amending the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

The new law contains transitional provisions to ensure organisations currently endorsed as DGRs on the Register of Cultural Organisations (ROCO) continue to be endorsed if they continue to meet eligibility criteria. Further, for these organisations, there is no longer a requirement under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to submit statistical returns every 6 months. The final reporting period for ROCO statistical returns was for the period 1 January – 30 June 2023.

The transitional provisions also apply to those organisations that lodged an application for the ROCO and were not notified of an outcome by 31 December 2023. Please refer to the transitional provisions to determine if they are applicable to your organisation from 1 January 2024.

The list of ROCO organisations has now been removed. The Australian Business Register (ABN Lookup at abr.business.gov.au) is now the primary source of information regarding an organisation's DGR status.

To apply for DGR endorsement with the ATO, please visit Apply for DGR endorsement | Australian Taxation Office (ato.gov.au). Further information about the requirements for cultural organisations when applying for DGR endorsement are outlined at Cultural organisations | Australian Taxation Office (ato.gov.au).

More information

More information is available from the ATO at: