[Michael Olthof]

I also asked this question of Treasury via the ESPL site and received the following response –

The process that councils will need to follow regarding identifying properties that may qualify for Public Benefit status for the purposes of ESPL is as follows:

1. As a base and first step, look at all land currently exempt from council rates and compare which of these are used for purposes listed under Public Benefit definition (Attachment C in manual), those that are on the list and operated as a not-for-profit can be classified as Public Benefit
2. Next would be to check individual cases of organisations where the council is not sure if they are a not-for-profit, by searching the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission registry (ACNC) at https://www.acnc.gov.au/ACNC/FindCharity/Recentlyregistered/ACNC/OnlineProcessors/Online_register/Recentlyreg.aspx?hkey=632b3837-b4db-495b-818e-48619b7c4737.

However, councils will also need to use their judgement where a an organisation may be listed as a not-for-profit or charity on the ACNC register but are not using the land/property for a purpose listed in the Public Benefit list (Attachment C in manual). An example would be a Vinnies or Salvation Army store. The organisations are not-for-profit but they are not using the land for a purpose listed in the Public Benefit list (a retail store is not on the list). Therefor they would not classify as public benefit.

We are fully aware of the onerous process the individual checking on a case by case basis will be for councils, especially in this short time frame. However hopefully using the properties already non-rateable for council rates will catch most of the properties that could be potentially classified as Public Benefit.

It is important to note that councils can’t simply check if a property use is on the Public Benefit list to classify it. Confirming whether it is operated as a not-for-profit must also be done before a property can be classified Public Benefit.