The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) is actively addressing outstanding compliance issues identified in an independently commissioned audit report by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).

On Saturday 22 July 2017, the AFIC Federal Council and the Executive Committee participated in a comprehensive governance workshop in Sydney. This initial workshop, which focused on governance and financial controls, amongst other topics, was extremely well-received and endorsed by all AFIC representatives.

AFIC is now working through a prioritised schedule to ensure compliance with all ACNC requirements, and will continue to keep the ACNC fully informed on its progress with each of the identified objectives.

AFIC has also undertaken a comprehensive review of its governance and financial policies and procedures. As a result, the organisation is presently implementing significant changes around the management, monitoring and reporting of its key community service streams and finances, and how it engages and communicates with respective stakeholders.

Under the committed leadership of the President, Dr Rateb Jneid, AFIC is also assisting all AFIC-established schools nationwide to comply with all statutory obligations, guidelines and requirements.

In line with what has been previously communicated, it should be noted that AFIC’s sole involvement in Education will be in its capacity as a landlord, and providing land and infrastructure support to schools as and when the organisation’s financial position and priorities permit.

Dr Jneid emphasised that “the new AFIC will be open, transparent and communicative, with the firm objective of becoming the pre-eminent national body supporting and promoting the broader Islamic community as a respected, vital, valuable and contributing part of a truly multicultural Australia”.