Structured giving's new moment

It has been a big year for philanthropy policy. The minimum distribution rate for ancillary funds has increased. A new tax deductible giving structure - the Community Charity Trust - has formally arrived, taking structured giving into donor communities it has never been able to reach. And Division 296 has prompted a fresh conversation about where capital goes when it leaves superannuation. At EOFY, those threads converge.

Beyond the tax advantages, this is a particularly good moment for families with genuine charitable intent to ask whether it is time to stop giving casually and start giving deliberately. Not because the fundamentals have changed, but because the available structures just got stronger.

Think about the kinds of people for whom a year-end donation suddenly feels inadequate. Someone who has just sold a business. A shareholder who has taken a large capital gain.

Andrew and Sophie Henderson farm merino sheep and dryland crops near Corowa, on the NSW-Victoria border. This financial year they sold a parcel of land and are facing a substantial capital gain. They have talked about giving something to the region for years. This is the moment. Now they need the right structure.

With a private giving fund, they could contribute a significant portion of the sale proceeds this financial year, securing a deduction now when it matters most. The capital is then invested and grants flow out over years - to the local hospital auxiliary, the rural fire brigade, a mental health service operating in the area. They bring their children into the grant decisions each year. Over time, the Henderson Family Fund becomes part of how the family understands itself. Philanthropy stops being a line item and becomes a practice.

In the great intergenerational wealth transfer - trillions of dollars moving between generations over the coming decades - that kind of deliberate giving is increasingly where families are landing.

The three structures

Australia now has three main tax-deductible giving structures available to families with meaningful charitable intent.

Private Ancillary Funds are established and controlled by the donor family, with a minimum annual distribution of 5% (rising to 6% from 1 July 2025). They offer the most control and are typically suited to families contributing $500,000 or more.

Public Ancillary Funds - often called giving funds or sub-funds - are established within a larger philanthropic foundation. The donor family has a named fund, recommends grants, and benefits from the infrastructure of the larger organisation. Minimum annual distribution is 4% (rising to 6%). Meaningful philanthropy is now accessible from around $20,000-$40,000.

Community Charity Trusts are the newest category. Established within a community foundation, they are place-based giving vehicles - for donors whose generosity is anchored in a particular region, community, or cause cluster. They are not donor-advised funds in the traditional sense. They are embedded in place, governed by people who live and work there, and can grant to a broader range of organisations including non-DGR charities.

Why the timing matters

The combination of factors converging this EOFY is unusual. The minimum distribution rate increase means capital inside ancillary funds will be required to flow faster. The arrival of Community Charity Trusts gives donors a third vehicle - and a meaningfully different one. And Division 296 has prompted some high-balance superannuation members to reconsider where their capital sits and what it is for.

For families sitting with a significant taxable event, the question is no longer simply whether to give, but which structure best serves the giving they have in mind.

The Hendersons had the intention all along. Most families like them do. The structure is what turns intention into something that outlasts the tax year - and, with the right vehicle, outlasts the family itself.

Rachael Rofe is an estate planning lawyer focused on intergenerational wealth transfer, structured giving and philanthropic planning. She advises families and their advisers on how assets, authority and values move together across life and death.