The Boundaries of the Trust in Australia: The Case of Charitable Corporations

Abstract

Australian courts, commentators and charity directors have grappled for many years with the boundary between trusts law and corporate law when it comes to incorporated charities. The question is whether (and in what circumstances) a charitable corporation holds its general property on a charitable trust for its stated charitable objects. The jurisprudence displays a multiplicity of approaches and answers to this question, without a clear way to predict the outcome in any particular case. To some degree, this complexity is to be expected in a common law system in which judges develop the law incrementally from case to case over a period of time. Even more is it to be expected when that judici..