On February 2 and 3 there were a few media reports that mentioned the Hillsong Australia 2020 Annual Report, which is available on our website, and focused on a section that referred to “forgiveness of related party loans”. To avoid any misinterpretation of the facts, we would like to provide clarification as follows:
The Hillsong Church 2020 Annual Report included information about the forgiveness of a loan to a related party. This loan simply represented funds transferred between Australian Hillsong charitable entities, not a loan to any external party or individual, for the upkeep of the Hillsong Church facilities in Mt Gravatt, Brisbane.
Distributing funds to entities within an organizational network is a common accounting practice for charities. It is also standard practice to forgive an internal loan between two entities within a group if it is determined that repayment is unnecessary.
Hillsong Church abides by the requirements set by the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) to ensure charitable funds are only used for charitable purposes and are not distributed for any individual’s benefit. Hillsong’s financials statements, including related party disclosures, have been audited by the highly-respected independent audit firm, Ernst & Young.
May 17 2024
