Review of the Registered Clubs Industry in NSW - Clubs NSW

5 Refining the Community Development and Support
Expenditure Scheme
Even ClubsNSW’s CDSE information for clubs gives an incorrect example of ‘actual
cost’, saying that provision of meeting room facilities at no cost to community groups
may be claimed at the standard room hire fee ordinarily applied (ie, the market
rate). 80 ClubsNSW’s misinterpretation of the valuation requirements is a clear sign
that the industry struggles to deal with the valuation of in-kind contributions.
IPART believes this is mainly because the guidelines are difficult to understand and
apply correctly.
5.4.2 Options for in-kind measurement
IPART’s issues paper identified the need for a clearer approach to measure clubs’ inkind
contributions. The issues paper outlined four possible options:
1. surplus revenue funding
2. willingness to pay
3. avoidable cost
4. market value.
Chapter 4 described these options in more detail in relation to all direct and indirect
social contributions.
5.4.3 IPART’s preferred approach
IPART considers that market price should be used to measure clubs’ in-kind
provision of goods and services.
Of the case study clubs, Clubmulwala was the only club to quantify its in-kind
contributions (predominantly room hire) through a method that accounted for all
associated marginal costs (eg, servicing and cleaning the room). However, the inkind
value for, say, room hire for a short meeting to a small church group, would be
negligible (assuming the servicing and cleaning costs would be close to zero). IPART
does not consider a value of close to zero, particularly for meeting rooms, to be a fair
outcome, as it does not recognise the fact that clubs built these facilities largely for
the purposes of meeting the needs of community groups and organisations.
Many roundtable participants and case study clubs 81 used a market price measure to
quantify in-kind contributions (eg, to value the provision of meeting rooms without
charge to community groups), whether they were reporting on the contributions to
their boards or claiming CDSE rebates for them. In their opinion, a market price
approach represented their opportunity cost and, without any clear direction for
valuation, was the only logical way to assign value.
80 ClubsNSW, CDSE Funding – FAQs for Clubs and Committees, available at www.clubsnsw.com.au.
81 For example, participants at the Armidale roundtable, 21 September 2007, pp 4-18; Bowlers Club of
NSW.
82 IPART Review of the Registered Clubs Industry in NSW