Te Kāika persistently late in filing financial returns

The Te Kaika wellbeing hub. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY

Dunedin health charity Te Kāika, which is under investigation, has repeatedly been allowed to miss deadlines for filing crucial financial reports.

Charity law dictates charities must file returns of their financial performance and service provision annually and within six months of the end of their financial year, unless granted an extension.

Ōtākou Health Ltd (OHL), the registered entity behind the Te Kāika brand, has a financial year that runs April 1 to March 31, requiring it to submit its returns under normal circumstances by the end of September.

However, records show that none of the charity’s 10 annual returns since 2015 was delivered within this timeframe to the government agency Charities Services. Often the return was filed many months later and sometimes beyond extensions granted.

In one annual reporting period, the charity was given a three-month extension to the end of December but its return was filed in June the following year.

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) — which Charities Services sits within — said it could not comment on the details of its ongoing investigation into OHL, including whether or not it was investigating the late returns.

A spokesperson it was unable to comment "as OHL is currently subject to an active investigation".

An update on the investigation is anticipated in March.

A Dunedin charity sector expert, who did not wish to be named, described the charity’s lack of ability to submit returns within six months as compliance "fragility".

They stressed the importance of timely returns and said a charity "absolutely puts its registration at risk" if returns are filed late repeatedly.

Continued granting of extensions to OHL by Charities Services indicated the government had been "extremely tolerant and patient with Te Kāika", particularly given the charity’s growing history of not meeting the normal requirement of reporting within six months.

For comparison, the Otago Daily Times looked at the annual reporting of six other Dunedin charities in the health and social sector including, among others, Pact, Catholic Social Services and the city’s night shelter.

The findings demonstrated good compliance with the six-month deadline. Out of 30 reports submitted by the six charities over the past five years, 25 were submitted within the deadline, four less than a month late, and one was three months late.

In three of OHL’s 10 annual reporting periods, Charities Services records indicate the charity was not given an extension, but the charity still submitted later than the end of September.

For example, for the period 2022/23, no extension is indicated but the charity submitted in March 2024, 12 months after the period ended.

In the other seven reporting periods, OHL was given an extension, but on three occasions the charity still submitted after the extended deadline.

In the most extreme case, for the period 2018/19, the charity was given 9 months to submit by the end of December 2019, but did not submit until June 21 the following year, 15 months after the period ended.

For the period 2023/24 — the charity’s last submitted return — the charity was given 12 months to submit by the end of March 2025, and submitted on April 7 last year.

Its 2024/25 return, due last September, is still outstanding.

DIA said the charity had been given an extension until the end of next month — 11 months — to submit it.

OHL’s return for 2023/24 was audited by Dunedin firm Audit Professionals, but director Phillip Trounson said his firm was "no longer involved" in OHL auditing.

The ODT asked the DIA for reasons why OHL had been given extensions, and for procedures that apply if a charity submits returns late.

A DIA spokesperson said the information fell under the Official Information Act and it would respond next month.

OHL was asked to comment on the late submissions and for any reassurance it could give on the matter. but it declined to respond.