Get ready for reregistering

1. Prepare a constitution

To register as an incorporated society, you must have a constitution that complies with the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (2022 Act). A constitution is a set of rules.

Your constitution must contain certain information, such as:

• Why your society exists — what its purpose is.
• How someone becomes a member and the conditions of membership.
• The details of your society’s committee and its roles, functions, powers, and procedures.
• How your society will hold general meetings, make decisions, and elect or appoint officers.
• The procedures for resolving disputes.

Preparing your constitution may take some time. Your society’s committee may need to meet to ensure the constitution is suitable, before presenting it to members.

Incorporated society guidance and tools

2. Review your operational processes

Make sure your operational processes will comply with the 2022 Act.

You must have processes for:

• Ensuring new members give their consent to being a member.
• Recording all the details required in your register of members.
• Getting and storing the written consent for each new officer to act as an officer.
• Disclosing and recording any conflicts of interest. If you do not already have this, your committee will need to create an ‘Interests Register’.
• Preparing your financial statements to the appropriate standards. You may need to capture individual transactions in a different way that makes it easy to create the required financial statements.
• Managing internal disputes in a way that is consistent with natural justice.

Incorporated society guidance

3. Hold a general meeting

You will need to hold a general meeting where your members:

• Formally agree to reregister under the 2022 Act.
• Approve the constitution.
• Decide who the officers will be. Your society’s committee plus any other officers it may need. There must be at least 3 people on the committee.
• Decide who the contact person will be. There must be at least 1 contact person and no more than 3. The contact person’s details are only for the Registrar to use.

Incorporated society guidance

Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting

Your next Annual General Meeting (AGM) is the perfect opportunity to finalise your reregistration application. If you have already had your AGM, you will need to hold a Special General Meeting (SGM).

Preparing for your meeting

Make sure you call and hold your meeting in line with your existing rules, including:

• Giving all members sufficient notice of the meeting.
• Including the items to be approved or decided in your agenda.
• Having the correct quorum throughout the meeting.
• Following the right processes for voting.

We also recommend sharing a copy of the draft constitution with members before the meeting so they can see what it contains.

At your meeting get signed consent from every officer

Your chosen officers must consent in writing to be an officer and certify they are not disqualified. This template can help you collect an officer’s consent and certification. It also collects the information you will need to add your officers to the register when you reregister online.

4. Gather key information and documents

To reregister as an incorporated society, you must complete an application form.

You will need to confirm or provide the following information as part of your application.

• Confirm your society’s name.
• Provide a copy of your society’s constitution.
• Confirm the contact details for your society – including the registered office address, addresses for communication, and details of at least 1 contact person.
• Provide details of committee members and other officers – including their name, physical address, email address, and start date.

Learn more about each of these requirements below:

Next steps

Once you have completed these steps, you can reregister. There are no application fees to pay.

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Reregistering as an incorporated society

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