Status: Completed
Project overview
The Incorporated Societies Act 1908 is uncomfortably old and has been little amended since its enactment. Yet the range of community organisations that use this legal form is extensive in New Zealand. The focus of this review was on modernising the statute and providing greater guidance for people who run incorporated societies. The Report recommends that the 1908 Act be replaced by a new statute. It makes numerous recommendations for how that statute should provide better guidance for societies, including:
- Statutory duties for office holders;
- Requirements for dealing with conflicts of interest;
- A requirement to include dispute resolution procedures in every constitution;
- A model constitution.
The Commission’s Report, A New Act for Incorporated Societies (NZLC R129, 2013), was published on 21 August 2013. The Report and a summary of the key recommendations is available in PDF form here.
Status: Completed
Issues Paper
Reforming the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 (NZLC IP24, 2011)
The Commision's Issues Paper, Reforming the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 (NZLC IP24, 2011).
The Incorporated Societies Act 1908 is uncomfortably old and has been little amended since its enactment. Yet the range of community organisations that use this legal form is extensive in New Zealand. Practising lawyers are often called upon for advice concerning incorporated societies. They are asked for advice on whether to set one up, how to set one up, how to register it and what to include in the documents. Difficult questions frequently arise around the governance and administration of such organisations and the resolution of their internal disputes. Many of the reported cases revolve around such disputes. This review took a first principles look at the Act.
Status: Completed
Report
A New Act for Incorporated Societies (NZLC R129, 2013)
The Report, A New Act for Incoroprated Societies (NZLC R129, 2013) recommends the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 be repealed and replaced by a modern statute. The new statute should provide guidance common to other statutes, including:
- statutory duties for the officers of societies
- requirements for dealing with conflicts of interest
- a requirement to include dispute resolution procedures in every constitution
- a model constitution.
Alongside these broader recommendations, the Commission makes numerous more specific recommendations, including:
- the statute should make it clear that members should have no ownership interest in the society
- the minimum number of members of a society should be reduced from 15 to 10 members
- societies should be required to have a statutory officer and a committee of at least three members
- societies should be required to prepare and file at least simple annual financial reports.
Status: Completed
Government response
The overall scheme recommended in the report was picked up in the Incorporated Societies Act 2022, including nearly all of the report’s recommendations.