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All incorporated societies need to reregister under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (ISA2022) by 5 April 2026 or they will be removed from the Incorporated Societies Register. While that deadline date is fast approaching, a search of the Incorporated Societies Register indicates that many societies appear to have taken no steps to reregister – and that may be because they fail to appreciate that this might not be a simple process.
Why is reregistration required?
Reregistration includes a requirement that your society adopts a constitution that complies with the ISA2022. In some areas, the requirements of the constitution may need your society to make decisions on adopting provisions that could be substantially different from a societies existing rules or that add requirements that are material to your society and may create some differences of opinion as to how they should be dealt with.
What steps should your Incorporated Society take?
Your Society will likely need to get advice to understand how these changes will affect it and once it does, further time for the members of the society to consider the issues, any new proposed constitution that replaces the rules and reach agreement on it so you can arrange for a new constitution to be drafted that complies with the ISA2022. That all takes time, and that means that April 2026 is not really that far away.
What happens if you do nothing?
If you take no action, then your incorporated society will cease to exist, which will cause potential legal issues for members of societies that have member funds or assets or otherwise purport to continue to operate without any legal existence or status.
If you do not intend to reregister, then you should dissolve or liquidate your incorporated society before 5 April 2026, since otherwise it will cease to exist and assets it had before that date might then vest in the Crown (as they will then have no owner) and this could also cause legal issues, costs or arguments among members.
In short – don’t delay! Agreeing on, drafting and adopting a new constitution will take time. Dissolving or liquidating your society will also take time.
Your incorporated society will cease to exist as a matter of law if you do not reregister by 5 April 2026 which could cause significant issues for members of societies that have not reregistered, dissolved or liquidated before 5 April 2026.
For assistance contact Anthony Kuran on 09 306 0611 or @email or Andrew Knight on 09 985 2531 or @email