Consultation opens on incorporated societies regulations

These societies are very diverse and represent a broad cross-section of our community, ranging from culture, sport and recreation, animal protection, religion, employment, politics, education, health and welfare. They play a vital and often long-standing role in our communities, so it’s important that the law governing them reflects 21st century best practice. The Incorporated Societies Act 2022, which was passed by Parliament in April, puts in place a modern framework for incorporated societies and those who run them.

MBIE is now asking for feedback on regulations to support the new regime to function effectively. This includes matters such as how societies’ re-registration will work, issues related to financial reporting, conversion of societies established under other legislation, and the composition of society committees.

Consultation is open from Tuesday 11 October for 6 weeks. Societies and any other interested parties are encouraged to provide feedback to help shape these regulations.

MBIE will use the feedback received to prepare a draft set of regulations, which will be released for consultation in early 2023. We expect to issue the final regulations in late August or early September 2023, before the new regime comes into force. Existing societies will be able to migrate to the new regime from October 2023 until April 2026.

The discussion document, along with information about how to have your say, is available on MBIE’s website.

Consultation on regulations under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022

For more information on the Incorporated Societies Act review and legislative changes, visit MBIE’s main webpage.

Incorporated Societies Act review