The role of the Registrar
What we can and cannot do
The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (2022 Act) sets out the Registrar’s roles and responsibilities. That role does not include intervening or arbitrating in the internal matters of incorporated societies.
What we do
The Registrar is responsible for maintaining a public register of incorporated societies, and for receiving and processing the documents that they are obliged to file. These include:
- Applications for incorporation
- Notification of a change to the registered office address
- Change in officers and contact person details
- Alterations to a society’s constitution, and
- Annual financial statements and annual returns.
What we do not do
While the Registrar has some limited powers of inspection to ascertain whether societies are complying with the 2022 Act (which relate largely to document-filing requirements) these do not extend to intervening in internal matters.
The Registrar does not provide a dispute resolution or legal advisory service for societies. If your society experiences problems regarding how it is being run or the way its rules are being interpreted or applied, it must resolve them itself or seek legal advice, if appropriate.
Resolving internal disputes
Societies must have procedures for resolving disputes and other grievances between members as well as between members and the society. The 2022 Act defines what those procedures must look like, including a set of procedures that societies can choose to adopt. Each society must document their dispute resolution procedures in their constitution (set of rules).