Updating your society's contact details on the register
How to change your society’s contact details
When the registered office address or other contact details for your society change, you need to update the register.
In this guide
Registered office address
You must:
- tell us when your registered office address changes, and
- notify us at least 5 working days before a change of address for the registered office is due to take effect.
What the registered office address is
This is the official address for your society and is displayed on the register. The registered office address is where your society keeps its records, which could include your register of members. It is also an address that anyone can use to contact your society and deliver any legal documents, such as court documents.
It must be a full physical address — you cannot use a Post Office box, Private Bag or DX address as the registered office.
Address for communications
You must provide a physical or postal address for communications and make sure it is kept up to date.
What an address for communications is
We do not publish this address on the public register, but we will use it if we need to send letters to your society. Choose an address that is actively monitored by someone in your society.
Society contact details
Email address for communications
Email is the main way we keep in touch with societies on the register. You need to provide us an email address for communications and update it when it changes.
We do not publish this address on the public register, but it is used by us as a point of contact with your society. For instance, we use this email address to send reminders to file your society’s annual financial statements and annual return. Choose an address that is actively monitored by someone in your society and make sure it is kept up to date.
Contact phone number
You can also provide us with a contact phone number for your society and you should update it when it changes.
This can be either a landline or a mobile phone number. The number will not be visible on the public register, it will only be used by us as another point of contact.
Contact person
You must update the details of the society’s contact person within 20 working days of the society becoming aware of the change. This includes:
- appointing or electing a new contact person, or
- updating the contact details of any existing contact person.
What a contact person is
Your society must have at least 1 contact person and no more than 3. To be a contact person they do not need to be an officer of your society, but it should be someone who can handle enquiries from us. We do not publish the contact person’s details on the public register, but they may be used by the Registrar to contact the society so it is important to keep them up to date. Your society’s constitution must specify how each contact person is appointed or elected.
For each contact person you need to provide the following details:
- their name
- a physical or postal address
- an email address, and
- a telephone number.
How to update society contact details on the register
To update your society's details using our online service, you must have:
- a RealMe® login
- an online account with us, and
- authority to manage information on the register for your society.
- Log in to your online services account.
- On the dashboard, select the society you wish to update from 'My Businesses'.
- On the 'View Details' page, select the 'Addresses' tab, and click the 'Change Addresses' button.
- Add the new details as appropriate.
- Complete the signatory details and select 'Submit'.
Withholding personal information in the register
Under section 234 of the 2022 Act, the Registrar can remove or omit certain information from the register or restrict access to this information, if either:
- it is in the public interest that the information is hidden
- the information could harm someone’s privacy or safety
- the information relates to someone who is protected under laws like the Family Violence Act 2018 or other legal suppression orders.
If you believe any of the grounds apply to you, you can apply to the Registrar to withhold information in the register.
Related articles
Other guides in
Keeping society details up to date
- Confirming your authority to manage information
- Updating officer details on the register
- Changing your society's constitution
- Changing your society's name
- Updating your balance date on the register
- Requesting a correction to the register
- Withholding personal information in the register
- How societies amalgamate