Get ready for reregistering

Reregister now

You must reregister under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 before 5 April 2026 (Easter Sunday). If you don’t, you will not be able to continue operating as an incorporated society.

To reregister you will need to:

1. Prepare a constitution and review your society’s operational processes.
2. Hold a general meeting to approve the new constitution and the decision to reregister.
3. Apply to reregister and upload your constitution online on our website.

Preparing a constitution and reviewing processes may take time. We recommend you start this process soon and complete all 3 steps before the end of March 2026.

After 5 April 2026 (Easter Sunday) all incorporated societies must be registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (2022 Act). If you do not reregister by this date, your society will be removed from the register on 6 April 2026 and will no longer legally exist.

What happens if your society does not reregister

Before you reregister online, there are some steps your society needs to complete.

Read our quick guide

We have created a quick guide on how to get ready for reregistering. It also covers the steps to take if your society chooses not to reregister. You can read this quick guide, or the full guide below.

Quick guide — Getting reregistering sorted [PDF, 237 KB]

Quick guide — Getting reregistering sorted [HTML version]

1. Prepare a constitution

Your society must have a constitution that complies with the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (2022 Act). A constitution is a set of rules.

Your constitution must contain certain information, such as:

• Why your society exists — what its purpose is.
• How someone becomes a member and the conditions of membership.
• The details of your society’s committee and its roles, functions, powers, and procedures.
• How your society will hold general meetings, make decisions, and elect or appoint officers.
• The procedures for resolving disputes.

Preparing your constitution may take some time. Your society’s committee may need to meet to ensure the constitution is suitable, before presenting it to members.

2. Review your operational processes

Make sure your operational processes will comply with the 2022 Act.

You must have processes for:

• Ensuring new members give their consent to being a member.
• Recording all the details required in your register of members.
• Getting and storing the written consent for each new officer to act as an officer.
• Disclosing and recording any conflicts of interest — if you do not already have this, your committee will need to create an ‘Interests Register’.
• Preparing your financial statements to the appropriate standards — you may need to capture individual transactions in a different way that makes it easy to create the required financial statements.
• Managing internal disputes in a way that is consistent with natural justice.

Dispute resolution procedures

3. Hold a general meeting

You will need to hold a general meeting where your members:

• Formally agree to reregister under the 2022 Act.
• Approve the constitution.
• Decide who the officers will be — your society’s committee plus any other officers it may need.
  There must be at least 3 people on the committee.
• Decide who the contact person will be — there must be at least 1 and no more than 3. 
  The contact person’s details are only for the Registrar to use.

Committees and officers

Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting

Your society’s next Annual General Meeting (AGM) is the perfect opportunity to finalise your reregistration application. If you have already had your AGM you will need to hold a Special General Meeting.

Preparing for your meeting

Make sure you call and hold your meeting in line with your existing rules, including:

• Giving all members sufficient notice of the meeting.
• Including the items to be approved or decided in your agenda.
• Having the correct quorum throughout the meeting.
• Following the right processes for voting.

We also recommend sharing a copy of the draft constitution with members before the meeting so they can see what it contains.

At your meeting get a signed consent from every officer

Your chosen officers must consent in writing to be an officer and certify they are not disqualified. This template can help you collect an officer’s consent and certification. It also collects the information you will need to add your officers to the register when you reregister online.

4. Check latest financial statements have been filed

Incorporated societies must file a copy of their financial statements with the Companies Office each year, unless registered with Charities Services.

Before you reregister online make sure you have filed your latest financial statements with us. Once you have reregistered you cannot file financial statements online under the 1908 Act.

5. Gather key information and documents

To reregister your society you must complete an online application form.

You will need to provide the following information as part of your application:

• A copy of your society’s constitution.
• Contact details for your society including the registered office address, addresses for communication, and details of at least 1 contact person.
• Details of committee members and other officers — including their name, physical address, email address, and start date.

Published 5 October 2023, updated 18 February 2026

Other guides in

Reregistering under the 2022 Act

• What happens if your society does not reregister
• Applying to reregister your society
• Reregistration videos and tools
• Your society will need a constitution
• Using our Constitution Builder to draft or revise a society’s constitution

Other help topics