The recent introduction of the new Incorporated Societies Act will have an impact on football clubs. This page provides a background of the changes and key links to further information.
Background
The new Incorporated Societies Act was passed into law on 6 April 2022. The new Act intends to make incorporated societies’ governance functions more robust by aligning director duties more closely with those in the Companies Act. Examples of this include introducing officers’ duties and requirements for dispute resolution processes.
There is a transition period during which incorporated societies will continue to be subject to the 1908 Act until they decide whether they wish to re-register under the 2022 Act or consider alternative options.
Societies that fail to re-register between October 2023 and April 2026 will cease to be incorporated and will be removed from the Register.
Re-registration will involve filing a constitution that is compliant with the new Act.
Please see links below for further information on the changes and how they could impact football clubs:
- HERE to be directed to the Sport New Zealand information.
- HERE to be directed to the New Zealand Companies Office information.
Regulations to support the new Act will determine some of the details of the new regime, such as how your society will apply for reregistration and what penalties your society would face if it breached its obligations. Information on the timeframes for when these regulations will be released can be found HERE on the New Zealand Companies Office website.
What is New Zealand Football doing?
We are working with Sport NZ | Ihi Aotearoa as part of a sector-wide approach to support the six federations and 400+ football clubs through the re-registration process.
We will be taking a phased approach to supporting both federations and football clubs through the re-registration process as follows:
- Phase 1: By end of April 2024 - Review the Regulations and Sport NZ developed constitution templates, and advance work towards football specific constitution templates for both federations and clubs as well as any other support materials that might be needed.
- Phase 2: From May 2024, support federations through any constitutional change and the re-registration process.
- Phase 3: From June 2024, support the 400+ football clubs through any constitutional change and the re-registration process.
Help is on its way
Work has already begun. From June 2024, we are expecting to release more detailed guidance and support materials for football clubs, including:
- Incorporated Societies Act (ISA) compliant constitution templates, and associated guidelines and checklists to support clubs through the re-registration process that ends in April 2026.
- Deliver a series of educational webinars to support clubs with constitutional change and the re-registration process.
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