The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (the Act) establishes new obligations for registered societies. Existing societies – those incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 – who wish to remain incorporated need to reregister no later than 5 April 2026. A key step in the re-registration process is reviewing and where necessary updating societies’ constitutions to ensure they comply with the new requirements in the Act.
Following an extensive consultation process led by the Constitution Committee, the Board has:
- Agreed that the following national constitution should be referred to a Special General Meeting for approval by our members: link here.
- Endorsed the following template link here and invited Regional Presidents and their Executive Committees to use it as a basis for finalising their constitutions for approval at Special General Meetings; and
- Endorsed the following template as a resource clubs can use to update their constitutions for approval at Special General Meetings link here.
The constitutions are based on generic templates provided by Sport New Zealand and tailored to meet our requirements with the support of legal advice from Gibson Sheat. Both the regional and club constitution templates include guidance designed to explain the rationale for key provisions and support the finalisation of tailored constitutions.
The following table outlines the next steps and indicative timeframes for finalising the constitution review and reregistration process.
|
Key Milestones |
Indicative timeframes |
|
FeNZ Board publishes draft National constitution together with Regional and Club constitution templates |
25 Aug 2025 |
|
Notice for National SGM published |
26 Aug 2025 |
|
National SGM held to approve FeNZ constitution (at least 30 days after notice) |
7:00pm, Sunday 28 Sept 2025 |
|
Regions finalise their constitutions using the RSO template & Give notice of Regional SGMs |
Sept 2025 |
|
Clubs update their constitutions using the Club template & given notice of Club SGMs |
Sept-Oct 2025 |
|
Regional SGMs held to approve regional constitutions |
Oct-Nov 2025 |
|
Clubs SGMs held to approve club constitutions |
Oct- Dec 2025 |
|
FeNZ Board, Regional Committees and Clubs complete changes to operational policies and processes to ensure compliance with 2022 Act |
Feb 2026 |
|
FeNZ, Regional Committees and Clubs complete reregistration with NZ Companies Office ahead of the 5 April 2026 deadline. |
March 2026 |
The NZ Companies Office website contains guidance on how to get ready for reregistration: NZ Companies Office - Reregistration Guidance
In the event Region or Club executives would like further advice on updating their constitutions or completing the reregistration process, do not hesitate to get in touch with Grant Tweddle This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Amanda This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.