Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading : How to incorporate

Step 1 - Meeting of Members

Authorise a person to make the application for incorporation. The role of this person is to complete and sign the necessary forms and to lodge them with Business Affairs.
Obtain the consent of the person who will be the association's first public officer. The person who consents to be the first public officer can also be the person authorised to make the application if that is what the meeting wishes.
Approve the name of the association. The name selected should reflect the association's nature, objects and purposes. If there is a problem with the name selected the matter will be taken up with the lodging party.
Approve the rules. The proposed rules should be considered as to whether they would cater for the activities of the particular association.

Step 2 - Complete the Forms

An Application for Incorporation of an Association and a Public Officer - Notice of Appointment needs to be completed. The name of the association must appear exactly the same on both forms as it appears in the names clause of the rules.
Item 3 of the application seeks information about the purpose for which the association is being formed. A wide range of not-for-profit associations, including sporting and religious bodies, are eligible for incorporation. Section 2 of the Act sets out the eligibility criteria.
The rules must be clearly printed or typed on single sheets of A4 size white paper.

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Step 3 - Lodge the Forms and Rules

The fee payable is set out on the Application for Incorporation of an Association. It will alter in July each year.
Check that the forms are fully completed and that the other matters discussed in Step 2 have been met. The proposed rules must accompany both Forms. If the documents are deficient they will be returned to the lodging party.
Normally you can expect to receive the Certificate of Incorporation in about 14 days.
The name of the association must be used on all documents and correspondence and on its common seal exactly as it appears on the Certificate of Incorporation, except that 'Incorporated' can be abbreviated as 'Inc.'.
You can obtain a common seal from a rubber stamp maker listed in the Yellow Pages. It should be in the form outlined in the association's constitution. If it is not specified in your constitution refer to the Model Rules for Associations (rule no: 35).
The Seal should remain in the custody of the Public Officer.