71926

The New Zealand Amateur Sport Association (NZASA) has warned of a potential ‘extinction event’ for the country’s incorporated community sport organisations (ICSOs).

In a statement released on Friday, it advised “there’s only 28 months icsos to re-register under the incorporated societies act 2022, or otherwise face involuntary dissolution at the dispassionate hand of the registrar of incorporated societies.

“Given the work required to re-register under the new act, time is of the essence to avoid what will otherwise be an ICSO extinction event.”

NZASA advise that organisations that “the most important thing to do right now is to engage with their members, to inform them of what’s changed and what’s required to be done to comply.

“Every ICSO is ‘owned’ by its members, who will need to approve the changes to the ICSO’s current Rules governing its operation, (which is a requirement to ensure an ICSO complies with the new legislation and its regulations).

“Noting that most ICSOs are active and operate on a seasonal basis, (most are either active in warmer or colder months), it can be safely assumed that the number of committee meetings an ICSO may hold to discuss and implement its re-registration strategy is around half the available time, (perhaps 14 months). And given most ICSO committees may only meet once every six weeks or so in-season, some community sport clubs will have few as nine committee meetings before the guillotine falls on the drop-dead date for compliance on 1 April 2026.

“Within that finite period of time, an ICSO will need to review its operating processes and procedures, including confirming new dispute resolution procedures which meet required principles of natural justice, reviewing the processes and criteria for the election of officers and contact persons, (including the adoption of new certifications of eligibility), determining if their club qualifies as a ‘small society’ for financial reporting purposes, ensuring that that procedures for the formal recording of conflicts of interest are implemented, confirming the processes by which members consent to membership (and cease to be members), and considering their eligibility (and application for) income tax exemptions (if not currently in place).

“All of these obligations (and others now required under the new Act) will need to be approved at an Annual General Meeting (or Special General Meeting) by an ICSO’s members.”

While some ICSOs have acknowledged their new obligations and have indicated that they will attempt to comply, the NZASA believes these are likely to be in the minority of the over 7,000 community sport organisations in New Zealand, as evidenced by the large number of ICSOs that continue to be dissolved by the Registrar of Incorporated Societies for non-compliance with the predecessor 1908 Act, and the representative numbers attending its national seminar series which has played a key role in alerting ICSOs to their new obligations.

Given the new Act is more than seven times larger than its predecessor (comprising 270 sections compared to 36), NZASA has repeatedly warned the New Zealand Government of the massive impact community sport is facing unless the law (as currently enacted) is modified to meet the capabilities of volunteer-led community sport organisations.

For further information, please contact NZASA’s Gordon Noble-Campbell 021 612 451.

Lower image: Gordon Noble-Campbell. Credit: VSA Foundation.

Related Articles

2nd November 2023 - Sport New Zealand looks to promote ‘under threat’ childrens play

13th October 2023 - New Zealanders’ engagement with grassroots sports clubs is increasingly casual

14th August 2023 - Drug Free Sport New Zealand launches ‘More fun when it’s Fair’ campaign 

5th June 2023 - Sport NZ reveals finalists for 2023 Sport and Recreation Awards

9th May 2023 - $1 billion of community service in New Zealand sport in jeopardy

17th April 2023 - Sport NZ partners with Variety NZ to invest additional $5.5 million to support families in financial hardship

17th March 2023 - Sport New Zealand announces new governance entity Te Taumata Māori

10th February 2023 - Sport New Zealand to support play through $4.3 million funding for local government

19th December 2022 - Sport NZ releases guiding principles for the inclusion of transgender people in community sport

9th September 2022 - 2022 Australian and New Zealand Sports Technology Awards recognise sports tech innovation

1st October 2021 - Survey shows New Zealand’s sport clubs are surviving while female inclusion still a work in progress

24th August 2020 - Sport NZ opens applications for new $68 million community fund

7th July 2020 - Funding released to assist New Zealand sport recovery at all levels

25th February 2020 - New Zealand sports launch campaign to change youth sport

3rd September 2019 - New Zealand sporting bodies come together to change youth sport

25th June 2019 - Sport NZ congratulates winners of the New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards 2019

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.

Click here to view our subscription options.