5Interpretation

1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

   accounting period has the same meaning as in section 5(1) of the Financial Reporting Act 2013

   balance date means a society’s balance date under section 99 or 100

   charitable entity has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Charities Act 2005

   committee, in relation to a society, means the governing body of the society, however described (for example, a board)

   complaint has the meaning set out in section 38

   contact details has the meaning set out in subsection (2)

   contact person means a person holding the position of contact person of the society for the purposes of sections 112 to 116

   court means, in relation to any matter, the court by or before which the matter falls to be determined (see subpart 2 of Part 6, which relates to the jurisdiction of the High Court and the District Court)

   dispute has the meaning set out in section 38

   document has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Evidence Act 2006

   financial statements has the same meaning as in section 6 of the Financial Reporting Act 2013

   infringement fee, in relation to an infringement offence, means the amount prescribed by the regulations as the infringement fee for the offence

   infringement notice means a notice issued under section 162

   infringement offence means an offence under section 160

   interested has the meaning set out in section 62

   Minister means the Minister of the Crown who, under the authority of any warrant or with the authority of the Prime Minister, is responsible for the administration of this Act

   Ministry means the department of State that, with the authority of the Prime Minister, is for the time being responsible for the administration of this Act

   member means a member of a society

   not-for-profit entity has the meaning set out in subsection (3)

   officer—

   1. means, in relation to a society,—
      1. a natural person who is a member of the committee; or
      2. a natural person occupying a position in the society that allows the person to exercise significant influence over the management or administration of the society (for example, a treasurer or a chief executive); and
   2. includes any class or classes of natural persons that are declared by regulations to be officers for the purposes of this Act; but
   3. excludes any class or classes of natural persons that are declared by regulations not to be officers for the purposes of this Act

   register means the register of incorporated societies established under section 231

   registered office means the registered office required under section 110

   Registrar means the Registrar of Incorporated Societies appointed in accordance with section 240

   regulations means regulations made under this Act

   secured creditor, in relation to a society, means a person entitled to a charge on or over property owned by that society

   society means a society incorporated under this Act

   union means a union registered under Part 4 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

2. A requirement under this Act to provide the contact details of a person is a requirement to provide at least—

3. a physical or an electronic address used by the person; and
4. a telephone number that is used by the person.

5. In this Act, an entity (A) is a not-for-profit entity if—

6. A is one of the following:
   1. a society incorporated under this Act:
   2. a charitable entity:
   3. any other society, institution, association, organisation, or trust that is not carried on for the private benefit of an individual, and whose funds are applied entirely or mainly for benevolent, philanthropic, cultural, charitable, sporting, or public purposes in New Zealand; and
7. in the case of paragraph (a)(iii), A’s rules, A’s constitution, or the instruments constituting, or defining the constitution of, A provide that, on A’s winding up, any surplus assets that remain after the settlement of A’s debts and liabilities must be given or transferred to 1 or more other entities that are not-for-profit entities within the meaning of this subsection.

8. For the purposes of this Act when considering whether a society is unable to pay its debts, sections 287 to 291 of the Companies Act 1993 (which relate to the meaning of inability to pay debts) apply to a society with all necessary modifications as if it were a company.

9. The modifications under subsection (4) include treating the reference in section 288(3) of the Companies Act 1993 to section 178 of that Act as a reference to sections 80 to 83 of this Act.